Cricket in the neighbourhood of gangsta rap
Christina Hoag, writing for the Associated Press , tells us about 'the Homies and the Popz', Compton Cricket Club's talented team
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Christina Hoag, writing for the Associated Press, tells us about 'the Homies and the Popz', Compton Cricket Club's talented team. The first team from the US to tour Australia, they hail from a city on Los Angeles' southern border known more for gangsta rap and gang shootings. Check out the video here.
Compton Cricket Club players have sipped tea with Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace, played against Aborigines in the Australian outback, and swapped stories of violence-torn neighborhoods with residents of Belfast. At home, though, it's another story ... Several players sport tattoos saying "cricket outta Compton" and "from gats to bats" ("gats" is street slang for guns). The team raps cricket-themed songs titled "Shots" and "Bullets". A couple players have served jail terms. One missed the Australian trip because he was on parole. Another was killed in a driveby shooting.
The game's etiquette has helped them mature beyond the confines of urban street culture ... The Cazarez brothers, whose third brother Jesse was killed in the driveby, said the sport's emphasis on accepting the umpire's call helped them cope. "If something doesn't go your way, keep your head high and just go with it," said Ricardo Cazarez, 26. "Life's not fair sometimes".
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo