A common ground

Immigrants from Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies battle it out on any given weekend in Tom Bass Regional Park, flexing their national pride.

But then why do they play?

"The point is, there is a common culture among all these players and that is
cricket," said Itty Abraham, professor of government and Asian studies at the
University of Texas at Austin. "It doesn't matter where you come from."

Unfortunately, the game is still being played by the first generation immigrants and the more recent ones. Their children take no interest and very few of them play cricket.

"All these 300 men are probably first generation and it's not going to be taken
up by the next generation, it's not going to be adopted by the children," said
Sharmila Rudrappa, a University of Texas sociology professor who specializes in
South Asian immigration. "This cricket popularity is going to be quite dependent
on new arrivals coming here all the time."

A common ground in danger?