Cricket calms LA's gangsters

It takes a brave American to tell an Aussie what's wrong with cricket.

But Ted Hayes is no ordinary Yank.

As the co-founder of the Los Angeles Compton Cricket Club - a team made up of homeless men and former gangsters - and the unofficial grandfather of the sport in the US, he is more qualified than most to offer his assessment of the game.

And he has a simple message for cricket lovers.

"Don't let the game become just another commercialised sport," he said during a whirlwind visit to Perth this week.

"It's the most beautiful game on the planet. But it's losing its message - the message of civility and sanity."

Mr Hayes, a social activist, and team co-founder Katy Haber, a Hollywood producer, have since 1995 encouraged homeless men and gang members throughout Los Angeles into the game through their "Compton Homies & the POPz" team.

The only all American-born exhibition cricket team in the world, they have toured Australia once and England four times.

Mr Hayes and Ms Haber are in Perth this week to address a Department of Sport and Recreation Clubs Conference and to speak to WA's homeless and indigenous communities about the benefits of encouraging marginalised people into sport.

They said the principles and ethics of cricket had helped disadvantaged men in Los Angeles address their problems. Mr Hayes said the concept of "etiquette" was at the heart of the sport. It was something homeless people and gang members had never experienced.

"For me, cricket is not just a game on an oval, but it's something you take beyond the boundary, to your family, job and school - even to your enemies," he said.

"I saw that as a way to teach the homeless, the people at the bottom of society, about civility."

Cricket is developing rapidly in the US, with more than 25,000 active players, 50 leagues and 1000 clubs.