How Brazil Became A Major Growth Market For Cricket

Cricket is rising in Brazil (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Brazil’s emergence on the cricket map, forging a reputation as one of the sport’s most exciting growth areas, may have never eventuated if not for England’s rather dreary surroundings.

The unexpected rise of cricket, by some metrics the world’s second biggest sport but largely confined to the British Commonwealth, in the South American powerhouse nation is also pivotal in helping the development of nearby U.S. amid exciting plans for the region.

While Brazil boasted its own traditional bat and ball spin-off, a popular street game called taco, cricket was essentially invisible in the soccer-mad country. The turning point came in 2000 when Matt Featherstone, a professional cricketer in England, moved to Pocos de Caldas – a spa city north of Sao Paulo in southeast Brazil.

His Brazilian wife had simply enough of England’s grim weather, bemoaned by so many before and since, so they decided to spend six months in her native country.

“She hated the cold, rain and the gray,” chuckled Featherstone, now Cricket Brasil president, during our meeting on the sidelines of the recent International Cricket Council meetings in Singapore.

The sunshine and warmth, almost inevitably, meant they stayed put and Featherstone has laid the blocks for the rise of cricket in Brazil, highlighted by the women’s national side currently 35th in the T20 rankings – clearly the best team in Latin America.

Featherstone did not originally have grandiose visions. After moving to Brazil, he initially helped his wife in her retail business and also taught squash, his other favored passion. But Featherstone, an affable and strapping fella, wanted to share his passion for the game he loved in his adopted country.

Things started gradually, with community projects spreading slowly in a “100 per cent volunteering” effort. It wasn’t until 2006 when Brazil received ICC membership that invaluable funding was unlocked.

These days, Cricket Brasil has a budget of around $1 million and there are close to 100,000 registered players in the country. The governing body, which was recently admitted as a full member of Brazil’s Olympic Committee, anticipates having 60 development officers by next year.

The women’s team is entirely made up of locals, a rarity in non-traditional cricket countries, and enjoy professional status having received central contracts in 2020.

“At the start, we took cricket to the English schools and the private schools, and that was clearly a mistake,” Featherstone said. “I realized this wasn’t the way to set up roots in Brazil.

“We went into the poor communities, offered them equipment and the chance to play. There was much more likely to be buy-in.

“If cricket is going to be a national sport, we need locals playing and driving the sport.”

Brazil – and by extension the Americas – offers an appealing and fresh growth market for cricket, far too long shackled to its own borders. There has been much more of a push in recent times to expand cricket’s boundaries, with a realization that the sport can’t merely rely on the heft of powerhouse India.

Big financial powers are extremely coveted by administrators. The U.S. is the ICC’s No.1 target market, despite never-ending internal woes, while there are attempts to rejuvenate China after a dormant period.

Excitement is brewing in Japan and Germany, too.

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With powerful countries across the Americas starting to seriously emerge, such as Brazil and the U.S., intriguing possibilities are being pondered.

As the only Full Member – granted to 12 top nations who receive more funds, playing opportunities and power – in the Americas, the West Indies are advocating for the implementation of a regional body.

A creation of annual tournaments across the Americas is envisioned on the back of cricket being included in the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima.

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“There’s a lot more opportunities for the region, which is a far cry from before where we didn’t have many chances,” Featherstone said. “Potentially being able to play massive multi-sport tournaments almost every year will provide so much exposure.”

The backbone of all this is cricket’s Olympic return at Los Angeles 2028. While smaller countries are unlikely to make the final cut in the six-team cricket competitions, as I first reported recently, the Olympic sheen is crucial for invaluable government and corporate support.

“When I used to tell people that cricket is the biggest sport in the world, they would respond by asking why cricket isn’t in the Olympics,” Featherstone said. “The Olympic funding has been a game changer and so the support of the Brazil Olympic Committee gives us a lot of credibility.

“There’s some fantastic things that are coming and I think it’s only going to get better.”

Apart from host U.S, no other Associate is likely to make the cut for the Los Angeles Olympics. But an expanded competition is hoped for future Games, while the T20 World Cup may increase to 32 teams – as I first reported recently – in the future.

It has Featherstone dreaming big, understandably given his big-hearted efforts ever since he left the damp of London in his wake.

“The talent is not the problem, so with proper funding and exposure, there is no reason why Brazil can’t make a T20 World Cup or Olympics,” he said.

“Hopefully cricket will be a national sport in Brazil down the track. It’s an exciting time for cricket in Brazil.”