Cricket in the United States
The time has arrived when the entire world will be looking towards the United States of America as the next hot destination for cricket. Taking the game of cricket over there involves very little joy and a plethora of frustrations for the organiser. To be clear and straight, the move is very difficult. Don Lockerbie, who has been appointed as the CEO of Cricket America in April last year, has been working really hard to organise some big cricketing events in America. He seems to be focused in achieving this task of bringing the best cricket teams and players from all over the world to the United States of America. Showcasing cricket at the biggest level requires a lot of effort and it will not be an easy task for the Americans to achieve.
The CEO of U.S. Cricket also wants to disclose a powerful story about America and the cricket that is played in the country to the entire world. The fact of the matter is that the United States of America is encircled by almost 20 million cricket fans with 15 million living in America, five million in Canada and about two to three million cricket fans residing in the West Indies. So in the presence of such a huge market, the destination USA programme basically aims to show the best cricket players around the world.
Don Lockerbie is also working on another programme by the name of Project 15. It's an effort which aims to get the United States cricket team to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015. In order to do so, the United States of America have to be in the list of top 15 cricket rankings. A lot of hard work and dedication is required to achieve this goal as they need to launch a training program so that they can develop and groom match winning players. A variety of programmes at the national level should also be launched for the up gradation of various facilities across the country. This is what the second initiative of the programme is all about.
The third initiative is a deliberate effort to bring the game of cricket into America’s schools. The initiative has been given the name of ‘America Cricket’. In soft ball and baseball, talented players in the United States can get scholarships and turn into professionals. Likewise, it is expected that a large quantity of good athletes in America want to become professional cricketers one day after mastering the basics of the game.
Over the last few decades, a large number of residents of common wealth countries have shifted to the United States of America. They have also carried their culture, heritage and most importantly their love for the game of cricket. That has certainly led to further developments within their off spring. With almost 1000 cricket clubs and over 30,000 active members in American cricket, the expansion of the game has certainly developed a new wave of interest. This is why America’s cricket is growing day by day. As a result, players are heading towards the mainstream market to fetch a better price for their services.
The biggest challenge is actually bringing the sport into the American schools as it is still short of being considered as an elitist game by the American public at large. The game is somewhat alien to Americans so it is going to be quite difficult to find spaces that are open for all of them to practice.
At the moment, Don Lockerby is working on the professionalization of cricket in America. There are examples of some associate countries including, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and Holland who have successfully done this in the recent past. Moving in the same direction might lead Don Lockerbie intro developing a professional league in the United States of America which can evolve into a coaching program for the national team.
Another noticeable thing is that over 28 schools in the city of New York are playing high school cricket which is humongous achievement for Lockerbie. But the truth of the matter is that cricket is still a mystery for most Americans and there is still a long way to go.
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