Cricket in the United States
Encyclopedia
Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, club
, intercollegiate, and international competition levels. There have also been several recent attempts to form professional cricket
leagues in the United States
.
students were playing cricket on the Green
by 1793.
Haverford College
formed a cricket team in 1833. In recent years Haverford is one of the few post secondary institutions to field a cricket team at the varsity level
, hence most of Haverford's opponents are collegiate club level teams. Clubs from the United States and Canada participated in one of the first international cricket matches on record in 1844
in
Bloomingdale Park
in Manhattan.
In 2004 Pro Cricket
was organized as a professional Twenty20
format league with eight teams in two divisions. However, the league closed at the end of its first season in 2004. The Pro Cricket league was independent of the USACA and not recognized or sanctioned by them.
and the Philadelphia Cricket Club
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Staten Island Cricket Club
on Staten Island, New York; the Central Broward Regional Park
in Lauderhill, Florida; and the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex
in Van Nuys, California.
The game is also played on a number of shared purpose venues, they include: Van Cortlandt Park
in Bronx, New York and others.
(USACA) is the governing body for International Cricket Council
(ICC) sanctioned cricket in the United States. The ICC recognized the USACA as an associate member starting in 1965. In 2005 the USACA was suspended from an ICC sponsored annual conference due to problems with USACA elections, but that suspension was lifted in March 2006. In 2007 the USACA was again suspended by the ICC because of problems with its administration and constitution, but was again recognized beginning on April 1, 2008.
The national association organizes play within and between seven regional conferences, a regional conference may contain several leagues and a league is a group of 8 or more teams that play according to a schedule. Competition is held at various age levels including Under 19, Under 15, Senior, etc.. There is a National Senior Tournament as well as national and international competitions for other age groups. For the adult levels the regional conferences are divided into two groups, known as the Eastern Conference Standings and the Western Conference Standings.
.
.
Cricket in the United States is not as popular as baseball
and is not as popular among as large a fraction of the population as it is
within either the Commonwealth
nations or the other ICC full member (or Test cricket
) nations. There are at least two historical reasons mentioned to explain the relative obscurity of cricket within
the United States. One reason was the rise of the summer time bat and ball sport now called baseball
in the 19th century within the US, which seems to have displaced cricket as a popular pastime. Another reason was that in 1909 when the ICC was originally organized as the
Imperial Cricket Conference it was open only to Commonwealth nations and thereby excluded the US from participating in the sport at the highest level.
Nevertheless in 1965 the US was admitted to the renamed ICC as an associate member and the sport grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century. An oft mentioned reason for the growing popularity of cricket is the growing population of immigrants to the US who come from cricket playing nations.
With the launching of the United States Youth Cricket Association
in 2010, a more focused effort to bring the game to American schools was begun, with the intention of broadening cricket's fan base beyond expatriates and their children.
Club cricket
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are always observed...
, intercollegiate, and international competition levels. There have also been several recent attempts to form professional cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
leagues in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Cricket was played by British colonists in North America by the start of the 18th century. Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
students were playing cricket on the Green
The Green (Dartmouth College)
The Green is a grass-covered field and common space at the center of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. It was among the first parcels of land obtained by the College upon its founding in 1769, and is the only creation of the 18th century...
by 1793.
Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
formed a cricket team in 1833. In recent years Haverford is one of the few post secondary institutions to field a cricket team at the varsity level
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
, hence most of Haverford's opponents are collegiate club level teams. Clubs from the United States and Canada participated in one of the first international cricket matches on record in 1844
United States v Canada (1844)
The Canadian cricket team in the United States in 1844 was the first international team to travel to another country and the match between the two national sides that year, billed as "United States of America versus the British Empire's Canadian Province", was the first official international...
in
Bloomingdale Park
Bloomingdale Park
Bloomingdale Park is a park on the South Shore of Staten Island. It is located in the Prince's Bay neighborhood, and is bounded on the north by Ramona Avenue, on the west by Bloomingdale Road, on the east by Lenevar Avenue, and on the south by Drumgoole Road West and the Korean War Veterans Parkway...
in Manhattan.
In 2004 Pro Cricket
Pro Cricket
Pro Cricket was a professional cricket league in the United States. It was operated by American Pro Cricket LLC , a private company independent of the ICC and the USACA. Kalpesh Patel served as Pro Cricket's chairman and commissioner....
was organized as a professional Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
format league with eight teams in two divisions. However, the league closed at the end of its first season in 2004. The Pro Cricket league was independent of the USACA and not recognized or sanctioned by them.
Cricket grounds
There are only a few purpose built cricket grounds in the United States, they include: the Germantown Cricket Cluband the Philadelphia Cricket Club
Philadelphia Cricket Club
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.-History:...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Staten Island Cricket Club
Staten Island Cricket Club
The Staten Island Cricket Club is a cricket club on Staten Island, New York that was incorporated as the Staten Island Cricket and Base Ball Club on March 22, 1872. It became the first tennis venue in the United States.- History :...
on Staten Island, New York; the Central Broward Regional Park
Central Broward Regional Park
Central Broward Regional Park is a large municipal park in Lauderhill, Florida, owned and operated by Broward County. It opened on November 9, 2007, at a construction cost of $70 million. It is located at the corner of US 441 and Sunrise Blvd....
in Lauderhill, Florida; and the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex
The Leo Magnus Cricket Complex
The Leo Magnus Cricket Complex is located in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, California, United States.The cricket complex is also called Woodley Cricket Field since it is located in Woodley Park. Former Jamaican Test cricketer Franklyn Rose says "It has the best cricket field facilities in...
in Van Nuys, California.
The game is also played on a number of shared purpose venues, they include: Van Cortlandt Park
Van Cortlandt Park
Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the fourth largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, Flushing Meadows Park and Staten Island Greenbelt....
in Bronx, New York and others.
Governing body
The United States of America Cricket AssociationUnited States of America Cricket Association
The United States of America Cricket Association is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in the United States. USACA sponsors the United States cricket team that is recognized by the International Cricket Council, and has been an associate member of that body since 1965.USACA...
(USACA) is the governing body for International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
(ICC) sanctioned cricket in the United States. The ICC recognized the USACA as an associate member starting in 1965. In 2005 the USACA was suspended from an ICC sponsored annual conference due to problems with USACA elections, but that suspension was lifted in March 2006. In 2007 the USACA was again suspended by the ICC because of problems with its administration and constitution, but was again recognized beginning on April 1, 2008.
The national association organizes play within and between seven regional conferences, a regional conference may contain several leagues and a league is a group of 8 or more teams that play according to a schedule. Competition is held at various age levels including Under 19, Under 15, Senior, etc.. There is a National Senior Tournament as well as national and international competitions for other age groups. For the adult levels the regional conferences are divided into two groups, known as the Eastern Conference Standings and the Western Conference Standings.
| Eastern Conference Standings | States, territories, districts | Leagues |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | Delaware, New Jersey, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland | Cricket League of New Jersey, Garden State Cricket League, Millennium Cricket League, New Jersey Cricket Association, New Jersey State Cricket & Umpire's Association, Washington Cricket League, Washington Metropolitan Cricket League |
| New York | New York | American Cricket League, Bangladeshi Cricket League, Brooklyn Cricket League, Commonwealth Cricket League, Eastern American Cricket Association, Metropolitan Cricket League, Nassau New York Cricket Association, New York Cricket League, New York Metropolitan and District Association League, NYPD Cricket League NYPD Cricket League NYPD Cricket League or NYPD Cricket or Cricket NYPD is a private Twenty20 cricket league formed by the New York City Police Department for teenagers from the Caribbean and South Asian communities in New York City. It is a recreational league founded to develop better relations between New York... |
| South East | Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico | Florida Cricket Conference, Central Florida Cricket Association, South Florida Cricket Association, Florida South East Cricket Association, Atlanta-Georgia Cricket League |
| North East | Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont | Massachusetts State Cricket League, Connecticut Cricket League, Southern Connecticut Cricket Association |
| Western Conference Standings | States, territories, districts | Leagues |
| Central West | Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas | Colorado Cricket League Colorado Cricket League The Colorado Cricket League is a non-profit, eight-clubs with 9 teams cricket organization based in the state of Colorado. The league was formalized in 1985.-History:... , Central Texas Cricket League, Houston Cricket League, North Texas Cricket Association |
| Central East | Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama | American Cricket Conference, Great Lakes Cricket Conference, International Cricket Management League, Michigan Cricket Association (Associate), Midwest Cricket Conference, Minnesota Cricket Association, National Cricket League, United Cricket Conference |
| West Coast | Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah | Bay Area Cricket Alliance, California Cricket Academy, California Cricket League, Greater Los Angeles Cricket Association (Associate), Northern California Cricket Association, North West Cricket League, Sacramento Cricket Association, Southern California Cricket Association, Arizona Cricket Association (Associate), Orange County Cricket Association (Associate), San Diego Cricket Association (Associate) |
National team
The United States national cricket team is the USACA organized team that represents the United States in some ICC sponsored events. The United States has made frequent appearances at the ICC Americas ChampionshipICC Americas Championship
The ICC Americas Championship is a one-day cricket tournament organised by the Americas Cricket Association for non-Test national cricket teams in the Americas...
.
Other international
In July 2009 the United States under 19 team placed second to Canada in the ICC-Americas Under-19 competition held in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Cricket in American culture
In 2006 it was estimated that 30,000 American people play or watch cricket annually.Cricket in the United States is not as popular as baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and is not as popular among as large a fraction of the population as it is
within either the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
nations or the other ICC full member (or Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
) nations. There are at least two historical reasons mentioned to explain the relative obscurity of cricket within
the United States. One reason was the rise of the summer time bat and ball sport now called baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
in the 19th century within the US, which seems to have displaced cricket as a popular pastime. Another reason was that in 1909 when the ICC was originally organized as the
Imperial Cricket Conference it was open only to Commonwealth nations and thereby excluded the US from participating in the sport at the highest level.
Nevertheless in 1965 the US was admitted to the renamed ICC as an associate member and the sport grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century. An oft mentioned reason for the growing popularity of cricket is the growing population of immigrants to the US who come from cricket playing nations.
With the launching of the United States Youth Cricket Association
United States Youth Cricket Association
The United States Youth Cricket Association is the largest organization in the United States devoted to the promotion of the game of cricket among young people and is an Associate Member of United States of America Cricket Association. USYCA promotes cricket in America by donating cricket sets...
in 2010, a more focused effort to bring the game to American schools was begun, with the intention of broadening cricket's fan base beyond expatriates and their children.
See also
- American Premier LeagueAmerican Premier LeagueThe American Premier League was a Twenty20 cricket league based in the United States of America. The first league was scheduled to take place between October 6 and October 24th 2009. The APL was owned and promoted by Jay Mir.-Affiliation and match plans:...
- Comparison between cricket and baseballComparison between cricket and baseballCricket and baseball are the best-known members of a family of related bat-and-ball games. While many of their rules, terminology, and strategies are similar, there are many differences—some subtle, some major—between the two games....
- Compton Cricket ClubCompton Cricket ClubThe Compton Cricket Club , or the "Homies and the Popz", is a cricket club based in Compton, Los Angeles County, California, USA. The CCC is the only all American-born exhibition cricket team...
- History of United States cricketHistory of United States cricketThe history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans generally never played cricket in great numbers, it did enjoy an initial period of sustained growth...
- Major League CricketMajor League CricketMajor League Cricket, or MLC, is a New York based company dedicated to running a professional cricket competition within the United States, as well as developing and promoting the sport to raise its profile in North America...
- NYPD Cricket LeagueNYPD Cricket LeagueNYPD Cricket League or NYPD Cricket or Cricket NYPD is a private Twenty20 cricket league formed by the New York City Police Department for teenagers from the Caribbean and South Asian communities in New York City. It is a recreational league founded to develop better relations between New York...
- Sports in the United StatesSports in the United StatesSports in the United States is an important part of American culture. The four most popular team sports are ones that developed in North America: American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey...
- United States national cricket team
- United States Youth Cricket AssociationUnited States Youth Cricket AssociationThe United States Youth Cricket Association is the largest organization in the United States devoted to the promotion of the game of cricket among young people and is an Associate Member of United States of America Cricket Association. USYCA promotes cricket in America by donating cricket sets...