CRICKET is set to take its World Twenty20 showpiece to the USA, as the game ramps up a push to crack the biggest sporting market on the globe.

Australia and other heavyweights could be playing big time international matches on US soil within the next 12-18 months, while the World T20 of 2024 is being targeted as a power play to rival soccer’s market-busting FIFA World Cup in North America back in 1994.

There is no window dressing about the ICC’s ambitions in America either, with moves also afoot to implement cricket into the US college sports system to boost male and female participation at a grass roots level.

The US is worth billions already to cricket, second only to India as the most lucrative market for broadcast rights.

Nearly a quarter of the 90,000-odd international fans that travelled to Australia for this year’s World Cup were from the US and the ICC has calculated there are 10.5 million expats from cricket-obsessed nations living in America — giving the game a ready-made market already double the size of New Zealand.

Since Shane Warne’s successful All Stars exhibition last month broadcast into the US on ESPN, it’s understood some major stadiums across America have even made preliminary inquiries as to how their venues could be manoeuvred in order to host cricket.

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“If we continue to make good progress we would (hope to) see a World Twenty20 in the USA in the next rights cycle,” the ICC’s head of global development Tim Anderson told The Daily Telegraph.

media_camera Shane's Warriors’ Shane Warne and Sachin's Blasters’ Sachin Tendulkar pose after the final game of the Cricket All-Stars at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

“We think that’d be a great concept. Other sports have done that, not just football but rugby are doing that with major events as well so we see that as a medium term goal.

“In the shorter term, our full members are keen to play some big cricket in the USA. I think that’d be a fantastic way to take cricket to a new heartland for the game.

“There’s already an ODI accredited venue in Florida (and another potential site in Indianapolis) … but within the next 12-18 months you could potentially have full members playing cricket in the USA.”

Matthew Hayden experienced the potential of cricket in the US as part of Warne’s All Stars and says the game should not wait for 2024 and make pushing ahead with major internationals in North America an immediate priority.

“Why wait. There’s a market that’s dedicated to watching cricket there,” Hayden said.

“I wouldn’t wait 10 years. I wouldn’t 10 minutes really. I’d be just doing it.”

media_camera Cricket is keen to gain a foothold in the US.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has already expressed his desire for Steve Smith’s team to play in the USA, and it’s understood New Zealand and the West Indies are among other nations willing to put their hands up.

Ben Amarfio, CA’s media and marketing guru is working hand-in-hand with Anderson after presenting a paper to the ICC earlier this year that spelt out cricket’s significant shortcomings in expansion over the past 40 years compared to soccer and basketball.

FIFA made a huge impression in the highly competitive US market with its 94 World Cup, immediately leading to the formation of Major League Soccer and in just over a decade superstars like David Beckham were choosing to play football in America.

media_camera Action from game three of the Cricket All-Stars match at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Amarfio and Anderson believe the World T20 could form a significant launching pad for the game, especially given the US men’s team are close to legitimately qualifying for that tournament.

Cricket has 10.5 million ready-made fans in the US without even trying to compete with the dominance of the big four mainstream sports baseball, basketball, American football and Ice Hockey.

The ICC is hesitant about playing international matches at Major League Baseball stadiums, like Warne did with his concept, however Test great Hayden says cricket cannot afford to waste time fussing over minor details.

“Ultimately it’s not a real surprise (that the All Stars drew 80,000 fans over three games),” he said.

“It was a road test for what is a certain pathway in the future.

“I think the field sizes were out of proportion for what a normal cricket ground is, but it didn’t matter. The fact there was an unusually high number of boundaries scored, does that matter?”

Amarfio, who formerly worked for the NBA, says getting cricket into America’s elite College Sports program is a key aspect of the plan he is working on with Anderson and the ICC.

“It’s a very important part,” he said.

“We think it might be hard to get into the division one schools and we know there’s only 24 sports in there at the moment, so it’s a very select few that get in.

“We would probably try and start at a lower level, maybe division three schools and perhaps try that way.

“Every tertiary education authority in the world is looking for students … what better way to attract students from a subcontinental background in particular than to have cricket as an offering.”

Originally published as Cricket chasing American dream