Stock Connect to Cricket Connect - impossible leap of faith?
The Shanghai-London Stock Connect launched last week may not be the only glad tidings to come the Brexit-battered Britain's way in recent times. Such is the scope and power of globalization and technology these days that it's going to be just a matter of time - give or take a decade or two - before things long thought of as near impossible will come to pass and spread joy.
England and Wales are currently hosting the 12th edition of the quadrennial cricket World Cup, which features 10 countries (nearly 20 teams were in the qualifying process, while some more are knocking on the game's doors).
This is the fifth time that England has hosted the game's biggest event. Since the inaugural tournament in 1975, England has reached the cricket World Cup Finals three times, but never went on to emerge champions.
Led by Irishman Eoin Morgan, England are this year's favorites, tipped to lift the much-coveted cup finally on July 14. Watched by an estimated global audience of more than 2 billion, cricket could bring pride back to England (and the United Kingdom).
But, frequent rain interruptions to play, and the weird adjustment rules they trigger, coupled with below-par ground facilities and (potential) challenges from teams like India, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, could play spoilsport.
Modern cricket originated in England. The game has gone global on the back of two key factors: its popularization by the governing body, the International Cricket Conference, and, before that, the British Empire. Of late, the effect of globalization has meant that even countries like Afghanistan and Ireland are among the top-tier cricket teams.
One more effect of globalization is that many national cricket teams are cosmopolitan in nature - a tribute to oneness, the essence of humanity, and an uplifting symbol of the unifying power of sport.
Although cricket is a bit unknown in China, the world's second-largest economy is nevertheless having a tremendous financial impact on the game.
Chinese tech companies such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Huawei are among the biggest advertisers and cricket team sponsors. Their logos and imprints are everywhere in the cricketing world - on telecasts, shrill marketing campaigns, commercials, jerseys, online content, apps, what have you.
Not long ago, Hong Kong, a British colony until 1997, used to host a popular cricket tournament called HK Sixers. As globalization and technology continue their onward march, Chinese businesses may see in sports and games like cricket the soft power that can bring peoples and markets together, potentially preempting the disruptive influence of annoyances like trade tariff tensions.
If food, movies and yoga - the International Day of Yoga was celebrated on Friday - can deepen understanding and amity between the 2 billion-plus nations of India and China, it is conceivable that cricket could prove a worthy addition to that list.
Things appear to be heading that way. In Beijing and other major Chinese cities, sports bars and certain restaurants are screening live telecasts of the cricket World Cup on big screens, to keep their expat clientele happy.
In Shanghai, there is an active, multilevel league - the Fusion T20 Cricket Cup - played in the game's shortest format. Organized by the Shanghai Cricket Club, which boasts 300 members and a long history starting from 1858, the tournament features teams comprising local Chinese people and expatriates. The teams have imaginative names like "China Zalmi Cricket Club" and "Charminar Cheetahs". They even tour other countries. This year's winner was the Shenzhen Cricket Club.
Before long, Chinese companies with cricketing connections elsewhere may well try to monetize the potential for sponsorships in the Chinese mainland. If China embraces cricket big time, both England and India, besides the rest of the cricketing world, will likely rejoice, given the implications for international relations, people-to-people exchanges and tourism. From Stock Connect to Cricket Connect need not be an impossible leap of faith.
Contact the writer at siva@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 06/25/2019 page22)
