Have you ever thought about the fact that there are plenty of sports which are popular only in particular areas on the globe? One of them is cricket. This bat-and-ball game originated in 16th century in England but arose international interest and spread around the world in the 19th century. It is played by two teams of eleven, whose aim is to hit a ball across an oval field and score runs.

Areas of interest around the globe

This sport is divided into three types: first-class cricket, one-day cricket and single wicket cricket. The first one lasts the longest, for three or more days. An outstanding example league of that format is Twenty20, often abbreviated to T20. It is recognized as the most professional level by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is also considered to be the most energetic and intense form of cricket demanding higher levels of stamina, reaction time, durability and cleverness from all players no matter what their position in the team is.

One-day cricket sounds clear enough – the match is completed in one day. It is mostly preferable by the audience as they can watch the whole event without being necessary for them to be absent from their daily tasks for a few continuous days. The countries where domestic one-day competitions take place are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies. The Australian JLT One Day Cup is a 50 overs tournament which started in 1969 and continues until nowadays.

Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League in Bangladesh is a comparatively new competition. It has been in List A since 2013. India is also very fond of cricket and supports the Indian Premier League, NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, Indian Cricket League and a few others. Single wicket cricket is played between two people, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other and the one who scores more runs becomes the champion. It is not surprising that this version is most often a tradition at the local clubs and not in the professional field.

A chance to spread around the whole world?

Most probably, this will never happen as people would always prefer more traditional sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, etc. If it hasn`t provoked such a big interest since its birth, about 5 centuries ago, why would it happen now? Most of the fans do not like changes and they stick to the traditions established by their predecessors in family.

Especially in Europe, almost no one is ever talking about cricket while drinking a beer or having a burger with their mates. For example, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany – can you imagine the population there being intrigued by cricket? That would mean a total change in culture, lifestyle, and habits. This might sound quite pessimistic to the countries listed in the previous paragraph, but it seems to be the truth. However, we should respect all kinds of sports no matter how famous they are.