Cricket Awareness Surges withT20 WC & LA Olympics Attract Local Americans - USA Cricket Chairman
The preparations are going very well in in terms of both World Cup operations and also the USA team preparations. So will the the new stadium that is being built in New York will be unveiled in a week of time. So it will become a, you know, the the wonder of cricketing, you know, infrastructure, you know, to put up in very short time skillful resources in the US you know, ICC was able to build the stadium within a short time and in terms of you know ticketing and you know the marketing promotion going at high time now And in terms of our team preparations, yeah, we, you know, we are. Our team has recently announced and we have conducted a couple of camps and you know the the selection tournaments and recently we have played with Canada in a bilateral and in a week time, you know two weeks time we’ll be playing Bangladesh in another bilateral leading to the World Cup preparations. And then yeah, you know everybody’s pumped up and ready for the, the excitement. Trained for a couple of weeks before they participated in the qualifiers C double C qualifiers in 2022 and and there was some alliance with you know the associations Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and other cricket associations to send our under 19 boys before the World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka. But unfortunately since the World Cup Cup postponed, so we could not you know, partner or you know send out him. But yes, there are there are several discussions happening with the various cricket associations and we will definitely want to partner and you know use the resources that are available and you know that is something we definitely look into for future. And since this World Cup is happening in the USA, you know that’s not something without, you know, without the preparation at home would be the best. SO ICC have set up a team to, you know, to prepare the pitches. So the pitches were actually prepared in in the US for the past few months and they were recently brought in and dropped in into the stadium. So we are expecting a, you know, a decent, you know pitches in terms of, you know, striking a balance between the bat and ball. And you know there are experts who are actually involved in that in developing in those pitches and we are positive that those pitches will deliver the expected the the. Yeah. So the World Cup gives an opportunity to you know to promote the sport in the the in the local American community. Yeah I know so far cricket is being predominantly expects game but I know starting out the with the marketing and promotion activities during the World Cup there is some you know momentum and the World Cup will definitely boost the opportunities to expand the game into the the American community. So basically because we are partnering with the involving the local government bodies and promoting within the communities. So definitely the World Cup is bringing a lot of awareness and then with the opportunity to you know the the cricket is opportunity for cricket to be in the World Olympics. That will definitely attract the, you know the the community where because of US is a huge sports country and people looking to participate in the Olympics. Olympics is a you know the the prime area where all the sports bodies focusing, focusing in getting into. So definitely, since the cricket is being going to Olympics, that will actually give more opportunities to expand the sport. You know, between the World Cup and the Olympics. Stable governance, yeah, there was history of challenges and you know the the challenges are very common in the in the governance of any cricketing body. It says nothing new for a Associate member that to a growing Associate member, a large Associate member. But I know we have a pool of resourceful and skillful leaders available in in the, in the, in the country and you know the the, the governance will be streamlined with the opportunity to become a Olympic NGB because our US Olympics requires certain, you know the guidelines followed and the certain policies adopted. So as we grow, as we develop and as we grow streamline our process and policies, I think that will automatically set the governance in the right direction. But you know there are few challenges, yes, but it’s not something that is a showstopper or anything. Yeah, we don’t, we don’t foresee any challenges that that were faced by the previous organization because you know in terms of management, in terms of financial management and other related activities, you know we are fully in compliance.