Going for the googly

Nassau County just unveiled two new cricket pitches in Eisenhower Park.

The two new pitches are at Field 11 and Field 16.

The county is also installing a new pitch for youth cricket leagues at Cow Meadow Park in Freeport that should be ready for play soon. The upgrades are part of a recent $15 million plan from Nassau County to improve parks and green spaces.

Because of the huge demand for places to play the sport, permits for teams to use the new cricket pitches will be determined by lottery.

For youngsters interested in learning the sport, the nonprofit Long Island Youth Cricket Academy offers coaching programs for kids from ages 6 to 16, teaching them how to bat, bowl, wicket keep and field. The group meets at Eisenhower Park on Saturday mornings and posts schedules and events on its website.

Cricket, which has about 2.5 billion fans, is the second most popular sport in the world after soccer, according to WorldAtlas.com.

Some useful cricket terms:

Bail: One of the two smaller sticks placed on top of the three stumps to form a wicket

Dolly: An easy catch

Duck/blob: A score of zero

Googly: The leg spinner’s variation that turns into the right-hander and away from the left-hander

Legspin: When the ball pitches and turns from leg to off for a right-hander

Stumps: The three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket

Wicket: Used to describe the 22 yards between the stumps, the stumps collectively (bails included), the act of hitting these stumps and so dismissing the batsman

ESPNcricinfo