There’s a wonderful anecdote from the time the great Don Bradman was out for a duck in New York.
Having dismissed the legendary Australia batter – who finished with a Test average of 99.94 – without scoring, the jubilant bowler sprinted off to the boundary in celebration.
That breach of cricketing etiquette, in an era of fusty formality, was sufficient to slightly irk Bradman as he walked from his crease.
But when the bowler then proceeded to stuff his cap with US dollar bills collected from the crowd, Bradman was aghast.
Just under a century later, as the United States prepares to co-host the T20 World Cup, such brazen profiteering from cricket might be perceived in a different light.
The US has been a project of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for more than two and a half decades. Tangible progress has been slow.
With a major global ICC tournament on its shores (well, 16 of the 55 games, at least) and cricket returning to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles in 2028, there is a sense cricket here has arrived at a critical juncture.
And there are still some challenging hurdles to clear if the sport is to succeed.
