New York recognises cricket as varsity sport

While the row over who runs US cricket rumbles on, some good news from New York where the New York Times reports that the city will become the first school district in the country to recognise cricket as an official varsity sport.

As many as seven schools in Brooklyn and Queens have expressed interest in fielding teams when the Public Schools Athletic League launches the season in the spring, education officials said, and recent weekend clinics have drawn scores of students.

"When I saw the ad on the wall I said, 'Damn, I've got to be dreaming,' " said Avinash Sookhwa, a junior at John Adams High School in Queens who emigrated from Guyana in 2004. "It was a feeling like being down to the last point and the game is in your hands. All I wanted to do was play."