Dartmouth College Cricket Club Looks to Build on Recent Success
If you pass by Leverone Field on a Sunday afternoon, you might stumble upon one of Dartmouth’s best-kept secrets: the Cricket Club. A mix of beginners and veterans, undergraduate students and Upper Valley residents, the club brings people together from all around the world to take part in this beloved sport. Club president and team captain Faizan Kanji ’15 emphasized that “one of the most amazing things the club does for us is allow us to feel at home while being thousands of miles away from home.”
Photo Courtesy: Dartmouth Cricket Club’s Facebook Page
Records of cricket being played at Dartmouth stretch as far back as 1803, in a print of the College engraved by George Ticknor. However, the club in its current iteration was founded in the 1990s by a mix of professors and students. However, when Kanji joined in 2011, it only had three undergraduate members. Still, he loved the experience because “more than anything, we had a bunch of very dedicated guys trying their best to get the club back on its feet and turn it into a formidable team,” he said. In the years since Kanji first joined, Dartmouth’s Cricket Club has grown in both participation and team success.
Photo Courtesy: Dartmouth College Library Bulletin Online Archives (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Library_Bulletin/Nov1992/LB-N92-KCramer2.html)
Currently, the team has a fantastic mix of players who are looking to build on recent success, including a win over Harvard University – which currently sit atop the American College Cricket League table – on Sept. 21. The club’s first official ACC match will take place on Nov. 2 against Harvard once again. Team goals include aiming to take part in the Ivy League Championship hosted by the American College Cricket in the spring, playing against other private teams and increasing undergraduate membership.
So if you’re already sick of all the commotion over the Red Sox-Cardinals World Series, or ready to relinquish your status as a NARP, then consider joining the Dartmouth Cricket Club. After all, what other sport offers the opportunity for a “tea break” in the middle of the match? More than that, though, the club presents the invaluable experience of joining a welcoming and enthusiastic community. Kanji stressed that “apart from the chance to play the sport that I absolutely love, the best part of the team is the people in it.”