Cricket's popularity growing in USA - Beyond the Test World at Cricinfo

The sport of googlies and wickets, of five-day games and breaks for lunch and tea, has gained a toehold in this land of baseball and apple pie. Increasingly, immigrants from countries as diverse as England and Bangladesh are congregating in neighborhood parks, setting up pitches and reconnecting with lands left behind.

The report cites the success of the Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference, which has has grown to 18 teams:

They don't come close to matching the influx of Latin Americans who have transformed soccer into an leisure-time phenomenon north of the border. But cricket has a strong following among those who emigrated from the former British Empire to the ex-colony that came up with its own bat-and-ball game.

And it concludes with an interesting report on a game between North Atlanta and the JP Gymkhana Cricket Club:

In the middle of the oval-shaped field, there's a 22-yard-long strip of packed dirt, which is where the bowler bounces the ball toward the batsman. Wickets stand at each end, the all-important wooden pegs that must be defended by the batting team. The outer boundary is staked out by small red tags, the kind the water company leaves when it's about to dig up a yard.
The North Atlanta team is a downsized version of the U.N. In addition to Bangladesh, the players hail from India, Pakistan, Jamaica and England -- a diverse group that puts aside cultural differences and any simmering rivalries. India and Pakistan may be blood enemies on the subcontinent, but they get along just fine in Dixie.

This is just great for the game of cricket.USA is a huge sporting country if cricket can get them it will be a huge boost for the game.

usa

While it is great to see a number of leagues being played coast-to-coast, the players in those leagues don't represent the future, rather the past. For cricket to succeed in the US, seeding it at the 6-15 age group level is essential.

Keeping aside the politics of US cricket aside, I truly believe that the USACA National Junior Tournament in Cupertino, CA in June 2007 is a great place for talented, upcoming and passionate young cricketers to come together and showcase their competence.

As committed cricket enthusiasts, we all have to come together not only make such tournaments a success but also work to bring forth innovative formats that is suited for a country of such large size with a passion for a game similar to cricket - baseball.

Cricket can succeed in US only if it is redefined to combine the plus points of baseball and cricket. It should be called SLAMBALL and bring in a shorter format the good points of both the games. Anyone interested ??? I have some concepts. Cricket as it is now will not click in US where baseball is firmly embedded as a spectator sport.

I hope to see cricket get more popular in the states. As an American living in Australia for the past three years I found cricket irresistible. I would go as far to say that I enjoy cricket more than my beloved baseball. Hopefully more come to realize what this sport has to offer and what a joy it is to play and watch.

For cricket to succeed in the US, a development program like the Play Cricket initiative in England is needed. We don't need high-profile matches of old West Indies players (though those have their place as well) marketed to people already familiar with the game. We need to put bats and balls in the hands of school children, introduce the game to summer camp athletic programs, and get kids playing on their own. Too many people try to focus of training up a world-class team from the tiny cricket playing population, rather than spreading the game's base. Once there are thousands of kids playing all over the country, the rest will sort itself out. We needs lots of low-grade cricket, rather than trying to produce an internationally competitive team.

It's wrong that for 100 years the cricket playing countries have been deprived of the chance to win Olympic Medals in a sport they are good at.....cricket.

Reintroducing Cricket to the Olympics at the 2012 London Games would be perfect, as England has the Infrastructure,cricket stadiums & fans.

The exciting Twenty 20 format is ideal for the Olympics and could spur the development of a professional league in the US and Canada ,motivate athletes everywhere, and make cricket even more popular worldwide.

So sign the petition to get cricket into the 2012 Games at www.cricket2012games.com and tell your, family, friends & colleagues.

Why shouldn't the top cricket countries like Australia get the chance for Olympic Glory ? - It only takes seconds to sign the petition