New Jersey Cricket Association – A Quick History

The New Jersey Cricket Association is one of the oldest and most successful cricket organizations in the United States.

The league was founded by seven clubs in 1980 the year Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter for the U.S. presidency, and TV fans were in suspense over "Who Shot JR?"

A decade later, league membership had nearly tripled to 20 clubs.

The explosive growth wasn’t surprising, given that the Garden State, sandwiched between New York and Philadelphia, is the third most popular destination for immigrants from around the world.

In 1991, then New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio took notice of the league in a proclamation that praised the organization for rekindling "tremendous enthusiasm and spirit for the sport among hundreds upon hundreds of New Jerseyans of proud West India, Indian, Pakistani, English and Australian descents".

In taking to the parks on weekends in their whites, these new boys of summer were leading a resurgence of a sport that actually predates the American Revolution and is considered the granddaddy of American baseball.

Over the years, the New Jersey Cricket Association has distinguished itself by hosting games against an Indian national team led by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, as well as teams from various West Indian islands.

With membership rising to 22 clubs at the high point, the league would become a victim of its own success. It was a challenge trying to fit that many clubs into a 12-week summer schedule. The league tried to solve the problem by creating two zones.

One year it was the "A" and "B" zones. Another year it was the "North" and "South" zones.

The problem solved itself when the two-zone formula gave birth to a second, separate league.

This season, the New Jersey Cricket Association comprises 12 clubs, a more manageable number, with each club scheduled to play all its rivals in the regular season leading up to the playoffs. The 12 clubs come from North, Central and Southern New Jersey - the state’s three main geographic areas - which makes it truly representative of the entire state of New Jersey.