While baseball fans across the country celebrated opening day, residents of West Windsor and Plainsboro have a different bat-and-ball sport to be excited about. Cricket fields are on the horizon for both townships.
“The [West Windsor Cricket] Association has talked about having cricket fields in West Windsor for a long time,” says Kamal Khanna, a former councilman and current member of the association. “Finally, about a year or so ago, while I was still on the town council, I started acting as a coordinator between the township and the association, as a type of community service. I advised the association to get organized and to come up with a plan, which they did, and presented it to the township.”
The plan calls for permanent cricket fields at Community Park, behind the lacrosse fields.
“The township has been very supportive and provided a temporary spot to play cricket,” Khanna said, “but after I left the council, plans for a permanent court kind of fell apart, so I approached Ken Jacobs, the township director of recreation, to see what could be done. He has been a great help, and he presented a plan to the council, which voted 5-0 to allocate funds in the 2015 capital budget for permanent cricket fields.”
“Recently, Jacobs advised the association that he has secured some funds that would allow the project to move ahead in 2014, rather than 2015, so I advised the council of this at the meeting on March 17. There is enough money in the recreation department budget to fund the engineering study, which is the first step in the process. Council Vice President Linda Geevers had requested that this be done properly, with an engineering study, and of course we had agreed to that. All of the council members and the administration are on board with this project. Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and council member Kristina Samonte have sat in on some of the association’s meetings, and council member Peter Mendonez told us that cricket is one of his favorite sports.”
Khanna estimates that 100 to 200 West Windsor residents will utilize the cricket facility, and he expects that number to grow. “Cricket appeals to a wide variety of people from everywhere in the world — India, Pakistan, Australia, England, and the West Indies. For many people from these countries, cricket is the only game they know. And as more and more people relocate to West Windsor from these places, the interest in cricket will continue to grow.”
“Plus,” he added, “cricket is a family sport. While it is played by men and boys, whole families come out to watch games and tournaments. Girls play a kind of cricket known as soft cricket, which is similar to softball. Parents want their kids to learn too. Too often they are just playing on streets and in cul-de-sacs and things.”
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been prepared by Jacobs, who gave it to the cricket association. Once it is signed and returned to the township, the process can begin, starting with the engineering study. According to Khanna, once the MOU is signed, as early as next week, the association will begin a membership drive to increase support for the organization, since it will now have something to offer members.
Unlike a baseball diamond, which has defined dimensions, a cricket field has no set shape. The field is circular or oblong, with a diameter typically of 450 to 500 feet. The cricket pitch (akin to the area between the pitcher’s mound and home plate in baseball) is 22 yards long.
“For now, we are agreeing to one cricket field, with perhaps more than one pitch on that field,” explained Khanna. “Eventually, we may need to expand to up to four fields. South Brunswick has three; Mercer County Park has three, and they are always full. In fact, New Jersey has the most cricket fields of any state in the nation, and players are always looking for more. Cricket is very strong in New Jersey and will continue to get stronger” added Khanna.
Plainsboro Township’s director of Planning and Zoning, Les Varga, saw the same increase in popularity in his town.
“Residents have contacted various members of the town staff over the years expressing an interest in having cricket fields — everything from just having a field to play pick-up games, to regulation fields for tournaments and cricket leagues,” Varga said. “Interest has been increasing, especially as the population of Plainsboro has changed. More and more residents are becoming interested in cricket, and, just like in West Windsor, kids are often forced to play cricket in alleys or streets. This increase in interest was the impetus behind our decision to consider developing a cricket field.”
“The Township Committee charged [township administrator] Robert Sheehan with putting together a memo outlining a proposal for a cricket field. He, in turn, tasked me, recreation director Len Celluro, and public works supervisor Neil Blitz to put together a proposal, which we did.”
Varga explained that the first step was deciding where in Plainsboro the cricket field could be located. An ideal site was found in Plainsboro Park, where there is an unused Little League field.
“Because our knowledge of cricket was so limited, we really had to do some homework to come up with a suitable location. But we believe that this field is the right size to accommodate a regulation-size cricket field, especially if we use a little bit of the adjacent softball field as well,” he said.
“In cricket there are 11 players per side, so there are usually 22 players, plus their families and other spectators. So we need a fair amount of parking for the cricket field. Plus, we learned that cricket games can last up to two days, so between the amount of spectators and the potential length of the games, you need a facility with restrooms as well. Plainsboro Park offers these amenities.”
This proposal was brought before the Township Committee on March 26. The committee asked the group to figure out what needs to be done to put the field at Plainsboro Park.
“We will have to determine if we will need additional parking or space for spectators and players. In addition, we need to figure out if we will need additional grading, irrigation, and/or re-seeding of the field. We also have to design the pitch area, which is generally a manicured section of the field. This needs to be of good quality as well,” said Varga.
For now, the Plainsboro Township staff will look at these issues, and are expected to handle them in-house. “If, after exercising due diligence, we decide that we need an outside engineering study, then of course we will consider it, especially if the field needs to be re-graded. But otherwise we expect to handle the proposal ourselves. We expect that this next phase will be completed in a month, and hope to make another presentation to the Committee at the end of April,” Varga said.
“We will need to put together a budget for this project, but, barring some unforeseen serious circumstance, the cricket field project is expected to go forward,” he added.
