HOUSTON, June 27 (Reuters) - World Cup fever has gripped ⁠Houston but across the city the unmistakable sound of leather ball on willow bat can be heard as baseball mounds give way to ⁠cricket pitches and the gentleman's game begins to take hold in Texas.

The growth of the sport in Houston is driven by communities from ‌traditional cricket-playing nations, immigrants and their sons and daughters from India, England, West Indies, Australia and South Africa.