The Gentleman's Game

For Ismail Bhai, cricket is more than a sport. It is a shared language that has crossed oceans with families from South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

This journal gathers his reflections on the game: its long history, its formats, its craft, and its unexpected and welcome flowering in North Texas.

Cricket was played in the fields of south-east England by the sixteenth century, and the first international match was played not in London but in New York, between the United States and Canada, in 1844. The game spread with the British Empire and was then made their own by the nations that adopted it, from Australia and the West Indies to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

• Test cricket. Up to five days, two innings a side, and the game's purest examination of skill, stamina and temperament.
• One-Day Internationals. Fifty overs a side, balancing strategy with urgency.
• Twenty20. Twenty overs a side, a three-hour spectacle that has carried the game to new audiences around the world.

Good batting begins with stillness: a balanced stance, the head steady over the ball, and the patience to leave what need not be played. Good bowling is the art of asking the same question in slightly different ways until the batter answers wrongly. Fielding, so often overlooked, wins more matches than either.

Twenty20 turned cricket into prime-time entertainment: three hours of sixes, slower balls, diving catches and finishes that are often decided on the final delivery. Floodlights, music, fireworks and cheerleaders have made the leagues as much a spectacle as a sport.

• The IPL. India's Indian Premier League, founded in 2008, is the richest and most-watched cricket league in the world, drawing the finest players from every cricketing nation.
• The PSL. The Pakistan Super League, launched in 2016, is celebrated for the speed and hostility of its fast bowling and the passion of its crowds.
• The craft of speed. In T20, a single over can turn a match: yorkers at the toes, bouncers at the badge, and batters who answer with audacious ramps and scoops.

Cricket is unusual in writing respect into its laws. The Preamble to the Laws of Cricket asks players to accept the umpire's decision, to respect opponents and team-mates, and to play hard but fair. It is a fine code for the field, and not a bad one for life.

The game has returned to the country of that first international. The United States co-hosted the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2024, and Major League Cricket, launched in 2023, has made Grand Prairie Stadium, just west of Dallas, one of its homes. On weekend mornings across North Texas, club matches draw families from every corner of the cricketing world.

Ismail Bhai lives in Dallas, Texas, with his family. He is a lifelong cricket enthusiast, a wildlife photographer, a skier and a member of the Shia Ismaili Muslim community, and he writes on insurance and the management of risk. More at ismailbhai.com.