By Peter Della Penna 

Tucked away in a leafy suburb of New Jersey lives one of America’s best young cricket talents. Chatham resident Henry Wardley, helped lead the Atlantic Region U-19 team to the finals of the USACA National U-19 Tournament in Brooklyn this past May. The 19-year old left-handed opening batsman scored two half-centuries in three innings during group play, including a Man of the Match 51 against the New York Region. Not bad for someone who wasn’t even sure if he should try out for the team.

“From the first day I saw him kind of knew that he is something special,” said Govind Itwaru, Wardley’s captain at Excalibur CC in the New Jersey Cricket Association. “Looking at him batting, it’s beautiful to watch him bat. His stroke play is unbelievable. It’s not anything you see in the local level of cricket that we play.” 

“He pushed me to go and tryout for the Atlantic Region and then he said to definitely go on and play for them because you’ve got a shot,” said Wardley. “Playing in England, you never really think that you can be put at any sort of high level because there’s so many other good cricketers. But he really told me I was good enough.” His success for the Atlantic Region paved the way for him to be selected as a First Team All-American and inclusion in the USA U-19 team which will play in Toronto next month for the U-19 ICC Americas Championship. But cricket wasn’t necessarily the first sporting passion of the dual American and British citizen. 

While Wardley’s parents were from Yorkshire in the north of England, he was born in Manhattan and lived in New Jersey until the age of eight. Growing up in the New York metro area as the world’s most storied baseball franchise was about to begin their dynasty of the 1990s, cricket was just about the furthest thing from his mind. 

“He was upset when we left the US the first time, because we ruined his chances of ever playing for the Yankees,” said a chuckling Bridget Wardley, Henry’s mother. Wardley’s father Neil works in financial services and after spending 11 years in the US, Neil’s work took the family, which includes Henry’s younger sister Lucy, back to England where they settled in Kent, south of London.  

The American part of Henry was still resisting a British invasion. Not only did he do his best to maintain a strong American accent, but he was still keen on baseball. As a nine-year old, Wardley was a member of the Tonbridge Bobcats U-13 baseball team which won a national championship in England. However, after a talk with his dad, he started to give in to the idea of playing cricket.  

“It just wasn’t gonna go anywhere so my dad suggested I play cricket instead,” said Wardley, in his now British accent with a bit of a laugh.  

When Wardley was 13, he entered Sevenoaks School, a boarding school in Kent. It was here that he started to really develop as a cricketer under the tutelage of the school’s Master in Charge of Cricket, Chris Tavare. Tavare, who played 31 Tests and scored two centuries for England, could tell early on that Wardley was going to be a talented cricketer, despite his clear style developed from America’s pastime.  

“He was a bit of a baseballer,” said Tavare, recalling his first observations of Wardley. “He just struck me as someone who had a really good eye for the ball and although technically he was quite raw, he could just hit a ball hard and hit good balls pretty hard too.” Wardley started off at Sevenoaks batting in the middle order, but after working hard on his batting, he pushed his way up to become an opener.  

“He was keen to improve but we didn’t overdo it because he was just a natural talent,” said Tavare. This involved helping to cut out the aerial shots from baseball and practicing more orthodox cricket strokes. “He was always an aggressive player and we very much let him play that way. The only difference was probably trying to get him to hit the ball in a few more areas and hit it along the ground more consistently, which he started to achieve. He became a very good driver of the ball, particularly through extra cover, that sort of area, extra cover to mid off.” 

A few years before Wardley graduated Sevenoaks, his father took up another job opportunity to come back to America and was going to bring the family back. While Wardley continued to board at Sevenoaks, the plan was for him come back to New Jersey in the summer time to be with the family. Neil Wardley knew that it was important to keep up his son’s cricket skills and get connected with a club.  

“When we came back the second time, [cricket] was the main objective,” said Neil Wardley. “The first time he played baseball and the kind of sports that you would as a kid being born and growing up here.” Neil got into contact with Shelton Glasgow, the Atlantic Region Representative for USACA, who put him in touch with Itwaru at Excalibur CC. “So we went one Saturday or Sunday and it was amazing. They were very welcoming and very friendly and that was it. Govind took Henry under his wing and he got to play every Saturday and every Sunday.” 

“When he came to the team, he was 16 and I saw him hit the ball and you couldn’t think a 16 year old could hit the ball that far and that hard,” said Itwaru. Wardley didn’t stick out just because of his talent and his age in a team and league of grizzled veterans. The New Jersey cricket scene has a heavy South Asian influence, but Henry wasn’t particularly bothered or intimidated.  

“Everyone’s pretty friendly, I don’t find it an issue… the only word I know is ‘shabash,’” said Wardley, referencing the Hindi/Urdu word for excellent or well done that is often shouted throughout grounds in central New Jersey on the weekends. “It’s strange sometimes when I’ll look around a ground where there’s two or three cricket grounds and I’ll be the only white guy there, but it doesn’t bother me. I think it’s quite good fun. At Excalibur there’s always running jokes going. They call me ‘Token.’” 

After graduating from Sevenoaks and continuing at Excalibur CC last summer, Wardley found the transition to college life in the fall at McGill University in Montreal quite a struggle without cricket nearby.  

“Unfortunately cricket wasn’t on my agenda when I chose it,” said Wardley. “There’s a lot of cricket but it’s so cold up there and you have to travel a long way to get to any sort of training sessions.” Wardley made some friends and was invited to go to practice with a club that was 15 metro stops away from McGill on Montreal’s public transport network. However, there were only so many trips he could make in below freezing temperatures before he decided to get creative.  

“I got so frustrated with not being able to play last year,” said Wardley. “We had a long dorm hallway and I found a road sign and I propped it up against one wall and I got my friends to come out and I said, ‘I’ve got to play cricket because I’m getting so frustrated right now. I’ll bowl at you guys.’ So I’d run up and try and knock their heads off with a taped up tennis ball. I’d get them out and I’d say, ‘Alright you just throw the ball at me now’ and that’s how I got my batting practice in.”  

The funny and laid back teenager said that half the battle was trying to make sure no one hit the fire alarm sprinklers on the ceiling during these makeshift sessions. While Wardley struggled to get his cricket fix in, he had a source of marvelous inspiration close by to get him through the first year.  

“I love Richie Benaud,” said Wardley. “I have a little poster above my door in my McGill room and I feel that every morning when I leave the room he blesses me. It’s from Wisden Cricketer. I’ve had that above my door everywhere I’ve for the past three or four years.”  

It’s this ever present spirit and hunger that others see in Wardley that makes him not only a good player, but a good teammate as well.  

“You could sort of sense he had a real passion for cricket,” said Tavare. “He enjoyed being in the team with the other guys in the dressing room and having a good laugh as well, but once he got in the middle he was pretty serious about his cricket.” 

Wardley has kept up his form from the tournament in Brooklyn and is set to make an impact in Toronto. In his last match for Excalibur, Wardley scored a 70. The USA U-19 team leaves on July 1 for a few days of training before their first match on July 6. Wardley is chomping at the bit to put on the Stars and Stripes.

“I’m psyched to play for them,” said Wardley. “I can’t wait to represent my country. I bought an American flag two days ago. When I go to the hotel, I’m gonna put it up outside the hotel so people know.”


Action picture courtesy: NewYorkCricket.com