question_answer 6)

Explain why cricket became popular in India and the West Indies. Can you give reasons why it did not become popular in countries in South America?  

Answer:

The pre-industrial oddness of cricket made it a hard game to export. It took root only in countries that the British conquered and ruled. In these colonies, cricket was established as a popular sport either by white settlers (as in South Africa Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies and Kenya) or by local elites who wanted to copy the habits of their colonial masters as in India. Cricket was a British game. It did not become popular in the countries of South America because the British did not colonise and rule these countries as they did in Asia and Africa and therefore these countries remained unexposed to cricket in the early years of the game.