Residents and ambassadors from two nuclear-armed, often hostile countries met in Moscow recently to fight it out in the midday sun. The two mixed Pakistani and Indian teams - the Sonnetts and the Moscow Bulls - armed with bats and balls, battled on the artificial turf at Moscow State University's baseball stadium over who would be the city's cricket champions. But politics has no place in cricket: There were no ill feelings between the players, and members of both countries played together on the same teams, something they do nearly every weekend over the summer.

"It's only natural for us to have cricket on these wonderful summer days," said the Indian Embassy's first secretary, who declined to give his name. "Whatever the political situation is at home and whatever the political repercussions are don't affect us here," said Samar Shakil, a player from India. His Pakistani teammate, Saqib Sheikh, agreed. Beating on plastic bottles with sticks and cheering in English, Hindi and Urdu, the players cheered and taunted their fellow players on the pitch. But they weren't the only ones there.

Moscow's cricket league consists of five teams with roughly 100 players, mostly from Commonwealth countries - predominantly from England, Australia, Pakistan and India. The teams have been playing almost every weekend during every summer since 1995. But until recently, they hadn't campaigned to boost the popularity of the sport in Russia. They hold a tournament once a year, but play friendly matches through the rest of the season.

Next year, though, the team plans to get serious and apply for membership with the International Cricket Council, said Sonnett team member and league promoter Abhi Sawarkar. To do that, the club must be registered as an official non-profit organization, a process they've already begun. He said that the club wants to promote the sport of cricket in Russia and recruit more Russian players, but he said the team has not been successful finding players in the past.

"We had two Russian players two years ago who learned to play when they were studying in England," Kumar said. In spite of it all, the league is growing and plans to increase from five to six teams next year, when a new team from Sri Lanka joins. At the finals tournament, a 20-year-old Russian student, Vitaly Burigan from Rostov, was invited to play by his British brother-in-law during his stay in Moscow. He said that it had been an enriching experience, but that he was "really confused" by the rules.

The hardest problem for the teams is finding a good pitch to play on. Players say this year they've been playing regularly at the Moscow State University baseball stadium, when the weather doesn't interfere. "We've played almost every weekend this year," said Simon Evans, a member of the British team Velikaya Britaniya Cricket and employee of the British Embassy. The stadium's artificial turf provides an even surface and makes for smooth bowling. Last year, they played at the Trud and Dinamo stadiums, but it was more expensive and more difficult to book. Officially, the MGU baseball diamond can be rented for $80 an hour.

The best teams are mostly Indian, but this year the British team managed to make it to the semi-finals. It was the first season in seven years they had won a match. The Brumbies, the Australian team, placed last in the league this year. Some of the other teams said the British were good sportsmen, but believed their earlier lack of achievement was due to what the British players referred to as "performance-enhancing drugs" - known to the rest of us as beer.

"Anyone not guilty of taking performance-enhancing drugs is kicked off the team," said one player at the final tournament. However, Sawarkar noted, "The British ambassador plays, and he is very good." To show their support for the match, the Indian ambassador to Russia was present at the final match. The Pakistani ambassador was not present, but the embassy's defense attache, Brigadier General Javed Iqbar, was on hand to award the cup to Sonnett, the winning team.

Sonnett defeated the Moscow Bulls at the tournament. Sanjay Tawari, the Sonnett team captain, was nominated "Man of the Match." Reporter's note: The author of this story is American and therefore not qualified to report cricket scores. He tried, but it was an embarrassing mess.

If you want to play, you can contact Abhi Sawarkar at 364-6141 or Simon Evans at 956-7491.

Locations

Luzhniki Stadium, USZ Druzhba
24 Luzhnetskaya Naberezhnaya
Metro: Sportivnaya
Tel: 201-1164

Krylatskoye Rowing Canal
2 Ul. Krylatskoye
Metro: Molodyozhnaya
Tel: 140-9964

Dinamo Stadium
36 Lenigradsky Prospekt
Metro: Dinamo
Tel: 213-7781

Torpedo Stadium
4 Ul. Vostochnaya
Metro: Avtozavodskaya
Tel: 213-1686

Bitsa Equestrian Sport Complex
33 Balaklayevsky Proyezd
Metro: Kaluzhskaya
Tel: 318-6122