Cricket Playing Nations

Today I bring you some more knowledge on Cricket. According to the data, after the football, Cricket has the most fan base in world sport. If it is the case, let's see which countries play Cricket in professional level. As you know Cricket has 3 different formats called Test Cricket, ODI Cricket & T20 Cricket. and Test Cricket is the core format, or it is the genuine form of Cricket.

Only 12 Countries allowed to play Test Cricket under International status. Those 12 countries are the full members of International Cricket Council. Other all ICC members are the associated nations.

1)England

2) Australia

3) West Indies

4) India

5) Pakistan

6) New Zealand

7) Sri Lanka

8) South Africa

9) Bangladesh

10) Ireland

11) Zimbabwe

12) Afghanistan

So, apart from a Test match between 2 of above 12 countries are not considered as an International Test Match.

ODI is another important format of Cricket. Apart from above mentioned 12 countries, Netherlands, Scotland, USA, Nepal, Oman, Namibia, Papua New Guinea & UAE also can play ODI cricket. But these teams also have a temporary status. With the time & based on their performances it can be changed. But every country in this world can play T20 as an International game.

Every country has the T20 International status from 2019. Any T20 match between 2 countries is a T20 International match.

How popular Cricket in those Countries?

South Asian region has the highest popularity for Cricket. Apart from Bhutan & Maldives, Cricket is the major sport in every South Asian Country. England & Australia also have a good fan base for Cricket, mostly among the middle-aged people & older people. South Africa & New Zealand are giants in Cricket world, but their major Sport is Rugby. West Indies in Caribbean region had the huge craze for Cricket in 1980s. West Indies were the dominating team in that era. However, Cricket fan base is decaying in Caribbean in the present. Countries like Ireland, Scotland & Netherlands had much less fan base for Cricket. When considering associated nations Nepal & Papua New Guinea have good popularity for Cricket.

Why Cricket is not so much popular in other parts of the world?

Major reason for that should be the time. A Cricket game needs much time to finish. As I mentioned in previous article, Test Cricket needs 5 days and ODI game need around 7-8 hours. But T20 cricket can spread in next few years in other countries, as it needs around 3-4 hours. Most associated nations focus on T20 Cricket.

Which teams can grant the Test Status in the future?

Getting the Test Status is very hard for a Team. You should feel the hardness of it as Just 12 teams got that in last 200 years. A team need continues performances, ability to beat the top cricket nations. As my perspective, Scotland & Netherlands have a good Opportunity to get the test Status. Both these teams showed good skills in Cricket in last decade. Nepal is another emerging Crickey nation. Even though they didn't show much class in International Cricket arena, they have a very huge fan base for a Cricket. Probably the biggest fan base for an associated Cricket nation. It shows that Nepal have the potential to become a giant Cricket Nation.

This is all about Mens Cricket

Read : CRICKET FOR SCORUM 1