First impressions of cricket in New York: a commendable start, but a long way to go

Despite being an Irish band, U2 have always sounded to me like they have written many a song about the US. And not just the direct lyrics such as “In New York/ Freedom feels like/ Too many choices”.

When they sing, in “Walk On”, “You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been/ A place that has to be believed to be seen”, they could well have been talking about the T20 World Cup in the US. While it is coming to a place none of us (or this writer at least) has been, you really have to believe the World Cup is happening here because there is not much that can be seen that tells you there is one on. This is proper new ground for cricket, because even in countries where the sport doesn’t enjoy the fanatic craze it does in Asia, it still never gets pushed to the margins.

At least in New York, however, as Bono wrote, there are too many choices for people. The cricket World Cup doesn’t have any signage at the airports, not on the subway, not on the Long Island Rail Road, the last of which actually takes you to the venue. Well not exactly to the venue but somewhat close to it. The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium is not exactly a friendly venue if public transport is your thing. It is in a cars-only part of the state of New York. Even if you shell out for a cab, you still have to walk at least a mile because the massive Eisenhower Park, which houses the cricket stadium, is off-limits to visitors’ vehicles.

So let’s just Walk On. Walk on to the fact that two stadiums – the actual venue and the Met Stadium fan park – in and around New York have already been sold out for the marquee event of this World Cup: the league match between India and Pakistan (though, barring upsets for either side, the match itself will have little bearing on their progress and no bearing on which group they end up in in the next round). If you are being snarky about any of this, the ICC could well point to the heavy viewership subscriptions for the match.

Attracting the affluent Indian and Pakistani diaspora might be the low-hanging fruit, but two days in New York are enough to know it is not really easy to sell a new sport here. There really are too many choices for entertainment. To sell out two stadiums for one match is not a bad start. To involve 20 teams – the biggest World Cup – at a time when some boards want the cricket world to contract is commendable.

As the start of the tournament approaches, you can feel some excitement building. There is a fan park set up at the World Trade Center where they beamed – on a screen that could have been bigger – the inaugural match of the tournament from Dallas. That USA and Canada are playing the first match is a nice touch: if you didn’t know already that they played the first international cricket match way back when, you have been living under a rock these last few days.

The ICC ambassador Yuvraj Singh drew a bit of a crowd at the inauguration of the fan park. He paid a touching tribute to the victims of 9/11. He joked about his Punjabi friends in both the teams playing the opening match, unwittingly giving away how far cricket still has to go to be more than primarily a diaspora pastime in the Americas. He revealed he has never been to any India-Pakistan match that he has not played in himself. He channelled his inner Bono when he predicted of the India-Pakistan match: “If we win, we will go crazy; if we lose, we will still go crazy.”

Not many hung around to watch the cricket, though. So, no, New York will not go crazy if it doesn’t go crazy tonight. Not for cricket at any rate. But in due course, you’d hope it will.