GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Grand Prairie Stadium is set to host the first-ever cricket league in the U.S.
Workers were busy putting the finishing touches on the stadium as they expect full crowds on Thursday for the first match. On Tuesday, the mayor, council members, county commissioners and Major League Cricket had a ribbon cutting to start the week of matches.
"My adrenaline is pumping. I'm really really excited. This is something phenomenal," said Rajesh Cherukupalli, who played cricket for his college in India and led the youth cricket movement in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Major League Cricket opens up its inaugural season with 12 matches over the next two weeks. The stadium had to be converted from a baseball field to cricket grounds.
"Look what we have now: the pitch, the walls and the seating. It didn't take much but it's different dimensions," said Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen.
Cricket is huge overseas in places like South Asia, Australia and South Africa, with a following of more than 2.5 billion people.
"This gets us into another diverse group that we don't know much about and this is a great way to learn more about their customs, their cultures," said Jensen.
The Texas Super Kings is the home team and they will play teams from Los Angeles to New York for the MLC Championship.
After its run in North Texas, Major League Cricket moves to North Carolina for its second week of competition in Morrisville.