Cricket takes baby steps to win over the US.
Cricket is set to take America by storm with the hosting of the T20 World Cup, but how much does the average American know about the intricately complex game?
Reacting to the sport in viral videos, most acknowledge its similarity to baseball in using bats but little else. The alien game remains barely grasped beyond the huge South Asian diaspora.
A telling anecdote surrounds transporting an entire pitch for the India-Pakistan marquee clash across states from Florida to New York, underscoring cricket’s foreign status.
However, the ICC hopes hometown involvement via the US competing for the first time can boost popularity profiles during the mega event co-staged with the West Indies.
Cricket historian Naseem Akhtar observes interest largely confined to immigrant communities from the Indian subcontinent, Nepal, though amateur clubs have cropped up in major urban centres.
Akhtar believes Americans typically gravitate towards contact sports. But with deep-pocket investments and niche platforms like YouTube educating natives, cricket is steadily making inroads stateside.
Its early history in the 1700s showcases untapped potential. If cricket can leverage the tournament to spark imaginations nationwide, like baseball, administering a global spectacle could herald memorable growth in American sports.
