Indianapolis plays host to cricket Combine

Cricket found its way to the surprising setting of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the weekend, with the city’s Mayor Tom Ballard welcoming players selected for Phase 2 of the ICC Americas Combine during an event on the famous track.

The Speedway hosts the Indianapolis 500, the largest one-day sporting event in the world that attracts a crowd of over 300,000 fans, and Mayor Ballard saw the track as a fitting location for the continued promotion of cricket in Indianapolis and more generally, in the United States.

“We were lucky that the ICC picked us to host a (World) Twenty20 Qualifier a couple months ago,” he said.

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“We had four countries playing here on the terrific field at the Indianapolis World Sports Park. Now we have the (ICC Americas) Combine. It’s an incredible sport to watch.”

Following the welcome, a game of street cricket took place on the famed ‘yard of bricks’ involving West Indies legend and Combine coach Courtney Walsh, Mayor Ballard, Indy car driver Conor Daly, and some of the Combine players.

“The sports community in this town is unique (and) has made us feel incredibly welcome,” said ICC Head of Global Development, Tim Anderson.

“Mayor Ballad saw the opportunity that cricket has in the USA.

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Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard welcomes the Combine players // ICC

“There are two billion cricket fans across the world and over 15 million in this country. Cricket is about to take off, and with the help of the city of Indianapolis, we’re on a great track.”

Anderson also spoke of cricket’s significant history in North America.

“There are records of cricket from 1709. Three-hundred years ago, the first President of the USA George Washington played cricket, and in 1844 the first ever international sporting event (was a game of cricket) played in New York City between the USA and Canada,” he said.

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Thirty-three players from Bermuda, Canada, Suriname and the US have been selected for Phase 2 of the Combine that commenced on Saturday at the Indianapolis World Sports Park. 

Due to the support of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), an ICC Americas team will be selected after the Combine to participate in the WICB’s Nagico Super 50 event in January 2016.

The Combine ran across September 26-27, and in addition to Walsh, former Australia fielding coach Mike Young and former India international and ICC Asia Development Officer Venkatapathy Raju are part of the coaching panel.