CRICKET FAN HOPES TO WIN OVER U.S. : LANCASTER DOCTOR GUIDING NATIONAL TEAM.Byline: Kathy Orton Daily News Staff Writer Cricket is not a sport understood or appreciated by most Americans. But Antony Ernest, a 55-year-old Lancaster cardiologist Cardiologist Doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating heart diseases. Mentioned in: Electrophysiology Study of the Heart, Lithotripsy cardiologist a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. , is trying to change that. This modest, unassuming man is the sport's devoted ambassador. An avid and longtime cricketer, Ernest was recently named manager of the U.S. national cricket team and chairs the selection committee for the national team. While the national team's success is of great importance to him, Ernest sees the responsibility of his office as being much greater than making sure the team has hotel reservations for its tournaments. Ernest wants to educate Americans about cricket in hopes that they will embrace it in the same way they embraced soccer. ``We (the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ) would be world champions in no time,'' Ernest said. Currently, the U.S. team consists of expatriates. Most of the members learned cricket in their native country before coming to the United States. In order to have a competitive team, the U.S. national team must accept cricketers from other countries since few Americans play the sport. Cricket is similar to baseball in that there is a pitcher, a catcher, a batter and fielders. Ernest believes that baseball might have derived from cricket. But there the similarities quickly end. The ball is red and much harder than a baseball. Because of that, cricketers wear much more protective padding Bits or characters that fill up unused portions of a data structure, such as a field, packet or frame. Typically, padding is done at the end of the structure to fill it up with data, with the padding usually consisting of 1 bits, blank characters or null characters. See null and bit stuffing. than baseball players. Also the bat looks more like a long, flat paddle An input device that moves the screen cursor in a back-and-forth motion. It has a dial and one or more buttons and is typically used in games to hit balls and steer objects. See joy stick. Paddle - A language for transformations leading from specification to program. than a Louisville slugger. But perhaps the most striking difference between the two sports is the length of a game. While a typical major-league baseball game Noun 1. baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League might take three hours to play, a cricket match may take the entire day or five days to complete. ``That's why it hasn't caught on here,'' Ernest said. Aside from the time factor, Ernest believes that most Americans would appreciate the skill and strategy involved in a match once they understood the game. ``It's a thinking game,'' Ernest said. ``If we can get people to watch at a higher level of play, more people will become interested.'' Ernest began playing cricket in his native Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (srē läng`kə) [Sinhalese,=resplendent land], formerly Ceylon, ancient Taprobane, officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic (2005 est. pop. when he was a 9-year-old and went on to become a member of the Sri Lankan national team in the 1960s. After moving to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , he quit the sport for five years. Then started up again once he relocated to California. He was a member of the U.S. national team that played in the 1982 World Cup at Birmingham, England. Though he has a trip to Barbados planned for April 13 with the U.S. national team, Ernest has April 20 and 21 circled as red-letter days red-letter day Noun a memorably important or happy occasion [from the red letters in ecclesiastical calendars to indicate saints' days] Noun 1. on his calendar. That's when the Sri Lankan national team - the 1996 World Cup winner - travels to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, for a two-game tour. The Sri Lankan national team plays the U.S. national team and the Southern California Cricket Association team April 20 and 21 at Woodley Park Woodley Park refers to the following:
Though he doesn't expect his team to win - ``It would be like the U.S. beating the Soviet Union in hockey at the Olympics,'' he said - Ernest hopes the excitement surrounding the two games will encourage Americans to become involved in the sport. ``It's easy to understand once somebody explains it to you,'' Ernest said. The matches begin at 9:30 a.m. both days. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Dr. Antony Ernest wants to educate Americans about c ricket in hopes that they will embrace it in the same way as soccer. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion