Nearly 175 years after they played the first-ever international cricket match, United States are hoping to breathe new life into its 'first modern team sport' with the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 fixtures against Papua New Guinea and Namibia, two teams that hold little or no relevance in the global cricketing arena.
The US emerged winners over Papua New Guinea by five runs via Duckworth/Lewis method in the maiden One-Day International to be played on American soil.
Riding on Aaron Jones' 77 off 117 balls and his vital partnership with Monank Patel, who scored 35 from 44, United States posted a respectable total of 251/9 in the allotted 50 overs against Papua New Guinea.
In response, Papua New Guinea could manage only 159/6 in 23 overs before rain foiled any further play.
“A fantastic all-round effort from the USA as we make history by winning the first-ever One Day International on American soil over PNG🇵🇬 by just 5 runs!!” USA Cricket, the governing body of American cricket, tweeted.
The team led by Saurabh Netravalka (an Indian-born American national whose twitter description still reads Software Developer at Oracle) were dubbed “The History Makers” by the visibly-excited organisation.
The tri-series is part of a seven-team competition which will see the top three sides secure a place in the final round of qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup in India.
The United States has been ramping up their efforts to raise cricket's profile at home. Recently, they hosted the West Indies' Twenty20 series against teams such as New Zealand, Bangladesh and India. It is a start, and a necessary one, to pave the way for a renaissance, for the 'gentleman's game' to break free from the shackles of shambolic organisation and lacklustre leadership that saw it ridden to non-existence in what is otherwise a very sports-loving country.
Where it all began
How cricket has escaped this giant nation, remain still one of the greatest mysteries in sport. After all, the first-ever international cricket match was played on American soil! It featured USA and Canada at Manhattan's St George's Cricket Club in New York on September 24, 1844.
The KA Auty Cup, in remembrance of Karle Andre Auty of Chicago who donated the inaugural trophy, the tournament between these two cricket-outcasts continues to this date. It is the longest-running international sporting fixture of any type, predating soccer by nearly 30 years.
Cricket has been played here longer than that. A New York Weekly Gazette from 1751 carries a report of a match played between New Yorkers and Englishmen. But it was when St George's Cricket Club was established in New York in 1839 that cricket in America entered a recognisable, “modern phase”. The current epicentre of America's cricketing ambitions, The Union Club in Philadelphia was established four years later.
Within a decade, almost 20 clubs were fielding teams. But just as quickly as clubs mushroomed, they vanished too. In part because of a lack of funds and the marginalisation of the sport by the elites.
The biggest setback came in 1909 when the creation of the Imperial Cricket Conference as the governing body for world cricket (read: British Empire) saw America left out.
Though America was granted associate membership by the ICC in 1965, the flame had long been extinguished. Amateur cricket clubs had by then all migrated to baseball after many found the settings required for a cricket game quite tedious. The few others that stuck to cricket evolved to become country clubs featuring other sports like golf and tennis.
Dim signs of life came when ESPN, the American sports juggernaut, began investing heavily into the game. They broadcast the final of 2014 ICC World T20 and later extended the coverage to the IPL, English County Championships and key international matches injecting some cricket into the American household. The effort seemed too little too late. By then, there were more in play capturing the American imagination (read: eSports).
It remains to be seen how far cricket in the United States will progress in the shadows of the NBA and MLB, and fare against the meteoric rise of eSports. But as is the case with most sports, with enough money one could no doubt have the audience. But as USA set out to play the nine tri-series over the next two years, they will need more than just wins to evoke the American spirit.
