US cricket vice-captain Aaron Jones hits a ball with a bat next to a giant cricket ball installed … [+]
Once upon a time, in a galaxy not too far away, the first international cricket game between two countries was played at Bloomingdale Park in New York. 10,000 spectators witnessed the match with approximately $100,000 wagered. Next month, the United States of America and Canada will meet again in Texas to open the T20 Cricket World Cup. It’s been 180 years, although they faced each other annually in the Auty Cup.
The upcoming global tournament will be co-hosted by the West Indies and will feature impressive stadiums in Dallas, Broward Park in Florida and the 34,000-seat stadium at Eisenhower Park in Nassau County that will host the blockbuster between India and Pakistan. The boost from such a tournament could cause the U.S. to reconnect with its unknown past.
The International Cricket Council is aware of the sleeping giant that is part of the heritage of the American bat and ball games. The world’s largest sports market had cricket embedded in communities long before home runs took its place. “We’re trying to give them something they’ve never had on their doorstep before and maybe pique the interest of the American sporting community by telling them that cricket is actually an older sport in the US than baseball,” said Chris Tetley, head of the ICC. of events at the beginning of the week.
The T20 World Cup tournament director had no doubt that the United States was an obvious choice for its ninth edition. “At the end of the pilot period [of the public ballot]us [had] almost close to 6 million ticket requests for the tournament. So it’s been a really good response from people across the region,” Steve Baksh told USA Today in February.
The launch of Major League Cricket’s first season was a commercial success, generating more than $8 million in revenue and attracting some of the game’s top international stars to play for six American franchise teams in packed stadiums. Team owners from the rainbow pot of gold that is the IPL bought their respective teams in the American version, attracting even more investors.
There was already a considerable diaspora in South Asia predisposed to the game, but the big question for the ICC and all stakeholders was, and still is, capturing some part of the mainstream. The three-hour format of these games should be technically adequate for the American public who delight in MLB, where the average game lasts just under two and three-quarter hours.
In an increasingly crowded calendar, the MLC will need to evolve from its exciting premiere status to a consistent and sustainable foundation of full stadiums and world-class talent on the field. “There was a novelty factor in the first season, which will not be present in the second season. We have to consciously build on what we started,” San Francisco Unicorns co-owner Anand Rajaraman told Forbes earlier this year. .
There was a commitment from all teams to pursue a proper home and away tournament in the coming years, as well as promoting local talent. It could be gold dust if the US produced a poster boy who could be the face of running the game. It might not be Travis Kelce or Patrick Mahomes, but the brand could find a Stars and Stripes hero this summer.
There is a bigger picture at play with a T20 competition confirmed for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in October last year. This will provide cricket with an even more global stage to grow and further drive viewership numbers across fields of dreams. The game has only appeared once at previous Olympics, when Great Britain defeated France in Paris to win the gold medal in 1900.
East Meadow, NY: Aerial view of construction of a cricket field and stadium at the Eisenhower Memorial … [+]
Cricket was once the country’s national sport. In his book The Tented Field: A History of Cricket in America, Tom Melville states that the game “failed in America because it never established an American character”. It may not be as fast and loose as baseball, but cricket will enter the hall with six-shooters and flying stumps when Dallas hosts these two North American giants on June 2.
The rest of the world can also see everything in Technicolor. Cricket is about to be launched again on New York’s global catwalk.
