Another New League (Cricket)

[BhoysFC1995]

no joke-

Pro Cricket in USA starts June 18th (http://uscricket.com/newsdetail.asp?id=679&news=usnews&category=General)

the teams are (try not to laugh at some of them):
NY Storm
Jersey Fire
DC Forward
Florida Thunder
Chicago Tornadoes
SF Freedom
LA Unity
Texas Arrow Heads

the leagues website is- http://www.procricket.com/ there is mention of a 'media partner' with a tv contract, but nothing mentioned of who. Foxsportsworld??

as for the NY team, its pretty silly to have them play in Staten Island, as its really hard for people to travel to. it would have been much more reasonable (attendance wise at least) to have them play in Queens or Brooklyn.

[wjarrettc]

Damn. No team for Raleigh-Durham ;)

Don't know a lot about cricket but I'm wondering if they are "Americanizing" the game in any way to try to appeal to American fans and American TV (like MLS did in their early days) or are they sticking to the traditional game. I've got to expect that there is a decent niche market in America for a Cricket league in America.

[Olesh]

Alright, I wrote a much longer reply but it got erased, but here goes:

as for the NY team, its pretty silly to have them play in Staten Island, as its really hard for people to travel to. it would have been much more reasonable (attendance wise at least) to have them play in Queens or Brooklyn.

Initially, Staten Island didn't sound like such a bad idea because of the massive South Indian population in Central New Jersey, specifically Middlesex County, which is just across the Outerbridge Crossing, about 20 minutes away. But then, when I looked again, the New Jersey team is playing in Central New Jersey, about 20 minutes west of the particularly large enclave. I know there are a lot of people of Indian and Pakistani descent in that area, but I seriously doubt there are enough to support TWO professional cricket teams.

Plus, they plan on playing in minor-league baseball stadia, which although its peanuts compared to Giants Stadium rent, still involves a non-trivial rental cost that has to get covered somehow. The outdoor lacrosse league used this same model, with modest expectations, yet still has not been successful in some markets averaging about 2,000 people in a 5,000 seat park. I don't know if cricket can reasonably expect to draw much more on a regular basis.

Based on the NY/NJ franchise locations, you have to wonder about the wisdom of the forefathers. I agree that surely either having the NY team in Brooklyn/Queens or the NJ team in Hudson County would have made a lot more sense. Instead you're essentially putting two teams in roughly the same sub-market .

As for TV partners, I'm not so sure about FSW. I don't think there are any exclusively South Asian networks based in the US, but if there are, that would be a distinct possibility. The other "outside the box" theory I had about media partnership would be something like AVS. AVS is a prominent Independent Indian-American News program that buys time on UHF stations. Maybe the league would partner with an entity like that and get discounted blocks of time on these small over-the-air stations. Just a thought.

I don't see this having much chance of lasting though, even if the South Asian and West Indian populations come out and support it (which I doubt). Besides, what can they possibly be thinking with the travel costs?

[Jabinho]

Don't know a lot about cricket but I'm wondering if they are "Americanizing" the game in any way to try to appeal to American fans and American TV ...Yes.. Instead of 11 per side there will be nine and the field will be shaped like a diamond and there willl be 3 outs per inning and the bat will be rounded .... :p

[AndyMead]

Damn. No team for Raleigh-Durham ;)
The local cricket club shot themselves in the proverbial foot. They had it lined up to buy a farm off of I-85 north of the triangle to put a full-sized oval on. The local jurisdiction was going to pitch in a grant, but the cricket club forgot to register themselves as a non-profit organization....


Don't know a lot about cricket but I'm wondering if they are "Americanizing" the game in any way to try to appeal to American fans and American TV (like

It looks like they're going to be the 20/20 Cricket league we were discussing earlier this year:
http://www.sportnetwork.net/boards/read/s119.php?f=118&i=123971&t=123971
I know there's a thread here on BigSoccer somewhere. The procricket website doesn't list any rules, but it seems to match up with the post I've linked.

20/20 cricket has some pretty vehement detractors, but then again so does sliced bread.

I see tickets for the first DC match are $4.95.

[djwalker]

I'm glad they obviously went to MLS for marketing ideas. NY Storm . . . that's brilliant.

[AndyMead]

I'm glad they obviously went to MLS for marketing ideas. NY Storm . . . that's brilliant.

Maybe we can direct all the jacknuts from the MLS forum that keep coming up with new names and team logos for MLS teams to www.BigCricket.com

Afterall, it's not too late!

[MasterShake29]

Can't comment on the NY location, but putting the NJ team in Bridgewater (Commerce Bank Ballpark) is a good idea. The closer they are to Edison/Woodbridge/Piscataway the better for them. Trust me. Plus it's 10 minutes from my house, maybe I'll go see a game.

[Olesh]

Can't comment on the NY location, but putting the NJ team in Bridgewater (Commerce Bank Ballpark) is a good idea. The closer they are to Edison/Woodbridge/Piscataway the better for them. Trust me. Plus it's 10 minutes from my house, maybe I'll go see a game.

I agree with this. My only question is whether they're overestimating the Central Jersey market with essentially TWO teams. I could see them putting a team in Bridgewater OR Staten Island to court the Middlesex County crowd, but not in both. My point was that if they wanted a team in Bridgewater, they should have put the NY team in Brooklyn/Queens/LI, and if they wanted Staten Island, they should have put the NJ team in the Hudson County area or even Trenton, there just seems like too much market overlap for too niche a sport.

Does it bother anybody else that the season is set to start in about a week and they have no players assigned to teams?

[pething101]

Doesn't it take 3 days to complete a cricket ... what is it, a match? a test? I have no idea. The one dude I know here from Trinidad and Tobago told me the only reason to go to a cricket thing is to smoke pot and sit in the sun for three days. Sounds like a decent way to spend three days.

[Dr. Wankler]

the leagues website is- http://www.procricket.com/

The season is set to start and they still don't have the merchandise available? That's even more un-American than starting a cricket league in the first place.

http://www.procricket.com/shopping.aspx

[BhoysFC1995]

the website is still very much under construction. they have the teams jerseys for viewing, but not for sale. when i checked, each team did have assigned players.

as for the format, it will be played 'Twenty20'. this version is similar to the time length of a baseball game. each team bats only once, receiving 20 Overs bowled to them (6 bowls/pitches = an over, so its 120 bowls), unless theres only one batter left on the team.

ODI's, One Day Internationals (the world cup plays this format), are the same but the difference is 50 overs.

then theres Tests matches, which are unlimited overs, and played over 4 or five days depending on the format.

Twenty20 is fairly new to the cricket world. it started in England last year, and now this year also played in South African. in both places it is very popular, drawing large crowds.

a main difference between limited overs compared Tests in batting is that there is much more of an urgency to score runs quicker (hitting sixes and fours) due to the limit of overs.

[shameless plug] oh, btw, there happens to be a great cricket forum here at bigsoccer, located HERE (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=921) [/plug]

[texgator]

Why is the Florida team playing in Homestead. There is a large Carribean population in the region, but its much farther North, like North Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale. Homestead is about as far South as you can get in Miami without hitting the keys. Its a good 45 min to an hour from where the island folks live. Unless....do Cubans play cricket??

[Laggard]

The need to have names for every single team seems to be a truly American thing. Am I wrong?

[monster]

Maybe we can direct all the jacknuts from the MLS forum that keep coming up with new names and team logos for MLS teams to www.BigCricket.com

Afterall, it's not too late!
Move San Francisco!


Oh, come one. SOMEBODY had to do it.

[djwalker]

Cricket has arrived!

[Fleetwood Mac #1]

Cricket has arrived!

Actually, "coming soon".

Less than a week to go and still very little info available. This is not looking good at all.

[ThreeApples]

I chuckled at the "Home Ground" section on the San Francisco Freedom's page. It reads:

HOME GROUND

Kezar Stadium

Kezar Stadium was demolished in 1989...

[BhoysFC1995]

Actually, "coming soon".

Less than a week to go and still very little info available. This is not looking good at all.

Indians get set for US Pro Cricket (http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/JUN/167218_USA_11JUN2004.html)

well, that article talks about the influx of players from india, and how they will not be bound by contracts. looks like they are taking baby steps (emphasis on baby) with this venture.

[Jabinho]

Cricket Explained: :confused:
http://www.abcofcricket.com/cfb1/cfb4/cfb4.htm