The African American Experience 

Cricket

Courtesy of New York City Parks Photo Archive, Neg. 60185.34. There is a long tradition of cricket in the parks of New York City. As early as 1857, the Board of Commissioners of Central Park planned a cricket ground, for the "encouragement of, and indulgence in, athletic and manly sports." At the Parade Ground opposite Prospect Park, the broad lawns helped accommodate the growing interest in the sport in the late 1870s. In recent years, a growing West Indian population plays cricket on the Parade Ground in Van Cortlandt Park, the largest such open space in the city.