Two Australian Cricketing Icons That Almost Featured in the MLB
Stateside, baseball is unquestionably one of the most popular sports around. Its popularity has fallen somewhat in recent years, with football, basketball, and even ice hockey being more popular, but it still remains one of the country's favorite pastimes. Throughout the world, however, the sport never truly caught on.
In countries such as Japan and South Korea, as well as Latin American countries like Venezuela and Cuba, the sport is as popular as any other. But in comparison to the rest of the planet, it lags way behind. In fact, it is even the most popular bat and ball sport. That honor goes to cricket.
Thanks to the sport's massive popularity in former British colonies such as India, Pakistan, England, and Australia, cricket is the second most popular sport on the planet with an estimated 2.5 billion fans worldwide - a figure that can only be topped by soccer. The Indian Premier League is the second most lucrative sports league in the world, only behind the NFL but surprisingly ahead of the English soccer Premier League. Yet, if you wholeheartedly prefer cricket over other sports, make sure to check out online sportsbook Bodog, which makes Chennai Super Kings a favorite at +110 for the upcoming IPL 2023 championship.
With that said, the reason why cricket may not have taken off in the states is the fact that it is one confusing sport, even Netflix made a documentary attempting to explain its rules. Teams can sometimes play for five whole days just for the match to end as a draw. Americans love their action, and this sport is certainly an acquired taste.
It is vastly different from baseball, which at this point is a staple in American culture. But in recent years, two of Australia’s greatest-ever crickets were rumored to be on their way to the MLB.
The sport of cricket has seen some wonderful fast bowlers in its time, and none of them have been more impressive than Brett Lee. The Wollongong-born star represented his country for over thirteen years, making his test match debut for the Aussies in 1999 and his final test appearance in 2008. He continued representing the ‘Baggie Greens’ in the one-day form of the game right up until 2012.
Following his retirement from cricket, he continued to play cricket at a domestic level. He represented Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL until 2013 and turned out for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash league up until 2015. And he has won everything there is to win in the sport.
He has taken 310 test wickets throughout his career, good enough for 33rd in the all-time rankings. In the ODI arena, he has taken 380 wickets, which puts him in 8th place on the all-time list. He has bagged himself a plethora of trophies as well.
Lee has been on the winning side of the Ashes - a series contested between England and Australia - on four occasions. He has also won three Cricket World Cups and has won even more trophies at a domestic level.
Back in 2003, when Lee was at the peak of his powers, he stunned the cricketing world when he went on trial with the Arizona Diamondbacks of the MLB. According to sources, the Aussie was able to throw the ball at speeds of over 100mph and could slog for over 100 yards. Despite the American side is genuinely interested in his services, a deal, unfortunately, could never be reached between the two parties… but America’s loss was Australia’s gain.
36-year-old David Warner is still playing for the Australian cricket team as we speak. He opened the batting alongside Usman Khawaja for the first two tests of a recent three-test series against India, on foreign soil. However, poor form saw him dropped for the third and final test, the only test of the three that the Aussies actually won.
Despite enduring some difficult times at present, Warner has been a mainstay for the Baggie Greens for the last 12 years. His debut came against New Zealand back in 2011 and he is expected to be selected in Australia’s upcoming tour of England this summer. He too has won everything there is to win in the game of cricket.
His integration into the national side coincided with dominance unlike we have ever seen in Ashes cricket. Throughout Warner’s six Ashes series against England, his side holds an aggregate record of 19 wins against 11 losses. He was named in the ICC Test Team of the Year for four consecutive years between 2014 and 2017 and his aggressive batting style has been troublesome for bowling attacks the world over.
Back in March 2013, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers played against each other at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Warner’s manager Tony Connelly mentioned that featuring in the MLB was a possibility.
Even MLB game promoter Justin Moore mentioned Warner saying: "I've had people asking me about Dave Warner from bizarre corners of the planet. Out of all the cricketers, he's probably the one who could convert because of his eye and his power, plus his fielding is good enough.” With Warner still being just 36 years of age, don’t be surprised to see him rocking up stateside in the years to come.
