The OU cricket team celebrates its recent victory at a banquet held on Saturday, Oct. 27.

By Sarah Malczynski, student writer

The Oakland University cricket team concluded their 5^th season with a bang. Winning their final match against Wayne State University at the end of September, the team was awarded trophies for Leaders of Division 1 League, Champions of Division 1 League and Inter-University Champions.

The cricket team was formed in 2002 as an intramural sports club. Students interested in participating in the club gathered simply to practice and enjoy the sport, but competition did not take place against other schools until 2003, when the team began participating in the official cricket conference Michigan Cricket Association (MichCA).

Struggling throughout the years due to a lack of practice space and athletic equipment, the team found the 2007 season more promising with the recent addition of a cricket practice pitch on OU’s campus. In previous seasons, the team was limited to practicing only once a week in Bloomer Park, located in Rochester Hills.

Club president Vikram Chilukoti commented on the addition of the pitch field, stating, “We improved a lot after we got a practice pitch at Oakland. Each member of the team was able to hone his skills and become more consistent in his respective position. We have more time for practice due to the convenience of the location of the field.”

Under the instruction of experienced team players who served as coaches to the incoming participants, the team assisted one another in improving their technical weaknesses before the final matches took place at the end of the season.

Several schools, including Wayne State University, Michigan State University, Toledo University, Lawrence Tech University, University of Michigan–Dearborn and Western Michigan University, participated in the Inter-University Championship matches. Oakland competed against Western Michigan in the semi-finals for this championship, beating them and advancing to the final match against Wayne State University.

“Since we played against teams from similar age groups, and since all of them were representing their respective universities, the semi-final and final games were more intense and fun. All the universities presented a very tough competition and we all played better cricket, which ultimately led to our victory against Wayne State,” Chilukoti said.

To celebrate their victory, the team held a banquet on Saturday, Oct. 27. Family and friends gathered to dine with the players and to witness the unveiling of the new trophies for the team’s recent achievements.

For more information on the cricket team, email president Vikram Chilukoti at vchiluko@oakland.edu.