The US is starting to embrace cricket, says a top US diplomat

General view inside the stadium during the ICC Mens T20 Cricket World Cup West Indies & USA 2024 match between USA and India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 12, 2024 in New York, New York. | Photo credit: Getty Images

The United States is starting to embrace cricket, a top American diplomat said on Wednesday as the country hosted T-20 World Cup matches for the first time, including the super-popular India-Pakistan and India-US matches in New York.

Also read: Between wickets | Bringing cricket to America involves a difficult culture transfer

“In terms of cricket, I am really impressed. It is truly a huge honor and privilege for the United States to host the Men's T20 World Cup for the very first time. This is a great recognition that our country is getting into cricket , a sport so loved in so many other countries around the world, said Richard Verma, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, at a reception here.

On Wednesday, the State Department hosted “From Bouncers to Boundaries: An Evening to Celebration the Men's T20 World Cup and Cricket in the USA Cricket World Cup.” The reception was the “largest cricket special event” ever organized by the US government, he said.

“The twenty participating national teams highlight not only the skills of the world's best cricketers, but also the vastness of cricket's global reach. It would have seemed unthinkable 10 to 15 years ago that the US would host the Cricket World Cup. But today, Major League Cricket is flourishing in the United States, said Mr. Verma.

“USA Cricket continues its instrumental work in supporting our national players and equipping youth and local communities with the tools they need to succeed in this sport. And I suspect cricket will have even greater reach in the United States States by the time this tournament ends, especially if we keep winning matches to advance to the next round, Mr. Verma said to cheers from the crowd.

“But regardless of the results, I think people are pretty excited. Major news sources are covering it. According to USA Cricket, more than 400 leagues have opened in the United States, with more than 200,000 players and counting. is a victory for cricket.” fans who want to see the sport grow in the United States,” he said.

“All in all, we are in the middle of an exciting innings that shows no signs of coming to an end. The next few years will be monumental for the sport in the United States. After this year's T20 World Cup, we have the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where cricket will officially become an Olympic sport, Verma said.

Sanjay Govil, owner of the Washington Freedom, an American Major League Cricket (MLC) team, said the national cricket team has achieved great success.

We beat Pakistan, we beat Canada and we had a very exciting match against India today,” he said.

The ICC took the bold step of setting up an office in Colorado, actually bringing people here, setting up an American Cricket Board and then coming out with an RFP (Request for Proposal) to allocate and start MLC, Govil said.

After the World Cup, Major League Cricket will hold its second season in Texas and North Carolina. We are working hard to set up local stadiums for each team and build the infrastructure, he said.

Washington Freedom has Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting as coach.

ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said the past week and a half has been quite surreal. We have held the T20 World Cup in Dallas, New York and Florida. Getting the temporary location in New York in particular was a difficult challenge, but it was all worth it, he said.

“As we reflect on the matches there and the impact they have had on cricket in the US and raise awareness of cricket here, it will be looked back on as a pivotal moment for the sport in this country,” Allardice said.

India defeated the US by seven wickets to enter the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup in New York on Wednesday.