Posted on 12/10/2023 5:16:39 PM PST by libh8er
Having "exceeded all expectations", with stirring contests in front of heaving crowds helping surpass its financial targets, the historic Major League Cricket has the foundations to build on as it eyes an expanded second season.
The debut of the well-heeled T20 tournament, as cricket seriously enters the world's biggest sports market, was deemed a resounding success. Even no nonsense Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian cricket legend and broadcaster at the MLC, was left impressed.
"He (Gavaskar) told me the quality of the cricket was high," Anand Rajaraman, San Francisco Unicorns co-owner, told me. "He felt the international players were giving it their all and that the pitches were good, which is a ringing endorsement.
"The overseas players said the ground and pitch in Dallas was as good as anywhere they've played around the world.
"The tournament exceeded all expectations."
There was much anticipation over the MLC's launch with a lot riding on it considering the maligned status of American cricket over the years.
With over $100 million invested, aided by influential Indian businessmen some of whom are ensconced in Silicon Valley, the six-team tournament was able to lure high-profile international cricketers through attractive salaries.
With the U.S. home to a growing South Asian populace, there were plenty of passionate cricket fans eager to watch the matches in person even though some of the matches were rather bafflingly played in the sweltering Dallas heat.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
We’re exhausted from cheering on the curling teams and watching soccer (football) and now they expect us to have energy for cricket, too?🥌🥌🥌🥌🥌⚽⚽⚽⚽
🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏🏏
Wake me. up when it’s over. The one Brit sport I really like is Rugby. Apparently has no rules and is great fun to watch. Even my daughter, whose husband died two weeks earlier, laughed with me when we watched.
So, my sports are golf, figure skating, and rugby.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a cricket match once, maybe. I’ve certainly seen it mentioned often enough in English books I’ve read.
25-30 years ago, ESPN used to air Aussie Rules Football.
THAT stuff was fun to watch!
they have enough for 20 teams, and yet, this is the first time it’s in the news???
Very popular in India too .
…
I gave up football for rugby and boxing for sumo and never looked back. Cricket? Don’t know about that one; the most I ever saw of it was in “King Ralph” and an episode of The Prisoner. So unless the ball blows up or some guy slugs it into the stands, probably not.
Oh, I had no idea what the rules were, it was just fun to watch!
All the fans are Indians?
True, but I’ve read lots more books by English authors than Indian.
They used to be. Now they are the Guardians.
There’s a cricket team in Compton, Calif., a college town south of Los Angeles that is said to be the only cricket team whose members are all American-born. They do frequent tours of places like the UK and Australia, places where cricket is popular, probably because potential opponents in the US are hard to find.
Zzzz,z
Did they come fried? With butter?
Biff, you have the wrong map here you silly old leg-before-vicket American person
Years ago I saw part of an interview (IIRC it was with Letterman) in which John Cleese tried to explain cricket to the audience. It was hysterical!
Probably many Pakistanis. It was big in Imperial India, which included Pockeestahn.
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