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DANIEL MATTHEWS: Major League Cricket has deep pockets and grand plans - and opening night in Texas was a roaring success... but it remains to be seen whether the sport's latest American dream can become a reality
Daily Mail ^ | 7/14/23 | Daniel Matthews

Posted on 07/14/2023 4:07:15 AM PDT by Libloather

By 7.30pm in Grand Prairie, when Ali Khan set off on his run-up, temperatures in this corner of Texas hovered around 102 degrees. A warm breeze blew across the ground but there was barely a cloud in the sky or a patch of green on the wicket. Ideal batting conditions, all told.

Not that Khan – opening for the LA Knight Riders – would have thrown the ball to anyone else. This was a moment to cherish for the USA star. He was tasked with bowling the first ball of Major League Cricket: this country's newest professional sports league and this sport's latest attempt to break America.

'A giant leap across the Atlantic,' broadcasters called it. 'Cricket's American dream'.

No pressure, then. And so Devon Conway – of New Zealand and the Texas Super Kings – waited as Khan sent the ball into the pitch and towards the unknown.

The fast bowler believes that, in time, this T20 tournament will trail only the Indian Premier League.

The next two and half weeks should tell us if he is on to something. Or seduced by blind faith.

This was the first of 19 games split between this converted baseball ground near Dallas and a 3,000-seater stadium in North Carolina.

Deep pockets and grand plans mean top international talent is spread across the six teams – the Knight Riders, the Super Kings, the Seattle Orcas, the San Francisco Unicorns, Washington Freedom and MI New York. Jason Roy gave up his England contract to come over. Liam Plunkett is here, too.

Also among the foreign legion are South Africa's Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, Australia's Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa and Aaron Finch and West Indians Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Outdoors; Sports
KEYWORDS: america; cricket; sports; texas
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Have they ever taken a knee? Support the BLM socialists? Could have a shot. Flat bats - isn't that, like, cheating?
1 posted on 07/14/2023 4:07:15 AM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

Cricket doesn’t have a chance in this country just as surely as the NFL doesn’t have a chance in Europe.


2 posted on 07/14/2023 4:08:56 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Two Words: BANANA REPUBLIC!)
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To: Libloather

Yeah,,,but they can’t turn a 6 4 3 double play...


3 posted on 07/14/2023 4:10:54 AM PDT by Adder (ALL Democrats are the enemy. NO QUARTER!!)
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To: All
Whoa! Wait a minute. We're supposed to be eating crickets, not playing with them.
4 posted on 07/14/2023 4:10:58 AM PDT by BipolarBob (I called the Tinnitus Helpline and all I heard was ringing.)
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To: Libloather

That’s not cricket.


5 posted on 07/14/2023 4:30:26 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: Libloather

Will there be tea and strumpets?


6 posted on 07/14/2023 4:33:10 AM PDT by Flag_This
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To: Libloather

Been watching The Ashes between England and Australia. I am totally hooked on it. Once you learn the rules and who the players are, and there’s also a lot of “gamesmanship” going on.


7 posted on 07/14/2023 4:36:34 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Adder

Can you catch a hard cricket ball without a glove?


8 posted on 07/14/2023 4:37:08 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Libloather

If it had a different name I would think it would have takin off already. Americans have thought “Gay” immediately after hearing the name for years... ...years prior to gay being a heavy fad...


9 posted on 07/14/2023 4:37:43 AM PDT by sit-rep
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To: Libloather
Maybe the cricket hall of fame, yes, such a place, which is in the West Indian area of Hartford, Connecticut, will have some American born cricket players soon.

Another new league that's starting is a Team Handball league.

10 posted on 07/14/2023 4:47:16 AM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Guns don't kill people, LIBERALS DO!! Support the Second Amendment...)
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To: Deplorable American1776

It’s mainly the Indians who are the Cricket supporters here in the US.


11 posted on 07/14/2023 4:48:23 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: sit-rep

If your uniform consists of a sweater vest it’s probably not a real sport.


12 posted on 07/14/2023 4:50:31 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Joe 6-pack

Lol...


13 posted on 07/14/2023 4:55:04 AM PDT by sit-rep
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To: sit-rep
Americans have thought “Gay” immediately after hearing the name for years

Speak for yourself. I know nobody who thinks that. "Foreign", certainly. "Gay"??? That's just stupid.

14 posted on 07/14/2023 4:58:43 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: dfwgator

When I was in my youth I used to live in Southeast Asia with my parents who were working rural electrification projects around the country of Thailand. Thailand had a lot of British influences for some odd reason, all my instructors at elementary school the British and at gymnasium we played British games mixed with fastpitch softball and track and field. But we learned how to play cricket and I also learned how to play soccer. When I move back to the States I didn’t know how to play football or basketball and I really didn’t care cuz by that time I was at the tennis but it was different growing up in that athletic atmosphere stemming from the empire.

I like watching a good game of cricket to this day and I also have a particular affinity for Scottish shinty. Darts anyone?


15 posted on 07/14/2023 4:58:52 AM PDT by Clutch Martin ("The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." )
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To: dfwgator

Reminds me of when I lived in Karachi back in 1965. My dad sent me out with my baseball glove to play cricket with the kids in the vacant lot next-door. Talk about awkward…


16 posted on 07/14/2023 5:00:49 AM PDT by jagusafr ( )
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To: jagusafr

My neighborhood has a lot of families from India, they play Cricket in the street using Tennis balls.


17 posted on 07/14/2023 5:10:37 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Cricket could easily become my favorite sport.

Imagine telling Mrs Con I am headed out to catch a cricket match......only to return 5 days later sunburned and horribly hungover.

EC


18 posted on 07/14/2023 5:11:42 AM PDT by Ex-Con777
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To: dfwgator

Agree. It was all there was to watch sometimes in some places I traveled and I was surprised at how entertaining it was. Same with the Sumo tournaments in Japan. The British Colony of actors in 1930’s Hollywood had their own club.


19 posted on 07/14/2023 5:13:16 AM PDT by katana
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To: katana

For me T20 and ODI is too Baseball-like. Test Cricket is a completely different animal.


20 posted on 07/14/2023 5:18:35 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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