Bringing cricket to America involves a difficult culture transfer

At the 1950 World Cup in the USA, a small power defeated England 1-0 in the match. The US was characterized as a team of lower-league dropouts and amateurs. The victory was barely registered at home. A lone American reporter was present and the result, according to a later writer, was received with enormous indifference.

It did not mark a revival of football, nor was it the starting point of a popular revival in football. So to be fair, it wasn't all that hyped, unlike the T20 World Cup, which many see as the homecoming match in the country where the first international was played in 1844.

After the American victory over Pakistan, the…New York Timeshead said,US scores historic cricket win, but only Pakistan takes notice.Once again America seemed oblivious to a sporting achievement. A special adviser to the Yankees, the professional baseball team, said the India-Pakistan match reminded him of the Dominican baseball league. It may have been a compliment, but I am not an expert on baseball, just as the local reporter who said India beat Pakistan 119-113 is not an expert on cricket.

Not done yet

It may be politically incorrect to say this, but America is not yet ready to embrace cricket. The image of a young boy in Michigan or New York putting away his oval football forever and carrying a cricket bat is hard to imagine.

For starters, the International Cricket Council needs to market the game better, take it to grassroots with more passion and explore all possibilities, including making the commentary and visual presentation more engaging and inclusive.

At the moment, the country seems to be pursuing a single-focus policy: India versus Pakistan. Much of the criticism of the drop-in pitches could have been avoided if the ICC had paid more attention to the amount of time needed to bring them up to international standards.

Low scoring matches make T20 interesting, but the risk of injuries does not. As former England captain Michael Vaughan said: Trying to sell the game in the United States is great, but having players play on poor quality surfaces is unacceptable.

To attract an American audience (as opposed to an immigrant audience), cricket must be presented in a way that Americans can identify with. It can start with television, which is basically meant for converts who can tolerate the nonsense and irrelevance of the Indian commentators.

Special set of skills

Americans need more statistics, more background information, more excitement (as opposed to loudness), and better conversations in general. Transferring a culture and a philosophy from an established community to an emerging community requires special skills.

Just as the ICC must first coach the coaches who can then take the game further in the US, it must spend time on TV channels exploring how best to attract new audiences without losing the old ones.

Then the American magazineSports illustratedIn 1961, he sent a baseball writer to England to write about this game called cricket. He wrote: To appreciate cricket, an American must first understand it. More than six decades later, that is still the key.

Decades of American jokes (cricket is basically baseball on Valium, said actor Robin Williams) must be met in the public imagination with the suggestion that those who cannot enjoy the game are philistines.

The ICC may have missed a trick by not involving Hollywood and sports stars in a celebrity-obsessed society. Real cricket enthusiasts such as Mark Wahlberg (I love the sport, could have played it professionally) and Gerard Butler, both of whom had interests in teams in the Caribbean Premier League in the early days, John Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, Ed Sheeran, Russell Crowe are some examples. Perhaps NBA and NFL stars could have been requisitioned as well. Lebron James as brand ambassador? Just a thought

After scoring the winning goal for the US against England, Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens returned to his country and soon disappeared. It is believed that he was murdered by the death squad of his country's president. Saurabh Netravalkar, Super's hero during the US defeat to Pakistan, will return to his Oracle office in California once the World Cup window is over. The difference is significant; Not for the first time, sport is writing a chapter in our history.