The crack of the bat. The roar of the crowd. Two opposing teams trying to score the most runs. Baseball? No, cricket, the latest intramural sport sweeping the Campbell campus. Michael Sibelu, co-captain of the intramural cricket team said, “We decided to form a cricket team because we wanted to expand the diversity of club sports at Campbell and we just enjoy playing the game.”Originally from Zimbabwe, Sibelu said they wanted to offer students a unique sport played all around the world.Although the rules and play are different, the basic concept of cricket is similar to American baseball. The official cricket website explains the teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team’s innings. After each team has batted an equal number of innings, the team with the most runs wins.The Campbell team has played against NC State, UNC and even competed in a tournament at Duke.”We took two teams to the tournament,” said Sibelu. “Both teams competed in three games. They won one and lost two.”During the season, the team practices twice a week at the junior varsity softball fields.”We are looking forward to hosting some games when the new intramural fields are ready,” Sibelu said.Sibelu encourages all students to come out and play. Tryouts will be in March.”Even if you don’t know how to play and are curious we will take time to explain the game to you,” he said.Photo Copy: The Campbell University intramural cricket team, Front row, from left, Ishwin Dembla, Brijesh Patel, Purav Patel, Chintan Patadia, Gaston Lopez. Second row, from left, Santosh Patel, Savan Patel, Atit Amin, Paras Naik (Captain), Gaurav Patel, Shawn Kendrick, Chintal Patel
Cricket comes to Campbell University