LAUDERHILL, Fla. — One of the most popular sports in the entire world is gaining momentum in South Florida.
We took a trip down to Lauderhill to visit Broward County Stadium, the only ICC-certified cricket stadium in North America.
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Chris Dehring, a long-time resident of Broward County and the CEO of West Indies Cricket, is excited to be at the forefront of a newfound passion for a game that originated in England and dates back to the 1600s.
Dehring said there are over 400 leagues in the United States.
An accomplished cricket player himself, Dehring was registered at birth with the Kingston Cricket Club in Jamaica.
"The British colonized us like everybody else and this was their sport. This was the sport of the gentleman. This was the sport of the hierarchy or British society," Dehring said. "They came to the Caribbean. They grouped us together, all their colonies, and called us the West Indies and guess what, we started to beat them and we became the best in the world."
It's a game that tests the will and determination of its players.
From hitting to fielding to bowling, it's a little like baseball since you hit a ball with a bat — typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood-blade.
There are many forms of cricket today, even one designed to last about as long as an American football game.
Dehring said the future of the game is bright with an unmatched excitement.
"We took test cricket and made it this real social event, picnics at the game, music, live entertainment," he said. "We took it to a different level."
Last year Broward Stadium proudly hosted some of the T20 World Cup matches.
T20 is a shorter, faster version of the game. Instead of five days, it's now just a few hours.
Dehring said it was a huge honor for Broward Stadium to host the games.
"Globally, T-20 has become a phenomenon. It was massive. It was the first time it was being hosted in the U.S. and so it was almost like an experiment. The world wanted to see how popular this would be," he said.
Dehring is encouraged about the future of the sport and is hopeful more people discover just how special cricket is.
