Cricket Shop – The pace in Singh’s sports gear is as slow as a cricket match – some of them can last as long as five days. The customer can think before making a decision and come back the next day. Another might fly in and sit down and watch the New Zealand game on the in-store television.
The idea that cricket is the second most popular sport in the world is reflected in the shop’s West Indian, South Asian, English and Australian customers who make up New York’s modest but passionate community.
Cricket Shop
With the cricket season underway in the city and punters fantasizing about weekend league games with chicken lunch breaks, the shop has started its busiest days yet. In the winter, the owner commented that “you might not see a customer for a day or two.”
Total Cricket Centre
There are only a few stores in New York that specialize in cricket gear. And while the sport is not the usual pastime, Singh is home to serious bowlers and wicketkeepers from across the five cities.
A narrow display case in Ozone Park, Queens, holds hundreds of bats. Monochrome red nobel balls are abundant. All sorts of other equipment is also available: large pillows, hats, specially wrapped shoes, bat polishing formula, sun hats, biographies of great cricketers.
“New York is the home of American cricket,” said Ricky Singh, the store’s owner. Mr. Singh, 52, moved to New York from Guyana in 1986. “I came here on a Thursday and played cricket that Saturday,” he said. Mr. Singh started the business as a side project when he decided that sports deserved more than people getting their hands on gear during park games. Now he runs a shop with his wife Sandra. His 22-year-old son keeps a ball on a string in the yard for batting practice, and the store’s reputation as a cricket haven is such that famous players such as Clive Lloyd stopped dominant West Indies teams in the 1970s. .
One Saturday before the start of the season, Mohimee Mohindra Prasad traveled from Schenectady to buy a bat. He tried more than 20, covering the counter with a mass of wooden boards, when he took striking positions, slowly cutting into the air.
Cricket Store 4 U
Mr. Singh gave him another. “This one feels like you’re holding a bat,” he said. “The meat is in the right place.”
“Bats are very personal,” Mr Singh continued. “In baseball, you only go one way. There are different styles in cricket. ” He later suggested that baseball players are made of weaker stuff than cricketers, who handle hard leather balls and bowl with their arms.
In the afternoon, four young men appeared, chased away with a box, bats and balls. A Pakistani couple went shopping with their 11-year-old son and bought him a miniature doll used to collect players’ autographs. His father, Navoid Baku, said his son fell into the game by teaching Hispanic youth in their neighborhood how to play.
As evening drew in and Ms Singh prepared to dress up, 20-year-old Ahmed Marzooq stopped by to see the bats. The next day he played his first game of the season.
The Cricket Shop Hi Res Stock Photography And Images
“Good luck with your game tomorrow,” said Mrs. Singh as she paid and prepared to leave. – I hope you will run a lot.
A version of this article appears in the MB section, page 3 of the New York edition under the title: Clubs and Balls for All-rounders. Repeat orders | Today’s newspaper Subscribe