Cricket in the Southeastern US has been played off and on for many years, particularly since British ships docked at Hampton, but except for friendly matches between college clubs there was no organized league cricket in the area until the formation of the Mid-Atlantic Cricket Conference in 1997. The MACC began in the Triangle and spread to eventually include over 40 teams in VA, NC, SC, and GA.
This became an intolerable travel burden for a friendly recreational weekend sports league, and the teams in the NC Triangle split off to form the Triangle Cricket League (TCL) in 2009. Since this cut the heart out of the MACC, the remaining teams split into two leagues, the MACC retaining the name, but containing only VA teams, and the Carolinas Cricket League, covering the Piedmont Triad, Charlotte area and some teams in SC.
The Triangle Cricket League has received outstanding support from the Town of Morrisville, and from its beginning was able to initiate Youth Cricket as a part of the Morrisville youth recreation program. Morrisville has also cooperated with the league in building a new cricket stadium on Church Street, which has interested observers from the USA Cricket looking for a place to play regional and national tournaments.
The TCL has played an active part in USA Cricket’s SE regional tournament and other matches against teams from other regions in all age groups. The youth program has developed crickets who have been chosen for regional under-14 (U14), U15 and U19 teams, and adults have been selected for regional teams.
In 2017 TCL U13 & U15 teams made it to the Finals of the Capital Youth Cricket Tournament in Washington, DC. The U15 team was crowned champions at the inaugural US Open Cricket Championship in Florida, while the U13 team made it to the semifinals.
The TCL sponsored a charity cricket festival in May 2017 at Halifax Mall in Raleigh, an all-day exhibition of fun cricket for all, involving men, women, boys and girls in playing matches to introduce spectators to cricket and raised $4,000 for SAFEchild.
In 2017 there were 17 PL teams and 28 T20 teams in the League. In addition, there were 72 hard tennis-ball (HT) teams. These teams play with a ball that is constructed like a tennis ball, but is fashioned for cricket, being smaller, harder, and heavier than a standard tennis ball. This allows play without as much protective equipment and attractive to many participants. However, some people who can’t get enough cricket play in PL, T20 and HT leagues, all three.
The TCL has benefitted from coaching sessions with international players sponsored by the USA Cricket, as well as with retired West Indies Captain and wicket-keeper Alvin Kallicharran, who lives part-time in the Triangle area.
The TCL’s website, which at press time was still under construction for the 2018 season, contains contact information for the league and individual teams, for folks interested in playing, watching or umpiring. The new leather-ball leagues will begin at the end of March or early April.
Ron Knight