Cricket Fever in New York too….

On Wednesday, the Department of Education inaugurated cricket as its newest league sport, with about 600 high school students playing on 14 teams during a 12-game season. The first matches, held in Queens, featured teams from John Adams, Richmond Hill, Aviation and Newcomers High Schools.

The Department of Education said New York is the only public school system in the nation to offer competitive cricket.

The high school league follows the Parks and Recreation Department’s first cricket tournament, which was held in June at Spring Creek Park in Brooklyn and attracted 20 teams of 15 players each, as well as hundreds of fans.

No one is expecting the game to overtake baseball, football or soccer in popularity here any time soon, but a modest increase in interest in the sport won the attention of Eric Goldstein, who is the chief executive for school support services and oversees sports programs for the Department of Education.

(courtesy NY times…)