The US aims to join cricket’s elite… Howzat?
America applies for ICC membership, perhaps with half an eye on the monetary potential in the sport
‘The scale of our ambition is very high but reflects the huge potential to grow the sport in this country’
WHEN America last seriously adopted one of Britain’s favourite sports, hundreds of millions tuned in to see the embarrassing sight of Diana Ross, the US singer, fluffing a choreographed penalty kick. It went wide.
Now, 26 years on from the US’S razzmatazz and ill-fated interpretation of a “soccer” World Cup on its shores, the nation is coming after the more restrained world of i nternational cricket.
The Daily Telegraph can disclose how the nation better known for Babe Ruth and baseball has launched a concerted effort to become the 13th full member of the elite International Cricket Council by 2030. Those behind the bid are convinced that the parallels between tween the quintessential English summer mmer game and America’s so- called alled “Favourite Pastime” make it destined to succeed.
“The scale of our ambition n is very high but reflects the huge ge potential to grow the sport in n this country,” says Iain Higgins, the chief executive of USA cricket.
He admitted that “there’s a serious dearth in the quality of the infrastructure”, with fewer than 30 turf wickets in the entire country. The US only has one oneday international accredited d venue – at Fort Lauderdale in Florida – and a lack of facilities es for players to train.
However, there are already estimated to be more than 10 million people ple in the United States who follow cricket ket regularly, albeit predominantly those of South Asian or Caribbean descent. In addi addition, around 150,000 Americans now play forms of grass-roots cricket, wi with approximately two thirds of th these only playing softball or tenn nis ball cricket.
But, both Mr Higgins and the IC ICC agree, there is huge potential to g grow. Mr Higgins says: “We really want to move cricket from that sort of niche tag into the mainstream sporting narrative in the USA. In parallel with that, we want USA Cricket to take its place at the forefront of international cricket. In cricketing parlance, that effectively means b becoming a full member of the IC ICC. So we set ourselves a target of 203 2030 to do that.”
In t the ICC, the top countries receive extra funding, voting rights and are guaranteed guara regular fixtures against other top-tier countries. But regular Test matches against the giants of the sport – Australia, the West Indies, India, Pakistan and, of course, England – are not part of USA Cricket’s plans, even if they become a full member by 2030.
The immediate ambition is to grow the market in America with the increased revenue that comes with joining the other 12 members. The plans could be transformative for cricket, which has long targeted the US market, believing it has untapped revenue and a way of growing cricket’s revenue base.
The ICC hopes that cricket will be played in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “That could really act as a massive catalyst,” Mr Higgins says.
“US Cricket can contribute on the global stage and add value to the global game. If cricket can get a foothold here, I think the full members will benefit from access to a strong broadcast market, new sponsors, more competitive rivalries and hopefully, we will eventually have as talented a group of male and female players as most full members.”
Ireland and Afghanistan were the last countries admitted as full members in 2017. In 2018, Cricket Scotland outlined plans to join. USA Cricket’s plan follows a bid to co-host, with the West Indies, the T20 World Cup in the 2023-31 cycle, as The Telegraph revealed in March.
USA Cricket believes the T20 game rather than the Test format will be the best way to popularise the sport. So far the US has only appeared in one ICC event, the Champions Trophy in 2004.
Last year, the US men’s team secured one-day international status for the first time, and beat Scotland last December.
They have won six of their 12 games in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, the second tier of ODI cricket, but remain riddled by inconsistency. The women’s team is less advanced, and USA Cricket has identified greater investment in the side as a particular priority.
“We want to be in the top 10 in ODI and T20 cricket in both the men’s and women’s game,” says Mr Higgins.