Hoover Cricket Festival

The Birmingham Cricket League plans to hold a Hoover Cricket Festival at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex this Friday, April 15.

The festival will be from 5 to 10 p.m. and include a cricket tournament with eight teams on the Hoover Met baseball fields at 1070 Buccaneer Drive. The biggest rivalry matches are scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m.

There also will be Indian cuisine, Bollywood music and live commentary. Food and beverage partners include Coca-Cola, Bawarchi, Kabob-Licious Indo-Pak Grill, Alabama Halal Foods, Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar and Taco Mama.

The festival is being supported by Destination Hoover International, a nonprofit formed in 2018 to foster cultural exchange and relationships between the people of Hoover and people around the world.

A representative from the Birmingham Cricket League told the Hoover City Council on April 4 that cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, behind soccer, but the Birmingham Cricket League is struggling to get traction with growth of the sport in this area.

Organizers of the festival said they hope this tournament will draw families and kids and help spur more interest in cricket in this community. Most of the cricket players in the Birmingham area are from Hoover, organizers said.