Cricket's bold bid to break into the American market might lead to a Twenty20 World Cup being played in the United States within 10 years.
New Zealand play Sri Lanka in cricket in Florida. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Almost a quarter of the 90,000 international visitors to this year's 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand came from America, with the USA's lucrative broadcast deal already worth big money to the International Cricket Council.
"If we continue to make good progress, we would (hope to) see a World Twenty20 in the USA in the next rights cycle," the ICC's head of global development Tim Anderson told News Corp Australia.
"We think that'd be a great concept. Other sports have done that, not just football, but rugby are doing that with major events as well so we see that as a medium-term goal.
Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar recently took a number of former international stars to the US for a three-match T20 series, which was attended by 80,000 fans.
However, Australia's current biggest names could be playing in the United States, which has up to 10.5 million cricket fans, by as soon as next year.
"In the shorter term, our full members are keen to play some big cricket in the USA," Anderson said.
"I think that'd be a fantastic way to take cricket to a new heartland for the game.
"There's already an ODI-accredited venue in Florida (and another potential site in Indianapolis) but, within the next 12-18 months, you could potentially have full members playing cricket (one-day internationals) in the USA."
To strengthen its bid to establish itself in the American market, the ICC is also looking at trying to enter the country's college sport program.
