Club members share job leads during batting practice. They share tips for handling immigration hurdles. And in their matches, the newcomers have transformed the club from an informal social team with lackluster performance to a cricketing powerhouse straight from the fields of India, where some team members played on their state teams. Last year, Santa Clara was a league finalist. The club has attracted so many good players that dozens of others wait all season for one of the 22 coveted spots on the club's two teams.
Frustrated players join other teams or start their own.
In the past year, the influx of engineers from India has spurred the creation of four new clubs in the South Bay, and the cricket association is establishing a third league to accommodate more people who want to play. The enthusiasm is hard to contain. He asked them in that order. Such passion was hard to find 10 years ago when Stan Kent, an English pub owner, started the club. Some people had never heard of cricket, and some confused it with croquet, a mistake that enrages cricketers.