Is American Cricket the New Soccer?

Hi! It's Friday, June 7. Today we're excited about Team USA's giant-killing exploits, albeit in cricket - although there are some soccer parallels. But we still have your usual daily round-ups, too.

Jun 07, 2024

Forgive us for drifting slightly off topic today but we noticed we weren’t the only followers of American soccer matters who got rather excited about the USA cricket team beating Pakistan at the T20 World Cup yesterday.

Seeing so many American soccer fans on social media celebrating a cricket victory should give serious pause for thought to the marketing and PR people now working to grow cricket in the country. After all, for years, cricket organisers have tried to generate a smidgen of interest among baseball fans but with little success.

Sure baseball is a game played with a bat and ball, so there should be some common ground there, but what yesterday showed is that the cultural significance of the sport is much more powerful than a few, vaguely similar technical matters.

In many ways, cricket finds itself in the same cultural space as soccer did during those long years before the NASL came along in the 1970’s. Perhaps even to those years after NASL collapsed and before the 1994 World Cup and the emergence of MLS.

Like American soccer in those eras, cricket is a game played here mostly by immigrant communities and run mostly by volunteer members of those communities. While for soccer it was Europeans and Latin Americans keeping the flame burning, for cricket it is those from the Indian sub-continent and the Caribbean. For years American cricketers have played in poor-standard facilities with little or no financial backing. Just as soccer was often played on football fields with gridiron markings, attempts at promoting cricket have often seen the game played in even more unsuitable baseball parks.

Soccer used to be considered a sport alien to American sporting traditions, even at times during the cold war a ‘communist sport’, in contrast to the all-American NFL and college football. Cricket, with its roots in the British Empire, a game spread around the globe by colonialists, can similarly easily be dismissed from a patriotic perspective.

“Well, apart from medicine, irrigation, health, roads, cheese and education, baths and the Circus Maximus, what have the Romans ever done for us? “
Life of Brian - Monty Python

Both sports can claim genuine roots in the USA though. Cricket fans in America are quick to point out that the first ever international game was held in 1844 in Manhattan between the USA and Canada but that seems as relevant today as those old stories about packed crowds of factory workers watching Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania in 1919.

And while soccer is now available almost 24/7 in the USA, on some channel or streaming service, for decades it was rare for the sport to appear on the screens. There were echoes of that yesterday as Americans discovered their greatest moment of cricketing glory was only available on an obscure subscription service called WillowTV.

Soccer’s outsider status limited its growth for years, but also, inevitably, created a strong identity among its followers which survives today. It was an ‘outsiders’ identity, an alternative sport, with its own values and for many it implied a rejection of much about mainstream American ‘jock culture’. You could sense some of that yesterday as soccer people were quick to celebrate the achievement of Aaron Jones, Monank Patel and of course Oracle computer engineer/Super Over death bowler Saurabh Netravalkar.

Will cricket now follow soccer in breaking out of it’s fringe status and head towards mainstream popularity? Don’t hold your breath.

But later this summer, the second season of Major League Cricket gets under way. The league has recruited some top international stars at the end of their careers and they will be playing, like this World Cup, in new ‘cricket specific stadiums’.

Sounds familiar?

EURO 2024 Round-up

ENGLAND v ICELAND

POLAND v UKRAINE

GERMANY v GREECE

SCOTLAND v FINLAND

Are on today’s line-up of friendlies. (TV listings)

ENGLAND: Jacob Steinberg in the Guardian gets all ‘it’s coming home;’ at the start of his team guide before remembering who he is writing for: But the usual doubts persist. England’s main left-back, Luke Shaw, has missed most of the season. The defence could be vulnerable against elite opposition. The right balance in midfield remains elusive and Southgate still has to prove he has the tactical chops to win a really big game. The idea they should waltz to the trophy is nothing more than the usual overheated hype. (Guardian)

SPAIN: Barca’s 17-year-old talent Pau Cubarsi didn’t make the final cut (Football Espana)

DENMARK: Guardian team guide.

ITALY: Six key players and one dilemma (Football Italia) But there is some concern about Nicola Barella’s fitness.

EVERY SQUAD ANNOUNCED SO FAR: good idea, thanks Eurosport

YOUNG TALENT: Five to keep an eye out for at the Euros. (OneFootball)

COPA AMERICA 2024 Round-up

CANADA soundly beaten 4-0 by the Netherlands in Jesse Marsch's debut as Canadian coach. And only France to come next before Jesse’s boys make their Copa debut against….Argentina. (Sportsnet.ca)

ARGENTINA: The world champions don’t see Copa as Lionel Messi’s final tournament, says Lisandro Martinez. Coach Lionel Scaloni agrees: "We Argentines are too melancholic," he told Telemundo. "We are already thinking about the day when [Messi] is not here while he's still playing.”

We don’t offer betting advice but….Messi’s final tournament will be the 2026 World Cup.

BRAZIL - The Selecao have announced their shirt numbers - which is a very big deal in Brazil. Pele’s number 10 shirt goes to Rodrygo, teenager Endrick gets the number 9 while Vini Jr has his number 7. (90 Min)

Meanwhile, Arsenal defender Gabriel looks like he will be fit for the Copa. (Just Arsenal)

PERU-PARAGUAY: Play each other night in a warm-up in Lima. (TV listings)

RADIO: If you want to go for South American hipster points, then listen to the Copa on the radio, like the old blokes will be doing in Montevideo. It won’t quite be the same on Sirius XM with their commentary from the Fox broadcast but if you are stuck in your car and you have the subscription - its probably a better bet then bluetoothing your Fox tv stream and being tempted to watch for a bit at the traffic lights. Oh and they have the Euro games too. Sirius XM.

UK TV COVERAGE: Yeah, you can watch the Copa in the UK but you’ll need to have Premier Sports. (Goal.com)

Today’s Top Transfers:

Manchester United and Chelsea are chasing Michael Olise (ESPN)
Chelsea sign Tosin Adarabioyo from Fulham on a free (ESPN)
In a correction, Chelsea won’t have to offload players in a mad panic this month as previously reported by SkySports - it’s next season they’ll come under PSR scrutiny (SkySports)
Professional Burnley loanee and Dutch international striker, Wout Weghorst, to Ajax or FC Twente (AD.nl)

In Other Soccer News

MLS: Issa Tall has been promoted to Columbus Crew GM after Tim Bezbatchenko leaves to join Black Knight Football - the operation that includes AFC Bournemouth, Hibernian FC, and FC Lorient amongst its ‘holdings’ - as president. (MLSSoccer.com)

The Daily Soccer Quote of the Day

“Real Madrid is the best team in the world, they have won the Champions League. If you go by results, Real Madrid is the best. If you go by level of the game, I think Manchester City are the best." - Lionel Messi

And sharing is caring