Cricket came to America through their colonial cousins - the Brits, much before it arrived in India.
Americans were hitting fours and sixes long before they were hitting home runs.
Historic references to cricket in the US include games in Georgia in 1737 and Baltimore in 1754, the same year Benjamin Franklin brought a printed copy of cricket rules home to the Colonies - almost 100 years before the first book of baseball rules was published.
The first ever international cricket match involved not the Brits and Aussies, but -hold your breath here - Americans and Canadians.
Founded in 1854, the Philadelphia Cricket Club god-fathered the American Lawn Tennis Association in 1881 and even hosted the National Women's Tennis Championship till 1921 when it was moved to New York.
In fact, the game was so popular in the region that the city of Seattle, fearing their residents were being 'Canadianised', issued an ordinance in 1923 explicitly forbidding: "the playing of cricket in Seattle parks without the express permission of the City Council."
http://www.timescrest.com/sports/the-alpha-beta-and-world-cuppa-of-cricket-5109
Americans were hitting fours and sixes long before they were hitting home runs.
Historic references to cricket in the US include games in Georgia in 1737 and Baltimore in 1754, the same year Benjamin Franklin brought a printed copy of cricket rules home to the Colonies - almost 100 years before the first book of baseball rules was published.
The first ever international cricket match involved not the Brits and Aussies, but -hold your breath here - Americans and Canadians.
Founded in 1854, the Philadelphia Cricket Club god-fathered the American Lawn Tennis Association in 1881 and even hosted the National Women's Tennis Championship till 1921 when it was moved to New York.
In fact, the game was so popular in the region that the city of Seattle, fearing their residents were being 'Canadianised', issued an ordinance in 1923 explicitly forbidding: "the playing of cricket in Seattle parks without the express permission of the City Council."
http://www.timescrest.com/sports/the-alpha-beta-and-world-cuppa-of-cricket-5109
