Cricket is one of the most-loved sports in certain parts of the world, whilst being almost unheard of in others. Whilst football has exported to almost every country on the planet, the same cannot be said of cricket. Although the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was co-hosted by the United States of America and the West Indies, it would be untrue to say that Americans have ever really taken to it as a sport.

The question is, why is it that some countries have taken it to their hearts whilst others haven’t? What is it that links the numerous countries that tend to like cricket even whilst some others have never been able to enjoy it?

It’s All About the British Empire

If you take a look at a list of countries in which cricket is a popular sport, the thing that links most of them is that they are former colonies of the British Empire. If you wanted to be generous about your interpretation of things, you could say that cricket worked to embody the British virtues that the country was trying to export around the planet. The likes of strength, courage, nobility and persistence are all parts of cricket, to say nothing of sportsmanship, a healthy rivalry and the ability to work as a team. As the British sailed around the planet and tried to take over the countries it encountered, cricket was seen as an ideal way of introducing what it is to be British.

During the 19th centry and the early part of the 20th century, Britain looked to colonise as many locations as possible. The country vied with the likes of France, Germany, Portugal and Spain for ‘ownership’ of far flung lands, looking to displace the local rules and customs for their own. The United Kingdom worked hard to come out on top in the race, taking over land like the West Indies and Australia, India and Canada via South Africa and Somaliland. Rather than abondoning British customs in such places, the conquerors instead looked to impose them wherever possible, with cricket used a means to do exactly that.

The game was first played in locations such as Calcutta and Bombay in the early 1700s, whilst Australia and New Zealand were introduced to the sport in the early part of the 19th century. That was around 100 years after Cape Town had seen the sport for the first time. In fact, by the time the British Empire’s move to take over the rest of the world was all but complete, virtually every location had been introduced to cricket ans begun to play it. It tells you a lot that all ten of the Full Members of the International Cricket Council have direct links to the British Colonial history. They are as follows:

• Australia
• Bangledesh
• England
• India
• New Zealand
• Pakistan
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• West Indies
• Zimbabwe

If you want to have a sense of the spread of the British Empire then looking to see where cricket has been popular for hundreds of years is the best indication that you can get. Even whilst the Brits were introducing cricket to the numerous countries that it looked to colonise, things didn’t work out quite as planned. In some countries, the residents did indeed play cricket but the white and the black members of the population never played it together. Of course, given the innate racism of Britain, that is perhaps not all that surprising and may even have been encouraged by the colonisers in order to keep the population ‘in line’.

Moving Away From the Empire

It is entirely fair to say that cricket has moved away from its colonial links in the years since the British Empire was all but disbanded. Although it remains popular in countries that you would say are part of the Commonwealth, many places have taken ownership of the sport. Nowhere is this more evident than in India, where the sport is seen as more of a religion than a game. The Indian Premier League, for example, is one of the most watched cricket leagues not just in the country but all around the world. Cricket is pretty much everywhere in India, with the National Cricket League almost as popular as the IPL.

Major League Cricket in the USA 🇺🇸 is hotting up nicely as a packed field surges towards the playoffs. Record heat ☀️🔥 in Morrisville … 43°C 🫠 … and still having a ball. #MLC2024 pic.twitter.com/CUYHng3FBL

— Mike Haysman (@MikeHaysman) July 15, 2024

The same sort of thing is true in Pakistan, where cricket is used to breakdown regional and religious boundaries, as well as linguistic ones. In England, perhaps only football is more popular than cricket in some areas of the country, whilst the Caribbean has seen cricket played in a more flair-based many than would be accepted by the ICC. Yet the most interesting thing is the newly emerging countries where cricket is gaining popularity. In South Africa, for example, it now stands behind only rugby and football in terms of popularity. In the United States of America, cricket is seeing something of a resurgence in recent times.

We say ‘resurgence’ because there was a time when cricket was one of the main sports played in the US. The British colonialists introduced it to the Americans, with locals soon taking it to heart. Having first been played there in 1709, the sport soon spread around the country and Philadelphia became the home of cricket in North America. The fact that the T20 World Cup was hosted, at least in part, by the USA is a sign of how much the country is starting to fall back in love with the game. Nowadays it is played at amateur level as well as both club and intercollegiate, plus international competitions. That being said, it is still well behind many of the other sports.

@icc Absolute scenes in the USA camp as they create history against Pakistan in Dallas 😲 #T20worldcup #cricket #cricketlover ♬ original sound – ICC

One of the most surprising things is the extent to which cricket has not been adopted particularly around Europe. In fact, it says quite a lot that the European Cricket Council was not even formed until 1997. Although it was played during the early part of the 20th century, the rise of fascism saw it drop off considerably in the likes of Italy and Spain. Now those countries, as well as the likes of Scotland, the Netherlands and Ireland are all starting to more readily embrace cricket as a sport for the masses. The future of cricket is likely to be one of a sport that continues to grow and develop, far away from its British Empire origins.