What can be done to increase popularity of cricket?

[karthikc]

The World Cup final had 93,000 people in the stadium while a pre season friendly game for Liverpool had 95000!!!

I know that it is difficult for cricket to become a mass sport like football, but surely there must be some way to promote it more among other Asian countries at least. Why not start by having a seperate status for Test and T20?

Surely T20 can attract more minnow countries....What are your thoughts?

 

[BigBoy123]

In Aus cricket is more popular than football and secondly for cricket maximum capacity in a ground is much less than maximum capacity of football because of Side screens and all that type of stuff....

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[Barragan]

I agree, need to promote T20's more.

I liked the idea of including more teams in the T20 WC, but hate the fact they have to qualify for the main round.

 

[Stallion__]

How many cricket grounds can hold 90k+ people??
We need filled stadiums whatever their capacity is...
But yes T20 is the format where more and more associates should be given chance!
Why should there be qualification round?
Why can't we have 16 teams playing, 4 teams in a group so every group has two of the top 8 and two minnows.
Every minnow will get atleast 2 games against top teams.
Qualification round kills the purpose for minnows to participate since they keep playing among themselves and most of them gets eliminated without playing any top team.

 

[Reverseswing97]

The World Cup final had 93,000 people in the stadium while a pre season friendly game for Liverpool had 95000!!!

I know that it is difficult for cricket to become a mass sport like football, but surely there must be some way to promote it more among other Asian countries at least. Why not start by having a seperate status for Test and T20?

Surely T20 can attract more minnow countries....What are your thoughts?

But the Pak v Ind match in this world cup had more viewership then the fifa world cup final last year lol.On a serious note t20's are the only way the game can grow in non cricketing countries.should be promoted

 

[96NotOut]

IIRC, [MENTION=865]Big Mac[/MENTION] once wrote an excellent post on a similar topic - he even won POTW for that. Does anyone remember?

 

[amit]

For starters, remove this pathetic decision of having 10 teams in world cup. Have atleast 14-16 teams in the world cup

 

[Syed1]

Try to get some of the big international players into the game.

If the Europeans start playing the game then the whole world will begin to notice. We need teams from USA and countries like France, Italy and Germany.


T20 cricket can be introduced to these places as it is the easiest to learn and does not take up the whole day..

 

[Chrish]

Try to get some of the big international players into the game.

If the Europeans start playing the game then the whole world will begin to notice. We need teams from USA and countries like France, Italy and Germany.


T20 cricket can be introduced to these places as it is the easiest to learn and does not take up the whole day..

Impossible here in USA.. Americans already have Football, Baseball, and Basketball and million other things like Ice hockey, Golf and Tennis to keep themselves occupied.. NO CHANCE for Cricket here.. Absolutely NONE!!

Euro countries and Brazil/ Argentina are much better bets

 

[Syed1]

Impossible here in USA.. Americans already have Football, Baseball, and Basketball and million other things like Ice hockey, Golf and Tennis to keep themselves occupied.. NO CHANCE for Cricket here.. Absolutely NONE!!

Euro countries and Brazil/ Argentina are much better bets

Hardly anyone likes soccer/football in USA yet they still manage to send a team to the WC year after year. They have such awesome player development programs that even if a small percentage of the population follows the sport they can get good enough pool to reach the WCs.

 

[Markhor]

Try to get some of the big international players into the game.

If the Europeans start playing the game then the whole world will begin to notice. We need teams from USA and countries like France, Italy and Germany.


T20 cricket can be introduced to these places as it is the easiest to learn and does not take up the whole day..

Unfortunately in Europe cricket is usually played by those of South Asia descended communities. Indigenous population is obsessed by football which has enormous financial backing. The cricket boards in these developing nations (in cricket terms) often are cash strapped and are heavily reliant on ICC funding. And even then those funds cannot be guaranteed as the Big Three as a result of last year's agreement cut the funding to Associates and Affiliates by half.

The great losers of the Big Three arrangement are cricket's bottom 90 nations, who will receive almost $200 million less than they would under the old funding model.

It makes it very difficult to then promote cricket with such scarce resources.

 

[Bangladesh_Fan]

Popularity cannot be increased by reducing teams in a world cup, period. We can start to increase popularity by sacking the ICC decisions makers first

 

[Syed1]

I long for the day when a country like Brazil or Japan or Germany wins the cricket World Cup..

 

[Smbhayi]

include T20 cricket in Olympics.. easy way to spread game.. match should be U23 level

 

[amit]

Instead of jumping into countries like USA, 1st try to improve the level in Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland, Netherlands, Nepal & PNG where cricket is already established and has a good following too. And their national teams have done well. In Irelands case, they are well ahead and even better than Bangladesh

Maybe Kenya & Namibia can be added in the list too. In places like USA, Germany, etc, we will have to start from scratch. But once Ireland, Scotland & Netherlands have strong teams & become full members with test status, they can help spread the game all over Europe into countries like Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, etc

 

[Chrish]

I long for the day when a country like Brazil or Japan or Germany wins the cricket World Cup..

Amen.. Cricket needs more variety. Just one team keep winning world cup is getting really boring and tiring

 

[Chrish]

Hardly anyone likes soccer/football in USA yet they still manage to send a team to the WC year after year. They have such awesome player development programs that even if a small percentage of the population follows the sport they can get good enough pool to reach the WCs.

Not true.. People do play Soccer here and Soccer fans are scattered throughout the country. But that's because Soccer is the only true global sport so it appeals to some people! Cricket has no hope of gaining fan base here.

 

[FreeBird]

With everyone 24/7 bent over his mobile internet device, expect the cricket quality to go down even more.

Kids are hooked up with the internet. Many now don't wanna go out and "waste"' their time on sporting and physical activities cuz it makes them "tired".

It doesn't look very good.

 

[Reverseswing97]

Not true.. People do play Soccer here and Soccer fans are scattered throughout the country. But that's because Soccer is the only true global sport so it appeals to some people! Cricket has no hope of gaining fan base here.

How abt replacing baseball with cricket Cricket seems way more interesting than baseball imom

 

[cricket_fan27]

There are a million and one ways to popularize and spread cricket but ICC is too stupid and greedy to do it ....

1) Increase the influence of ICC World cup - This is your marquee event , your olympics ...Spread it around - INCLUDE MORE TEAMS - you cant emphasize that enough .... even if lowers the quality of the event , thats fine , part of the growing up process , every sport goes through these phases to increase popularity .....include US , Nepal . Kenya and the existing teams to the fold
2) Organize more series for the Minnows - 4 years of packed schedule for Ireland and Zimbawe and come 2019 World cup they wouldnt be minnows anymore.
3) talk about broadcasting it in greater countries. - Try and cover Europe - there's definitely place to grow - Promote cricket in Ireland and Scotland - thry are willing to fight if England doesn't and needs to be backed. Imagine a US team competing for the World cup spot - they take pride in their sports and regardless of how popular it may be - it will grow and you will see people supporting it. Big South Asian community in the US - support is there ...
4) Hold tri series in Neutral Venues - not just UAE but like US or maybe Hong Kong - Let the people see what it is , may not be financially profitable but thats fine - ICC should be willing to make less money to grow the sport...

It's about time ICC stops playing safe and take some risks

 

[cricket_fan27]

With everyone 24/7 bent over his mobile internet device, expect the cricket quality to go down even more.

Kids are hooked up with the internet. Many now don't wanna go out and "waste"' their time on sporting and physical activities cuz it makes them "tired".

It doesn't look very good.

That argument could be used against any sport not just cricket....... But sports hasn't declined much has it ? There are children who play football every day or sweat out in the gym or play track.......
There might be decline in children participation in sports overall but we have to wait and watch for that

 

[BigBoy123]

Play Exhibition cricket matches in America Qatar Canada Ireland... organize some Indo Pak or Aus Eng Matches in these Venues

Starc Boult and Junaid's Fan

 

[iHammad]

We need more competitive teams. This past World Cup was the most predictable World Cup ever.

The 4 favourites went to the Semis.

The 2 hosts played the final.

And the favourite to win it since the beginning (Australia) won it easily, with a one sided semi final and a final.

Out of 40 odd games, only 10 or so were exciting.

 

[BigBoy123]

Include Cricket in Olympics...


Starc Boult and Junaid's Fan

 

[BigBoy123]

We need more competitive teams. This past World Cup was the most predictable World Cup ever.

The 4 favourites went to the Semis.

The 2 hosts played the final.

And the favourite to win it since the beginning (Australia) won it easily, with a one sided semi final and a final.

Out of 40 odd games, only 10 or so were exciting.

Only 5-8 out of 49

Starc Boult and Junaid's Fan

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Pak India have played in Canada 2 or 3 times.
Also I remember NZ and SL played 2 T20s in Florida in 2010. There should be more of that

 

[Saj]

The growth of global cricket is being celebrated as the ICC welcomed its newest Members with Cambodia, Cote D'Ivoire and Uzbekistan all receiving Associate Membership status.

Cambodia and Uzbekistan are the 24th and 25th Members of the Asia region, whilst Cote D'Ivoire is Africa’s 21st Member, with the ICC now comprising 108 Members in total, including 96 Associates.

The Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan (CFU) has an exciting development programme that is focused on the growth of the Women’s Cricket. The UCF women’s cricket plan sees 15 teams playing organized competitions with a pathway programme for their Under 19 and Under 17 players, to provide them opportunities to progress to the senior teams. Their youth programme is currently working alongside 50 schools in different provinces to further increase participation for women and girls.

Africa’s newest member the Côte d’Ivoire Cricket Federation run a national league senior men’s competition with eight teams, there are also established junior boys’ and girls’ programmes as part of the country’s schools’ grassroots initiative. The Federation has embarked on several initiatives aimed at growing women’s cricket including the appointment of a female Board member to drive this agenda.

The Cricket Association of Cambodia (CAC) has been accepted as a Member subject to it demonstrating it has a satisfactory women’s pathway in place by 31 December 2022. Women’s cricket is the key priority for Cambodia after cricket activity was severely impacted by COVID-19. The CAC plan is set to include the re-establishment of indoor cricketing activities and regular coaching in eight schools, and the introduction of a T20 hard ball tournament with eight teams in November 2022.

The CAC which was formed in 2011 has overseen a very promising schools-based junior cricket programme and local coaches have facilitated successful soft ball indoor cricket activities, as well as 14 registered teams regularly playing men’s senior domestic cricket in Cambodia.

In addition, Ukraine’s application for ICC Membership is deferred until cricket activity is able to safely resume within the country and it can demonstrate that it satisfies 2.2(b)(ii) and 2.2(c)(iii) of the Membership Criteria. The ICC continues to support the Ukraine Cricket Federation through this process.

Following Russia’s suspension at the 2021 AGM due to continued non-compliance since July 2019 with ICC Membership Criteria 2.2(a)(i), 2.2(b)(i) and 2.2(b)(ii) and after failing to resolve the issues and demonstrate compliance following suspension, Cricket Russia has now had its Membership of the ICC terminated.

 

[light]

If you want cricket to be a sport played around the world, instead of the as usual teams playing years around, test cricket needs to die. It will open up the calendar for more t20 cricket. If anyone thinks test cricket will be the one that will spread cricket, if it didn't spread popularity in the last 50-60 years, it definitely won't in the upcoming future.

Test cricket is all about skills but it won't spread the game around the world or make it more popular.