The standard of play during the opening game of the Cricket All Stars was everything Shane Warne expected
Successful All Stars pleases Warne
Their names and faces were familiar, although they ran a little slower, had less hair and their bellies were a bit bigger.
They were also playing in the New York Mets' Citi Field Stadium, not the MCG, SCG or Lord's.
After years of planning, Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar turned their dream into reality by fielding two teams of some of the greatest cricketers of recent decades to play a Twenty20 game in front of 36,000 excited fans in the US.
The Australian spinner and the Indian batting maestro have embarked on a plan to globalise cricket, with the untapped American market the first stop with a three-game Cricket All Stars series.
"I think it showcased the game of cricket really, really well and that's the one thing," Warne told the post-game press conference.
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"Some people have been sceptical about it and said, 'How are all of these retired players going to play?'
"You saw the standard of play."
Warne's Warriors, featuring Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Wasim Akram, Allan Donald and Courtney Walsh, reached the 140-run target set by Tendulkar's Blasters, including Brian Lara, VVS Laxman and Curtly Ambrose, in 17.2 overs, but the result was a footnote in the overall story the players wanted to tell.
They, with the backing of the International Cricket Council, will play in Houston on Wednesday and in Los Angeles on Saturday and are eyeing other places around the world.
The New York game was electric with an enthusiastic crowd that almost filled the 41,000 seat stadium that a week ago was a host of Major League Baseball's World Series.
Warne & Co, however, were largely playing for the converted.
The crowd was dominated by Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan expatriates, with a sprinkling of Australians, New Zealanders, English and South Africans.
Two Americans who did attend their first cricket game and spoke to AAP, Tyler Rattray and Dan Taneski, said they enjoyed the experience, but were not completely sold on the game.
"It's a fun experience and I would go to a game for that, but I don't think I could follow the game," Taneski said.