The way forward for Cricket in America
Whether its American Football, Baseball, Basketball or Hockey – everyone loves sport in the US. In fact, even the most popular sport in the world – Football (or Soccer as it is known here) – is gaining popularity fast. During last year’s FIFA World Cup, Americans followed team USA’s progress real close. However, interest for the sport of Cricket remains limited to expats who have migrated from Asia or the Caribbean.
United States of America was one of the first three nations to join Imperial Cricket Conference (the predecessor to ICC) as an ‘Associate’ nation. Sri Lanka, who joined as an Associate nation at the same time as USA, have managed to win World Cups in both formats already, but the USA still struggles to create a footprint amongst associate nations. This clearly shows that progress of the sport in USA has been slow in spite of being one of the first to join the bandwagon of Cricket.
Addition of a $5 Million Cricket facility in Indianapolis and involvement of well-known names such as Courtney Walsh and Robin Singh are surely some positives. Yet there needs to be a well thought vision and strategy to setup infrastructure at the grass root level and create a culture of Americans who play and support the sport of Cricket. For this, the following needs to done:
Introduction of T20 Cricket in the Olympics
USA has the most number of gold and overall medals in Summer Olympics and the second-most in Winter Olympics. If cricket is introduced in the Olympics, countries such as the USA will automatically start taking the sport seriously. USA Cricket Association will get more budgets, funding and attention to ensure that the sport is governed in a transparent and efficient manner.
In fact, not just the US, introduction to Olympics will ensure that a number of countries such as Germany and China will look at ways to introduce the game to the masses. Olympic associates around the world will try to provide the right financial and moral support to prospective players. Once, the infrastructure and talent mentoring programs has been set up, other formats of the sport can also be promoted in associate countries.
Telecast of all major events/series on basic cable
Thousands of Indians, just like me, grow up watching, following and adoring the game. These cricket fans are happy to pay a premium amount to watch their team to play. However, ordinary Americans who have never been able to relate to the sport, do not pay for cricket channels and therefore never have access to it. Telecasting major events such as World Cups on basic cable will give American kids the chance to follow the game from a young age and they will develop an interest in Cricket.
America’s youth will be able to pick Cricket up and this will ensure that interest in Cricket will increase in demographics other than expats of cricket-playing nations. With the kind of money that cricket broadcasters earn around the world, there will be a lot of challenges in pushing for a move like this. However, if cricket really wants to become a global sport then catching the attention of the youth is a significant step.
Setting up cricket facilities and coaching staff in 8-12 cities
Recently, the state of Karnataka in India started moving their domestic cricket matches to non-urban areas like Hubli and Mysore. The move has helped improve the facilities and in turn given the opportunity for young aspirants to practice in good conditions under the watchful eyes of good coaching and mentoring staff. Karnataka’s cricket governing body has been widely applauded for this decision. There needs to be a similar template to setup cricket facilities across the US where qualified coaches and support staff can work with youth.
Because of the size of the country, 1-2 facilities will not do. Bay Area, Chicagoland, Indianapolis, Virginia-Maryland, Florida, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston regions already have many club-level leagues. These places will be ideal to start cricket academies with coaching classes for different age groups. USACA will have to setup a system for interested people to take up coaching certifications just like the ECB does in England. This way, former club level cricketers and domestic players from cricket playing nations who now reside in the US could contribute to the development of the sport in the US.
Continues support to current and potential future players
Former USA player Usman Shuja, who had the most career wickets for USA in 50-over cricket, wrote how players received little to no support from the administration when they got injured or had to juggle work and personal situations to play for the national team. It created a lack of loyalty for playing for USA and their commitment wasn’t a 100%.
The recent case of Steven Taylor, star wicket-keeper batsman for the US, proves that Shuja was spot on. In June of 2015, Taylor decided to pull out of USA squad for World T20 Qualifier to play in the more lucrative CPL. With bad communication and no visible career path, talented players will be tempted to move to leagues like CPL to get the right value for their talent.
These steps may not form a comprehensive strategy to create a solid foothold for Cricket in the United States, but they need to be among the first steps taken by ICC and USACA to create the correct momentum. With strong intentions from the cricket administration and backing of former legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, USA should be able to make big strides towards becoming a consistent associate nation.













