Cricket Field Is In A League Of Its Own In Marlboro

MARLBORO, NJ—The game of cricket may have originated in England in the 16th century, but it has made it has way here and the Marlboro Cricket Club now has a field to call its own.

Club members carry their love of the game from India, where many played as young people.

And after a five-year process, what officials say is the first cricket field in Monmouth County was dedicated behind the Middle School off Route 520 on June 25.

Now members can enjoy the game close to home and on a regulation pitch, the club says.

The game may not be that familiar to Americans, said Susheel Sulguti, a spokesperson for the club. And while it may bear some similarities to baseball - with a ball and batter - the game has a character all its own, he said.

For one thing, there is no diamond. The cricket field can be oval or round or even irregular.

This field is circular and large, he said. It is 50 yards with a 75-foot inner circle, he added.

"Cricket emerged from way back," Sulguti said, noting that it was invented in England and then brought to India with British colonization there.

"Indians started playing it and created all kinds of variations," he said.

The game is still played in England, Australia, India and other countries with a connection to Great Britain.

Sulguti said the Marlboro Cricket Club has more than 60 members, and a regulation game has 22 players, 11 on each team.

And the sport's popularity may grow, said Mayor Jon Hornik, who officiated at the dedication.

He recalled that in 1977 his father, former Mayor Saul Hornik, "told me when I was 7 years old that I was going to play soccer - you hit the ball with your foot!"

The town back then had just developed its first soccer field.

"We didn't know anything about soccer. But that's how it began - with one field," Jon Hornik said.

Hornik said Marlboro is a diverse community, and the Indian-American population, Asian Americans and others contribute to that.

"And we're committed to celebrating diversity," Hornik said.

A proclamation from the township at the time of the dedication gave a timeline of how the project evolved and was made a reality.

It noted that the Marlboro Cricket Club reached out to the township in March 2017, looking for a home field to meet the need for the growing community interest in the game.

Councilman Mike Scalea and the Division of Recreation and Swim began the search for a location that would allow for accurate field dimensions, parking and accessibility.

In early 2021, it was determined that the area surrounding the H&L soccer fields fulfilled the requirements for the new field.

The construction of a new cricket field was approved by the Township Council as a part of the 2021 Recreation Township capital improvement program and design of the cricket pitch was facilitated by Marlboro Township Recreation, engineers and members of the Marlboro Cricket Club.

A solar-lighted and paved, handicap accessible path was approved as part of the construction as a walkway between the Marlboro Middle School parking lot to the fields.

Sulguti said the cricket site offers a grassy field with a special sand that hardens to give a solid surface to the pitch area. There is also a jute-like mat to provide good bounce, he said.

There is a state cricket league and now the field can accommodate league-level games. The local club won't have to travel as far for those, he said.

Eventually, he said he hopes lights can be installed at the field for night games. But right now the club is thrilled to have the brand new field.

Hornik even noted how happy the club and the community were at the dedication: "They were really excited; you could see the joy."

With the new field, Sulguti said the club will welcome new fans to the sport who can learn about its intricacies.

The pitches for the ball, for example, are legendary in their variety. There can be variations in speed, spin and twist, he said.

Americans might have mainly been exposed to cricket by watching British movies or television shows.

One movie, a 1987 memoir of childhood during World War II, "Hope and Glory," spent a scene or two singing the praises of the "googly" in a cricket game, involving a complex leg spin, according to the Internet.

That's a spinning ball, Sulguti said with a laugh. "It's a tricky ball!"