Walking around the campus at Carson High are the Tatum brothers, Johnny and Johnathon, and they’re potential stars in a surprising sport: cricket.
If people don’t understand what sport that is, no surprise. Their mom wondered, too.
“My mom was not skeptical but confused,” Johnny said when he first started learning cricket years ago. “She thought I was playing with insects. She thought it was a bug.”
The sport involves a bat and ball between two teams of 11 players on a field. There’s a 22-yard pitch and involves two wickets on each side and scoring runs. Australia has been the most successful country in the sport.
Cricket will be reintroduced at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Both brothers would love to make the USA team. They’re leaving this summer for England to play in an international tournament for 15- to 18-year-olds.
“It’s something new and helps me explore the world,” Johnny said.
The brothers are 16 and 18. Johnny is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound senior. Johnathon is a 5-6, 165-pound sophomore.
Johnny said he went to a park near his grandmother‘s house years ago to play basketball and “saw people doing something curious.”
It was cricket. Few have been playing the sport in the United States for as long as the Tatum brothers.
“You have to know the game and have the IQ like basketball and football,” Johnny said.
The brothers practice at a cricket field in Compton. Who knows how good they will become.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.