Cricket and Tea, Anyone?

Baseball immortal Ted Williams said nothing was more difficult in sports than hitting a round ball with a round bat. Abid Hussain begs to differ. Try using a flat board to hit a ball about the size of a baseball -- without ever missing.

In baseball, it is three strikes and you’re out, until your next at-bat. In cricket, one strike and the batter is usually out of the batting order for the rest of the match.

Hussain, 68, used the comparison to encourage a group of young cricket players he was coaching at a Tustin park. The Pakistani native and former wicket keeper of the U.S. national team volunteers three days a week, teaching a group of kids eager to learn the ancient game of cricket.

Baseball is often compared to cricket, which has been around since the 12th century. One comparison was evident during a recent practice on what passes for a cricket field at Pine Tree Park.

“Coach, when do I bat?” was heard every few minutes as a group of boys, ages 9 to 13, took turns batting. Each has ancestral roots in countries where cricket is popular, but each is also likely to follow the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

“I understand baseball, and I like it,” said 12-year-old Glenn Singh, who was wearing an Angel cap. “But cricket is my main thing. This is the greatest thing that’s happened, Coach taking time to work with us.”

Hussain, who once owned a video store in Tustin, beamed. Although retired from competitive cricket, he still plays in a Golden Oldies league of senior cricketers and proudly proclaims that he is still an “open bat,” which is the same as a lead-off hitter in baseball, and a wicket keeper, same as a catcher.

“Sometimes I get more enjoyment from teaching the boys,” he said. “Ah, but playing. Nothing compares to the good times you enjoy with your teammates.”

Hussain, who has been a fixture on Southern California cricket fields since 1958, credited the Tustin City Council for the city’s fledgling cricket program sponsored by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

The city has made Pine Tree Park available for practices and matches on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. About 25 boys ranging in age from 8 to 14 have signed up to learn and play cricket, said Hussain.

“Some of the kids had been asking me for quite a while to coach them. But we had no field to practice until now,” he said.

Noah Rogers, 9, stepped in the crease (batter’s box) to take a few swings against bowler (pitcher) Kunal Jethi, 13, who tossed the ball with the overhand delivery unique to cricket.

The youngster hit the ball in the air, causing Hussain to shake his head. He reminded his players that if a fielder catches the ball on the fly, the batter is out and yanked from the batting order for the rest of the game.

“On the ground, kids. You hit the ball on the ground,” said the coach.

Lee Rogers, who grew up in Australia, was offering encouragement to her son. But cricket is “completely new” to Noah, she said, and he prefers football -- American style, not soccer.

“I can’t pull him away from the TV when the NFL is on,” she said.

Her husband, Norman, was born in the United States and is also struggling to understand the appeal of cricket, she said. “I dragged him to a test match” -- a game between national teams -- “in Sydney between Australia and Sri Lanka,” said Rogers. “It wasn’t just any old game, but he fell asleep. When he woke up they were having tea. Well, he just didn’t understand.”

It is common for teams to break for tea at a cricket game.

Though cricket is still new in America, immigrant-rich California is a hotbed for the sport.

Kunal, the young bowler, said he learned cricket in his native India and became a baseball fan in the United States. He follows the Angels, but cricket remains his favorite sport.

“I don’t like cricket. I love cricket,” he said.

He and the other kids were joking about a teammate who was having trouble hitting the ball. He had missed the first pitch, and the ball knocked down one of the three sticks behind him, called wickets. In a game, the youngster would have been out and yanked from the batting order.

“Golden duck,” yelled one kid, using a cricket term for when a batter makes an out on the first pitch.

As the afternoon shadows began to lengthen, the cries from the kids wanting their turns at bat became more frequent.

Then a dog that had been running around the park took off with one of the cricket balls. The kids chased the animal until he coughed it up.

And with that, practice was over. It was time for tea.