Editor’s note: Steve S. Rao is a Council Member At Large and Former Mayor Pro Tem for the Town of Morrisville and an Opinion Writer for WRAL Tech Wire. He served on the Board of the New American Economy, now the American Immigration Council, and on the NC League of Municipalities Race and Equity Task Force. He is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.
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MORRISVILLE – There comes a time in the life of a city or Town, when the arrival of a major sports venue triggers life, energy, and vitality to a region.
Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium became home to the Carolina Panthers and the National Football League.
Baseball Fans visit downtown Durham to cheer on the Bulls at Durham Bulls Athletic Stadium. One can even head out to Zebulon to cheer on the Carolina Mudcats.
Professional Soccer continues to thrive at Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary, which served as the home of the Carolina Railhawks and now hosts professional teams North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC.
PNC Arena, home to the Carolina Hurricanes brings the best teams of the National Hockey League to our state.
And, let’s not forget the Cary Tennis Park, a world class tennis facility which has hosted The Atlantic Tire Tennis Championships, a $50,000 ATP Challenger Tournament. This tournament brings in top world ranked players on the ATP Tour. Some players even come from the US Open to play this tournament.
Enthusiastic fans, packed stands of fans watching world class athletes from the professional sports teams can do wonders to the local economy and branding of a community.
And, now the Town of Morrisville joins the list of North Carolina Towns that will host not only professional but international sports! Last week, Major League Cricket (MLC)and the Town of Morrisville announced a multi-million-dollar public-private partnership to jointly invest in the expansion of Church Street Park, upgrading the facility into an international-quality cricket venue.
What is Cricket?
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players each on a field at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the bowler, “bowls” (propels) the ball from one end of the pitch towards the wicket at the other end, with an “over” being completed once they have legally done so six times. (Wikipedia definition)
The game is very popular in the British Commonwealth countries and much of South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan.
This most recent investment will see the addition of more than 2,000 permanent seats to the scenic venue, increasing Church Street Park’s capacity to over 3,500. Upgrades will also include the installation of state-of-the-art broadcast infrastructure, additional parking and LED illuminated natural and artificial turf practice pitches and nets.
John Chambers, left, with Steve Rao
The enhancements will allow Church Street Park to host world-class MLC matches and serve as a flagship facility for USA Cricket’s National Team games and training. The venue would meet the criteria necessary to host games at the 2024 T20 Men’s World Cup, an event viewed by over 500 million cricket fans worldwide. The USA host venues are expected to be announced later this year.
Opened in 2015, Church Street Park is recognized as one of the best venues for cricket in the United States. The park features an LED illuminated natural turf pitch in a scenic setting at the heart of North Carolina’s Research Triangle region, conveniently located only 15 miles from Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham. The venue hosted the inaugural Minor League Cricket Championship finals weekend last October, with more than 3,000 fans in attendance to watch the Silicon Valley Strikers claim the title.
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MLC, America’s first professional T20 cricket competition, represents the most ambitious and transformational venture ever undertaken in the American cricket landscape. Focused on staging world-class Twenty20 cricket for American cricket fans, MLC will feature top players from around the globe and provide a stage for domestic cricketers to showcase their talents to a worldwide audience.
Tom Dunmor, Vice President of Marketing of Major League Cricket, in a recent interview with South Asian Radio Station, Radio Nyra, stated, “This investment puts Morrisville not only on the American Cricket Map, but on the global map as one of the premier cricket destinations in the world.” (Tune in at 4 pm this Sunday for the interview on 99.9FMHD4, 101.9 FM and 1490AM or www.radionyrausa.com)
These recent upgrades will provide fantastic facilities for continued community play, USA Cricket’s National Teams and for future Major League and international cricket events. (2/3 Town of Morriville Press Release, Wil Glenn)
None of the major facilities and professional sports teams which I have mentioned came by luck or by accident. It took hard work, vision, investment to make these teams a reality for these North Carolina cities.
The All America City Town of Morrisville is no exception.
The Morrisville Cricket Journey demonstrates years of commitment from local players and fans, many of whom grew up playing or watching cricket. Like football or baseball in the United States, Cricket is the national sport of India and Pakistan. With over 55% of the Town population from India, it is only natural that this sport is gaining some serious momentum in Morrisville.
THE MORRISVILLE CRICKET JOURNEY
The Town of Morrisville Cricket Journey has been a marathon, not a sprint, as the Town has embraced cricket for its community over many years, with Church Street Park a home for the sport since 2015. I have always been proud of our investment in Church Street Park, with its tennis courts, a playground, walking path, and connection to a beautiful greenway. However, I never imagined that the investment of a Cricket Pitch on our multi purpose field would transform the Town into a global destination for some the best cricket players in the world.
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Competitive cricket started in the Triangle in 1997 when the Mid-Atlantic Cricket Conference (MCC) was formed using an open field in Morrisville and other fields along the east coast. Teams in the MACC originally came from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
Town of Morrisville worked with the MCC to start the first local youth program in 2007. The MCC grew until there were enough teams locally to start a separate program, the Triangle Cricket League with their first full season in 2010.
TCL has with over 110 teams playing in youth and adult programs in the Triangle area.
Momentum in Cricket really started to take off in Morrisville over the past two years, as Team USA has trained at Church Street Park for World Cup competitions, and the Town hosted the USA Cricket Champtionships.
Former Morrisville Mayor Mark Stohlman, an avid player himself, has been a major advocate for Cricket expansion, along with my colleagues on the Council. My colleague, Council Member Satish Garimella, an immigrant from Mumbai who grew up playing Cricket has also brought great perspective and insight to our more recent efforts.
Even a pandemic did not slow down Cricket enthusiasm as the Morrisville Cardinals launched the first professional cricket team in the state last Summer. I enjoyed a few hot summer days watching Cardinal games with Wake County Commission Chair Sig Hutchison, United States Congresswoman Deborah Ross, other elected officials from across the region, and Denny Edwards, CEO of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.
Morrisville Cardinals Owner Praveen Chakkaraj is very excited about the future growth of Cricket with the partnership between Major League Cricket and the Town of Morrisville “The Morrisville Cardinals are proud to have one of the largest and most passionate fanbases in Minor League Cricket, and these improvements will give spectators an even better experience at beautiful Church Street Park. The enhanced playing and training facilities will also support our work to develop young players to a professional level and compete for USA National Team places.” (Morrisville Press Release, Feb 3, 2022)
Moving forward, I see opportunities to collaborate with Wake County to receive Hotel Occupancy Tax dollars to fund even more expansions, much like we did with the Wake Competition Center, the training facility for the Carolina Hurricanes. I cannot think of a better time than now, as we emerge from a Pandemic, to bring in fans from around the country and world, to the Triangle region to watch Cricket. Professional Cricket, and World Cup tournaments will support our local hotels, restaurants, and accelerate a stronger, more vibrant Post Covid Economy.
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As the Musical Score in Rent reminds us, a year can be measured in minutes. 525, 600 to be exact.
Our Town, the Triangle Cricket League and players have spent millions of minutes, growing the game of Cricket, which has led to a multimillion dollar investment which sends a message to the world:
In North Carolina, we think big, and we are ready for investments from anywhere in the world.
The Morrisville Cricket journey demonstrates, resilience, not only on how we bounce back but how we bounce forward during a pandemic.
We look forward to many more minutes of playing and watching Cricket and growing this game.
