Trolling through cyberspace, one can feel slightly intimidated sifting through the plethora of Internet sites. I'm someone who not only gets my cricket fix from the mainstream media, such as ESPNcricinfo, but also from the blogosphere. So, it always feels like a Eureka moment when I discover a nugget. Limited Overs is indeed pure gold. I would implore all cricket lovers to read Matt Becker's eloquent prose. His emotional piece on his connection with Sachin Tendulkar's career would be on the shortlist of best cricket stories I've read. No hyperbole. Remarkably, Matt has only followed cricket since 2007. He's from the Midwestern US state of Minnesota, a state famous for its high-profile sporting teams - the Vikings, Twins and Timberwolves. I had a chat with Matt on why he spurned America's favourite sports for cricket, the state of the game in the US and his writing style.

Lavalette I am fascinated by those who have 'discovered' cricket at a later age particularly in places where it is not a mainstream sport. How does one from Minnesota get into cricket? What were your first impressions of the sport?

Becker I wrote a really long blog post about my ‘discovery' of cricket. Long story short - I was quitting smoking and needed to find something to follow and read about that I did not associate with smoking. I looked into cricket and it was like a bolt of lightning, I was instantly in love. I am not sure why, exactly, but something about the game just made a great deal of sense to me. The characters, the history, the formats - my first impression was that it was the kind of sport I was born to enjoy. I will also say that the new formats, the ODI and the t20, made the game far more accessible to a newcomer, and my discovery happened during the 2007 ODI World Cup - a tournament not fondly remembered by most cricket fans, but for a newcomer, it was a great deal of fun. Plus it was in my hemisphere, which eliminated a common American cricket supporting obstacle - time zones.

Lavalette That's probably the unlikeliest introduction to cricket I've heard! Amazing, particularly that you made it through such an excruciating tournament. As an Aussie, the '07 World Cup is an indelible memory because it was basically the swansong of Australia's golden era. But it was one of the shoddiest organised major sporting events, which ran for an eternity and ended in farce. But I'm glad you persisted with the action!

Anyway, I have tried to be interested in baseball and American Football, but I just can't find a connection with those sports. So, what do you think was unique about cricket?

Becker You mention the word ‘connection' and that is one aspect that has been difficult, as I do not have a connection to a local club, or a Test playing nation. I am Switzerland - completely neutral. And while that is great in a lot of ways, I find it has stopped me from complete cricket immersion.

The shorter and easier answer to your question is this - the Internet. Cricinfo and Willow TV (the online carrier in the states) have made following cricket vastly easier than it was just 15 years ago, when the sport was a complete mystery to the vast majority of Americans. I am able to listen to radio broadcasts of County Cricket matches whilst following the ball by ball coverage of an ODI in Bangladesh on Cricinfo. Not to mention the active and brilliant cricket blogging community, as well as Twitter, which as Jarrod Kimber so brilliantly put it, is cricket's giant virtual pub.

I have also always been a bit of an anglophile. I like British music, British television, British films…so it would follow that I would like British sport, too.

Lavalette I admire sport atheists, basically those who can follow sport and not be attached to a team. I'm hopeless in that regard. A sport means so much more to me when I support a team/individual. Even during the Olympics I randomly throw my support behind teams in events where Australia is absent.

It is often said that to truly understand cricket, one needs to have played the game. Do you play cricket?

Becker I do not play, no.

There is actually a very active cricket league here in Minneapolis, that is always recruiting new players, but I just have not worked up the gumption. Maybe someday.

I played baseball growing up, so I think I have the basics down - it's just a matter of taking the time and getting my courage up.

Also cricket, unlike soccer, is a very equipment heavy sport - not sure I am ready to shell out $500 on pads, helmet…etc.

I do have a bat though. My wife got me one for Christmas a few years back, so I like to practice my blocking shot in the living room after a couple pints.

Lavalette Cricket is obscure amid the congested American sporting landscape. I know US Cricket has had its recent internal problems, but do you think there is much hope for cricket to develop in the US??

Becker My ongoing theory has always been that cricket will never work here. Not because the landscape is too crowded, but because cricket will always be seen as foreign, and Americans can be rather xenophobic.

Lavalette Interesting you mention that point, as many cricketers in Europe have told me that cricket has always been viewed as bourgeoisie. Some still view cricket as a product of British snobbery. I suppose those sentiments have still festered from British Imperialism. Anyway, I digress. Continue.

Becker The only way for cricket to work, would be to start from the ground up - with youth programs, like what has been done with soccer. Starting in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, every kid in America played soccer. Now all of those kids have grown up and still love and follow the game. The MLS is thriving and you cannot go to a concert here in Minneapolis without seeing at least a half dozen Manchester United or Arsenal kits. Trying to shove cricket down the throats of adult Americans is never going to work.

Lavalette You're definitely right re grassroots development. I've seen cricket start to blossom in Eastern Europe, such as Estonia and Serbia, due to a concerted effort to introduce cricket in the schools.

Another factor in the rise of cricket in those destinations has been the boon of t20 cricket. Cricket connoisseurs might raise their brow, but cricket's shortest format has made it easier for the sport to be digested in these destinations.

Do you believe the t20 product could propel more interest amid the American mainstream? And do you think the ICC should stage the ODI or t20 World Cup in the US? It could be akin to soccer's USA '94, which appeared to capture America's attention.

Becker I was watching India vs Pakistan play a t20 over Christmas and my first thought was - Americans would watch this. It was loud and swashbuckling but without being over the top (no dancers, no pop music). The rivalry, the crowd, the atmosphere. If you put that match on in HD on a Saturday afternoon, Americans would watch it.

I do think that no matter what happens, cricket will organically grow in popularity here in the states, thanks in large part to the growing Southeast Asian ex-pat community. I live just outside of the city and there is a kids pickup cricket match that happens once every other Saturday or so in the park near my house.

And I think staging a global tournament here would be a massive failure. America is 20 years away from being ready.

Lavalette Can you expound on your writing process? What has attracted me to your work is your ability to be genuinely emotive - without lurching into sentimentality. There is real heart to your stories. Do you have a target audience? What inspires you to write about cricket? What angles do you look for with your cricket writing?

Becker Thank you. For the most part, I do not have a process. I simply think of a topic and start writing. I will occasionally research heavy posts that require more process such as compiling data and then analyzing that data, but those posts are few and far between.

Being new to the game forces me into a bit of a box. I do not feel confident writing articles that analyze strategy, stats, or team sheets, so I am forced to write more ‘fluff' type pieces. I also like to write about things other than cricket, but thankfully the sport is so full of history and politics that it allows me to use it as a backdrop to just about any topic I choose.

I write with a very specific audience in mind, a handful of people, some of which do not even read my blog. But there is no target audience per se, other than I would like everyone to enjoy my posts - be they cricket fans or not.

What inspires me to write about cricket is other cricket writers. The game inspires such amazing writing, and when I read a really great post from The Old Batsman, I want nothing more than to run home and write about cricket.

Lavalette I like your ability to analyse why bloggers write, especially with so many aspiring professional cricket writers tapping furiously in a bid to materialise their dream. Are you from a media background?

Becker I work in advertising for a news website called MinnPost. We are a non-profit, non-partisan, online-only news site based here in Minneapolis. We focus primarily on Minnesota based politics, policy, education and the arts. We rarely break news and do not cover celebrities or crime.

I started the blog because I wanted to write, and I wanted to write every day - because in the end my goal is to write professionally in one aspect or another.

My dream job, which is everyone's dream job, is to travel the world and write about cricket.

Lavalette I have to admit - I'm a massive fan of American sports writing. Most of my favourite sportswriters are American - Bill Simmons, Wright Thompson, Jonathan Abrams, Jack McCallum, Charles P Pierce, Sam Smith, etc… Who are your greatest influences?

Becker My favorite writer ever is novelist James Ellroy, followed a close second by novelist Cormac McCarthy. My favorite sportswriter however? That's really a tough call, as I honestly do not read a lot of mainstream sports journalism.

I really liked when Hunter S Thompson would write about sports, and I agree with you that Bill Simmons and Wright Thompson are phenomenal writers, but when it comes to sportswriters that inspired me, I would have to say my favorite is Michael Schur. You have probably never heard of him. He was a writer on the American version of The Office, and he is now a writer and producer for the sitcom, Parks & Rec. He and his old college buddies used to write a blog called "Fire Joe Morgan" that was about baseball and media and stats, and it was just about the best sports writing I have ever experienced.

I like to think I have developed my own style a bit, but those are the writers that influenced me the most.

Lavalette I also loved Thompson's The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved. It is one of the greatest pieces of sports writing and it is barely about the race!

I have a theory on the differences between American sports writing and the cricket world. American sports writing is more emotive and contains literary flair because (my assumption) I believe aspiring sportswriters have always viewed Sports Illustrated, perhaps now Grantland, as the pinnacle of the profession. There is more scope and demand for those pieces.

In Australia, a young sportswriter aims to emulate the local newspaper columnist, who is opinionated and detailed but lacking the creativity of their American counterpart. Do you believe there is more scope for 'profile' type pieces in cricket media?

Becker Regarding ‘style' versus ‘substance' - I must say I have really never thought about it. The local newspapers here in town are all fact based, as well, but the guys that write for SI and ESPN.com and Deadspin are all, like you say, more flair or humor based. But I think most aspiring young sportswriters always start out in the blogosphere, where they develop a style that works for them - whether that is fact or flair based - and if they are lucky enough to get paid to write about sports, they will probably do whatever their editor asks of them.

The pinnacle here in America is no longer SI, I think it is simply any job that pays one to write about sports, because the jobs are just so few and far between nowadays.

And, yes, there is definitely more room for ‘profile' type pieces in the cricket media, and I think that is why the blogging community is so strong. There is a hole in the market and the bloggers are filling that niche.

Lavalette It seems like the media heavyweights are starting to acknowledge the chasm between traditional and new media, evidenced by Cricinfo's new The Cordon - a platform for blogging.

While promising and a nod to the blogosphere, I still believe it focuses too much on the armchair stuff. It will be interesting to monitor its progress. So, last question. Name your favourite cricket writers?

Becker Regarding cricket writers specifically, I read mostly blogs and there are too many doing phenomenal work to mention. I will say that The Old Batsman and 99.94 are probably my favorites.