The just-concluded two-match Twenty20 series between India and world champions West Indies in the United States was unique, and futuristic, in many ways.
With the cash-rich Indian cricket board looking to take the game to newer frontiers and bigger markets, the choice of hosting the two games in America looks a big step forward.
Despite the poor facilities at the only ICC-certified ground in the US, Central Broward Regional Park in south Florida, that resulted in the abandonment of the second match on Sunday, the big crowds on the ground did send out the message that it’s a market that’s waiting to be tapped.
Indian cricket board president Anurag Thakur has even said that he plans to make Twenty20 series in the country an annual event. “As part of our continuous efforts to reach out to new markets and audiences, we hope to develop this into an annual cricketing event in the United States,” Thakur was quoted as saying.
That the 15,000-capacity ground was packed despite the steeply-priced tickets — ranging from $75 to $250 – must have an encouraging sign for the organisers too.
So is there a future for the game in America? It’s too early to say. An answer in the affirmative, at this stage at least, would be overly optimistic, while a negative one would be unduly harsh.
For the average American, barring the South Asian expatriates of course, cricket is still a big puzzle. One just has to go back to last year, when two of the game’s legends, India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne of Australia, set their sights on a country where they weren’t household names. The iconic baseball stadiums in New York City, Houston and Los Angeles hosted the Cricket All-Stars series. Despite the rather modestly-priced tickets, $50, the event didn’t exactly set the cash registers ablaze.
A few months back, organisers of the Caribbean Premier League hosted six matches at the same Central Broward Regional Park, the only purpose-built cricket stadium in the US. The venue also hosted two Twenty20 Internationals between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in 2010. Again, the ground was mostly half-full, despite the presence of quite a few big international names in the CPL sides.
“Cricket may not be as big as some of the mainstream sports in the USA, but it has a long tradition there, dating back to George Washington, who played cricket,” says Damien O’Donohoe, the CPL chief executive.
But for the sport to rise above nostalgia and become a genuine passion for many, it must clear a few hurdles. The game’s governing body in America, the USACA, has been fraught with infighting for years, and was suspended by the ICC with funding withdrawn last year, leaving the sport in the country at a crossroads. Local players have to be groomed too, for no game can grow without a role model.
It’s a long road as of now, but the Indian board does seem to be in a hurry to tap the untapped market. Wait for the announcement of the mini-IPL in the US next.