According to published reports, some neighbors are opposed to having a cricket field in the proposed Palm Avenue Community Park in Fremont. The main fear is that flying cricket balls, which each weigh about five ounces, could injure a child or elderly person or damage homes or cars.
It is more like the fear of the unknown. A regulation baseball weighs between 5 and 5.25 ounces. We are not concerned, I bet, if the plan is to build a baseball field instead. Balls flying over to the street or neighborhood will be rare in both the games and can easily be prevented in the design and construction of the stadium.
People here are not familiar with cricket. Both baseball and cricket trace their origins back to medieval European bat-and-ball games and are more like “cousins!” Cricket fields all over the world are in the middle of cities and residential neighborhoods and are safe. The Tri-City Area has thousands of cricket players: Let them enjoy life!
Subru Bhat
Union City
