Warne bowls over the Big Apple

Shane Warne is the king of spin, so could there be a better person to convince Americans cricket isn't the sporting equivalent of a sleeping tablet?

Warne and another cricketing great, India's Sachin Tendulkar, have embarked on a media blitz of the US.

They've been interviewed by The New York Times, ESPN, FOX Business and even cut into CNN's morning-to-night coverage of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the other US presidential hopefuls.

Warne also bowled a couple of deliveries on a busy Manhattan sidewalk to a FOX5 television host, although they had to pause for a mother and father pushing their baby in a pram.

It's all part of a plan to expand the game in the US and other untapped markets.

Quick Single: All-Stars could go global, says Warne

"Everyone has this preconceived idea of what cricket is," Warne, discussing America's perception of the sport, told the New York Times.

"A five-day test match, no result, like yawn."

Warne, Tendulkar and an impressive list of golden oldies including Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and Muttiah Muralitharan will take over Citi Field, home of the New York Mets Major League Baseball club, on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

Americans can breathe easy - it's not a five-day test match.

The exhibition Twenty20 Cricket All-Stars game will be the first of three in the US.

Next stop is the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park on November 11 and then Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium on November 14.

Cricket might be a tough sell in the US, but the sport's low profile has one interesting perk for Warne and Tendulkar.

The duo is mobbed from Mumbai to Melbourne, with fans so rabid Tendulkar employs a full-time bodyguard.

In New York most people on the street have no clue who they are.

There is an exception - expatriates and tourists from Australia, India, Pakistan and other cricketing nations.

"About 95 per cent of the pedestrians pass them without a second look," the New York Times told its readers.

"The other five per cent go bonkers."

Cricket All-Stars game one, at New York's Citi Field, will be live streamed on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia LIVE app to Live Pass subscribers for iOS and Android devices from 5am AEDT on Sunday November 8. Game two (Thursday November 12, 1pm AEDT) and game three (Sunday November 15, 1.30pm AEDT) will follow suit.