'Party in the USA' but Pakistan and India await for T20 co-hosts
Dallas: «Cricket? Erm, is it a team game?» asked the slightly puzzled Uber driver taking his passenger towards the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Texas on Saturday.
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Had the driver been one of the curious American-born spectators who ventured inside the venue and witnessed the USA's first ever T20 World Cup game — a pulsating seven-wicket victory over Canada — he would have had the answer.
Yes, team game it is, but in the shortest form it is also one that can be largely won by the brilliance of an individual.
For the USA's maiden victory, in front of a passionate crowd inside the purpose built, 7,000 capacity home of Major League Cricket, that individual was Aaron Jones.
Jones' unbeaten 94 of 40 balls, featuring 14 boundaries, ten of them sixes, with the stadium PA blasting out Miley Cyrus's «Party in the USA» after the biggest hits, transformed what could have been a very low key American debut in elite cricket into a spectacular celebration.
«Especially because America is not really a 'cricketing country'. I wanted to win the first game of the tournament for our fans and we did that,» a smiling Jones said after the game.
Now the USA must prepare for a much bigger test of their credentials in the sport's elite, when they take on Pakistan, at the same venue, on Thursday.
Converting Americans?
But there is a bigger context to this tournament for the co-hosts because as much as organiser's play down the attempt to convert American
