Countries where Cricket was Once a Popular Game | Articles Surf

It is widely held that cricket is a sport with limited popularity, compared to football, being played widely only in a handful of countries like the UK, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and the Indian subcontinent. In fact, the game was hugely popular in a number of countries that were British colonies through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Varied conditions brought an end to the popularity of the game in many of these countries, including some mentioned below.

It is indeed surprising to know that cricket was the most popular game in America during the late 18th and early 19th century. The first international cricket match may have been played between the USA and Canada and the event was attended by about 10,000 spectators. But in the following decades, the country was overtaken by the civil war and at the end of it, a new game had emerged ? baseball.

While cricket was the ?gentleman?s game? generally played by the elite, baseball gained a reputation as being a game for all. Unlike cricket, which needed a proper pitch; baseball only needed a bat and a ball. This and the rise of the other games like basketball, golf and tennis in the country made cricket an all but extinct game in America.

Similar to the USA, cricket was an extremely popular game in Canada and was even announced the national game of the country. But the same aspects that affected the growth of the game in the USA, affected Canada too. The rough Canadian weather was another impediment that hindered the development of the game in the country. Over the last couple of decades, the game has seen a steady resurgence thanks to the steady flow of immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent, where there is a large cricket community and the national cricket team was even chosen to participate in three successive World Cups.

Cricket was the principal game in Malaysia until the country gained its independence. The reason for this was that the game was played mostly by British men who lived there and once they left the country, the game was restricted to a small minority.

The sport was also a widely played game in the island nation of Fiji. Many cricket teams, en route to Australia and New Zealand, played a couple of games against Fiji. However, rugby has taken over as the most popular sport as is, perhaps, more well-matched to their physical attributes than playing cricket.

Another British colony, Burma, once defeated Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the late 1920s, although both teams had British players. This was one of the cases where the game spread to the masses. But most of the local Burmese were of Indian origin and with the invasion of Burma by the Japanese in 1941, the Indians had to flee to their home country and with this, the popularity of the game also waned.

John Casson is a contributing writer for the Imagine Sports Network which provides baseball, tennis, and cricket news. He has written about multiple sports and has followed cricket matches for many years and he has posted on cricket blogs as well as cricket forums.

Source: http://articlessurf.com/recreation-sports/baseball/countries-where-cricket-was-once-a-popular-game

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