When Lexington High School students head to their Physical Education classes this year, they might find themselves picking up a bat that is not for baseball. For the first time, cricket is being introduced to the P.E. curriculum.
The sport first appeared at LHS through the creation of the Cricket Club, which was founded by students passionate about sharing their love for the sport.
“The biggest challenge was explaining the rules. A lot of people compare cricket to baseball and think, ‘Okay, it’s just hitting the ball and running.’ But there’s a whole different perspective with cricket that people don’t really see,” Adithya Naveen, a junior and a cofounder of the club, said.
After the club started in 2024, Naveen found the process of finding enough players to be difficult: “Getting people to join it and getting people interested in sport was a challenge.”
Naveen also noted an increase in cricket’s popularity, both globally and at LHS.
“I think it’s the Cricket Club, but also the introduction of cricket in general,” Naveen said. “I’ve also heard that cricket is gonna be in the Olympics in 2028. So I’d say we did have an influence in Lexington, with people who have been wanting to play cricket inside school.”
Preparing to teach a new and unfamiliar sport requires significant collaboration and coordination within the P.E. department.
“What we typically do is look up the general rules, the general skills associated with it, and just the general format of what equipment might be needed and what kind of space might be needed,” Eamonn Sheehan, LHS’s Physical Education director, said. “If there are opportunities to invite somebody who is skilled in the sport to come in and do an overview, that’s something we’d do.”
Despite the difficulties associated with teaching a sport not traditionally taught at LHS, the department noted the importance of teaching cricket.
“We’re quite aware of the fact that with our shifting demographics, there is a huge interest in cricket in the community. We see it as something … that is worthwhile exploring and bringing in, because there is a cultural aspect of this too,” Sheehan explained.
For now, the P.E. department doesn’t have a complete plan to introduce cricket to the current curriculum, but they are considering a. mini-introductory unit.
“It’s in the ‘we’re thinking about it’ stage, but we haven’t gotten there to have a plan of action yet to implement it,” Sheehan said. “ “There are lots of different activities and sports that happen out there in different cultures, and I think it’s important that we have a diversity of cultural activities.”
