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Professional Cricket To Make U.S. Debut At CitiField

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- The second most popular sport in the world is almost entirely unnoticed in America.

The Cricket World Cup drew a viewership of 2.2-billion this year, and for the first time ever a professional match will be played on American soil.

As CBS2's Steve Overmyer reported, the greatest players in the world, the dream team of cricket, will converge on CitiField for a match on Saturday.

"We know it's not a favorite sport of Americans, but we know Americans like to see action," Antigua Bowler, Curtly Ambrose said.

"I always try to explain that there are some similarities. We have a pitcher, we have a batter. Instead of running to bases we run up and down the pitch,"Brian Ponting, Australian Batsman said, "No foul balls, so if you hit one past the catcher just run as well."

While there are differences between baseball and cricket, there are also similarities.

"The excitement and pure adrenaline rush of hitting the ball, and guys bowling at 150-miles an hour," Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka Batsman said.

It's actually kilometers per hour, which is still like a Matt Harvey fastball, and if you like scoring how about a world cup final score of 186-183.

The game, known the world over, and highlighted by international superstars, is still waiting to be discovered in New York.

"I'm not a New Yorker, I'm Antiguan," Ambrose said.

Ambrose is 6'8" and said his favorite sport isn't cricket, it's basketball. There are still tickets available for Saturday's game at 1 p.m. They are anywhere from $50 to $200, about 40,000 people are expected to attend.

 

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