As Barack Obama euphoria reaches fever pitch, here is a rather strange article I came across that states that not only the change in presidency but the change in policy towards cricket would help USA enormously in understanding and adapting to the world.
This is from FT.com (Financial Times) where the author, Michael Fullilove, published an article stating that “Mr Obama ought to take his lead from a more complex and demanding game than baseball. When it comes to foreign policy, he should take cricket as his text. There are seven lessons about the international system that Mr Obama could learn from cricket.”

here’s an excerpt:
“To succeed in cricket, you need to understand the different approaches of the various cricketing nations. After all, the cricketing world contains multitudes: an emerging great power, India; awkward powers such as Pakistan and rogue regimes such as Zimbabwe; fading imperial powers like the UK and regional metropoles such as South Africa. Rich countries such as Australia play cricket but so do poor countries such as Bangladesh. It is even played in Kenya, Mr Obama’s ancestral homeland. The International Cricket Council is located in the cockpit of geopolitics, the Persian Gulf.

Why does all this matter? Because the US needs to get much better at understanding other countries and cultures.”

He further states:
“...the primacy of no cricket team is assured forever. Australia has dominated international cricket for the past decade through its brilliance, aggression and athleticism – but that period may now be coming to an end. The commonly heard claims of America’s decline are surely premature, yet nothing should be taken for granted. Much depends on the calibre of the new management in Washington.

There has been talk that Mr Obama may build a basketball court in the White House basement. He would be better off using the South Lawn as a cricket pitch.”

For the seven reasons worth exploring, access the entire article at:
Obama ought to take up cricket by Michael Fullilove398350