T20 World Cup - How has been the following around the world & has it effected popularity of Cricket?

[Executioner]

T20 World Cup - How has been the following around the world & has it effected popularity of Cricket?

Now now lads, hold your horses before you jump right in. Don't tell me - "yOu hAvE No Idea HoW mAny pEOple wAtChEd tHe GaMe BEtWeEn iNdIa AnD pAkIsTaN". Apart from the citizens of these two countries, not many people actually watched the spectacle. Sure there are a lot of people in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and perhaps Nepal who watched the games.

But how has the level of interest in the sport been around the world? People I know who live in Australia say that there is hardly any interest in the Australian public for the WT20. In fact, many people in Australia do not even know a World Cup is going on. Popularity has probably dwindled across the world. Heck, even in Bangladesh the interest for ICC events have gotten lower and lower.

For a sport with very little global following, it does not bode well that there is so little interest to begin with and even that is dwindling.

Also this is my stage to say that ICC is arguably the worst of the worst global sporting body. They have miserably failed to incorporate more teams into cricket, failed to bring cricket into the Olympics and are regularly reducing the number of teams that can play in the CWC. That and don't forget the constant mismanagement. I mean ICC is so pathetic that they constantly put India and Pakistan in the same group for some easy money.

When i started following the game back in the late 90s and early 00s as a kid, cricket was at its peak in terms of following but right now it appears to be as low as it ever could be.

 

[Suleiman]

Interest is not what it used to be like it was back in mid 80s-90s. 1999 WC was the last most hype WC. I think interest steadily decreased post turn of the century. Funny enough all of this coincides with Peak Pakistan (mid 80s-90s) and then our slow regression post 2003 when cricket slowly started to lose overall interest every few years.

 

[LegendAli]

Yeah, its pretty ironic to see the English and Aussies fill their cricket leagues with a jam packed audience but when it comes to International cricket they couldn't care less.

Go watch all the BBL games and England's league games, full house every single time.

 

[jnaveen1980]

World cup cannot happen every 2 years. In this case very next year.

 

[Executioner]

World cup cannot happen every 2 years. In this case very next year.

And this is unsettling for most teams. We have the CWC next year, teams also have to focus on the Test Championships, there are so many leagues.

It is almost like teams don't have the opportunity to switch off. We had a disastrous campaign last year in the WT20 and we needed some breathing space so that we could groom the current crop of players. Think about the WI - most of their stalwarts have retired and they have a young team which is now expected to make the next round but the pressure of expectations combined with inexperience put them in a difficult condition.

 

[jnaveen1980]

And this is unsettling for most teams. We have the CWC next year, teams also have to focus on the Test Championships, there are so many leagues.

It is almost like teams don't have the opportunity to switch off. We had a disastrous campaign last year in the WT20 and we needed some breathing space so that we could groom the current crop of players. Think about the WI - most of their stalwarts have retired and they have a young team which is now expected to make the next round but the pressure of expectations combined with inexperience put them in a difficult condition.

They can very well cancel world T20. It doesn't make sense. Vast majority of the time T20s are played by some B string side C string side. T20s are good for leagues. Infact better for leagues than internationals. Unlike ODIs where we have Asia cup, Tri series etc, T20 has no such thing. Just bilaterals. Then they assemble again and play another world T20.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

They can very well cancel world T20. It doesn't make sense. Vast majority of the time T20s are played by some B string side C string side. T20s are good for leagues. Infact better for leagues than internationals. Unlike ODIs where we have Asia cup, Tri series etc, T20 has no such thing. Just bilaterals. Then they assemble again and play another world T20.

The T20 WC is very good as it doesn't take much to put on with stadium infrastructure already in place and subcontinent viewership makes up a bulk of its worth. A shame it isn't free in UK though which is a huge missed opportunity. It's akin to IPL but on the international stage and maybe the likes of Ireland, Netherlands and Afghanistan not to mention Windies, where guaranteed a place, could make these much more exciting in future.

ODI World Cup needs to remain the pinnacle though and preserved at all costs. Just cull Jamodis and limit them to a few games at best and ramp up around World Cup year