Cricket is one of the most popular sports in
the world, but is relatively scarce in the United
States. It is played with a ball
and a bat, has fielders and a
pitch, but does not have much
more in common with the Great
American Pastime, baseball. One thing it does have in common
with baseball is passionate
players and fans who love the
game. Nawaid Isa is one of those
passionate cricketers. He plan
s
on constructing a first class
Cricket complex, complete with
a lighted field, concession area,
a recreational area and playground
for families. There is
currently only one other lighted
cricket field in the United States
and it is in Broward County, FL. Nawaid came to the U.S. in
1996 and studied for a Master’s
Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He lived in various cities
around the country until he
and his family came to Houston. Houston reminded his
parents and himself of their home in Karachi,
Pakistan, so they stayed. Isa was a national level badminton player in
Pakistan and still plays at a high level. However,
his heart is with Cricket.
“Badminton is my sport,” said Isa, “but
Cricket is my passion.”
A lack of playing fields in the
Houston area led to playing the
game in large parking lots and
city park fields where available. He tried negotiating with Houston
park superintendents to pay
for temporary lights on field areas
with some type of use agreement,
but was unsuccessful. He
decided if he was going to work
that hard, he would try to find
a piece of land not too far out of
the city for this project. He found
this spot, near the intersection of
Johnson Road and Long Lane. Currently he has poured the
pitches, where the bowler delivers
the ball to the batsman
and is leveling the nearly circular
field. Isa is getting turf grass
started and hoping to hold
tournaments in the fall.
“I am very delighted with this
project,” said Isa. “I love this
rural area and want to keep
it intact. Cricket is not a noisy
or disruptive sport, but is very
family oriented. We want to be good neighbors
and share our love of our sport and this beautiful
countryside.”
