BATESVILLE, Ark. — Lyon College is introducing a class you won't find just anywhere. You won't need a book, pencil, or even a calculator for this specialty class though— you'll just need an open mind.
For the second year, cricket is being offered to students for one credit hour, which has been a big win for students familiar with the sport.
"I play cricket back home. Cricket is very big back in the Caribbean, so I was very excited to join this class. The first class was really funny. I like, laughed a lot," senior Ronaldo Jacob described. "Seeing everyone now learning how to hold a bat, and like with the bat, they hold like a baseball [bat], so like it was new to them holding it on the ground and now so like, it was good. It was fun seeing new people learn my culture."
Ronaldo is from Trinidad and Tobago and said so far he's loved seeing his classmates learn a game that's been popular to millions since the 1700s.
The course is being taught by mathematics professor Tharanga Wijetunge, who said this is the second year the course has been offered in the spring.
And although he's teaching the basics of college, it's been a joy for Wijetunge also to enjoy one of his favorite pastimes.
“I'm from Sri Lanka. So that part of the world India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and South Africa, those are the cricket-playing nations. So I grew up with cricket. In 1996, Sri Lanka, they won the Cricket World Cup. So that was a big inspiration for us," Wijetunge said. "So growing up everybody played t-ball or baseball, that's your backyard playing game, right? So likewise, cricket is a backyard-playing game. So I grew up with it every day in school, after school playing this and then I well, I get paid to play my hobby. Why not?”
It's a learning curve for those familiar with baseball like senior Landon Jackson. However, they are finding appreciation in learning the new sport.
"I used to play baseball when I was younger, I was really good, not to not be humble, but I was really good at it. So coming from that to this is a really big change," Jackson said. "In a way you kind of have to respect and kind of be like, yeah, this isn't us, but embrace it in a way that is respectful also, which I think we've done a great job at."
Students aren't necessarily graded on skill, it's more about the learning experience. And whether you're an amateur or a professional in Batesville, there's something to learn across the line.
"Life is all about learning about similarities and within those similarities, there are differences, that's what makes us unique, that's what makes us together. So that message is delivered from any learning experiences," Wijetunge said.
He added that he's sure Lyon's course is the only credited course offered at a college in the state and the nation.
For the first time, Cricket World Cup matches will take place in the U.S. this year starting in June. The U.S. and the West Indies co-host this year’s World Cup.