The T20 matches between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on May 22nd and 23rd mark the first time two International Cricket Council (ICC) members have ever played on United States soil.

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May 19, 2010

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ESPN and USA Cricket Association announced today a platform to showcase exclusive, live coverage of the May 22 and 23 Twenty20 international matches between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Lauderhill, Florida.

The matches will be shown exclusively in the US on ESPN3.com, ESPN's live sports broadband network, giving fans a 24/7 online destination that delivers more than 3,500 live, global sports events annually to over 50 million homes.

These historic matches mark the first time two ICC members have ever played on United States soil. ESPN and partner companies ESPN International and ESS will broadcast the matches live in 88 countries and territories around the work, including the UK, Africa, India, Israel, the Middle East, the Asian Sub-Continent, and Oceania to an estimated audience of over 100 million.

USA Cricket CEO Donald Lockerbie stated that with the ESPN family of broadcast and media companies involved “the world will now see that the USA is open for business as a serious cricketing nation.  We are very pleased to have arranged with ESPN a platform to broadcast the event live from our stadium in Florida - so those fans not able to attend will watch on ESPN3 in America and on televisions world wide. 

"We are looking to show the world that the United States is ready for all the ICC full members to come to our country and play before their diaspora community and fans - a population of approximately 15 million hungry to see cricket played in the US.”

Televised for the first time ever in the United States, ESPN3.com has brought a powerful broadcast team together, led by 2009 ICC Cricket Hall of Fame inductee and former Australia captain, Ian Chappell. Over the course of his career Chappell created and sustained a reputation as one of the greatest captains in the history of cricket.

Joining Chappell in the broadcast booth is the legendary Sunil Gavaskar who held the world records for the most runs and most centuries (34 Test centuries) scored; Simon Doull, a former member of the New Zealand cricket team who played in 32 Test matches and 42 one-day internationals; and Mike Haysman - the former member of Leicestershire, Northern Transvaal and South Australia who represented the Australian XI in the South African rebel tours from 1985-1987.

Twenty20 is a form of cricket introduced in 2003 by the England and Wales Cricket Board. It involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 “overs.” An over is a set of six consecutive legal balls bowled in succession.

Although still an embryonic sport in the USA, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, only behind football (soccer). With approximately 15-million cricket fans living in the USA the goal of the strategic partnership between New Zealand Cricket and USA Cricket is to generate awareness and establish a fan base and appetite for the sport.

The Central Broward Regional Park Cricket Stadium was built in 2007 and holds up to 20,000.

[From USACA and other sources]