Cricket in the United States

Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, club, intercollegiate and international competition levels with little popularity, with 200,000 players (<0.1% of the population) across the country.^[1] Major League Cricket is the highest level of domestic T20 cricket currently played in America, with T20 being the format of the game that much of the recent growth in American cricket is occurring in.^[2][3]

In 2006 it was estimated that 30,000 people in the United States play or watch cricket annually.^[4] By 2017, this figure had risen to 200,000 people playing cricket in 6,000 teams.^[5] Cricket in the United States is not as popular as baseball and is not as popular among as large a fraction of the population as it is within either the Commonwealth nations or the other ICC full member (or Test cricket) nations.^[6] There are at least two historical reasons for the relative obscurity of cricket within the United States. One reason was the 19th-century-rise of the summer time bat-and-ball sport now called baseball, which displaced cricket as a popular pastime.^[6] Another reason was that in 1909 when the ICC was originally organized as the Imperial Cricket Conference it was open only to Commonwealth nations and thereby excluded the U.S. from participating in the sport at the highest level.^[7]

Nevertheless, in 1965 the U.S. was admitted to the renamed ICC as an associate member and the sport grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century. An oft mentioned reason for the growing popularity of cricket is the growing population of immigrants to the U.S. who come from cricket playing nations.^[4][6]

With the launching of the United States Youth Cricket Association in 2010, a more focused effort to bring the game to American schools was begun, with the intention of broadening cricket's fan base beyond expatriates and their children.^[8] In addition, USA Cricket has begun offering various championship tournaments for youth cricketers, such as the MLC Jr. Championship.^[9]

ESPN has been stepping up its coverage of cricket in recent years, buying the cricket website Cricinfo in 2007, and broadcasting the final of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 competition, the 2014 Indian Premier League, English County Championship games, and international Test cricket.^[10]

In 2021, Minor League Cricket, a professional Twenty20 cricket league sanctioned by USA Cricket, began play. Major League Cricket is planning to launch its first season in 2023.^[11][12] In addition, various championships and pathways are being offered for youth cricketers, such as the MLC Jr. Championship.^[13]