Move Over, Pickleball — There’s Another Hot New Game in Wilton

If you’ve seen any activity at Wilton’s Lion’s Club Field or Allen’s Meadow over the past year or so, you might have spotted the new game in town.

But it’s actually not new — it’s the centuries-old sport of cricket, and it’s attracting more and more Wilton residents, thanks to the efforts of a few Wilton cricket enthusiasts and the welcoming support of Wilton’s Parks and Recreation Department.

What began informally only two years ago has become a full-fledged club — the Wilton Warriors Cricket Club (WWCC) — with 65 members. Wilton resident Vimal Sharma has been spearheading the movement, along with fellow residents and founding WWCC members Thomas Matthews, Nitish Pundit, Aditya Kaushik, Madhu Krishnamurty, Tarun Brambhani and Anil Duriseti.

Sharma told GMW the idea behind WWCC came from the simple notion that sports have the power to bring people together and foster community spirit.

“We started this club to promote cricket in the town and drive community engagement through the sport,” he said. “Let’s engage more and more people from all walks of life, and that will help integrate our town much more with each other, because sports is one thing that transcends race, color, origin… everybody enjoys it.”

“The goal is really introducing a new sport to the Town [of Wilton] — not just to one part of the town or one community, but to the whole town,” Sharma said.

Sharma is quick to credit Wilton Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve Pierce for helping the club get off the ground.

“One of the best things about this is how much Parks & Rec supported it,” Sharma said, warmly praising Pierce’s responsiveness to the club’s need for field access. “They [Parks & Rec] are working with us.”

While Wilton’s athletic fields do not meet the technical regulations of the sport, Sharma says the fields have sufficed for the club’s initial purposes.

“As long as we can squeeze them in, we’re happy to support it,” Pierce said, noting that the department welcomes and supports a wide range of activities. “Whether it’s dance, art or athletics, we certainly try to work with [anyone] to facilitate their needs as best we possibly can.”

Though the game has a few similarities to baseball — a bat, a ball, pitches, runs and outs — cricket is a very unique game. Matches are played with two teams of 11 players, with most of the action centered on a roughly four- by 22-yd. “pitch” in the middle. Unlike baseball, the pitch needs a surface for the ball to bounce. Game play is 360 degrees around the pitch, not a conical direction like baseball.

Sharma said his dream would be to have a regulation cricket field at Allen’s Meadow, which he said would not have to be an entirely dedicated field, since much of it could be shared with a soccer field.

Sharma expressed deep gratitude to Pierce for being an “amazing guide, facilitator and mentor,” and to First Selectman Toni Boucher for being “very supportive” of the club’s vision. [Editor’s note: Boucher helped raise awareness of the club in her Aug. 2, 2024 email newsletter to residents.]

The WWCC is actively recruiting new members — especially women and youth — with some events in the planning stages for this fall, in anticipation of the new cricket season start in the spring. Special coaching sessions are offered to newcomers.

While the club currently fields a men’s team, more women are needed beyond the six female members who are currently playing or learning the game. Until more women join, informal games are played with both men and women.

Sharma and Pierce are both hopeful an eight-week Parks & Rec youth program will be offered this fall.

“That will create a lot more visibility,” Sharma said.

Sharma said the club has already seen significant interest from kids. WWCC organized summer programs for the last two years for 5-13 year olds, enlisting renowned professional cricket player Jay Singh as a coach. Sharma hopes to see enough participation among Wilton’s youth that cricket will be added as school sport.

“When sports get started within the school, it becomes much more part of that community,” he said.

Pierce compared the growth of cricket to the early days of the field hockey program in Wilton — starting small, then growing into a program like other more established sports in Wilton.

“I look at what we’re going to be trying to do with the cricket program in a very similar way,” he said.

Sharma moved to Wilton from Norwalk in 2017. He previously played cricket in Stamford and coached a women’s team. His wife Preeti also plays the game.

The WWCC’s men’s team plays weekend matches as part of a Connecticut league — and it’s a winning team. Right now, Sharma says Wilton is leading the league. 

Cricket has long been popular throughout the world — from England to South Africa and Australia and throughout Southeast Asia — but the growth of cricket in Wilton is part of a renaissance for the sport in the U.S. Cricket matches were well documented in early America, even before baseball — but by the late 1800s baseball eclipsed cricket as America’s popular pastime.

However, cricket has regained momentum in the U.S. in recent years and is no longer just an amateur sport. It reached the so-called big leagues in the U.S. in 2023, when Major League Cricket (MLC) was launched. There are now six professional teams across the U.S. — including one nearby in New York, which won the MLC’s championship game its first two years — and more expected.

Cricket will also be an Olympic sport for both men and women in 2028.

Sharma believes the future of the sport is bright, both in Wilton and across the country.

“Believe it or not, in the recent Cricket World Cup in June 2024, the USA cricket team beat Pakistan, which was a strong cricket team,” he said. “So hopefully, the game has a bright future in the country… This sport will grow.”

To join or learn more about WWCC, email Vimal Sharma. Curious for more information about the game? MLC’s website has detailed history, match videos, rules about the sport, and more.