TLIAD: The Gentleman's Game

Excerpt from American Cricket: A History of the Gentleman's Game in the New World

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In the modern world, the United States, even moreso than the British Commonwealth, is synonymous with Cricket.

From the windy shores of San Francisco to the friendly confines of Philadelphia, D.C., people from all walks of life come together in open fields, streets, and alleys to play the American pasttime. North America's Professional Cricket League (PCL), despite competition internationally, remains the premier Cricket-playing league in the world, containing cricketers from all corners of the globe (though the nationalities of the USA, Canada, and East Cuba are obviously overly represented).

But how did this Cricket-crazy country first fall in love with this sport? As a former British colony, the influence of the mother country was always there, but as it turns out, several historical events were needed to firmly entrench the game in the American psyche...

...to understand the rise of Cricket, we must look to the era before, during, and immediately after the War of Secession, as well as the Second North American War.

When the Confederates States of America won their independence from the USA in late 1862, a different sort of bat-and-ball game had swept that country: baseball. Cricket's similar (but also very different) cousin had been played by American soldiers on both sides of the conflict, spreading its popularity in the newly independent nation. To this day, baseball remains the most popular sport in the Confederacy, a point of national difference between them and the USA (and one often used to stir up patriotic sentiment)...

...there are two main historical factors that led to the USA abandoning baseball for Cricket. The first was the Confederacy's refusal to repatriate American POWs in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. Because of issues surrounding the rebellious counties in the north of Virginia, as well as disputes over which country the states of Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland rightly belonged to, POWs languished in the squalid and harsh conditions of Confederate prison cells. By the time the issues between the two countries were finally resolved in 1864, nearly 80% of American POWs taken during the war had died. With these men gone, America lost many of its most passionate players of baseball, leading to a diminishing popularity of the sport.

Even so, the rise of Cricket was far from a foregone conclusion. Baseball still had a passionate following in the USA, and it would take another historical event to make Cricket into the popular sport: the Second North American War.

When the USA invaded Canada in 1869 over disputes with the CSA-friendly British, American soldiers who occupied the northern land learned the game of Cricket from locals. While unimpressed with the often extensive length of the games, many of these men developed an intense passion for the game. When the war ended in 1872 with a ceasefire that brought the USA back below the 49th parallel once more, Cricket remained. As the CSA embraced baseball, many Americans sought to use Cricket as a way to distinguish themselves from their southern brethren...

...the vast differences in the length of play between the PCL and standard Commonwealth international matches can be attributed to America's influence on the game. The American mindset has always been one of excitement and impatience, and it's easy to see why days-long Test cricket matches could prove to be tiresome to the average American viewer.

Thus, in 1875, the first professional Cricket league was founded with 25O rules. 25O, as the name implies, limits each team to 25 overs, meaning the games are completed between 3 1/2 and 4 hours after they start. This form rapidly became the most popular, and today it is the standard in nearly all of North America. Even in the British Commonwealth, tours between nations often include at least one or two 25O matches...

...as the USA and CSA spread outward, abandoning their isolationism in favor of the global imperialist rush of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so to did they spread their love of their respective bat-and-ball games. In CSA-aligned West Cuba, baseball is the most popular sport in the country, whereas Cricket dominates in USA-friendly East Cuba. Although the majority of the world plays Cricket, there remains a group of countries, led by the CSA, passionately devoted to baseball, and the differences between these two games remains a point of national pride regardless of where they are played.

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Well, that's my attempt at a TLIAD! :) Let me know what you think.
 

Dom

Moderator
I think you're meant to do more than one update. I would call this TLIAP!

Nevertheless, good work!
 
As the originator if the phrase 'TLIAD', this indeed is more of a 'one-shot' TL rather than a TLIAD, where you're meant to write it throughout the day.

However, this is longer than some TLIADs, and unlike many has clearly been finished in a day, so well done to AYC. American cricket is an inspired idea, though definitely not one I can comment on with authority.
 

d32123

Banned
Interesting. I was wondering what you would write about, and it could only be metric system, weed, or cricket. :p I want to try my hand at a sports-themed TLIAD now.
 
Interesting. I was wondering what you would write about, and it could only be metric system, weed, or cricket. :p I want to try my hand at a sports-themed TLIAD now.
Maybe I'll do a metric system one next. :D
 
I dont believe that cricket was ever popular in Canada, unfortunately. Unless THAT'S the real PoD.... ;)
Well, American soldiers also played it with British soldiers during the war (fraternization between ranks was de facto tolerated and widespread).
 
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