Is there really a Cricket World Cup on in England?

I travelled to England in the summer of 1999 to watch the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup. Immediately, what surprised my teenaged mind was the sheer lack of awareness and enthusiasm towards the event. 

Two decades later, not much has changed in London. 

At the immigration line at Heathrow airport, one looks around to spot any signs of the World Cup. There are none. Zero. Immediately the mind flies four years ago to the 2015 World Cup, when this correspondent touched down in Christchurch from India and was greeted by posters advertising the tournament and cut-outs of New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum looming gladiator-like in various corners of the airport. 

Granted, New Zealand is a tinier country with a lot more riding on hospitality and tourism, but the lack of advertising for the 2019 Cricket World Cup is stark. 

When I get to the immigration counter, the border security agent asks my purpose of visit. I tell him I am here to cover the World Cup, and he raises an eyebrow. I have to tell him its cricket. He says he doesn't follow it. 

A while later, at the first mobile phone store I enter, the response is somewhat positive but that's probably because the salesman behind the counter is of Indian origin. Next, the lady at the currency exchange asks whether I am visiting, and after I tell her I am here for the World Cup, she smiles and says: "Oh yes, cricket."

There is nothing on the tube or bus to let people know the tournament is on. At the Heathrow tube station, the only sign of cricket is a poster of the Vitality Blast, England's domestic T20 competition.

The first sighting of the World Cup comes as soon as you approach The Oval, situated in Kennington, in the Borough of Lambeth, in south London. A few fliers and some hoardings cling onto red-bricked balls along The Oval perimeter and opposite it. At The Oval tube station, a few small World Cup posters search for identity among a sea of fliers for plays, movies and literary events. 

At the small hotel where I am staying, a little over a kilometre from The Oval, the receptionist is aware the World Cup is on but cannot be bothered to follow it. Again, there is no advertising in the area until you get to The Oval. 

Why this apathy towards cricket, the grand old English sport?

For starters, football is the dominant sport. Cricket is viewed as an elitist sport, whereas footbal is the common man's game and a sport accessible to so many more people owing to the requirements to play the sport, the popularity the game holds with the masses and the enormous amounts of money pumped into it.

It is an understatement to say that football dwarfs cricket. 

Lawrence Booth, the editor of Wisden, highlights two factors: one, the massive gulf between football and all other sports in England, and two, the 2005 deal whereby live cricket disappeared from terrestrial TV screens. 

"Football is the No 1 sport in the UK, by far. Rugby and cricket are way below. Had there been a football World Cup on, you would have seen hoardings all over London and advertising on TV would have been enormous," he says. "And you have to understand that the Sky deal in 2005 has had a huge impact. For 14 years, cricket has virtually disappeared from TV."

The Sky deal which Booth refers to was a decision taken by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2004-05 in which live coverage of England's home series were no longer made available on terrestrial TV. The ECB awarded an exclusive four-year contract to BSkyB, ending a six-year association with Channel 4 which itself had in 1999 ended the BBC's 61-year run as the broadcaster of cricket in England. 

The ICC is confident that the World Cup will be lapped up by the fans in England - cricket's governing body has already made plenty of money off it - but the reality is that outside a minority of followers, very few people care about the tournament. 

Jamie Alter is Group Sports Editor (Digital), Zee Media. A sports journalist since 2005, he has served as Sports Editor of the Times of India Digital and Editor of Cricbuzz, Cricketnext and IBN Sports, apart from nearly five years working for ESPNCricinfo. He has also authored two cricket-related books.