T20 World Cup: Can cricket hit home run in baseball-mad US?

New Delhi, May 27

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Cricket, a popular pastime in the United States in the mid-1800s, makes a big-ticket return to North American shores through the T20 Word Cup but will it be able to leave an impression on the local audience that knows little to nothing about the gentleman’s game?

Cricket globally is driven by India but the ICC sees huge potential in the American market and claims there are already 30 million fans that follow the game in the country. The T20 showpiece is also seen as a major stepping stone to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, in which cricket will make a comeback after 128 years.

A total of 16 games will be played across three venues — New York, Dallas and Lauderhill — with 55 matches, including the knockouts, scheduled in the Caribbean.

In the early stages, South Africa and Sri Lanka will battle it out in New York, where the first ever international cricket game was held between USA and Canada back in 1844. It was a phase when the sport was played widely across America before a much faster alternative in Baseball gained prominence during the Civil War in the 1860s.

“…it’s (T20s) entertainment and that’s what people look for. That’s what Americans look for, you know, they want entertainment,” said legendary West Indian Brian Lara, one of the most recognisable cricketers in the world but someone who admits that he could walk around Miami without getting a second look.

Lara admitted there was a challenge of selling Test cricket to Americans, but added that they might just warm up to the shortest format. “You know, you speak to an American and they’d say ‘you play a game for five days and then you end up in a draw? What’s that all about?’ So it’s difficult,” he said.

A couple of weeks of international cricket in an alien land will not be enough to evoke long-lasting interest from the local audience and to ensure the game grows beyond the South Asian and Caribbean expat community, the stakeholders will need more time. The ICC is pulling out all stops to engage with the American audience, whether it is getting sprint legend Usain Bolt on board as the World Cup ambassador or promoting the event at the recent Formula 1 race in Miami.

To distract the average American household from the world of baseball, NFL and NBA, cricket will need to grow at the grassroots level.

“I surely think the game can grow in USA. When you have presence in a country, people start gravitating towards it and want to know more about,” Bolt, who belongs to the cricket-loving Caribbean, said.

The Americans have surely one reason to follow the event. Their team, mainly made up of players of South Asian and Caribbean heritage, will be making its World Cup debut.

Venu Pisike, head of USA Cricket, reckons the ICC event will bring much-needed awareness around the game but eventually it is the lure of taking part in the 2028 Olympics that will draw masses to the sport.