Saturday, September 11, 2004
United States and Cricket
By now, most of the cricket fans among you have heard of the 210 run thrashing the Kiwis handed to the U.S. cricket team in one of the opening games of the Champions Trophy. Obviously, the result comes as no surprise and one has to feel sorry for the inexperienced U.S. team since they run into the Aussies next. But, thats not what this post is about. Cricket in America is, at best, a fringe sport and it will probably not make it into the mainstream anytime in the next 30 years. It is in this context that I found this Intl Herald Tribune article about the U.S. cricket team very interesting. It contains some fascinating trivia about the history of the game in the U.S., which I found very surprising.
The United States is the lowest-ranked team in the competition, but also the oldest, having played the first-ever international match, against Canada in 1844. Before the Civil War, cricket was the most popular game in America. The baseball historian Harold Seymour records an audience of 24,000 for a match in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1859.
Its displacement by baseball was symbolized by the role of the English-born Wright brothers, Harry and George, former cricketers and sons of a professional, as manager and star player respectively of baseball's first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, in the late 1860s.As late as the early years of the 20th century, Philadelphia had a cricket team capable of matching English counties. One Philadelphian, Bart King, is still mentioned in debates over who is the greatest ever bowler.
Cricket, the most popular sport in the U.S.? The mind boggles!
The United States is the lowest-ranked team in the competition, but also the oldest, having played the first-ever international match, against Canada in 1844. Before the Civil War, cricket was the most popular game in America. The baseball historian Harold Seymour records an audience of 24,000 for a match in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1859.
Its displacement by baseball was symbolized by the role of the English-born Wright brothers, Harry and George, former cricketers and sons of a professional, as manager and star player respectively of baseball's first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, in the late 1860s.As late as the early years of the 20th century, Philadelphia had a cricket team capable of matching English counties. One Philadelphian, Bart King, is still mentioned in debates over who is the greatest ever bowler.
Cricket, the most popular sport in the U.S.? The mind boggles!
