USA Cricketer - All Comments

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

HD-espn — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:15:40 GMT

Roger, I am saying 5 ways to make cricket attractive. As long as those professional sports are being played in America, nobody gives a rats ass to cricket.

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

Jamie Harrison — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:05:43 GMT

Roger,

What I propose would have to, at least initially, be self-funded. By that, I mean we would have to find our own sponsors, and lean heavily on volunteers and donations at the outset. I believe, however, if the burden is spread thinly across the country, so that no individual or community is overly taxed, this will not be an insurmountable obstacle. But, again, this reinforces the need for a National Youth Cricket Coordinator to organize and oversee what would become a vast enterprise.

As far as adult players having to share grounds with juniors, I don't see that as a problem. In the beginning, I would focus primarily on elementary school children, who would be more open to learning a new game in school and wouldn't require real pitches outdoors, so there'd be no competition with the adult teams. As a matter of fact, my plan would be to press for the construction of new pitches as interest in cricket rises, which would relieve some of the pressure on existing grounds. From that perspective, this program is actually quite beneficial to existing cricketers (not to mention the other aspects already mentioned).

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

roger — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:38:41 GMT

Jamie, I guess my main question is whether USACA has the resources to implement your suggestion at the moment? If so, it should definitely be a high priority for them. If not, what do they need to do to develop those resources.

One major problem I see is the USACA constitution may actually hold back the growth of the game. The USACA board are elected officials, so politics will be a driving factor in their decisions if they want to be re-elected. The voters are the members, the current leagues. If there are too few grounds at the moment for the senior mens' teams, why would they want to give more grounds to juniors?

HD-espn, I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Are you saying the top 5 sports are boring to play, so playing them will actually make cricket more attractive, or are you saying we should give up on growing cricket and be happy with the current situation?

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

HD-espn — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:19:15 GMT

FIVE ways to make Cricket attractive to Americans

Just Play the following sports........

1. NFL - Football

2. NBA - Basketball

3. NL & AL - Baseball

4. NHL - Ice Hocket

5. MLS - Major League Soccer

This is the truth guys & gals. Not negative

re: ICC Under-19 World Cup Cricket: USA ready to take on cricket's kings in Queenstown

gary gayle — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:33:33 GMT

I want two cricke

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

Jamie Harrison — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:45:12 GMT

Roger,

Thanks for the insightful comments. You're right in saying that broad visions are fine, but the "devil is in the details." The good news, I believe, is that all of these problems are interconnected. Let me explain.

If we look at the ideas you mentioned, going backwards, we could say that networks don't show cricket highlights because the adult demographic for cricket fans is very poor in the US. Then we could say that shops won't stock cricket gear because there isn't enough demand for it in the US. Finally, we can say that grounds do not exist because there is no great pressure on local governments to create them. The solution, however, resides in my article's first idea, which will rectify these problems in something of a chain reaction. Imagine that with the coordinated efforts of the existing cricket community:

Cricket begins to be taught in schools, and children, gradually, begin to adopt the game. Their parents, wishing for them to be organized into youth leagues, will soon learn that there are no organized leagues for their children primarily because there are no pitches. Parents are also constituents, and they will begin to press their municipalities on the issue. This is how things get done in local government. In the meantime, they will figure out a way for their kids to play in parks and on hard surfaces. As children sign up to play, parents will begin walking into their local sporting goods stores, asking about cricket equipment. Managers will relay these requests to their district managers, and eventually word will get to the company's buyers. Before too long, there will be cricket gear on store shelves. As they learn the game with their children, the parents will become, imperceptibly at first, the cricket demographic that advertisers find so valuable. As a result, networks will take notice and begin to include more and more cricket coverage in their telecasts.

In short, if we get the kids playing cricket, everything else will take care of itself!

The real first step is the launching of a coordinated, nationwide effort to get elementary and middle schools teaching cricket in gym class. This will require an advanced level of organization, with multiple layers of leadership to oversee and administer the program. That is why I continue to plead with USACA to create a board-level National Youth Cricket Coordinator position. In my opinion, without this critical first step, there will be no singular vision, no tightly orchestrated plan (which is a must when you consider how few we are right now, and how little we can afford to waste our resources, both human and otherwise), and ultimately, no success.

We have seen past failures that result from spirited, but unsupported, local efforts to jumpstart youth cricket. We need to learn from these past failures and advance an agenda from a national perspective. The sheer size and scope of a national program sponsored by USACA, along with its potential to create a large new market for the game, will also encourage larger corporate, ICC and international partnerships. I have already experienced this enthusiasm from Cricket Australia, just with my small experiment in Baltimore.

With leadership, vision and vigor it can be done. What we need now is for USACA to accept the challenge and I expect that they will, sooner rather than later, I hope. Perhaps if the cricketing community joined with me in calling for USACA's involvement in such a program, they would respond. There is strength in numbers.

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

roger — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:56:53 GMT

Jamie, it is great to see your passion for the game despite what has happened to you recently. I hope you have landed on your feet after the closure of Cardinal Gibbons.

I agree with most of your ideas above but see the main problem being the first step. How do we get the grounds for people to play on? How do we get the momentum started to give shops the incentive to stock equipment? How do we get the television networks to show highlights if they don't know there is an audience?

The current cricket loving people of America need to make some noise. They need to pull together to have their local governments know they exist. They need to embrace their community so the community will embrace them in return.

We must remember that people like Jamie are volunteers giving up their free time to promote cricket. Likewise, the board of USACA are basically volunteers too. The only one receiving an income is Lockerbie. While we would all love USACA to be doing everything to build cricket, their time and resources are limited too.

You could look at the professional T20 league as just the USACA board trying to get some glory for themselves, but you could also see this league as the key to bringing money in the door to allow USACA to get these fulltime staff to do all the things everyone is demanding. The professional league could be the major stepping stone to building that required momentum to get the grounds, the gear and the highlights on the news, to get cricket on the map in America.

But it needs to be done right. The product needs to be attractive and it needs to be marketed to get its full potential. if USACA are going to do this, they need to think very carefully about how they do it, and make sure they don't leave anything to chance.

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

allrounder — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:53:40 GMT

Jamie, you are most definitely on the right track. For any game to succeed in the long run, youngsters have to be involved. It just makes sense!

Past failures do not mean its a bad idea. Majority of the time its how you implement it.

Carry on the good work!

re: At Cardinal Gibbons, We Played Cricket!

Sew Shivnarine — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:19:22 GMT

might as well pick dese boys for mens team cause massiah is washed up and corrupt as my own selection policy

re: All-Star Team announced for Hollywood Twenty20 game against MCC

Sew Shivnarine — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:38:07 GMT

the boys will just become highly confused by the arm ball and wont be able to shuffle.....i love reggie benjimin though, that boy da only one to be able to bring the best out of da u19 boys

All-Star Team announced for Hollywood Twenty20 game against MCC … USA Cws

All-Star Team announced for Hollywood Twenty20 game against MCC … USA Cws — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:47:11 GMT

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re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

Jamie Harrison — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:47:13 GMT

You can play it well into middle age if you learned it as a child (which is my plan!).

As someone who loves cricket and has tried to play it, I can attest that the skill set, for someone who has no knowledge or experience with the sport, is tough to acquire. I was a high school athlete, I played a lot of baseball in my youth, and softball as a young man, but I've never looked anything but silly on the pitch. The only non-cricketers who I've seen pick the game up reasonably well as adults are those who are current baseball players. If I had to recommend a group to solicit as potential homegrown T20 recruits, it would be frustrated minor league ballplayers (but that's another discussion).

I have a plan and strategy to get the game into schools (far too many details to go into as a comment on a thread; maybe I'll put together a piece on it later). As a former teacher, I know the "lay of the land," and I believe that if my program is aggressively pursued, cricket will begin to be adopted. It may begin slowly at first, but school administrators are taught to be great imitators; if something works in one place, it is quickly considered in many others. Once a few schools take up cricket, we will support them like mad and promote their discovery far and wide, while continuing the systematic implementation of the overall plan. Soon, the adoptions will begin to multiply, and at that point I just hope that there's enough volunteer manpower to provide an adequate support network for all of these new cricketers.

[whispered voice from the cornfield] If we teach it to their kids, the parents will come.

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

timmyj51 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:21:43 GMT

I'm sure everyone agrees the USACA should be doing a hell of a lot more to broadly promote

cricket at all levels and it's been a big disappointment that Lockerbie has done nothing

to push them in this direction. However, this still wouldn't solve the main

problem, namely, how do you come up with a plan and strategy to get

American kids to take up and stick with cricket? If you can't do that you

won't get anywhere no matter how many people you have working around

the country. I still believe the best way to promote cricket is to adults. One of

the game's biggest appeal is that its a lifetime sport that anyone can play well

into middle age. It's leisurely and 100% non-contact and this sets it apart from

such mainstream American sports as football and basketball which are too

rough or strenuous for most people over 25.

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

Jamie Harrison — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:38:14 GMT

I can't speak to what was done in the past, but I can speak to what I'm proposing. You're right in that "single-shot" one-person and done efforts will have no lasting impact. That's precisely why I call for the creation of a USACA National Youth Cricket Coordinator. Without an organized effort across the country, with everyone working from the same playbook, sharing a unified support network and learning and building on the experiences of others, any new attempt is doomed. USACA must act and unify the cricketing nation behind this initiative if it is to succeed.

But you're absolutely wrong if you think the adult market holds the answer. Adults, with precious little time to give to the necessary things in their lives, like working, raising families, etc., will have almost no interest in adopting a new, and to them, completely alien game. Why would they when they are already familiar with, and to some degree skilled at, so many other sports from their youth? Sports evolve from children up, not the other way around.

The fact that few children become soccer-playing adults is hardly evidence of weakness in the soccer market, which is still growing. Let me ask you: How many adult football players do you know? Is this evidence of the NFL's weakness? Of course, not! The children who played the sport become the fans who follow the sport as adults. Very few adults have the time, money and physical stamina to continue their childhood passion into adulthood. A testament to that is that probably 99% of football fields in this country are devoted to individuals under the age of 21. That's not weakness, that's life.

And by the way, if, 50 years from now, there are as many cricket fans in the United States as there are soccer fans, it would be a tremendous victory. You may call it a "dead end road," but I'll take being #4 or #5 in the USA any day of the week.

re: Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

timmyj51 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:04:43 GMT

Jamie, you've done a lot for cricket in your area but your belief that the

cricket revolution will begin with kids won't work and history has proven this

over and over. There have been SOOO many attempts to get American kids to

play cricket over the years and not a single one has delivered. The most

concerted was the one out in the San Fran area a few years back by Malcom

Nash. He was a retired English pro cricketer and went all out to get schools

in his area to take up cricket. He went at it for years but ultimately failed.

There was an American in Utah, Steve Hooper, who did the same thing. Went

all out to get schools in his area to take up the game, and he couldn't do it.

There have been many, many other efforts like these in other areas over the

years with similar lack of success. If anyone still believes this is the way to

jump start cricket you're going to have to show what you're going to do that's

different from all these past failed attempts. Most people think all cricket has to

follow the same route soccer took. But this is a fallacy. Sure, millions of American

kids play soccer but NOT adults! Parents may bend over backwards to take

little Jimmie and Jane to play soccer but they themselves rarely play it, not do

they watch it, or follow it. People believed all these millions of kids would fill up the soccer

stadia and watch in on TV when they grew up. This hasn't happened and soccer remains a

marginal sport in this county. If cricket tries to follow this route it will just be

going down a dead end road.