As a result of this, cricket’s unparalleled charm has also impacted the lives of some of the most accomplished athletes from around the world
Cricket is one of the most well-known sports in the world, and as a result, it has amassed a large number of fans. Cricket is a beautiful sport that has produced many legendary players, including Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shaun Pollock, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni, as well as many other players who have raised the level of play in the sport. In addition to these individuals, the Indian Premier League (IPL) also made a significant impact, which assisted in cricket’s rise to become one of the sports with the highest average number of viewers around the world.
Roger Federer, a former tennis player from Switzerland, was asked about his affinity for cricket in 2009 and stated that he enjoys participating in the sport in his own time. There are quite a few other professional athletes besides Roger Federer that enjoy playing cricket.
When I thought back on them, The following five professional sportsmen from other sports are big cricket fans:
1. Jamie Dwyer
Jamie Dwyer, a hockey player for Australia, is an extremely well-known figure in the world of sport. He was a member of his country’s national team from 2001 to 2016, and over the course of his extensive career, he played in more than 350 matches and scored more than 220 goals. Following the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, he decided to retire from the sport of hockey.
At the moment, he is participating in the Melville Toyota League in Perth with the YMCC Coastal City Hockey Club. Stuart MacGill, who played for Australia in test matches in the past, is the current manager of the former Australian hockey player. When Dwyer was younger, he took a keen interest in the sport of cricket, and he participated in it quite frequently. The Aussie used to play cricket and his position was batter.
Following Dwyer’s astounding batting exploits in two A-grade finals in Rockhampton when he was 15 years old, a cricket scholarship was made available to him. In spite of this, he made the decision to pursue a career in hockey and a spot on the Olympic team. Dwyer is a devoted fan of the sport of cricket, and there are images floating around the internet that show him participating in the game with his children.
2. Yohan Blake
The name Yohan Blake, a Jamaican sprinter, is a familiar one to everyone who follows the sport of sprinting. In the course of his lengthy career, Blake has amassed a significant number of accomplishments. The effort that the Jamaican sprinter put in was once recognised and praised by Usain Bolt. It’s possible that the 100-meter champion will call it quits after competing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Blake is a native of a country that has also given the world notable cricket players like Chris Gayle and Courtney Walsh. Blake is also a passionate follower of the sport of cricket, and he engages in the game on a regular basis. This sportsman, who is 33 years old, also participates in club cricket for the Kingston Cricket Club. In April of 2021, he sent out a tweet that demonstrated his passion for cricket.
During the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the notable match that took place in September 2020 was when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) prevailed over Mumbai Indians (MI) in a super over. After this, Blake shared a video in which he discusses how much more exciting the game can be when it features a cliffhanger in the form of a Super Over.
3. Ian Thorpe
His contributions to the world of athletics have been unparalleled. Throughout his enormously successful career as a swimmer, Ian won a number of prestigious races and contests. He finished the 2000 Summer Olympics with a total of five medals, including three gold and two silver, making him the most successful athlete in the competition.
In January of 2019, the Olympic gold medalist disclosed that his parents had encouraged him to pursue a career in cricket. When Ian was in high school, he spent his early years playing cricket, but he eventually gave it up to concentrate on his swimming career. His decision to pursue success in swimming rather than cricket paid off for him in the long run, as he went on to amass numerous accolades in the swimming world.
It is interesting to note that Ian’s father, Ken Thorpe, also competed in first-grade cricket for Bankstown when he was a teenager. As a hitter for Sydney’s district side, Ken finished the season with a higher batting average than the former captain of the Australian cricket team, Bob Simpson.
4. Harry Kane
Due to his remarkable play in professional football, Harry Kane has amassed a large number of followers and supporters. Since 2018, Kane has led the England national football team in his role as captain. In addition, he has scored 58 goals for his national team, making him the player with the most goals scored in the team’s history. Kane is also the all-time leader in goals scored for the illustrious English football club known as Tottenham Hotspur, with 280 goals to his name.
In the month of August 2019, Kane sent an invitation to England all-rounder Ben Stokes to attend the Tottenham game that was being played in the Premier League. The England cricket legend’s historic, unbroken 135 against Australia in the third Ashes Test impressed a lot of cricket fans, including Kane. Kane was not an exception to this rule.
In August of 2022, Kane was observed at the world-famous Lord’s Stadium, where he was attending and enjoying a match that was part of The Hundred competition between London Spirit and Manchester Originals. The legendary footballer appeared beside England bowler Stuart Board and the winning captain of the World Cup in 2019, Eoin Morgan. Alongside Ravi Shastri, he was also spotted providing analysis on the game.
5. Usain Bolt
The fact that Usain Bolt is the first athlete to ever win the 100-meter and 200-meter gold at three separate Olympics in a row (2008, 2012, and 2016) is one of the primary reasons he is regarded as the best sprinter of all time. In addition to that, he has won the title of world champion eleven times. The media gave him the nickname “Lightning Bolt” because of his lightning-fast pace on race tracks, and it stuck.
After competing in the 2017 World Championships, he decided to call it quits in the professional arena as a sprinter. The Jamaican athlete enjoys dance, music, and cricket in addition to sprinting, which is his primary sport of choice. In 2009, Usain Bolt admitted that cricket was his first love. He went on to say that, as a boy, he admired Sachin Tendulkar’s batting and Waqar Younis’s pace bowling.
Chris Gayle, the opening batter for the West Indies, is a native of Jamaica, and Usain Bolt is a tremendous fan of him. Both Bolt and Gayle participated in a charity match in Kingston in October 2009, and during this competition, the sprinter completely dominated Gayle. During the same match, Bolt also struck a maximum off the stalwart from the Windies’ delivery.