It may not be baseball season, but UF students are still swinging bats.
The Gator Cricket Club placed first in the South East Conference Championship earlier this month, winning the title for the second consecutive year.
The team competed against seven others, including the No. 2 University of South Florida, according to the American College Cricket website.
“There was a bit of pressure on us to defend ourselves,” said team captain Sudharsan Govindarajan, a 22-year-old second-year mechanical engineering graduate student at UF.
The team practices Mondays and Thursdays for two hours at Lake Alice Field. However, a cricket field requires a pitch, which is a rectangle of special material 22 yards by 10 feet at the center of the field. The UF team lacks a pitch and plays on the grass.
“Most teams have a pitch of their own,” Govindarajan said. “It’s an advantage that helps a lot.”
Vice captain Harshul Kumar said the ball bounces differently on a pitch than on the grass. He said the team is trying to raise money to buy a pitch, but it could cost more than $600.
UF is currently ranked No. 12, but the 23-year-old second-year construction engineering graduate student said that will change.
Ricky Nayar, a 22-year-old fifth-year civil and environmental engineering student, said the team won by about 70 runs.
But the league isn’t only about winning, Nayar said. Team members also teach others in the school and community about cricket. Teams get bonus points for outreach prior to tournaments, which can affect their rankings.
The national championship, which will be in March, will feature about 30 teams. Nayar said the UF club has gone to Nationals since 2010.
Between now and March, the team will play practice games against Florida teams to prepare, Govindarajan said.
“[Winning] gives us a lot of confidence going into nationals,” he said.
Contact Samantha Shavell at sshavell@alligator.org.
