A list of the most popular sports in the world has just been made based on factors: number of people interested, which include television audience, live audience, media followers, fans, and athlete figures provided by sports federations. In particular, cricket is in second place with 2.5 billion people interested, just after football.
The British Empire used to account for 23% of the world’s land area. This has led to the development of this sport with sticks and balls in many places, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations. Today, the game is most played in the countries of Oceania, the West Indies (Caribbean and North Atlantic), South Africa and the British Isles. This sport has a large fan base because it is popular in populous countries such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and UK.
There are many sources that believe that cricket has existed since the 16th century, but in fact it was not until the early 1700s that the sport was popularized with a complete legal system. Cricket also has two teams of 11 players competing against each other, but the rules allow matches to be extended until victory or defeat is determined. So there are many cricket matches that take place until 5 days to end. This is one of the key features to easily distinguish the sport from baseball, besides the difference in the shape of the club and the costumes of the players. Most of those who have never played these two subjects often confuse baseball with cricket.
Since cricket matches can last, notable world tournaments take place between national teams or regions only, with a limited number of matches per year. England and India are currently the top teams in the world, followed by Australia and South Africa.
In first place is football with an interest in 3.5 billion people, which is half of the world’s population. Following cricket is Field Hockey with 2 billion interested people.
