What’s The Best Way I Can Spread The Gospel Of Cricket In America?
i’m just an average American guy, not the child of immigrants from cricket-loving countries. i’m a mad keen cricket fan. how can i spread my joy for the game?
there are plenty of Indian students who play cricket in my city, but I can’t really play with them as I am a complete beginner.
i bought a tennis ball bat and some heavy tennis balls. how can i develop my game on my own?
It is great to see that you, in spite of being an American with little exposure to the game, are trying to popularize the sport you have come to love.
There have been several reasons why cricket never developed a big following in the USA. Most think that Americans stopped playing cricket altogether after independence from Britain, as cricket was seen as a British sport. This is not true. Cricket remained a popular sport in the US throughout the 19th century, especially in the Northeast.
The formation of the ICC (IMPERIAL Cricket Council) in 1909 was the real blow to the development of the game in the States, since it restricted membership to the Commonwealth countries only (i.e. present British colonies and Dominions). It is notable that cricket did not die out altogether in the US, and when the ICC was reincarnated International Cricket Council in 1965, the USA was one of the first nations to join. However, by this time, American football, baseball, basketball, auto-racing (e.g. Indy and NASCAR), tennis, golf and athletics had all surpassed cricket as a sport of choice for talented American athletes.
Cricket suffers from a low profile to this day because of the following problems:
1) Lack of media exposure.
2) Lack of opportunities to play cricket in schools and colleges.
3) Immigrant communities and exclusion of Americans from the cricket culture.
1) The first major hurdle you would have to overcome is the lack of media exposure. Cricket is not broadcast by ESPN or any other sports network, or any of the terrestrial networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS or FOX). Pay-per-view subscription to cricket tournaments are exorbitant; in 2007, the four Test series between England and West Indies (where apart from Chanderpaul the WI team was in shambles, leading to little spectator interest in the series anywhere in the world) was offered on DISH TV for $84.50. I am assuming that if spectator interest is anything to go by, India vs Pakistan series and Ashes series will sell for over $150. Such large sums of money are not affordable for most immigrants, and there is little reason why Americans would buy a PPV package at such high cost purely for the curiosity of seeing how cricket is played. Although channels like Zee Sports broadcast some cricket in the US, other than Indian subcontinental immigrants few even know it exists, and overseas network packages are often quite expensive as well.
2) Cricket is not played in schools in most of America. Recently, the New York City public school system started a league for schools, which is a step in the right direction but still a drop in the ocean. The reason why soccer has managed to attain some following in the States is because it is one of the most played youth sports, as well as the fact that soccer does have some media exposure on ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel and Gol TV, largely meant to cater to the Hispanic community. Cricket has no media outlet and no organized structure in the schools. Colleges with a lot of Indian subcontinental/West Indian students have cricket clubs, but are not the most effective way to popularize cricket. (It is difficult to manage studies and more than one extracurricular interest in college, and non-Asian American students are unlikely to join cricket clubs over other clubs/organizations of interest to them.)
3) Although there are thriving adult cricket leagues in cities like New York, San Francisco and Portland, most of the teams identify with an ethnic affiliation or national origin. For example, the Commonwealth Cricket League in NYC has teams such as Bangladesh Abahani, BD Crushers, Paki Pride, Punjabi Tigers and Indian XI. Although they will most likely accept players from any ethnicity, there may be a sense of the clubs existing to provide a community organization for immigrants from India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/Guyana/Trinida… & Tobago etc., and it is likely that other Americans will find the clubs a little clique-y. The lack of access to clubs for people like you is another reason why cricket does not become a mainstream sport in the US.
In order to spread the “gospel” of cricket, you will need to ensure:
1) Much improved media exposure of cricket (in newspapers, on radio and TV). However, this is likely to fail because of commercial inviability; such media would initially have to be targeted towards immigrants from cricket playing nations, and barring any British or Australian immigrants, they are unlikely to have sufficient purchasing power for such media outlets to be popular with sponsors.
2) Organize cricket in schools. This is difficult because of the need for extensive facilities (pitches, large grounds, nets, equipment, protective gear etc). Most children in the US attend public schools. Most public school funding is raised from local taxation, so you will have to convince a lot of taxpayers with children in school that cricket is a sport that will benefit their children more than American football, basketball, baseball and so on.
3) More clubs are needed, and easy access to non-immigrant players needs to be ensured. Someone like you could start a club and invite your friends to join, but fundraising and attaining a minimum standard of play needed for existing clubs to want to play you will be issues. So, as you can see, there are no easy solutions. Someone with great entrepreneurial skills will have to sell the game to the American public before increased media exposure, inclusion in school sports programs and an increase in the number of clubs can be brought about. I wish you best of luck with your endeavors.
A fantastic way of doing so is simply hitting the ball against a wall and letting it come back and hit it again. It’s a simple yet addictive exercise that can teach basic footwork and hand eye co-ordination.
Also watch lots and lots of professional batsmen and bowlers on T.V. Really attempt to look at batsmens footwork, body angles and weight distribution throughout shots - It may sound hard to see but especially with slow motion replays its not!
Iv’e never had a coaching session in my life yet i play very high standard for my county,. (Equivalent of a state side in America probably) mainly due to watching the best. You can perfect your strokes by watching your reflection in a mirror / window as well.
Finally learn to hit in the “V”. This basically means learn to hit as straight as possible as it is safe, technically good and most rewarding.
Practice, practice, practice!
Good Luck!
I am a cricket fan too, from India! I will tell you how I learnt cricket….
I (at age 10/11) played with my elder brother and learnt what basic thins are. Such as, what is batting, bowling, fielding and basic rules of the game. Since I was a beginner, it was hard for me to play with the friends who were good at it. So, I played with the beginners like me, watched my good (at cricket) friends playing, and watched cricket matches in the TV. Now, I was lil’ better and thought myself that I could play with my good (at cricket) friends. I had more practice by playing with them and eventually learned to play cricket. Therfore, PRACTICing is the key. More you practice, more you learn.
For some suggestions, watch how everybody plays (in TV, your friends) and try to learn the type of shot and footwork they use in specific balls. Use what you have learned while playing or practicing and if you feel comfortable with it, do it more often and you will eventually get good at it.
For you next question about how to spread gospel of cricket, if you are a school or college student, tell them about cricket and encourage them to play.
That’s all. Hope I helped you!
get some backyard cricket going, that is always fun amongst a group of friends and if you make almost anything you hit out and only a few bits of your yard runs, you will learn to aim for where the runs are and will increase your accuracy. Just join in with the indians i got a lot of them around me to here in aus, you will learn a lot as they take it seriosuly and can give some tips.
The best way is playing it often there and telling your friends who don’t know what cricket to join you when you play cricket. If more people play cricket then it will be a success so you have to start from the beginning.
please don`t….. it`s the most boring game in the world (after tennis) paint dry`s quicker ….i`m sure it must have been invented by the americans …..it`s rounder`s (girl`s game) … sorry baseball….(girl`s game)………throw a ball and hit it with a stick.. (cricket,tennis,rounder`s,baseball, lacrosse, shinty if you irish,
now a proper man`s game FEMALE MUD WRESTING YESSSSSSS