To most Americans, the word cricket means one thing: an annoying insect that hops away when you try to introduce it to your Doc Martens.

To the Saint Louis University cricket club, it’s a game for gentlemen and ladies. It’s considered the ultimate game of sportsmanship.

“Our team motto is `gentlemen of courage and fire and ladies of substance,'” cricket club President Omar Khan explained.

Khan is from Pakistan and attended school in England, two countries that enjoy the competitive spirit of cricket.

“It’s very popular in England and the former English colonies,” Khan said.

In the year 700 A.D. cricket was born. Since then, cricket has been banned in England, made a secret comeback and became a worldwide game.

The game was first played on North American soil in New York by the Dutch. Due to a lack of supplies, the game began to evolve and from there baseball was born.

Cricket and baseball use a bat, a ball, innings, outs and umpires. Instead of four bases, cricket uses a pair of wickets.

The wickets are set up similarly to home plate and second base with the bowler (pitcher) in between. Cricket is played on a 360-degree field. The boundary is a large circle far out from the wickets.

The ball is pitched overhand, and the batter has to protect the wickets. If the batter allows the wicket to be struck with the ball, the batter is out. If the batter swings and hits the ball in the air and the ball is caught, it’s an out.

Unlike the cylindrical-shaped baseball bat, a cricket bat can be no longer that 38 inches and is four-and-a-half inches wide.

The batter wears protective gear during regular games. Shin pads, a helmet, a cup and batters gloves are all part of the attire for a cricket batter.

“The gloves aren’t as thin as baseball gloves but if the ball hits you it won’t hurt,” Khan said.

There are two batters on the field at the same time, one at each wicket. This is called a wicket partnership. If the batters hit the ball and decide to run, they must reach the other wicket in order to score a run.

Cricket has it’s own version of the homerun. If the ball is struck and rolls past the boundary, then that is four runs. If the ball passes the boundary in the air, then six runs are scored.

“A cricket game can last an entire day,” Khan said.

“A regular season game will start around 10:30 a.m. and last until 4:30 p.m.”

The game is not played for the entire time. There are four scheduled breaks throughout the day. There are two drink breaks, a lunch break and a tea break.

“During the lunch break, both teams sit with each other and have lunch,” Khan said. “It’s a show of sportsmanship and respect.”

The teams will then resume the game and break later on for tea. The two teams sit down and enjoy a cup of tea.

“There is tradition and sportsmanship in all aspects of the game,” Khan said.

Enjoying the sportsmanship is an array of people from SLU’s campus. The members of the cricket club come from all parts of the world, mostly former British colonies.

“We have members that are American, Belisian, Pakastani, Indian and South African. Others are from Australia, the Carribean and Zimbabwe,” Khan said. The 42 co-ed club members encompass all walks of cricket experience.

“We’re open to anyone who is interested, from the novice to the most experienced,” Khan said.

The club has only participated in one match in the preseason. They defeated SIU-E 66-44 this past Sunday.

“We’re looking to play teams that are within our region. We’ll play SIU-E again, Washington University, UMSL and U of I at Champaign.” Khan said. “Indiana University has a large team and so does Ohio State.”

The SLU cricket club is hoping to raise funds so they can join a league and begin to have more competition. They will begin their quest to educate the masses and raise a little cash on Feb. 6.

“We’re calling it `A Fine Day For Cricket.’ We’re going to be playing cricket in the quad and having a bake sale in front of Gries,” Khan said.

“Then that afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at Kelley Auditorium, we’ll be showing the highlights of cricket from across the world.”

The cricket club meets in the lower level of the Busch Memorial Center every Sunday at 12:00 p.m. They will face up against Wash U. on Feb. 10 at 9:00 a.m. at the Simon Recreation Center.