NEW JERSEY: Edison Cricket Club, a non-profit body launched with the aim of promoting cricket in Edison, a heavily Indian populated township, kicked off the 2007 cricket season with the launch of a revamped web site.
Addressing a gathering of its current and new members on April 1, Atul Huckoo, president of ECC, said the new web site (www.edisoncricketclub.org) would keep cricket enthusiasts informed about the latest developments in the game. Live scores, cricket news, mobile cricket are some of the features which are available on the website.
The new site would also be utilized as a tool to introduce the game to the uninitiated, he added. The ECC starts its 2007 season in mid-April with two warm-up matches and jumps into the League matches by this month-end. "Winning is not everything…it's the only thing," said Huckoo. To keep the boys motivated in all the matches Huckoo announced that the team management has instituted "Man of the Match" awards for all their league games.
He added, "In keeping with the tradition of promoting the game we have instituted a few more awards which will help promote the game of cricket in Edison and in New Jersey, these will be distributed at their annual event later this year." Continuing its efforts to build relationships with like-minded organizations in promoting Cricket in the Garden State, the ECC has entered into partnerships with Dreamcricket.com, Red Cherry Management LLC, and Indianera.com, which has built the new web site for ECC.
Among ECC's sponsors are Omni Mortgage, a home and commercial loan company; State Bank of India, the largest public sector bank in India; Makemytrip.com, the online travel portal; and Emirates Airlines, which has supported ECC since its inception three years ago).
Blue Ginger Restaurant in Iselin is now the official caterer for the club, while Kingfisher Beer continues to be its official beverage provider. ECC has approached the town mayor's office to receive the necessary permits to develop a cricket field. Expressing gratitude to the sponsors, Huckoo said, "Cricket is an integral part of the South Asian culture.
We want the second-generation kids to know about this sport, and no other sport or event can bring people from the Indian sub-continent together as cricket does. Started as an informal group to play cricket on baseball fields, Edison Cricket Club has grown in the past few years. It has joined the New Jersey Cricket League and has won almost two-thirds of its total matches.
"We doubled our victories in 2006 from a year before," said Divyesh Patel, captain of the Edison Cricket team. The non-profit body has ambitious goals. It seeks to start teaching cricket to students from Edison and Woodbridge schools.
It also plans to have a dedicated ground for playing cricket in Edison. "Cricket is an expensive game. Our future plans also involve heavy capital expenditure. And, nobody can deny that cricket is an excellent marketing tool," Huckoo said, seeking more individual and corporate sponsorships.
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