Brooklyn Roars for Cricket: 2026 ICC Criiio Cup Unites 250+ Students from 12 Schools at Midwood Athletic Field 

On the morning of 3 June, Midwood Athletic Field in Brooklyn was transformed into a vibrant cricket arena as more than 250 young athletes took to the pitch for the 2026 ICC Criiio Cup. Drawn from 12 schools spanning Brooklyn School Districts 20, 21, and 22, the participants represented one of the most significant youth cricket gatherings in New York City’s recent history, and one of the most visible signs yet that the sport is putting down real roots in American schools. 

The day opened with structured cricket drills at 9:30 a.m., giving students the chance to sharpen their grips, footwork, and bowling actions before the official matches got underway at 10:30 a.m. A total of 29 teams competed in a festival-style tournament, with 4 middle schools and 8 elementary schools represented across the brackets. Boys and girls in matching jerseys moved between stations and pitches throughout the morning, while teachers, coaches, and parents looked on from the sidelines. 

The ICC Criiio program, launched globally by the International Cricket Council, has been designed to introduce cricket in schools through teacher training, curriculum integration, and accessible equipment. According to the ICC, the program has so far reached more than 725,000 participants worldwide, training over 2,200 teachers and facilitators across 1,400 schools in 103 ICC Member countries and 17 non-Member countries, with girls and young women making up nearly half of all participants. Brooklyn’s June 3rd event sits squarely inside that global push: a local expression of a worldwide effort to lower the barrier of entry to the sport for young people. 

The Criiio Cup also carries a deeper throughline for the United States. It is, in many ways, the living legacy of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which made history by coming to the New York area and capturing the imagination of millions, including the iconic India versus Pakistan match in Nassau County. That landmark event helped plant a seed, and programs like Criiio are now nurturing it into something enduring as cricket prepares for its long-awaited Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, the sport’s first appearance at the Games in more than a century. 

Leading the operation on the regional level is Ajith Bhaskar, President of the Commonwealth Cricket League (CCL), the largest cricket league in New York City. Founded in 1979 and now running its programs across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, CCL has grown significantly under Bhaskar's leadership since 2021, with a membership of more than 2,000 players spanning ages 14 to 75. Bhaskar, who previously served on the Board of Directors of USA Cricket, has been instrumental in connecting the ICC Criiio program with New York City's school districts, helping translate global cricket development goals into on-the-ground realities for Brooklyn's young players. The June 3rd tournament reflected exactly the kind of partnership model his leadership has championed: established cricket institutions working hand in hand with public schools to build a pipeline from the classroom to the competitive pitch. 

On the school district side, Natalie Wheeler, Director of Physical Education, Health Education, Athletics and Wellness for Community School District 22, played a central coordinating role both for District 22 and for the broader event. Her own introduction to cricket came in an unmistakably Brooklyn way: by watching pickup matches at Marine Park during neighborhood walks. That curiosity grew into action in the form of a professional development session for District 22 PE teachers, and ultimately into the decision to bring students out for a hands-on tournament experience. Eight schools from her district participated on the day. In their official remarks, organizers credited Wheeler’s dedication with making every detail of the event come together, calling out her work in coordinating with all participating schools as the backbone of the operation’s success. On camera at the event, she pointed proudly to the sounds of children playing nearby as the clearest sign that the introduction was landing, and spoke about her excitement around cricket’s Olympic debut in 2028 as a tangible goal for the students to aspire to. 

For District 21, the story was carried by Louis Camacho, the district’s Instructional Coach for Physical Education and Athletics with the New York City Department of Education. Speaking on camera at the Criiio Cup backdrop, Camacho traced the arc of how cricket arrived in District 21. The work began earlier in the 2025 to 2026 school year, when Criiio instructors came to The New School for Innovation, a District 21 middle school, to train physical education teachers on how to implement cricket in PE from kindergarten through 8th grade. That training translated into renewed interest at the school level, including the launch of intramural cricket teams, which in turn helped feed the pipeline that filled the brackets at Midwood. Camacho thanked the ICC for the partnership and made a point he repeated more than once: in New York City, physical education is no longer just about basketball, and cricket, in his words, is here to stay. 

The jerseys were a small detail that made a big impression. Provided by Criiio Cup, they gave students an immediate sense of belonging to something larger than a single school, and the photos coming off the field made clear just how much that mattered to the kids wearing them. Equipment, jerseys, drills, and structured matches together produced a tournament that felt less like an exhibition and more like the opening chapter of something with real continuity. 

What gave the day its larger significance, however, was the connective tissue running through every interview and every match: the deliberate construction of a pathway. Teachers are being trained. Curricula are being adapted. Intramural teams are being launched. Districts are coordinating across boundaries. Equipment is reaching kids who, only months ago, may have never held a cricket bat. And on the horizon sits Los Angeles 2028, an Olympic stage that gives every one of these young athletes a destination worth dreaming about. As the program’s tagline puts it, the work is about growing cricket, building champions, and inspiring Olympians, in that exact order. 

By the time the final whistles blew and the teams gathered for closing ceremonies in the early afternoon, the energy that had filled Midwood Athletic Field showed no sign of dissipating. For 250 students across 12 schools and three districts, June 3, 2026 was not just a tournament. It was a doorway: into a sport with deep global roots, an Olympic future, and now, a clearly visible home in the schoolyards of Brooklyn.