Cricket in Philadelphia today.
Although cricket lost its popularity to baseball in the mainstream, cricket quietly hung around in America, mostly as a subculture among the immigrant population coming from the Subcontinent, New Zealand, England, Australia and the West Indies.
But now, with the large influx of immigrants from the Sub-continent and the Caribbean, it is slowly starting to make a comeback. Somewhere around 20 million people in the United States follow cricket. There are an estimated 200,000 registered players across various leagues throughout America. Cricket has a TV and a digital viewership of more than 5 million across the United States.
Cricket, today, is played across various levels in the United States, and in Philadelphia, breaking away from its gentlemanly amateurism into a more professional set up.
Different activity areas of Cricket in America.
In Philadelphia, Alfred Reeves, along with other members, helped revive the famous British Officers' Cricket Club, which was established by former English military officers for recreation. The team competes against about 20 clubs in and around the city in regional tournaments like Philadelphia Metropolitan Cricket League (PMCL), Greater Philadelphia Cricket League (GPCL), Delaware Cup and Turbo Cup organized and operated by the members of the cricket community with the objective of continuing the rich history of the cricket in America.
A new organization, Major League Cricket, recently unveiled a ten-year development plan intended to rebuild the sport from the ground up by working with schools and other local authorities to develop young talent.The advent of semi-professional leagues like minor and major league have also given cricket in America a major boost by attracting attention of not just the immigrant community, which follows cricket closely, but also small minority of the American population.
On a Youth level, cricket camps and trainings are set up to promote cricket among the youth of America. The programs are open to all but attract majorly the children from the immigrant communities as they have an inherent interest in the sport mainly because they have exposure to it in their homes. The primary objective of such camps is to educate the kids about cricket, and how it is played, but kids are also directed at how to approach the game and to play in line with the gentlemanly nature of the sport.
Similar efforts are also made by the local leagues to monitor the manner in which the games are played. There is a strict emphasis on being gentlemanly and fair and to play in accordance to virtues like giving the benefit of the doubt to other player or playing with honesty, all of which serve well both in cricket and in everyday life.
Moving on, cricket on a national level is still at its infancy stage. The national team, consisting. of mainly immigrant players, participates in international event and International Cricket Council (ICC) events. The players are selected into the National squad by the basis of their performances in the USA Domestic Cricket level, Minor League, Zonal High Performance Programs, and the National Training Camps. The USA Cricket pathways also include the USA Cricket National Championships which returned for the first time in 2021.
Lastly, efforts are being made to increase the supporting facilities that are available to the players at any level. In Philadelphia, new indoor training facilities are being erected to make provisions for teams to practice, especially during the winters. Additionally, local teams are taking initiatives to maintain their fields carefully to ensure high quality and a competitive game.
Looking at broader picture, there are efforts made nationally. For example, America is all set to co-host the 2024 Cricket World Cup with the West Indies. Similarly, in 2005, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to build a $1.5 million cricket pitch at St. Albans Park, Queens.
