why is it that only expatriots within America play cricket? shouldn't America try to progress at world sports?
537616
CRICKET WILL NOT SUIT TO USA.\nCOS, ITS A GENTLEMAN GAME.    \n\n\n("_").
350175
Yes, the WBC was designed to promote baseball internationally, and it was a huge success this year. The players are fully supportive of the chance to play for their home country, and the fans loved it. The format of the tournament should be changed (should be more similar to the World Cup of soccer) and they should play it in the middle of the MLB season every 4 years (have an extended All-Star break during the year of the Classic).
1017040
No. \n\nBut some dude mentioned cricket. I'm sorry but outside of India who cares about cricket? (OK so Australia is big on cricket and so is England, but really.) Funny but I can't find India anywhere near this year's World Cup tournament unless they're there taking notes.  Has India ever qualified for a World Cup Tournament? Do you guys even have a team? Wow! I guess you do! India is currently ranked 117th in the world out of 208 countries.  The only time that India qualified for a World Cup was in 1950--and that's because their scheduled opponents had to withdraw so they qualified by default.  So how did this soccer power dynamo do in the 1950 tournament?  I'm so glad you asked.  Several of their players refused to wear soccer boot/shoes (I guess shoes were not required in their soccer leagues, I don't know.)  So they withdrew from the World Cup.  Talk about sucking! Ooh but watch out for that Indian cricket team, they just beat Sri Lanka, Singapore, Pakistan, and Andorra.  Yes those very bastions of world sports. Yes, those world sports super powers.\n\nAs long as there is no big money to be made in American soccer, it will always lag behind the big three, NFL, NBA, and MLB.  The NHL is not as popular but it's more popular than soccer.  So while the rest of planet Earth waits for the World Cup final on 07/09/2006, most Americans will be counting down the days for the next episode of The Sopranos or American Idol!
1169716
This is so because of a number of reasons \n\n1. Cricket originated in England and was only played by countries which were colonized by England (India, Australia, West Indies, S.Africa etc.)\n\n2. Cricket can get very boring and is played over five days and may end in a no result.\n\n3. Soccer though originating in England is much more fast paced and easier to play and was therefore copied and played by other countries which was not under Englands influence.\n\n4. The cost of equipment is much less for soccer than cricket so it makes it easier for poor kids to play.\n\n5. FIFA spends more money on developing the game than the ICC therefore they are able to reach more people\n\nFinally...soccer is just more exciting. played for just 90 intense minutes as opposed to 5 day cricket (one day cricket and a new type 20/20 cricket is catching on though and may increase crickets popularity)\n\nAnother thing...while cricket is a team game each player relys mainly on his own individual skill. If all the players on a cricket team are unskillful then that team is doomed to failure. However on a soccer team the players dont all have to be skillful but can be successful if they can combine well and play as a team.\n\nWatch the soccer world cup this year then watch the cricket world cup next year and compare.\n\nGermany for the world cup ?
1145920
Here is the deal...all of the top American atheletes play other sports such as football, basketball and baseball.  Look at the best American player, I think he is 5-8 150lbs.  If our top atheletes chose to play soccer when they were growing up instead of other sports, America would be a top team, if not the best in the world.\n\nIf you look at the top American atheletes in their repective sports and compare them to atheletes in other countries, the Americans are far and away BETTER.  \n\nWhat if growing up Michael Jordon chose to play soccer instead of basketball or Barry Bonds instead of baseball?  America would be an elite team.
615360
The USA don't get to play many competitive games that affect their rating outside of their own group region and because the quality of their opposition is lacking, then they win a lot which gives them the points to move up in the rankings. For instance, if Scotland or Wales were regularly placed in groups that contained teams made up of dead people, girls and the elderly then they would shoot up the rankings also. Mind up, they probably still would struggle in some of those games.
570207
They play too much cricket when compared to other teams in the world. One more main issue is that cricket is not just a game in India, its a religion. People see players as their role models, so if the cricketers fail they face severe criticism. That's the reason they are under lot of pressure.
1074518
Baseball and Cricket are not exactly the same type of bat and ball games. Cricket is more about the technique of placing the ball while the ball is coming from a variety of bowling actions from spin to fast. It would not do any good if Mr. Dhoni who has the natural talent to hit the ball starts playing base ball to improve his cricket shots because for one thing he will always get double minded when playing a stroke whether to play it as base ball or conventional cricket. Spinners like Murlitharan or Abdul Qadir or Kumbley can produce a versatile array of balls in spin and playing baseball won't help Dhoni in dealing with those balls. As for playing shots is concerned I feel he is already doing that and the recent West Indian tour of Indian team and the last year's tour of Pakistan has proved that. Won't it be like asking a dolphin to try swimming in our pool to improve her skills in ocean? Or ask a golfer to play hockey? No, I think these are two different kinds of sports and a playing cricketer can improve his skills by pratising more.
1018943
Hey there Scott\nUnlike Africa which is a Continent made up of many countries, the United States is one country made of 50 states, so they have one team participating as all other countries do. However I'm sure that their players come from a wide range of States in their country. I hope that makes things a little easier to understand. Don't worry, not every one knows everything about other countries. Hope you enjoy the World Cup.
290420
There is even a US International team - they played in the ICC  competition that was staged in the UK two summers ago. Look on the ICC site - they would be able to provide links to associate member sites, and I'm sure the US is one of these.
1070742
Apart from hockey and cricket, India shows little interest to improve in all other sports and games; trailing behind other Asian countries big and small. The next Commonwealth Games to be held in the world's second most populous nation could serve as an indicator of the standard of India's sports in general.
498896
The main reason is the Pitches in Sub-continent is slow and batsmen can go for big shots easily because of that. So, bowling department get more relaxed and don't bother about how the score or what will be the score. Then there is tremendous ground support as well. When you have played a lot of cricket in sub-continent pitches and then you go to play in conditions like west indies or australia, the batsmen will automatically go for defensive shots and do a lot of mistakes, because the ball comes very quick with lot of movements. Indian bowlers are doing a pretty good job now, but they or not getting good support from the batting side while playing abroad. \n\nIndia have to produce more pacy pitches, that will help definitely for Indian batsmen as well as the bowlers.
1047357
Since we are Americentric the "World" consists of America and possibly Canada.  If India wanted to host the world series of say Polo we wouldn't make a fuss.  Also some of you are so dated, the Montreal expos are long gone
382982
Because America is full of ethnocentric people who think that their way is the only way and should be followed as such. FIFA might as well just ignore the US since we are the only ones hard headed enough to pick up on the fact that football is world-wide, not just an american-born game played on sundays.
203300
They can because they have more than their fair share of world class cricketers in their team.What they don,t have is a professional,no-nonsense,politics free cricket governing body.Other thing that most of them lack is the killer attitude.You may have all the talent in the world but it all amounts to nothing if you are not willing to knock a few heads off.
1109467
I assume you mean, for us Americans, soccer.  If you were American, you'd know how very few outside America play American "football," and you'd say soccer.  You can't possibly be so arrogant an Amerrican (of course they are many) to think that American football matters elsewhere.  For all of the rest of the world, without exception and without a doubt, and I've lived all over, football, or per American English, soccer is the main sport.  People may play basketball, cricket, or tennis, but nothing occupies the sports scene like football.  It's the world national pastime.  Every kid in the world, boy and girl, with or without the right numbers of players or a stadium has kicked a ball trying to score, growing up.  Every country wants the World Cup.  Billions watch it.  The main sport on earth...
1024236
well we dont play any american soccer, thats why i guess\nbut thats not what u asked right\n\nwell as for talent there is no lack of it.\nthe only reason why we are not doing good at football is the obsession that people have with cricket.\n\na "match" in india only means one thing a cricket match\n\nwe need to look at other sports besides cricket and there is also a need to divert more funds to the cause\n\nand for that the federations need money and that needs to come from the govt in the initial stages till the time corporates come in \n\nif these things happen i dont see any reason why india should not do good at football(soccer)