A big misconception people have is that its only a few teams that are going down like Zim and WI. Reality is, cricket is taking a massive downward spiral.
Its not the inavaialability of technology, lack of quality players. Its simply the lack of fanbase. Most Indian and Bangladesh youngsters these days are far more geared towards football than cricket.
However, here is the BIGGER catch. Football is appealing the higher-income population. I for one come from a very good background so I could afford English medium education here in Bangladesh. I have been involved in many international programs where I have met a huge number of Indians as well. Around 50 of my facebook friends are Indian. So I am mostly acquianted with people of moderate to upper class be it Bangladeshi and Indians. Keep in mine, I am strictly talking about those in their late teens or they are young adults who are the most important target. While many follows cricket quite a bit, especially when the team is doing spectacularly well or during the world cup, pretty much everyone is invested in football it would seem. Euro, Copa America were all seen with great interest yet hardly much IPL or even the WT20 for that matter.
So now if most of the upper class and middle class are losing interest in cricket, it doesn't help in the long run because it is usually these group of people who are the major target of TV broadcasters, sponsors, and usually its these people who go on to be cricketers. The working class or lower class people still follow the sport like a religion, but they too are seemingly losing interest in the game.
WHY? WHY NOT?
20-30 premier leagues a year, each team playing each other a million times over a year. Constant change in rules, handful of emerging teams are all the driving force behind the declining popularity of cricket. Once the market in the Subcontinent dies down, and it will within 20-30, cricket will become a low-profile sport.
Want to avoid it? Then need to get cricket in the olympics, invest more on associates, and stop trying to seduce the American culture into picking up cricket. It won't happen.
