Cache is not at the posted coordinates, but that is a good place to park. Cache container is a short walk from there. This is a Baltimore County Park, so please restrict your caching here to the hours between dawn and dusk.
NOTE (8/20/2022): Apparently the dirt track up to the parking area becomes very slippery after a heavy rain. Be aware.
NOTE (10/27/2023): I have added a waypoint for another entrance to the park. This entrance seems to be gentler for vehicles. Probably still not great after a heavy rain.
Who knew there was a cricket pitch here in Cloverland Park? I ride my bike past here regularly and a few weeks ago noticed lots of vehicles up on the hill. Curious about what was happening, I carefully rode my bike up the dirt road to find many more cars and, on a worn field to the right, a cricket game. Cricket in Windermere! Some research was called for.
One or two nights a week, Saathi Baltimore Cricket Club members gather at the bare-bones Cricket field in Cloverland Park, where the ground slopes and undulates. There are few physical signs this is the home field of a dedicated team. A Strip of dirt, where grass has been worn away, serves as the Cricket pitch, where the bowler and batsman face off. Small white flags planted in an uneven Oval mark the boundaries of the county-maintained field. Thorny vines, decaying hay bales, tall prairie grass and a dense copse of Bamboo serve as the fence. The sun provides the only light the team can play by. Without any bathrooms nearby, players must wait for the duration of their hours-long practices or else answer natures call behind a tree.
Cloverland Park has been a County park since the mid 1990s when the county bought the land from the well-known local dairy company. Organized cricket matches have been played there since at least 2007. In 2007, the County committed to creating an actual cricket field (aka a pitch), but little investment seems to have been made there since then. Without parking, paved roads, seating, lights, or a scoreboard, the field today resembles the pasture that it used to be rather than an athletic field.
Fast forward to 2021 and the formation of the Saathi Baltimore Cricket Club, based in Parkville. The club began lobbying to make Cricket more accessible in Baltimore County. The county has a growing immigrant population, including many residents with roots in South Asia, where Cricket reigns supreme. The Club's lobbying efforts have proven successful, as Baltimore County will soon be getting its first designed and designated Cricket ground here in Cloverland Park. The county included $250,000 for the planning and design phase of the project in its FY2023 budget. That design work is expected to start in November,. Construction of the field at Cloverland Park would begin in 2024.
Cricket dates to at least the 16th century and, in some ways, resembles baseball. Players use a bat to hit a ball thrown at them by a bowler (pitcher) as far as they can into a field to score runs (points). The game is generally played on an oval shaped field with a diameter measuring 137-150 meters.
Cricket has billions of fans worldwide and is the second most popular sport after soccer. Cricket's popularity has been on the rise in the US, which is slated to host the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup along with the West Indies. Howard County recently broke ground on its sixth cricket pitch.to meet a growing interest in the sport. The sport has also been integrated into the PE curriculum of many county school districts in Maryland.
There are cricket matches here most Saturdays and Sundays, on some weeknights during summer. Cache is available whether or not a match is on. The road up to the field is a bit rough, so take it slow.
To get the final coordinates, you need the answers to the following three questions:
A. How many players are on each team in a cricket match?
B. How many runs are awarded to the batting team if the batsman hits the ball over the boundary marking the perimeter of the pitch?
C. Only one player on the fielding team is permitted to wear gloves and padding. What position does he/she play?
Put your answer in Certitude like this: A*B*C (no spaces between the words for C)
You can validate your keyword solution with certitude.
Kudos to DadTwins for FTF
Sources for information in description: Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Banner, Saathi Baltimore Cricket Club.
NOTE: "Saathi" is Hndi, translates to mate or friend, companion.