Ricky Ponting (Getty Images)
However, he said he would be open to a complete rebranding of the format if it helped attract a new generation of American sports fans. “If I was bringing it here wholly and solely to sell and promote the game, I wouldn’t call it cricket,” Ponting begins. “I would compare it to baseball as much as I could and give kids that chance to understand you’re hitting 15 sixes per game in a game of T20 cricket, but you are hitting less than one home run a game in the game of baseball.”
The former Australia captain feels the word ‘cricket’ could lead new American audiences to immediately think of Test matches and their five-day format, rather than the shorter and more entertainment-driven T20 game. Speaking to The Athletic, Ponting acknowledged that he is a traditionalist who played far more Test cricket than T20 cricket. “It’d just be rebranded as T20 only. Leave the cricket thing aside. As soon as young people hear cricket in parts of the world where they’re not brought up on the game, they think about it being a long, drawn-out, five-day game, and it’s not that.
ICC Expands Cricket Audience with Major Initiatives
The ICC is actively working to expand the audience for cricket through significant initiatives. In 2024, the organization hosted a successful T20 World Cup, marking a key event in its strategy. Additionally, Major League Cricket has been established as a domestic competition in the United States. Notably, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is participating in this league as the coach of the Washington Freedom.