Lesson 4: Central Broward Regional Park & The Game of Cricket

Cricket! Have you ever played this sport?

Cricket is the national sport of England and is believed to have originated there. It is played with a ball and a bat, like baseball, and requires two teams with eleven players. It is played on an oval, grassy field called a "ground." 

A match can have several innings, with teams taking turns to bat and field. The team that scores the most runs wins. 

Here are some interesting facts about the sport of cricket:

• The first ever international sporting match was a cricket match.  It took place in 1844 between Canada and the United States of America. Who do you think won? (hint: our neighbors to the north)
• An international match in cricket is called a ‘Test Match’ which consists of a single match that can last up to 5 days. 
• The longest match in the history of cricket took place in 1939 in South Africa between the South African team and a team from England. The teams took part in a single match that lasted 10 days, and it had end unfinished because the English team needed to catch their ship home. It was declared a draw.
• The first game of cricket ever recorded took place in 1646. 
• Although America’s most popular bat and ball game is now baseball, originally the first game ever to be played in the United States using a bat and ball was cricket.

Central Broward Regional Park

Central Broward Regional Park and Central Broward Stadium is a large county park in Lauderhill. The whole complex spans 110 acres and features four soccer/football fields, two cricket fields, netball courts, tennis courts, basketball courts and water playground. It is owned and operated by Broward County. It opened in November of 2007 at a construction cost of $70 million.

The stadium at the park was the first U.S. cricket pitch to receive certification by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to be able to host international matches. The park is special because it hosted the first full cricket international matches in America. The main event field was designed to accommodate the sport of cricket.  The campus features a large circular grass field roughly 167 yards (153 meters) in diameter. Surrounding it is a 5,000-seat stadium and large berms capable of holding 15,000 more people.

The first organized cricket event held there was a Twenty20 cricket tournament, the Martin Luther King Twenty20 Cricket Tournament (MLK T20), from January 18–20, 2008. The event featured local players from India, Pakistan and the West Indies.

The first international tournament hosted was another Twenty20 tournament in 2008 that featured teams from Canada, Pakistan, the West Indies, and the rest of the world, including former superstars such as Javed Miandad, Richie Richardson and Mohammed Azharuddin.

Have you ever been to a Cricket game at the Central Broward Stadium? 

Most games are held on Saturdays at the park.

Career Corner!

Parks and Recreation Management

The park and recreation management program provides an interdisciplinary (vocabulary: relating to more than one branch of knowledge) education in the management of parks, protected area and community-based recreation services and special events, like Cricket at Broward Central Regional Park.

Quiz Time!

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Check out the Top 5 Catches at the Broward Central Regional Park!