After successfully conducting the National Junior Cricket tournament in 2006 and 2007, host California Cricket Academy recently announced the Third USA National Junior Cricket Tournament.

The tournament will be conducted in the Bay Area between June 19th and 22nd, 2008.   Games will be held in Cupertino, Santa Clara and Gilroy for Under-11, Under-13 and Under-15 age categories.

The 2007 edition of the tournament was an unprecedented success.   Over 500 spectators jostled for space along the boundary of the Santa Clara cricket groung.   Another 3000 witnessed the game online after the organizers made arrangements to web cast the game live via ePrasaran.

For 2008, Ram Varadarajan, Chairman of the Tournament Committee will lead a team of experienced organizers including Kinjal Buch, Naresh Sadasivan, Ajay Athavale, Sunil Tagare, Srini Srinivasan, Vijay Pradhan and Chandrashekharan Trimurthi.    

Numerous innovations are planned for 2008.  In addition to live web casts, the organizers are planning to organize computerized scoring and ball-by-ball updates for the important matches.    Also, neutral umpires are expected to be flown in for the tournament.

Perhaps the most significant development for 2008 is the invitations sent out to independent cricket academies in India and Singapore.   If these academies accept the invitation,  this year’s tournament will have created a precedent that is unheard of in USA cricket.    Junior cricketers will not only benefit from the enhanced competition in the tournament, the interaction may lead to more international tours in the future.  This will mark an important milestone in the development of cricket in this region.