Cricket in the United States

Cricket in the United States
CountryUnited States
Governing bodyUSA Cricket
National team(s)United States
First playedbefore 1700
National competitions
International competitions

Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, club, intercollegiate and international competition levels with little popularity, with 200,000 players (<0.1% of the population) across the country.[1] Major League Cricket is the highest level of domestic T20 cricket currently played in America, with T20 being the format of the game that much of the recent growth in American cricket is occurring in.[2][3]

A Sri Lankan-American child playing cricket in Virginia

In 2006 it was estimated that 30,000 people in the United States play or watch cricket annually.[4] By 2017, this figure had risen to 200,000 people playing cricket in 6,000 teams.[5] Cricket in the United States is not as popular as baseball and is not as popular among as large a fraction of the population as it is within either the Commonwealth nations or the other ICC full member (or Test cricket) nations.[6] There are at least two historical reasons for the relative obscurity of cricket within the United States. One reason was the 19th-century-rise of the summer time bat-and-ball sport now called baseball, which displaced cricket as a popular pastime.[6] Another reason was that in 1909 when the ICC was originally organized as the Imperial Cricket Conference it was open only to Commonwealth nations and thereby excluded the U.S. from participating in the sport at the highest level.[7]

Nevertheless, in 1965 the U.S. was admitted to the renamed ICC as an associate member and the sport grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century. An oft mentioned reason for the growing popularity of cricket is the growing population of immigrants to the U.S. who come from cricket playing nations.[4][6]

With the launching of the United States Youth Cricket Association in 2010, a more focused effort to bring the game to American schools was begun, with the intention of broadening cricket's fan base beyond expatriates and their children.[8] In addition, USA Cricket has begun offering various championship tournaments for youth cricketers, such as the MLC Jr. Championship.[9]

ESPN has been stepping up its coverage of cricket in recent years, buying the cricket website Cricinfo in 2007, and broadcasting the final of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 competition, the 2014 Indian Premier League, English County Championship games, and international Test cricket.[10]

In 2021, Minor League Cricket, a professional Twenty20 cricket league sanctioned by USA Cricket, began play. Major League Cricket is planning to launch its first season in 2023.[11][12] In addition, various championships and pathways are being offered for youth cricketers, such as the MLC Jr. Championship.[13]

  1. ^ "About Domestic Cricket". USA Cricket. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  2. ^ "Strategy". USA Cricket. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2021. [USA Cricket] will seek to position Twenty20 cricket at the center of our plans and will set up our domestic structure and design our key initiatives and activities accordingly.
  3. ^ "Once a popular pastime in the US, cricket is coming back for the T20 World Cup". South China Morning Post. May 22, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024. That cricket is making a comeback, of sorts, in the US through its shortest format – in T20 – maybe makes sense.
  4. ^ a b Worrall, Simon (October 2006). "Cricket, Anyone?". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  5. ^ "American cricket gets ready for take-off". BBC News. October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Chetwynd, Josh. "Cricket, anyone? Obvious similarities make baseball, cricket sibling sports". Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  7. ^ "International Cricket Council – The ICC – About The Organisation – History". Archived from the original on July 6, 2009. Retrieved July 22, 2009.
  8. ^ Della Penna, Peter. "Have Kit, Will Play". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  9. ^ Dunmore, Tom. "Youth Cricketers to benefit from the new pathways created by MLC". Major League Cricket. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  10. ^ Pengelly, Martin (April 13, 2014). "Why America will learn to love cricket". The Guardian. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  11. ^ "Minor League Cricket: T20 league in USA kicks off with Sami Aslam, Corey Anderson in the mix". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  12. ^ "Dallas-Fort Worth Will Have the Country's Second Major Cricket Stadium". November 24, 2020.
  13. ^ Dunmore, Tom. "Youth Cricketers to benefit from the new pathways created by MLC". Major League Cricket. Retrieved September 9, 2021.