Game-play Format
The format of the games were 20 overs a side, similar to Twenty20 cricket. However, there were two major changes from the rules of cricket used elsewhere:
- Overs consist of five balls instead of six.
- Bowlers could bowl up to five overs each (25% of the total), meaning only four bowlers will be needed rather than five.
Additionally, the league used a "designated hitter" rule, in which teams consist of 12 players, 11 of whom field and 11 of whom bat. This was similar to such rules existing in some domestic List A cricket competitions. All of these changes were designed to shorten the game and produce more aggressive batting, which the league administrators believed would help make the sport more appealing to the US public.
Each team was allowed a limited roster of global players from professional cricket teams outside the U.S. The ICC however ruled that because Pro Cricket was not organised by the USACA, contracted players from ICC Test nations could not be released from their contracts to play in Pro Cricket matches. However, several notable players without contracts, such as Ajay Jadeja, Daren Ganga, Mervyn Dillon, and Rahul Sanghvi took part in the competition.
Although cricket had a strong following in the U.S. up to the mid-19th century, its popularity dwindled with the rise of baseball, and it remained an almost unknown sport throughout the 20th century. The U.S. was one of the first nations to become an Associate Member of the ICC, in 1965, but growth of the game there languished until the late 1990s, when the ICC focused development efforts on the country. Progress since has been slow but steady, and many hoped that Pro Cricket would prove to be a turning point in the popularity of the sport in the U.S. As events unfolded, it became clear that this was not to be.
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