Former England captain Eoin Morgan has spoken about the potential for cricket to grow in the USA.
The USA had played the first international cricket match in history, back in 1844, but the sport had faded away after the First World War. Of late, however, there has been a conscious effort to make the sport popular in the nation again – through the Major League Cricket, the 2024 T20 World Cup, and a return of cricket in the Olympics after 128 years, in 2028 at Los Angeles.
The USA are co-hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup along with two-time champions West Indies. Eight matches, including the marquee India-Pakistan clash, will be played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, while the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas and the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill will host four games each.
“I’m unbelievably excited about going and watching a game in New York because I've just come back from the IPL where everybody is talking about you know the biggest game in cricket happening in New York,” said Eoin Morgan in conversation with Mel Farrell on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast.
Part of the ICC commentary team at the World Cup, Morgan spoke about New York hosting a match featuring India and his former team, Ireland: “It’s going to be great to see India playing against the Men in Green, Ireland. I’m going to be there at that game as a fan, not as a commentator, and there are a few of my friends attending as well.
“I think it’s going to be a great spectacle and a huge opportunity, when you think of the MLC last year being a success and sort of raising awareness about the opportunity that cricket could pose in the States.
“You get a lot of people in England saying, ‘Well, do you think it will work?’ The answer is it’s already worked. I’m sorry, we’re already late to the party. When you have players having to choose between their home tournament and a tournament abroad, a player will always pick his home tournament if they you know if the opportunity is right. If the contract is right, there’s not one person that I’ve ever played cricket with that would turn down a big opportunity at home over something else."
The MLC's pull as a tournament is expanding. Former England opener Jason Roy will play there instead of the second half of the T20 Blast group stage (the English domestic T20 competition), while several high profile Australians are likely to compete in the second edition of the American franchise competition as well.
“So, you have to give credit where credit is due. They’ve launched a good tournament [MLC] in the lead into this year’s World Cup. Over the last four months, we’ve seen social media reaction of the Nassau County international Cricket Stadium, which is just amazing. You really do get the impression following American sport in general that if they commit to something, they are all in. I get the feeling about that this World Cup is no different. So yeah, it will be brilliant.”
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