Cricket in El Salvador

The second-most popular sport in the world, cricket was seen by some for many decades as a sport played mainly by the British and their former colonies. In this part of the world it’s been best known as “the sport that is a bit like baseball,” but that’s changing. Cricket’s new stronghold is Asia, and its latest form is being promoted on our doorstep in the Caribbean. 

In El Salvador cricket is in its fourth season with a small but competitive league which plays from September through June in the nation’s capital. So much progress has been made that there is now a national team, which has already competed in two international tournaments and in March 2008 recorded its first victory over neighboring Nicaragua. El Salvador Cricket President Andrew Murgatroyd says, “The progress has been amazing. Once Salvadorans get the idea of the basic rules, they quickly improve.” 

Cricket is growing throughout Central America with two international competitions each year: the Easter Cup and the Central American Championship. In addition to El Salvador there are leagues and national teams from Mexico, Costa Rica and the two most powerful cricketing nations of the region—Belize and Panama. Nicaragua sometimes participates, too.

The most encouraging fact for El Salvador is that in all international games, the national team has had a Salvadoran majority of players. Some of the opposing teams cannot say the same. El Salvador Cricket’s goal is to have Salvadorans, young and old from all across the country, play the sport. 

   
El Salvador Cricket has been awarded the privilege of hosting Central America’s second Easter Cup, which because of scheduling clashes will be Dec. 13-14 at the British School in San Salvador. For more information see Cricket in El Salvador.