Analysing the role of SEA Games to promote cricket in the Asian region?

Malaysian Cricket Team at SEA Games 2025 (Source: X/MalaysiaCricket)

The inclusion of cricket in the South East Asian Games 2025 was one of the newest developments that took place in the T20 international cricket. The ten-match competition including 10-match competition was played between the five teams, including Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. 

The tournament concluded with Malaysia lifting the title after defeating Singapore by six wickets in the tournament’s final. Meanwhile, the cricket fans also came to learn about some other international teams in the Asian region beyond the established and renowned teams like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. 

Hence, here’s a look at the potential impact and influence of SEA Games 2025 on the promotion of cricket in the Asian cricketing circuit. 

Promoting the new brand of cricket 

Notably, the T20I competition among five teams in the SEA Games 2025 was aired live in all the five participating countries. Besides that, it was also aired live in Vietnam which wasn’t a part of the tournament. 

This broadcasting across different countries in the South Eastern Asian region played a significant role in making the fans of participating countries know about their national team’s cricket participation. Besides regional broadcasting, the tournament was also made available to watch globally on YouTube. 

The global broadcast of the tournament on YouTube also promoted the newly emerging brand of cricket among the established Asian countries and the international cricketing fraternity as well. The YT broadcast of the tournament gained 1,45,000 views on Thailand Cricket’s YouTube channel. 

The number is likely to increase if the SEA Games authorities continue to include cricket in the upcoming editions of the regional event. 

The rise in quality and competition in Asian region 

Notably, the associate teams qualify for the Asia Cup through the Premier Cup. So, the teams in the South East Asian region will get a fair chance to showcase their cricketing rise to the rest of the major Asian sides. 

The inclusion of cricket in SEA games will also increase the quality of cricket and competition in Asia, further improving the dynamics of Asia Cup, the biggest continental competition for the Asian sides. 

Cricket in the SEA region will give a platform to provide some quality teams like Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to advance to the Premier Cup. Furthermore, they will also be encouraged to seal a spot in the Asia Cup to earn global attention. 

This transformation in the dynamics of cricket in the Asian region will also push the established teams to improve their games in order to avoid the unexpected upsets. 

Player development and exposure pathways

In the broader picture, the impact of cricket in SEA Games is beyond promoting cricket and increasing the competitiveness in the Asian region. It also gives encouragement and confidence to the young cricketers or the associate players. 

It becomes possible by the international status of the games in the competition, which provides an international match experience for the rising stars in the game. Besides that, it also prepares them for the pressure situations and competing with the other quality players to win the competition. 

Furthermore, this inclusivity also gives a stage to the cricketers to set the benchmarks against their regional rivals. It could later encourage them to work hard on their quality of cricket and get global recognition either with an Asia Cup appearance or some exceptional performances in the competitions limited to the SEA region. 

Conclusion: ICC’s encouragement could play a game-changing role

Apart from the local or national authorities working on bringing the cricket into the competitions like SEA Games 2025, the International Cricket Council can also encourage the promotion of these competitions. However, ICC’s international status to these games is doing its part but there’s still a room for improvement.

So, if ICC starts broadcasting or promoting the cricket played in the events like SEA Games could play a game-changing role in making cricket’s presence more on a global level. It will take the game in the competition with the sport like Soccer, which currently has a major global presence.