ICC's expansionist dream - Feedback

Give America a chance

Cricinfo staff

May 19, 2006

Sambit Bal's article 'Leave Americans to baseball' provoked a lot of reaction from Cricinfo readers, especially from the American readers. Here is a selection

In Arizona, where I have resided for over 20 years, cricket has grown from four teams to 13 (without any assistance or support from USA Cricket Association) in less than ten years. These are people that are becoming residents, and then citizens. This growth in the cricket-playing public will do more for the future of cricket in the US than any posturing by national or international deal-makers ever could. Keep your professional cricket leagues and your demonstration matches. Give us grounds that we can develop into cricket fields and we will do the rest. Paul Ward

Money is talking, shouting in fact to the ICC at this point, and I fully agree that while this might boost short-term profits, it will destroy the value of the game, within its current circle. Cricket cannot and must not become commoditized. Vivek Sen

I am a former collegiate baseball player who was always curious about cricket, but never found the time, or the avenue, to explore it - until Fox Sports World broadcast Zimbabwe in India, five years ago. The intricacies of the game speak to the strategic, patient baseball fan within me. The tension of Tests and the brutality of ODIs fill me with awe. I have also been fortunate enough to make a trip to England for the Ashes in 2001 and can say from first-hand experience that television is no substitute for the real thing. While the stunt of cricket in the States may not light the fire of cricket passion in my country, a fear of failure is no reason not to try. Too often the cricket establishment fights the change: Kerry Packer, ICC Trophy, and Twenty20 cricket are examples, but these have helped grow the game to unprecedented levels. Henry Johnston

All the ICC's efforts in the past to spread the game have failed. On the other hand, the game in traditional bases like West Indies and, to some extent, England has been overtaken by other sports. It is time ICC spent their time in nurturing and growing the game in West Indies, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Raghu

I live in Los Angeles, and while a few of my American friends might watch cricket for half an hour - (just to humor me) - there is no way the game will ever catch on - the only people who play it is the expat community. Is that really 'spreading' the game? Vik

I am a team member from the Metro Detroit Cricket Club which is affiliated to the Michigan Cricket Association (MichCA). For the first time in the league's history, this year there is a team which was registered with MichCA, where all the players are white American high-school students between 15 to 18 years. This would never have happened if the MichCA had not persisted with marketing this game among the schools and other community associations locally. Their patience and persistence paid off. Cricket is a Commonwealth game only because of impatient pessimism imparted through its managing organizations around the world. Bala Raguraman

On my recent return trip from India, I met a German gentleman who was in India for about a week. One of his hosts explained the game of cricket to him. You will be surprised to know that this man was watching cricket in his hotel room in Mumbai where he was staying overnight due to a flight delay. Now if that can happen, I do think there is plenty of hope that cricket could catch on in America. Any attempt to rely on the West Indies board, or the USACA will only result in a total flop and hence the ICC needs to hire its own consultants who can market cricket to the general American population and not just do a exhibition for the ex-pat community. Yes, USA will be a hard sell, but on the positive side look at the revenues and also look at the opportunity that this can open up for a population that is known to be sports crazy. Shirish Kothari

The US, and perhaps Japan and certain Latin American nations, are the only nations that have fully embraced baseball, which is known in America as `the thinking man's game' in light of the popularity of sports such as American football, wrestling, and NASCAR racing. The potential for cricket to catch on in such nations is hopeful. It is similar enough to baseball to gain popularity but also different enough to have its own fan base outside of expatriate communities. The main problem to be addressed is to eliminate the stereotype that it is a sport played exclusively by "brown people and Australians". Aamir Sarwar

As a resident of the USA for 23 years, I have seen all facets of cricket in this country - all the way from when we had to go to one particular balcony in the middle of the night to listen to cricket news on short-wave radio to instant ball-by-ball commentary on multiple sites.While I grant that interest in cricket in the USA will stay within the expatriate communities, said community has a sufficient critical-mass, disposable income and spending power to make a few games a year financially viable. Sriram

If India play Pakistan, it will not be difficult to fill up a stadium with capacity of 20 to 30 thousand in area like New York-New Jersey, Houston, Chicago or Los Angeles. It will also have the biggest TV audience. Imagine, an ODI which starts at 10 am in NY, will start at 3pm in UK and 7pm in Pakistan and 6.30pm in India and Sri Lanka, a prime time for TV viewer. Avais

North America could potentially be ready to host an international cricket tournament inside of 5 years. With an expatriate population that is looking to connect with its next generation through sports, and with innovations such as Twenty20 taking off, cricket offers a great option for family entertainment in the US. Nader Nanjiani

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Leave Americans to baseball