Cricket is going beyond boundaries in the 21st century. In this digital age, amid the T20 boom, cricket's exposure has never been more prominent. No longer is cricket shackled to traditional Test playing countries.

Increasingly infiltrating mainstream media worldwide, cricket has a presence in all corners of the globe, even in socialist countries, which had previously derided the ‘British bourgeois' game.

But the game is veering towards a crucial crossroads in a historical cricket foothold. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wales is one of cricket's oldest homes - where the red ball is believed to have been first hurled at batsmen in the 18th century.

Centuries later, Wales still has no international cricket identity.

Throughout the 20th Century, a Welsh first class team played matches against international sides but a permanent national team was never established.

This still gnaws at a section of the Welsh cricket community, who envy the like of Scotland and Ireland's decision to establish an international identity in the 1990s.

Unique in the British Isles, Wales remains joined at England's hip and thus collaborates to form the England and Wales Cricket Board, although its acronym is merely the ECB - which for some is indicative of the lopsided relationship.

Cricket matches were played between Wales and England in 2002. While deemed ‘friendly', it stoked imagery in Wales' cricket consciousness that rages more than a decade later.

In the intermitting years, Wales' undeniable talent was showcased in the international arena when Simon Jones helped seize the Ashes from Australia's ironclad grip in 2005. Whilst proud of their compatriot, many Welsh merrily fantasised over the swing bowler mesmerising batsmen for their country.

Ireland's continued growth has it in a position where it realistically could become cricket's next Test nation.

Witnessing Ireland and other affiliate countries create an international cricket imprint has consumed Welsh cricket tragics with bouts of envy.

But these Welsh cricket nationalists aren't idly brooding. Instead, they bandied together and recently submitted a petition advocating the formation of a Wales national cricket team to the National Assembly for Wales.

The Petitions Committee has called for consultation within Wales' cricket community to determine the proposal's support. A vote in plenary is expected in the next month.

The petition's spokesman Matthew Ford believes it is "absolutely the right time" to establish a Welsh national team.

"The Woolf report came to the conclusion that cricket needs to become more transparent, needs to open up and avoid vested interests if the game is to expand globally," Ford says.

"Cricket is changing internationally and Wales must be a positive part of that change."

Contrary to perception of being rugby and football dominated, Ford says cricket has a foothold in Wales' sports psyche.

"Cricket is the third most popular sport in Wales and we have more clubs and players than Ireland or Scotland," he says.

"I am very confident that Wales would be able to match Ireland, Scotland and Afghanistan, and seriously compete with some of the Test nations."

But the Welsh cricket folk are not united on the proposal. A chorus of critics have concerns over funding of a new team, Wales' prominence in international cricket and the possible separation from the ECB.

Both Cricket Wales and Glamorgan, Wales' premier cricket club, have erected a big stop sign in front of the proposal.

Former ECB and Glamorgan chairman David Morgan stated in Wales Online that a national Welsh team would "virtually end Glamorgan as a professional club in England and the Swalec stadium".

Ford refutes the concerns, believing an international team will create more opportunities for Welsh cricket.

"Establishing a Welsh team would mean becoming an ICC member and part of its funding stream," he says.

"There would be considerably more international cricket played in Wales, which brings new opportunities for revenue. The Swalec stadium would in fact blossom as an international cricket venue."

Football may be the emotional bedrock for English sports fandom but cricket is the nation's archetypal game. The England cricket team provide their compatriots with an opportunity to revel in being English - the rendition of Jerusalem, St George's flag, the three lions and the Barmy Army.

Ford insists the petition isn't merely Wales-centric, believing the proposal will preserve the England cricket team's quintessential characteristics.

"The English cricket team is very much a beautiful expression of Englishness and English culture," Ford believes.

"I would not want to be the one who tries to take that away from them and impose some hybrid."

So in 2013, Wales remains fused with England. For now.