Cricket's T20 Giants And Minnows Ready To Battle In USA And Caribbean

Cricket's ability to grow its global presence beyond its heartlands, while still maintaining the quality at the highest level, will be tested over the coming month in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States. The ninth edition of the tournament, in the fastest and most explosive form of the game, will be the biggest ever after the decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to expand the field from 16 nations to 20. It will also be the first ever major ICC event to be held, in part, in the United States, a country where attempts to grow the sport have consistently failed.

Three American venues -- in Florida, Texas and New York -- will host 16 of the group stage games including the marquee match between India and Pakistan which will be played in Long Island, New York.

The rest of the tournament will be held in the West Indies, including the Super Eight stage, the semi-finals and the final, which will be played at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

While cricket is widely played at a recreational level in the United States, with strong presences in all three of the states that have been chosen for games, organisers are realistic about the chances of "converting" mainstream American sports fans.

Instead, they expect that the large immigrant communities from cricket-loving backgrounds, including thousands of India fans in particular, will pack the stadiums.

"I think, number one, we want to celebrate those that are already fanatical lovers of cricket. They deserve to see the best players in the world come into their backyard and have that chance," T20 World Cup USA, Inc. chief executive Brett Jones told AFP.

"Number two, I think it's about spiking curiosity in the game," he said.

The ICC also