Cricket Match, Anyone?

The renaissance of cricket is happening in Silicon = Valley.

From: Issue 12 = |=20 December 1997/January 1998, Page 78 By: Eric Ransdell=20 Photographs by: Katrina Dickson

Every Sunday from April to October, a several-centuries-old tradition = meets a=20 new-world ritual on playing fields from Santa Clara to Marin County. For = eight=20 hours some of Silicon Valley's top knowledge workers alternate hurling = and=20 thwacking balls across a 22-yard pitch of freshly mowed grass. It's the = height=20 of the season for the 26 teams in the Northern California Cricket = Association=20 (NCCA) -- and players are decked out in white duck trousers, white wool = vests,=20 and white, floppy canvas hats to bowl, bat, and take afternoon tea.

Tea? Cricket? Indeed. Once the domain of homesick British and = Australian=20 expatriates, California cricket has exploded as talent-hungry computer = companies=20 have lured thousands of Indian and Pakistani engineers -- who grew up = with the=20 game -- to Silicon Valley. The growth in cricket clubs mirrors the = growth of the=20 players' high-tech employers: Oracle, Netscape, Sun Microsystems. In = 1993 there=20 were 16 teams in the NCCA http://www.ncalcricket.org ; this spring the = league=20 will expand to include double that number. At the same time, cucumber = sandwiches=20 have given way to vegetarian curries at teatime, and the teams resemble = a=20 subcontinental United Nations, with players from India, Pakistan, and = Sri Lanka=20 as well as the West Indies and Australia.

Sridhar Ranganathan, star fast bowler (pitcher) for the Santa Clara = Cricket=20 Club (SCCC), is typical of the new breed of Silicon Valley cricketers. = He grew=20 up playing the game on the streets of Bombay before earning a BS in = engineering=20 at the city's university. From there he went on to get an MS in computer = science=20 from Villanova University and then an MBA from Berkeley (while working = full-time=20 at Xerox). A year ago he launched a startup that makes software to = integrate=20 computers and television.

For Ranganathan, 32, cricket not only links him to a rich network of=20 engineering talent (95% of SCCC's members hold engineering degrees); it = also=20 offers a gratifying mix of competition and community. "It's half sport, = half=20 social occasion," he says. League games are fierce -- teams battle it = out in a=20 round-robin until the playoffs in late September -- but the SCCC's 55 = members=20 seem to spend as much time together at parties, picnics, and outings as = on the=20 field. And, true to their engineering roots, team members debate = everything from=20 game strategy to groundskeeping on an email list and maintain a club Web = site=20 http://www.best.com/~srikar/sccc with schedules, player bios, and = cricket=20 links.

Still, it seems an unlikely combination. Cricket is defined by = deep-rooted=20 traditions, elaborate rules, and an emphasis on "civilized" = sportsmanship: "it's=20 not cricket" translates as "it's not fair." Information Age engineers = don't=20 stand on ceremony -- and are known for breaking more rules than they = follow. But=20 the players have found the critical link: wins, like killer products, = are built=20 from hundreds of small plays. "More than anything else, cricket is about = consistency," explains Srinivasa "Babu" Gopaladhine, 28, an SCCC spin = bowler and=20 a hardware design engineer for Sun Microsystems's chip division. "It's = about=20 getting run after run and building toward a target. That requires = endurance,=20 patience, and long-term strategy." Sounds like the kind of talent = Silicon Valley=20 is looking for.