Good Seats Still Available

248: 2004's Pro Cricket - With Steve Holroyd


Listen Later

Fresh off his appearance on last month's Year-End Holiday Roundtable Spectacular, fellow defunct sports enthusiast Steve Holroyd returns to the show for a dive into the deep end of the "forgotten sports" pool, with a look back at the little-remembered, but ahead-of-its-time Pro Cricket from 2004.   An attempt to quickly capitalize on the venerable sport's faster-paced Twenty20 format launched in England a year earlier, Pro Cricket was essentially a rogue creation formed outside of cricket's US and international sanctioning bodies - featuring eight teams in a three-month summer season played largely in minor league baseball stadiums across the country.   Crowds were sparse, mainstream sports media attention was minimal, television coverage (Dish Network PPV) was limited, and sustaining funds (supposedly three seasons' worth) were quickly exhausted.    Yet, the play was surprisingly competitive (a smattering of international stars played; the San Francisco Freedom defeated the New Jersey Fire for the only title), and cricket enthusiasts were inspired at the potential the game could ultimately have in the States, once "done right."   That chance could come again next summer, when the new Major League Cricket launches.   Replete with at least one purpose-built stadium (the soon-to-be-converted minor league baseball AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, TX), and backed by a blue-chip roster of investors including media giant Times of India Group and tech backers like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe Chairman/CEO Shantanu Narayen - MLC promises to bring "world-class T20" to the States, nearly twenty years after Pro Cricket sowed the first seeds.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Good Seats Still AvailableBy Tim Hanlon

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

102 ratings


More shows like Good Seats Still Available

View all
Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

77,754 Listeners

Hang Up and Listen by Slate Podcasts

Hang Up and Listen

998 Listeners

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast by Marc Maron

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

29,279 Listeners

Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast by Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley

Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

2,583 Listeners

Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast by FOX Sports

Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast

1,113 Listeners

The Bill Simmons Podcast by The Ringer

The Bill Simmons Podcast

29,981 Listeners

The Press Box by The Ringer

The Press Box

3,114 Listeners

Shat the Movies: 80's & 90's Best Film Review by Shat on Entertainment

Shat the Movies: 80's & 90's Best Film Review

1,425 Listeners

Sports' Forgotten Heroes by Warren Rogan

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

28 Listeners

The Rewatchables by The Ringer

The Rewatchables

13,800 Listeners

Sports Media with Richard Deitsch by Audacy

Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

748 Listeners

Everything 80s by Jamie Logie | 1980s Pop Culture & Nostalgia

Everything 80s

343 Listeners

60 Songs That Explain the '90s by The Ringer

60 Songs That Explain the '90s

1,055 Listeners

Men in Blazers: Early Kick Off by Men in Blazers Media Network

Men in Blazers: Early Kick Off

396 Listeners

Is This A Great Game, Or What? by Tim Kurkjian, Jeff Kurkjian

Is This A Great Game, Or What?

218 Listeners