On what basis do you state "baseball is far more popular around the world than is cricket"? I've no idea of the actual figures, but I would guess that, seeing as the population of the No. 1 cricket playing nation -- India -- is larger than all of the baseball nations combined, this might not actually be true.
I agree with anon above, and would add that NYC is not "a baseball city" - that's also factually wrong. NYC is a basketball city, and an international city, which is you are far more likely to see kids playing soccer in the park than baseball....
Baseball is more popular than cricket around the world? Are you kidding? Do you know the countries around the world that play cricket? Your statement reeks of typical american ignorance of anything that happens beyond your shores. Whew!
What's wrong with kids playing cricket instead of baseball? Because it's "not an American sport"? It doesn't matter what sport they're playing, high school sports help keep inner city kids in school. Why would you be against that?
I agree with the idea of trying to encourage more city kids to play baseball, and that the bat ban will almost certainly have the opposite effect.
However, cricket probably is, other than soccer, the most popular sport in the world. The contention that baseball is more popular is just wrong. Baseball is popular here, East Asia, and certain Caribbean and South American countries. Cricket is a huge deal in a lot more countries, including India, Pakistan, England, Australia, and South Africa. Baseball is a big deal in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican, but elsewhere in the Caribbean the West Indies cricket side is much more popular.
Cricket is an unrivaled national sporting obsession in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, whose combined populations approach 1.5 billion people. Add to that Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, the Carribean nations, and increasingly Kenya, Zimbabwe and the like, and you have a sport second only to soccer in the world in terms of popularity and growth. "Baseball is far more popular around the world than is cricket" is a completely untrue statement, and based on ignorance. Do your research.
Relax, guys. He's only an American. What do they know about sport?
There is no way baseball is more popular around the world. Sure, the occasional MLB player comes from Australia, but cricket is bigger there. Its bigger in India, Pakistand, England, the West Indies, and a score of other countries as well.
Besides, this is hardly a tragedy that cricket's going to be offered. If anything, it might help USA Cricket, which in addition to fielding a terrible team, has recently been suspended by the ICC for failing to make progress in growing the sport in the States.
You guys are all making the assumption that the amount of people in the country where the sport is popular determines how many people are fans of the sport. India is a big country, but it is not monolithic. To assume that everyone there likes cricket is ludicrous.
It may be true, but just listing the countries that like cricket is not a convincing argument.
Jake, the vast majority of people in India love cricket, people in England, Australia, the West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand spend their summers watching cricket. TV contracts for Cricket in India run into the billions. Its a big deal. Bigger than baseball despite your obviously blinkered American view.
Jake, Alright, then, i've done a little bit of research. The New York Times has called cricket the second most popular sport in the world (hint, baseball isn't the first) http://select.nytimes.com/gst/ab...et%20%28Game%
29
Also, as for your contention that population of cricket playing nations is not relevant to the popularity of the sport, a recent Harvard University study finds (among other things) that 50% or more of all sports stories in newspapers in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (combined population more than 1 and a half billion) cover cricket.
http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/soc/
f...t.ASR.final.pdf.
this post is just anther ignorent person who thinks that any sport other than football, basketball, and baseball is not really a sport. Cricket is the 2nd most played sport next to soccer. And u.s.a and canada held the first ever internation cricket match when canada toured us around the civil war
but the budget 4 cricket was 2 high so it was THEN replaced by baseball about 100 years later. Ignorent post!
At best cricket's number three in
the world after soccer and basketball.
But this is knitpicking. Local
cricket organizations are helping
the NY schools cricket program. Why
aren't local baseball organizations
doing the same for NY school baseball?
Seventy-five bucks for a wood
baseball bat! Found plenty on the
web for less than half that.
"Baseball is far more popular around the world than cricket"
What? Cricket is the world's second biggest team sport, after Soccer. More people play cricket than play baseball and football combined. A billion in India, hundreds of millions more in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, & millions more in England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Carribean, large parts of Africa etc.
Besides, what's wrong with kids in the States playing cricket - better than sitting around getting fat. If you're only allowed to play sports invented or standardized by Americans in America - then you can forget about soccer, tennis, golf, basketball, hockey, badminton, boxing, horse racing & 99% of other sports. Even baseball is just a derivation from the girls game 'netball' played in England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, NZ, South Africa etc . . .
Don't worry - cricket will never be a huge sport in the USA, but there's no reason people can't play it and there's no reason it can't be a recognized sport available to school children, in college, or, god-forbid, we have a national team that can compete on the international stage.
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