Once more, Quincy goes googly

Forget curveballs and knuckleballs; look out for a yorker or a googly whizzing across the Joy Hanlon Fields as the fourth annual Vrindavana Preservation Society cricket tournament returns to Quincy next weekend.

This year, 16 teams from across the state will face off over three weekends, starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The final championship game, a women's game, and a children's game will be held on the last day, June 25 .

Last year's winners, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell Tigers, will take the field -- as will teams from Quincy, West Bridgewater, Waltham, Lowell, Westborough, Andover, Somerville, Burlington, Mansfield, Weymouth, Attleboro, and Stoughton.

Cricket's rules can seem perplexing at first, but the basic idea is the same as baseball: The team that scores the most runs wins.

In place of a pitcher, there's a bowler. One team bats; the other fields. Each game lasts for 12 ``overs," each of which consists of a bowler throwing six balls.

Most of the players in the coming tournament are of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, West Indian, and Caribbean heritage. They are as enthusiastic about cricket as organizer Nikhil Wadhwa .

This year Wadhwa hopes to draw a diverse crowd of spectators and has a bigger goal: ``I'm trying to teach all the kids in America."

Wadhwa said his children play T-ball and softball, but cricket still plays an essential role.

``I don't want them to lose their roots -- that's how I grew up."

For more information about the tournament, or to sign up a child to play in the June 25 tournament, call Wadhwa at 781-608-0879 or e-mail nikpriya@hotmail.com .