The International Cricket Council Men’s Twenty20 World Cup (ICC T20 for short) kicked off on Saturday, with teams from 20 countries competing for the world champion title. And Monday, the first of nine games will be played in New York, starting with the Sri Lanka versus South Africa match at 10:30 a.m.
The ICC T20 Men’s World Cup takes place every two years and this is the first time the competition is being held in North America. If you’re new to cricket, here’s a primer on one of the world’s most popular sports.
What does ‘T20’ mean?
Traditional cricket, called “test” cricket, can take up to five days for just one match. It’s a true test of skill and endurance — but these days, the sport caters to shorter attention spans, too.
In the 1960s, the One Day Tournament became popular in England with matches cut down to “just” eight hours.
The International Cricket Council took notice and formalized the shorter game for international play. By the 2000s, yet another form of cricket was created: T20. It’s flashy, strategic and usually finishes in under three hours.
All three types of cricket are still played professionally and cricket purists have strong feelings on the sport’s newest iteration, which many will gladly share with you! Some fans find the shortened games lack the nuance of a five-day match and merely serve as sporting entertainment.
Why is the United States hosting a cricket tournament?
While cricket is the national sport in several countries, it’s still not as popular here as basketball or football.
It turns out the United States is one of the sport’s last uncharted territories, and until recently, attempts at creating a league had failed.
In 2022, USA Cricket launched Major League Cricket. With serious investors including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, the league has a chance to spread the sport around the country.
The United States hosting the World Cup was a brilliant strategic move since the host country gets an automatic bid, guaranteeing the U.S. team a spot in the tournament.
The U.S. team played against Canada in Dallas, in the first game of the tournament yesterday.
Where are the games being played?
New York, Dallas and South Florida, which are all home to sizable immigrant communities, will host matches in the United States. Both New York and Dallas also have professional cricket teams.
In New York, the games will be played at the International Cricket Stadium in Nassau County, which was built just for this event. It will host nine matches and then be taken down after the World Cup.
Barbados will host the finals on June 29.
Wait, New York has a professional cricket team?
New Yorkers may not hear much about the MINewYork team (pronounced “My New York”) but the team won the inaugural championship season last year.
How did I miss this?
Unfortunately for local cricket fans, all MLC games are played in Texas or North Carolina until more stadiums are built. Stadium projects can be controversial – for any sport – so there isn’t a timeline set for a MINewYork home. All this means that having the World Cup matches being played in Nassau County at a temporary stadium in Eisenhower Park, is a big deal because local fans can finally see professional cricket in New York.
Are tickets expensive?
Tickets on the secondary market for the more popular matchups, like India versus Pakistan on June 9 in New York, are starting at $700 for the nosebleed section and $4,000 for anything remotely close to the field.
What if that’s out of my budget?
The World Trade Center will have outdoor viewing parties for every match, like it did for the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
What’s the big game?
This year’s biggest match is between archrivals India and Pakistan on June 9. It sold out and the secondary market had tickets as high as $25,000 for VIP access and $2,000 for the cheapest seat.
Bars and clubs in New York City are selling viewing party packages, and Citi Field released 27,000 tickets to watch the match on the Jumbotron, which were immediately snatched up.
But I don’t know anything about cricket!
There are 11 players on each team. The goal is simple: whoever scores the most runs wins.
In T20 cricket, each team only bats for one inning total and needs to score as much as possible. The inning ends after the opposing team throws 20 overs, which can loosely be described as a set of six consecutive pitches. Hence the term T20.
Essentially, the batting team has 120 chances (six balls with 20 overs each) to hit and run up the score. Because of this, the game is high-speed and intense.
What are the chances this game actually catches on here?
The debut of Major League Cricket in America is a strong start. There are team owners, plans for stadiums, even a minor league organization. It’s the “Field of Dreams” theory: If you build it, they will come.
If Formula 1 racing, which recently entered the US with a hefty financial backing, has shown one thing, it’s the success of a well-marketed sport. Cricket, especially T20 cricket, has a chance to do the same thing, especially in New York, which has a long history with cricket.
Wait, NYC has a long history with cricket?
Indeed! The Staten Island Cricket Club, which is open to this day, has been around since the 1800s.
Cricket is also a varsity sport at NYC public schools, making it the country’s first competitive high school cricket league. New York has a thriving younger generation of cricket players, a professional team winning championships and will be on the world stage for the World Cup. It’s a promising start to a historical game.
