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In “big win for the community,” Detroit’s only public cricket field opens

A public cricket field opened in Detroit on Saturday for the first time since the 1970s.

saiyed ahmed standing in front of field
Lester Graham
/
Michigan Radio
Cricket player and community organizer Saiyed Ahmed.

Cricket player Saiyed Ahmed is one of the people who helped make the new pitch a reality. To keep up with cricket’s rising popularity in Detroit, he pushed for the city to build a professional, public field.

“Slowly, Detroit residents, officials, everybody started getting used to the game,” Ahmed said. "And since that, now we’ve got a cricket field in Detroit.”

Ahmed started playing cricket in Detroit around 2004 — just about a year after he moved to the area from Bangladesh.

Back in 2004, Ahmed says only about eight people played the game in Banglatown, a neighborhood located on the border of Hamtramck and Detroit. Now, there are around 16 teams with 11-15 players each in this area alone.

Listen above to hear Ahmed explain why this pitch is a “big win for the community.” And for those Americans unfamiliar with the British pastime, he also explains how the game of cricket works.

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