Why Cricket is Not Popular in Canada Argumentative Essay Answer

Introduction

Cricket was introduced by the British and was largely confined to commonwealth countries for a long time. Even though cricket was introduced in the early 1800s by the British the sport has not developed in Canada. The sport was considered a very popular sport until the early 20^th century when ice hockey took over. Cricket is not a popular sport in Canada because it is a summer sport mostly played during the summer. Canada is too cold during the winter seasons preventing the sport from growing. In addition, the sport is also lacking top-level players who can represent the country in the national team. There are also no clubs within the country which are developing cricket players hence Canadian youngsters have been drawn to various sports leaving cricket crumbling.

Some of the reasons why the sport is not so popular are that Canada is not sanctioned to play test matches and therefore the team is not taking part in one-day international matches (ODI). Canada is also not taking place in ICC Intercontinental matches (Larkey, 2019). In addition, there is also a growing rivalry from the US being a closer neighbour and therefore undermining the development of cricket in Canada.

Canada has also very few playing grounds that can accommodate international matches such as ICC to host official one-day international matches. The last time Canada participated in a very competitive match was in the cricket World Cup in 1979, 2003 and 2007 (Duckworth & Lewis, 2018). Cricket was introduced by the British and remained confined to the Commonwealth countries. However, it is not understood why Canada did not prefer the growth of this sport. British colony countries such as India, Pakistan, South Africa and the rest have always performed very well in international cricket competitions leaving Canada and the US behind.

The contemporary rise of other sports such as ice hockey and baseball in Canada has led to cricket losing its popularity. The consistent popularity of ice hockey in Canada has led to the decline of cricket. The women’s cricket national team in Canada has always been stronger and better compared to that of the men (Swartz, 2013). This means that there has been an increasingly projected feminine perception that generalizes cricket as a feminine sport. For this reason, most of the men have shied away from participating in cricket in Canada.

Schools and colleges have also failed to support and introduce this sport to younger generations. For this reason, the country has always lacked skilled and experienced players presented to clubs to enable the development and growth of the sport in the international arena. The exclusion of cricket from the sports calendar in most colleges, schools and sport-based academies has also led to its decline (Lewis, 2018). There is also a lack of sponsorship and participation from donors and well wishes to improve the sport something that has led to its decline. Very few promotions are taking place about cricket and none of the professional leagues has commercialized the sport. For this reason, sponsors and advertisers such as DStv, sky sports and other sports media have also shied away from sponsoring the sport in Canada due to its less involvement in the international arena.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social and cultural factors are affecting the growth of sports in Canada. Apart from the sport being viewed as feminine, there is also a perception that the sport was introduced by the British. Lack of support and interest from the government and the rise of ice hockey has made cricket less popular. Schools, colleges and sports academies have also failed to nurture young players who can develop the sport in the international arena.

References

Duckworth, C., & Lewis, A. J. (2018). A successful operational research intervention in one-day cricket. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 55, 749–759.

Larkey, P. D. (2019). Bridging different eras in sports. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 94, 661–676.

Lewis, A. J. (2018). A fair method for resetting targets in one-day cricket matches. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 49, 220–227.

Swartz, T. B. (2013). Estimation of the magnitude of victory in one-day cricket. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics, 43, 259–268.

Reflection

Conducting this research has helped me improve my research skills. While doing the research I had to develop various keywords that would help me in articulating my essay paper. I also learnt how to support my reasoning and relate it to what I was writing. In addition, I also improved my reasoning and my instincts when it comes to this research process. My sense of curiosity also improved especially after I read one article after the other. I felt the urge to dig deeper into the reasons why cricket is not popular in Canada. As I found supporting evidence, I also felt the desire to find out more to build and support my arguments. I also noted that very little research has been done about my topic of discussion mainly because the sport is not more popular. One of the notable factors that I have personally realized about cricket in Canada is that most sports media would not support a sport where they would not gain control and popularity. For example, the ability of the sports media houses to control a sport and reap benefits in form of betting and advertisements has made cricket to be less popular in Canada.

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