Cricket Receives US-style makeover

[BhoysFC1995]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/3533247.stm

great article, with links on the right side on recent articles regarding cricket in the USA.

key facts-
*TV contract reached supposedly
*8 cities
*20 0vers format
*Salaries up to $60,000 a season for players
*All-Star game to be in Aug in Vegas

well, i think its great, but i have to admit, i am very skeptical about all of this.

nothing on the webiste yet

www.americanprocricket.com

[Ricky_DCU]

After reading that I think my calendar might be wrong. It says March 5th, but clearly it's April 1st.

By the way, regarding your question posed on another thread, they would not be able to use soccer specific stadiums. Completely different field dimensions (cricket requires large oval fields).

[XYZ]

It'll be interesting to see what happens with this league.

according to the BBC article:
America has only four real cricket pitches.
But I'm guessing there are a number of stadiums that might suffice.
From the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/02/1075570360906.html):
Sydney's top grade cricketers have been invited to take part in a new high-profile attempt to launch cricket in the United States. American Pro Cricket (APC) hits the US this year and will involve eight cities taking part in a 20-over-a-side competition. With a television contract already signed, organisers hope the shortened version of the game, involving some high-profile players, will appeal to American audiences.
The APC is going to face some serious challenges in a saturated sports market in a country where many people don't have a clue how cricket is played. The upside to that is that cricket may have some appeal as a novelty.

[pc4th]

It will be interesting to see what will come out of this league.

Any idea on what cities will be the home to these 8 teams?

Since cricket is hugely popular in India and pakistan, I guess a city with a sizeable population of either of both.

[OldFanatic]

Originally posted by pc4th
I guess a city with a sizeable population of either of both.

Hehehe, when was the last time you heard about the Pakistani community in the US? Or a city with big Pakistani population, but not Indian? (Simple test: Compare the number of Indian restaurants in all major cities with Pakistani restaurants.) Compared with the number of people of Indian origin in the US, the population of Pakistan origin is literally miniscule.

This could appeal to expat British or Aussie community as well. Except that hardly anyone in England cares about cricket anymore compared with football. The corporate sponsorship in the game is indeed dominated by companies in India (despite Australia's current domination on the field), which translates to the cricket craze there. So, going after the immigrant population from the subcontinent would definitely be the best strategy.

[BhoysFC1995]

Originally posted by pc4th
It will be interesting to see what will come out of this league.

Any idea on what cities will be the home to these 8 teams?

Since cricket is hugely popular in India and pakistan, I guess a city with a sizeable population of either of both.

:) surprise surprise, from the article

The teams will be based in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Florida, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

still no new news on this 'league' yet.

[soccernutter]

Originally posted by BhoysFC1995

*All-Star game to be in Aug in Vegas


Really? In 120 degree temperature.

[Andy TAUS]

Originally posted by soccernutter
Really? In 120 degree temperature. soccernutter,

Don't know if you are a cricket fan, but in summer (when cricket is played) in Australia, India & Pakistan (as a few examples) the temperature on the pitch is around 120 degrees farenheight.

Furthermore, there is high humidty (in some cities of the countires mentioned above) as well, as opposed to the heat in Vegas in August (which I'd expect to be dry).

Andy T.

[OldFanatic]

Yeah, but they better play during the night hours, when the desert climate cools down. They play lots of one-day matches during night hours in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) which gets hot as hell too. But they also played a test match at Sharjah between Pakistan and Australia (as neutral ground due to security issues). And test matches can't be all played during night hours. It was hot like hell. Could it explain why Pakistan were all out for 59 and 53?? (Actually, it gets pretty hot in Pakistan too.) Check out the coverage for that match and search for the word "weather" in it.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/AUS_IN_PAK/SCORECARDS/AUS_PAK_T2_11-15OCT2002_BBB-COMMS.html

Also from:

http://aus.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/AUS_IN_PAK/SCORECARDS/AUS_PAK_T3_19-23OCT2002_BBB-COMMS.html

The second Test was played under conditions best described as unbearable - buring hot. Not a brilliant idea to play a Test match in that kind of heat in Sharjah

[OldFanatic]

Bump. Move to cricket forum.