It is no secret that sport organizations all across the world are seeking the attention of viewers, old and new alike. This is a business that is rooted in the ability to effectively and strategically communicate a message to the viewer. Using logical, emotional, and ethical messaging to their advantage, public relations professionals seek to evolve the ever changing landscape of strategic communication in todays sports world. While many sports have evolved their public relations strategies over the years to accommodate technology (social media), cricket is a sport that seemed to fall behind.

Cricket has received a lot of criticism over the years for its reluctance, and a times inability, to take steps to adapt to changing demands in the market. Although cricket is considered the original national sport of England, it has not attracted anywhere near the level of financial and practical support from fans and sponsors as soccer has. The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body for UK cricket, and provides financial backing for the national team. Along with the national team, there are 18 first class country clubs and countless other local clubs. Modern Cricket “struggles with the legacy of its privileged past and with the fact that it is freighted with extraneous moral overtones.” (Birley, 1999). Simply put, cricket doesn’t have a central identity. Every team and county are an individual identity and don’t come together on any common values. Sports like soccer and American football have different team, but there is a common culture among the players and fans that unites everyone.

Recently, cricket in the UK is seeking to address this identity issues. One of the main reasons that cricket has been hard to market is the length of the matches, which can last anywhere from 8 hours to 5 days. The social media generation, or generation Z has a much shorter attention span than the generation of 100 years ago. The internet and social media has helped to shorten peoples attention spans through instant gratification. The UK has undergone developments such as launching the Twenty20 Cup in June 2003. This shorter form of cricket takes about 2.5-3 hours per match, which is at least 2-3 times shorter than the next closest version. This format is pumping new life through a sports that was in danger of collapse and has helped counties sell more tickets throughout the UK since it’s introduction.

Another sport that could use this type of revamp is American Baseball, which suffers from similar problems as cricket. There isn’t much action, and the games last too long. Younger fans aren’t willing to sit through 9 innings of what some call, “watching the grass grow”. Baseball could take a lesson from cricket and come up with a new format that is less innings, and has more action than before. 7 innings would be a sweet spot, along with less times in between pitches to increase the action. There would be a time limit in between pitches that will make the action move along faster. In general, the sports world wants face paced, action packed sports with athletes that have personality and marketability.