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USA Cricketer
July 2010 - Posts
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Goal.com quoted Emmanuel Hembert (Head of AT Kearney's sports practice in London) as saying that Thierry Henry's addition would enhance TV money and crowds for USA soccer.
“It is still not a major sport but it is growing rapidly. The 1994 World Cup was almost an unnoticed event in the US by the American people. But when you talk to American people now, they say that all the kids are playing soccer.
“There are summer and winter camps, lots of English coaches are coming to the US to teach and it has a really high level of take-up. Football has taken a unique path in the US. It has grown through grass roots, schools and colleges. The fact that they are playing all year round is creating problems for other sports like baseball, which is, like cricket, a summer game."
Full article here.
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Two time Pulitzer winner John Burns of The New York Times reported yesterday that the exhibition “Swinging Away: How Cricket and Baseball Connect," will move from Lord's to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The article explores the historical connect between Cricket and Baseball and makes for a wonderful read. Click here for Full Article.
"The story traced by the exhibit, like the arc of the two games as they are played today, is as much about baseball’s influence on cricket as the other way around. In recent years, as test match crowds have dwindled, the most popular forms of cricket have been the new, shorter varieties of the game, played within a single day, or, with an even more rambunctious following, the Twenty20 form that is played faster than many baseball games.
Cricket talk is now sprinkled with baseball terms — “batter” (in place of batsman), “catcher,” “pinch hitter,” “outfield,” “switch-hitter,” “strike,” “curveball” and “home run derby,” to cite examples overheard during a recent test match at Lord’s. Some of the best cricket teams — Australia’s, for one — have hired baseball coaches to improve throwing skills, one area where baseball has long had an edge.
“These days, in the shorter forms of cricket, it’s all attack, attack, attack, there’s no real time to defend, and that’s something we’ve taken from baseball,” said David Lloyd, one of the game’s most popular television commentators.
He added: “In the end, the games have a lot in common, starting with what’s basic: You go at the other team head to head, and you tell them, ‘O.K., we’ll both have a go, and when it’s over we’ll have scored one more run than you.’ Simple, really.”
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2010 National Under-15 Cricket Championship
 The 2010 USA Under-15
Cricket Championship will be conducted between July 15 to July 18, 2010
in and around Newark, New Jersey. The main tournament venues are
Watsessing Park in Bloomfield NJ and Branchbrook Park in Newark NJ.
One match on Sunday will also be played at Laurel Hill Park.
Matches will commence following an opening ceremony on Thursday,
July 15th at the Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. The eight teams in
the tournament have been divided into two groups - Group A comprising North West, Atlantic Region, South East, North East and Group B comprising New York, Central East, South West, Directors XI.
Following is the schedule:
Thursday, July 15
8:00 AM - Managers/Coaches meeting for all teams
9:00 AM - Opening Ceremonies for all teams.
10:30 AM - Matches begin -
Group A: NWR vs AR, Watsessing Park B
Group A: SER vs NER, Watsessing Park A
Group B: NYR vs CER, Branch Brook A
Group B: SWR vs Dir XI, Branch Brook B
Friday, July 16
10:30 AM - Matches begin -
Group A: NWR vs SER, Branch Brook A
Group A: AR vs NER, Branch Brook B
Group B: NYR vs SWR, Watsessing Park A
Group B: CER vs Dir XI, Watsessing Park B
Tournament Dinner - All Teams 8:00PM at Hotel Banquet Room
Saturday, July 17
10:30 AM - Matches begin -
Group A: NWR vs NER, Watsessing Park A
Group A: AR vs SER, Watsessing Park B
Group B: NYR vs DIR XI, Branch Brook B
Group B: CER vs SWR, Branch Brook A
Sunday, July 18
Group A1 vs Group B1, 9:00 AM at Laurel Hill Park
Group A2 vs Group B2, 10:30 AM at Branch Brook B
Group A3 vs Group B3, 9:30AM at Watsessing Park B
Group A4 vs Group B4, 10:30AM at Branch Brook A
Awards Presentation at 5:30 PM at Branch Brook
The matches will consist of one innings per side and each innings will
be limited to 40 overs. A minimum of 20 overs per team shall constitute
a match.
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By Peter Della Penna
 USA
punched a ticket to Bangladesh and the 2011 Women’s Cricket World Cup
Qualifier with a resounding nine-wicket win over Canada on Wednesday at
Maple Leaf CC in King City, Ontario. Wicketkeeper Monique Mathee was
named Player of the Match after she finished 70 not out leading USA’s
chase of 135 to go along with three dismissals behind the stumps. Pic (Right): Monique Mathee was 70 not out [File Photo - Courtesy USA Women's Cricket Team Video]
USA won the toss and elected to field first, hoping to heap the
pressure on Canada. The home team got off to a decent start with a
33-run partnership for the first wicket between Monali Patel and Kim
Coulter. Patel was run out for 13 by USA player-coach Indomatie
Goordial-John and that sparked a swift top order collapse.
Once again, Canada captain Mona Persaud fell to Shondell Ward without
scoring before Ward had Coulter caught behind for 10 to make it 38 for
3 in the 14th over. Doris Francis then came on to bowl and accounted
for the next three Canadian wickets to fall before Mahwish Khan was run
out for none to make it 76 for 7 in the 35th over.
For the second day in a row, Mikaela Turik top-scored for Canada as she
added 38 for the ninth wicket with Helene Gaffney, Canada’s biggest
partnership of the innings. Goordial-John caught Turik for 32 off the
bowling of Joan Alexander-Serrano to make it 122 for 9 before
Goordial-John wrapped up the innings when Mathee completed a stumping
to dismiss Saniyah Zia for 2 as Canada was bowled out for 135 in 48.4
overs.
Doris Francis finished with the best figures for USA, taking 3 for 16
in 10 overs with three maidens. Goordial-John kept things tight for the
second day in a row with 1 for 21 in 9.4 overs. She has been the only
USA bowler over the first two matches to not bowl a wide.
Canada had a brief glimmer of hope when USA captain Durga Das was
bowled by Zia for 2 with the score on 19 in the 10th over. However,
Goordial-John joined Mathee and the two brought USA over the line with
11 overs to spare in an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 117.
Mathee scored her 70 off 123 balls including seven boundaries while
Goordial-John scored 36 in 84 balls with one four.
The series continues on Friday in a dead rubber 50-over match between
the two sides before concluding on Saturday with a pair of Twenty20
matches that have no bearing on the outcome of the tournament but will
give an opportunity for the players to develop more experience in the
format.
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By Peter Della Penna
 Player-coach
Indomatie Goordial-John top-scored with 83 in USA’s total of 226 for 7
before capping off her day with a stifling spell of off-spin to take 1
for 7 in 8.2 overs as USA defeated Canada by 112 runs at Maple Leaf CC
in King City, Ontario, on day one of the ICC Americas Women’s Cricket
World Cup Qualifier.
Pic (Right): Goordial-John was named Player of the Match [File photo]
Canada won the toss and elected to field first. Left-handed
wicketkeeper-batsman Monique Mathee opened the batting for USA along
with captain Durga Das. The two put 29 runs on the board before Mathee
was dismissed in the eighth over by Saniyah Zia for 5.
That set the stage for Goordial-John to come in at number three and
take away the match from Canada. The captain and player-coach teamed up
to add 91 runs for the second wicket with Das bringing up her
half-century along the way. Das fell for 53 in 91 balls with seven
fours and the platform was set for USA to keep the pressure on Canada.
Goordial-John delivered the goods for USA as she struck six boundaries
in her knock which ate up 118 deliveries in just over two and a half
hours at the crease. She finally fell in the 47th over to Mahwish Khan,
but the damage had been done as USA was sitting pretty at 205 for 6.
They managed to tack on another 21 runs before the innings was finished
and it proved to be more than enough to defend.
Shondell Ward ripped apart the Canadian top order, claiming the first
four wickets of the chase to leave Canada reeling at 12 for 4 in the
sixth over. Among the four was the vital scalp of captain Mona Persaud,
who was caught behind for a second-ball duck.
The next three wickets fell courtesy of run outs. Mikaela Turik and
Suthershini Sivanantham attempted to lead a recovery, posting 43 runs
for the fifth wicket in the biggest partnership of the innings for
Canada. Suthershini was run out for 13 in the 17th over and Turik for a
top-score of 40 in the 25th over to tilt the match back in USA’s favor.
Ward got her fifth by clean bowling the number eight Khan for 10 to
make it 113 for 9 in the 36th before the match ended one over later
when Helene Gaffney was run out for 12 as Canada finished all out for
114 in 37.2 overs. Ward finished with 5 for 20 in six overs.
USA has a chance to clinch a spot in next year’s ICC Women’s Cricket
World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh if they can beat Canada in their
second 50-over clash on Wednesday. Canada must win on Wednesday to have
any chance of advancing to Bangladesh or else Friday’s match between
the two sides will be a dead rubber.
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By Peter Della Penna
 For
someone who has scaled the tallest mountain peak in the lower 48
states, reaching great heights in the world of cricket may not seem all
that difficult in comparison. After starting from scratch just over a
year ago, that is exactly what Erica Rendler has done. Pic (Right): Erica
Rendler keeps her eye on the ball during a USA women's squad training
session at Gateway Park in Brooklyn, NY.[Courtesy Peter Della Penna]
The 29-year-old from San Jose, Calif., has gone from knowing
nothing about the game in 2009 to being selected for the USA women’s
national team in 2010.
“I was stunned,” said Ben Roxborough, the Australian fiancé of Erica’s
older sister Kate, when asked how he reacted after he found out Rendler
had made the team. “I was just very happy for her, but you know what, I
wasn’t surprised though because I just knew that she’s got a sporting
gift, particularly with ball and bat sports whether it’s softball or
field hockey. I thought those skills would graft very well across, but
the way that she’s been able to pick up the bowling is just
extraordinary.”
Indeed, there are several things that are extraordinary about Rendler
and how she has taken to cricket. The only American-born player in
USA’s squad that will take on Canada this week, Rendler first
encountered cricket when the family took a trip in February of last
year to visit Roxborough in Australia. Kate, Erica, her younger brother
Doug and Roxborough were coming out of the Melbourne Zoo when they saw
a local cricket match being played across the street. Erica took notice
and became quite curious. It was clear to Roxborough that she wasn’t
just being polite, but was genuinely interested with all the questions
she was peppering him with about this sport.
“It was probably about 100 degrees and we were out in an open field,
not under the shade,” said Roxborough. “I mean we could walk under the
shade but she wanted to be as close to the boundary line as possible.
So what we did was we stood directly behind the bowler’s arm and this
is where she became particularly interested with the swing and movement
that you can achieve from bowling, be it through the air or off the
pitch.”
Upon returning to America, Rendler’s interest was sustained after she
found an ad online looking for players to join a local women’s team.
“I was really curious to try it out and locally in the Bay Area I saw
an ad on Craigslist for the Western Firebirds women’s cricket accepting
all skill levels,” said Rendler. After contacting USACA Western Region
board member Raj Padhi, who was organizing the practices, she came the
next day and the rest is history.
“It was really nice,” said Rendler. “I just found everyone to be really
friendly and the basic skills I already had from other sports in terms
of fielding and throwing. So I think just batting and bowling were the
two techniques where I needed to adjust things that I’ve done in the
past.”
Prior to cricket, Rendler seems to have taken a stab at just about
everything under the sun. She grew up playing soccer, swimming,
basketball, track & field, softball and field hockey. According to
her brother Doug, she is also quite skilled at alternative sports such
as snowboarding and cycling and has climbed the 14,505 feet high Mount
Whitney in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Rendler has also been
a DJ on “The Delirium Show” for Santa Clara University’s student radio
station, KSCU. While Doug gladly talked up his sister’s wide-ranging
endeavors, Erica comes off as too humble to even bring them up, let
alone boast about them.
“You look at her on the field and you feel just almost that wow
factor,” said Doug. “Field hockey she tried out for the first time and
immediately saw success with that and a great athlete on the basketball
court. There’s few things she doesn’t do well in terms of sports.”
Rendler attended San Jose’s Archibishop Mitty High School, which was
ranked by Sports Illustrated as the #5 high school athletics program in
the country in 2006-07 and #3 in 2008-09, ahead of many other well
known California multi-sport powerhouses such as Mater Dei and Long
Beach Poly. The school’s alumni include 2004 & 2008 Olympic beach
volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh and 1999 Women’s Soccer World Cup
hero Brandi Chastain. Rendler played varsity softball and field hockey
at Archbishop Mitty before going on to play two years of field hockey
at UC-Berkeley, where she double majored in political science and
communications.
Despite playing cricket for just over a year, Rendler’s athleticism has
helped her get up to speed. At a training session in New York before
the team left for Canada, Rendler appears tall and well-built while
fielding between point and cover, ready to pounce on anything coming
her way. When it came time for her to practice her batting out in the
middle, she demonstrated a straight bat technique that was adequate but
with more experience and coaching could become much better. Meanwhile
she looked quite comfortable bashing anything short through the leg
side. For someone who has played cricket for just over a year, her seam
bowling action was impressive.
“I just think athletically I’m definitely one of the top of the group
coordination-wise,” said Rendler with a tone of quiet confidence. “I
don’t think there’s anything I can’t do so it’s just a matter of time
before I can get better at something. I mean I feel very lucky to have
made this team but I knew out of [Western Firebirds] that definitely I
might be in the top group to possibly be selected, just from our team
at least.”
Rendler went into this year’s USACA National Women’s Tournament in
nearby Cupertino, Calif., with a strong determination to prove herself
in front of selectors. Despite her limited experience, she believed a
once in a lifetime opportunity to represent her country could come as a
result of her hard work.
“I knew there was a window of opportunity, just for a chance to even be
selected to play nationally, that was a goal of mine,” said Rendler. “I
thought it was kind of out of reach but that was certainly on my mind,
at least play up to that level and be able to face players of that
caliber and pretty much not make a complete fool of myself.”
The newcomer did enough to impress the selectors and now she’ll be
missing a week of work from her job as a case analyst at a law firm.
Her colleagues are behind her, even if they don’t necessarily know too
much about the game she is playing.
“They love it. They announced it at one of our firm-wide meetings,”
said Rendler regarding her firm spreading the word about making the
national team. “When I left my work, they were all going ‘U-S-A!’ as I
walked out the door.”
“I think getting selected to the national team and representing your
country right after the World Cup where I saw the United States battle
and fight so hard to win the games they did and overcome adversity and
seeing how soccer is beginning to take more of a bigger stage across
the media and viewers, having her make the US team I think meant a lot
to her,” said Doug.
At the moment, Rendler is the only American-born player in either the
men’s or the women’s USA cricket squads. However, she feels that the
game is perfectly capable of catching on outside of expat communities
if opportunities are presented to people at a relatively young age.
“I think the more people that start playing, others will follow, in
terms of American-born baseball fans,” said Rendler. “I always hear
that Americans don’t have the attention span for a cricket game or it’s
too smart of a game but there’s so many athletes now I see at the high
school level and the junior high level, they can just pick up any sport
and it’s gonna just kind of be this peer pressure thing. If a couple
people start doing it, I think other people will follow.
“The thing I notice with cricket, once you learn how to play and
understand it, then you’re really interested in every part of the game.
But if you don’t know what’s going on, then certainly it’s more boring
and easier to tune out.”
Rendler enjoys watching Sachin Tendulkar bat, but is looking to soak up
as much knowledge as she can from her own teammates who have played at
the international level for other countries.
“It’s been great so far and just raising the level of talent here, it’s
gonna push my game as well. It feels really good to be playing with
such a talented group,” said Rendler. “Playing with Indomatie
[Goordial-John] for sure and watching everything she does. She’s a
perfect player and very athletic, a great coach and our captain Durga
[Das] as well is very good helping give me pointers. So I think I’m
focusing on the two of them kind of as mentors.”
Hopefully, her teammates will learn just as much from Rendler during
the next week as she will from them. She is proof that Americans are
capable of reaching great heights in cricket.
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San Francisco Bay Area, July 5, 2010
Comments
In the finals of the USA Independence TANA Cup 20-20 organized by Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA) and Telugu Association of North America (TANA), San Francisco Blasters continued their undefeated run defeating DreamCricket Fooglies by 5 wickets and taking home the championship and $3000 in prize money.
 The finals started at the North Gate Park with the star studded DreamCricket Fooglies taking to the bat and looking for a mammoth score.
Pic (Right): San Francisco Blasters celebrate their win [Courtesy: Ganesh Sanap]
In fact, that was within the realm of possibility as long as USA senior team player and opening batsman Aditya Thyagarajan (43) was at the crease together with Scotland’s James Crosswaite (36). In the end, the newly reunited DreamCricket Fooglies managed to put up a par score of 153 for 7.
Blasters captain Sunny Khan led the bowling ranks with his 2 for 17 in a remarkable 4 over spell. Krishna Prasad took two crucial wickets - those of North West Region’s Vijay Beniwal, who threatened to blow the Blasters away with two huge sixes and of NC Aiyappa of the Royal Challengers Bangalore who too was looking to accelerate.
In reply, the San Francisco Blasters showed the kind of aggression that was needed to counter the raw pace of Scorpio Speedster award winner and Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler NC Aiyappa! After losing the first wicket early on and the score reading 2 for 1, Arshdeep Jammu (89 from 48 balls) and Majid Muhammed (22 from 31 balls) let their intent known - the former setting the field ablaze with 13 boundaries.
By the time Majid’s wicket fell with the score reading 108, the damage was done and barring a small chance of a self-inflicted implosion, the pendulum had already tilted in favor of Blasters. Two wickets fell with the score on 147 but that did not really affect the home team’s chase which they accomplished for the loss of 5 wickets with a few balls to spare.
Arshdeep Jammu was the Man of the Match as well as the MVP of the Tournament and Krishna Prasad took the most wickets - 15 in all.
Calling the event a landmark, The Times of India wrote a glowing report about the TANA Cup. The paper quoted Ganesh Sanap, President of NCCA as saying: "Even though US is mainly a non-cricketing nation, the expat Indian and Commonwealth community is strong and eager to play cricket. We had a Ranji trophy player NC Aiyappa and current USA players like Aditya Thyagarajan, Sushil Nadkarni and Bilal Khan playing, but all of it was non-profit.”
And what’s the secret for Blasters’ surprise win over the supremely talented DreamCricket Fooglies? Ayan Banerjee, the manager of SF Blasters who is a project manager in Cisco had the answer. He told The Times of India: "We took the tournament seriously because we knew we had tough competition. We were passionate, aggressive and we trained hard.”
[Match statistics and report are based on incomplete scorecards. Please send your corrections/feedback to content@dreamcricket.com]
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DreamCricket.com pledges 100 free cricket kits for USA cricket development. Delivers 15 kits to USYCA.
HILLSBOROUGH, NJ – DreamCricket.com, USA’s premier cricket website,
made a pledge today to donate 100 cricket kits to the United States
Youth Cricket Association (USYCA) and other qualified organizations.
The company announced that it had already donated the first 15 kits to
USYCA and will donate the remaining 85 kits in a phased manner before
year-end. A number of elementary schools, such as Highland Park in
Landover, Maryland and summer camps, such as Hidden Meadows in Bartow,
West Virginia, have benefited from the free kits thereby introducing
cricket to over 800 cricketers in the under-12 age category.
 Pic (Right): USYCA camp in progress at Highland Park Elementary School. Equipment was provided by DreamCricket.com
Charles Silberman, the Physical Education instructor at Highland
Park E.S. said, “The school was provided with a set of equipment to
keep, and the instruction provided to the students was easy to
understand, age appropriate, and it allowed the students to start
playing a modified version of cricket within a thirty minute class
period.”
DreamCricket.com also announced that its retail store - The Pavilion
(PavilionShop.com) became the Official Equipment Supplier to USYCA. In
its position as Official Equipment Supplier, DreamCricket will provide
cricket sets for USYCA affiliates’ use in their schools programs. The
kits sold through USYCA affiliates will be sold at a discounted rate.
The discounted rate will also apply to children in USYCA programs that
wish to purchase sets of their own. In addition, for each set purchased
from DreamCricket.com, a donation will be made by DreamCricket.com to
USYCA.
Kranthi Bayya, CEO of DreamCricket said, “DreamCricket.com is committed
to bringing youth cricket to the United States, and we are excited to
be affiliated with the USYCA team, because we recognize the great
progress and potential there. At DreamCricket Academy, we have run
Kiddie Cricket programs and we understand the difficulties faced in
youth cricket development at the grass-roots level. USYCA came to us
with a plan earlier this year and we worked together on a pilot program
and saw first-hand the quality of their execution in youth cricket
development. We now want to cement this partnership for the long-term
so that USYCA can continue to do the great work they have been doing.
We look forward with great anticipation to the future of youth cricket
in the USA.”
J amie
Harrison, President of USYCA, said, “We are delighted to be working
with DreamCricket.com, America’s number one online cricket destination.
This partnership demonstrates their vision and willingness to invest in
youth cricket in the United States, and speaks volumes about their
national leadership. I couldn’t think of a more perfect match for
USYCA.”
Pic (Left): USYCA Cricket Camp at Hidden Meadows using equipment provided by DreamCricket.com
Since 2007, DreamCricket.com, has grown rapidly into USA’s premier cricket news and opinion website. A sister website, The Pavilion
Shop, now accessible online and offline, is now one of the nation’s
largest cricket stores, boasting a 6,000 sq. ft. physical location and
offering high-end indoor facility with bowling machines and an
astro-grass surface. DreamCricket Academy
is the company’s development arm that offers several coaching camps and
sessions tailored to meet the needs of individual cricketers across all
ages and skill levels. The Academy is aided by US-based and
international coaches including Coach Earl Daley, Coach Ian Pont and
Coach Bharath Kumar.
The Academy is frequently visited by legendary test cricketers and the
Academy's teams participate in different tournaments in the Under-15
and Under-13 age categories.
The United States Youth Cricket Association
(http://usyouthcricket.org) is dedicated to introducing cricket to
American children by supporting local youth cricket organizations and
by sharing funding, printed and digital resources, and “best
practices.” It is also a network of dedicated volunteers who give their
time, energy and money to bring cricket to schools. USYCA, working
closely with clubs, training facilities and academies, will be a feeder
system, supplying a steady flow of new, young cricketers with which to
fill their ranks. USYCA is also firmly committed to fully developing
women’s cricket by drawing girls into our sport at an early age and
shepherding them through to national teams.
For details, contact Kranthi Bayya of DreamCricket.com at 877-HIT-A-SIX
(877-448-2749). To reach Jamie Harrison of USYCA, please email
usyouthcricket @ gmail . com
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By Peter Della Penna
 The
USA women’s cricket program has only been in existence since 2009, but
should they beat Canada in a three-match series this week in Toronto,
they will move one step closer to accomplishing something the men’s
team has never done: qualify for a World Cup.
Pic (Right): Batsman Nadia Gruny comes down the track during a USA Women's Team
practice session at Gateway Park in Brooklyn, NY. Captain Durga Das
watches on from behind the stumps. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna] USA
will be playing a set of 50-over matches at Maple Leaf CC beginning on
Tuesday and continuing on Wednesday and Friday. The winner will move
on to play in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh next
year for a chance to be in the 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup in India.
Canada and USA will be playing for the right to be the Americas Region
representative in next year’s ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier
tournament after the two teams finished as the winner and runner-up
respectively at the ICC Americas Women’s Tournament last year in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.
“My hope and belief is that this team as I see it, when we win this
game, when we win this tournament, is gonna take us all the way up to
the World Cup,” said USA captain Durga Das after a team practice
session in New York over the weekend. “That’s what I’ve been telling
the girls. We have the ability to do it and I think that will put
America on the map as far as cricket goes. Not women’s or men’s,
cricket goes. This is the first time we’re even in the qualifier. It’s
the second year we’re playing cricket and if we show them what we’ve
got, I think we’ll have people sit up and notice us. I think it’s a
very proud moment for all of us first of all to be here. I think we’re
all very motivated to play and win for the country.”
While players from the New York and New Jersey area have been
practicing together regularly since June’s USACA Women’s National
Tournament, Friday marked the first time that players from the west
coast were able to join them as they flew in for two days of training
before the team set off together on Sunday for Toronto. It means that
the squad does not have a tremendous amount of chemistry or experience
playing together, especially since there are only two players returning
from the squad that played in the Americas tournament a year ago in
Florida: Doris Francis and Candacy Atkins, both of whom previously
represented the West Indies.
 “While
we only had two players from this team in last year’s tournament, if
you look at the team and look at the players, there are players who
played national level in their countries so that’s a lot of experience
they bring to the table,” said Das. “As a combined unit, yeah of course
we don’t. This is the second year of us playing.” Pic (Right): USA player-coach Indomatie Goordial-John bowls during a USA Women's Team practice session at Gateway Park in Brooklyn, NY. [Picture courtesy: Peter Della Penna]
Das and Rajashree Mahale recounted a story of how they were both
selected to play for India in 1987, but never played when their series
against South Africa was canceled due to the Indian government’s
opposition to apartheid. Indomatie Goordial-John, the highest
run-scorer at the USACA Women’s National Tournament, also has played
for the West Indies.
Goordial-John will have a big responsibility on her hands after USACA
opted to make her a player-coach rather than appoint a coach from one
of the five teams that played in the national tournament to be in
charge of the USA women. On June 22, a letter was written by Atkins to
the entire USACA board requesting that the North East Region champion
management team comprised of coach Linden Fraser and trainer Basil
Butcher Jr., be supplied for the team. The letter was endorsed by
Goordial-John and three other teammates.
Victor Benjamin, who was part of the USA U-19 World Cup management team
in New Zealand this past January, was selected as a trainer. However,
Goordial-John was appointed coach after filling the same role for the
team last year. She is a WICB Level I certified coach. Initially,
Goordial-John was not eligible to play in the series in Canada as she
was three days short of the residency cutoff date. However, she
confirmed on Friday she will be playing as USACA’s appeal to the ICC
for a special waiver was granted.
Another piece of news to come out of the practice session on Friday was
that two of the players who were named by USACA in the original squad
of 14 will not be touring. According to Team Manager Louise
Brown-Jackson, herself one of the players on the six-player reserve
list, Catherine Joy Jones and Bushra Ali were replaced by Erica Rendler
and Mahale. Sources with knowledge of the situation have indicated that
Jones and Ali could not secure visas to be able to travel to Canada and
return to the USA. The 44-year-old Mahale was not in the six-player
reserve list named with the rest of the squad on June 12 by USACA and
was brought in ahead of 16-year-old Shebani Bhaskar, an American-born
player who was on the reserve list. On June 17, Bhaskar scored 103
playing for a Tamil Nadu U-16 side during an inter-state women’s
tournament in India yet was overlooked for a spot to play for USA.
There are at least four players in the USA squad that are over the age
of 40 while there are at least five players in the squad under the age
of 30, including the 24-year-old Goordial-John.
Putting these things aside, Goodial-John has been trying to get the team focused on winning, something she wants very badly.
“Winning is our number one priority and winning to represent this
region at the World Cup Qualifiers, the region as in Americas, is the
biggest thing that we can imagine,” said Goordial-John.
Das also sees this tournament as a chance to help grow the profile of
women’s cricket in this country. If the women can win and advance to
the next phase of qualifying, it will give USACA a good reason to
invest more in women’s cricket development.
“I’m just very happy and very proud to be with this team and I’m really
proud that we have women’s cricket starting here,” said Das. “I wish it
had started 10 years ago when I would’ve been a little younger but glad
to see it going now. I’m just hoping that this tournament and what we
do will help us raise money to really take women’s cricket to all the
schools in the country and get younger players out there, get more and
more of them because you can’t expect the older people to keep playing
forever.”
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New York Post's take on a New York cricket match!
As you watched World Cup soccer over the weekend, another kind of championship went on. Over the next few weekends, the best cabbies and office workers in the New York metropolitan area will compete in the cricket interleague championships. The winning team takes bragging rights as master cricketeers. But, tragically, not much else.
That's because cricket did boffo business in New York -- in the 18th century. But now, it's the Rodney Dangerfield of sports.
6/26/10 At Canarsie Park, East 80th Street and Seaview Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Cricket match between BCANA (Bangladesh Cricket Association of North America--blue and red colors under the armpits of their shirts) and EACA (Eastern American Cricket Association--red, white and blue stripes on pants and shirts). Here, a bowler (i.e. pitcher) throws a pitch at a batman (man holding woden bat).
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Finally, the Spring Creek ground gets a bathroom!
Check this article on the NBC website.
"When the developer of the nearby Gateway Mall constructed the cricket field back in 2003, there was one critcal item not included in the plans: a bathroom.
As one player put it, "That's stupid."
So, for seven years, during the five months of the cricket season, the players have been renting a portable toilet for $150.00.
But the manager of one cricket team says, "Sometimes when there's a big game one that one Porta-Potty is not enough, so therefore people have to wait, or whatever."
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An excerpt from a fantastic article in The New York Times from July 4, 2010 -
"The air of an occasion creased the room. Mr. Modeste got up to give a toast.
He said that in the 1880s and early 1890s one played cricket here at Walker Park “unfettered by baseball.” It was not so today, of course, but then that hardly mattered. The point was in the play, he said, in the feeling of camaraderie that filled this very room.
Lude Ludum Insignia Secundaria.
Mr. Modeste presented his opponents with a plaque. On it was engraved, “Staten Island v. Merion: 1886-2010.”
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
By Orin Davidson
Metropolitan League backed up its strength on paper with two powerful performances on the field Sunday to run away with championship honors in the New York MAQT20 tournament which ended at 223rd Street Idlewild Park in Queens.
It was after they brushed aside New York League earlier in the day in the semi-finals at 80th Street Canarsie. At around the same time Commonwealth League staged an astounding comeback to eliminate Brooklyn League in the other semi-final.
Pic (Right): Barrington Bartley scored a hurricane 76. [File photo of Bartley receiving his Man of the Match award at last year's Radiant Info T20 where he was voted the most impactful player in the tournament]
Ironically it was two discards from the United States national team who stole the show and engineered Metropolitan’s finals victory in an action packed day.
Barrington Bartley who was surprisingly dropped this year from the U.S. national team and former captain Richard Staples rolled back the years with two virtuoso performances that stopped a rampant Commonwealth League in its tracks, before a 4th of July holiday gathering of fans.
Batting first Metropolitan League rattled up 188 runs for eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs and then limited Commonwealth to 149-9, when their overs expired to take away the Maq T20 trophy and a $2,500 first place cash prize.
Bartley hammed a hurricane 76, batting at number three which included eight fours and seven sixes to lead an onslaught Commonwealth League failed to match. Staples entered the fray at number seven and went on to batter the attack for 46 runs not out, and such was his power he hit six boundaries all of which were sixes.
Three of Staples ‘ sixes were struck in the final over which went for 23 runs as Commonwealth labored with an attack missing key spinners Vejai Seonarine and Sudesh Dhaniram.
Ali Zar was the pick of that bowling attack, grabbing two wickets for 22 runs while Shameer Khan had 2-34.
Metropolitan then tamed Commonwealth’s batting lineup mainly through the efforts of Bartley who bagged 2-27 with his left arm orthodox spin which helped earn him the Man of the match award. Staples then cleaned up the lower order by firing out three batsmen with his off spin to record a rare hat-trick.
Dennison Thomas, the ex Windward Islands allrounder weathered an initial counter attack led by Commonwealth’s Asif Mohamed to bag 2-34. Thomas who opened the bowling, cleverly used the slower ball to serious effect and at one stage he could’ve been mistaken for an off spinner with a fast bowler’s run up. One notable scalp was danger man Wahab Munir who had destroyed Brooklyn’s attack in the semi-finals, but was comprehensively beaten and bowed by the wily veteran Thomas for nought.
Jason Greaves supported with 2-32 and had the prized scalp of Mohamed who slammed 39 that included five sixes and two fours enroute to Commonwealth’s topscore. Shaeed Shajad added 33 while Shameer Khan contributed 28 and Hunain Munir 26.
Commonwealth was given a rousing start by Mohamed and Shajad and at one stage were 77-2 off seven overs. But Metropolitan’s spinners intervened by hijacking the middle order with clever variations.
The said Commonwealth batting lineup had earlier set the ground ablaze as they recovered from 66-6 to blast Brooklyn out of the competition with a murderous assault. Wahab Munir, better known for his fast bowling led the carnage with an electric 69 not out that was laced by 10 sixes.
Commonwealth eventually overcame a target of 203 that is usually unreachable in Twenty20 cricket, ending on 203-8 in 19.3 overs. Ahmad Mustapha supported with 44 while Shabazz Ahmed made 21 Hunain Munir 19.
Adam Stanford took 2-43 and K. Payne 2-41 for Brooklyn who had earlier raised the previously highest score of the competition of 202-6. Romero Dean led the runs spree with 56 that included five fours and four sixes. Stanford hit three fours and three sixes, chipping in with 38 and Orien Bostic had 27. Khan shone with the ball, taking 3-19.
Metropolitan had a less frenetic experience in defeating New York League by five wickets after cruising to 142-5 in 18 overs in reply to 140-6.
Thomas topscored with 30 not out while Desmond Bennett hit 26 not out. Dennis Evans chipped in with 28 and Akeem Dodson 24. G. Gooden and E. James took 2-21 and 2-34 respectively for New York whose topscorer was L. Serrias with 39. R. Peters added 25 undefeated and James made 24. N. Powell had 2-24 and Greaves 2-35 for Metropolitan. The series was sponsored by Sam’s Foods, T20 Energy Drink and Daibes Enterprise.
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
DreamCricket Academy announced today that it is launching a series of summer camps in New Jersey under the banner - 'A Summer of Cricket.' The program will be launched with a camp for beginners by
Jamaican-born former first class cricketer and coach Earl Daley. This
camp starts on July 19th. It will be followed by an Elite Level camp
by ECB Level III Coach Ian Pont that starts on July 27th. The camps
will be held at DreamCricket Academy's indoor training facility in
Hillsborough, NJ. Outdoor sessions will be conducted at a Central New
Jersey cricket ground.
 Beginner Camps (July 19th - July 23rd, August 2nd - August 6th: 5:30PM to 7:00 PM)
DreamCricket Academy Coaches Earl Daley and Malika Frank will
conduct two camps for beginners and advanced beginners this summer.
Pic (Right): 2009 Beginner Camp in progress (File Photo)
The first camp will be held between July 19th and July 23rd and the
second will be held between August 2nd and 6th. These beginner camps
are being offered for $65 for either camp and there are no additional costs for equipment etc.
Those wishing to enroll in these camps can reserve their spots by e-mailing sales@dreamcricket.com or calling DreamCricket Academy at 877-HIT-A-SIX. That is 877-448-2749.
Coach Daley is a highly respected coach in the Atlantic Region who
firmly believes that cricket provides skills that youngsters can use in
their lives. Discipline, motivation, goal orientation and
confidence are some of the core qualities that get emphasized owing to
the sport's emphasis on teamwork. The beginner camps will focus on
basic skills of batting, bowling and fielding in a fun setting.
Advanced Beginner Camp (July 19th-23rd and August 2nd - 6th: 7:30PM to 9PM)
Coach Earl Daley will conduct sessions in two separate camps for
advanced beginners - July 19th - July 23rd, August 2nd - August 6th:
7:30PM to 9PM. These camps cost $65 for five-days.
DreamCricket Academy is also planning a camp by Ajit Tendulkar
(brother and mentor of Sachin Tendulkar) in the mid-August timeframe.
Details of that camp will be announced once details are finalized.
 Elite-level Camp (July 27th - 30th: 7PM to 9PM): The
Academy's visiting international coach, Ian Pont will be conducting an
Elite Level camp between July 27th and July 30th. This 4-day evening
(7PM to 9PM) camp has been designed for cricketers who already play
club cricket or have undergone some training in cricket. The cost of
this camp is an unbeatable $99!
Pic (Right): Coach Pont with Graham Napier (courtesy MCI)
The camp follows the time-tested methodologies that Mr. Pont, an
ECB Level III Coach, uses at his international camps in Potchefstroom,
South Africa and at his own Mavericks Cricket Institute in England.
Through participation in Coach Pont's camp, cricketers learn how to
fine-tune their skills and improve their game to the next level.
Topics covered at this camp include defensive and aggressive play,
tactical and technical coaching, shifting momentum when needed, shot
selection and shot execution.
Those wishing to enroll in these camps can reserve their spots by e-mailing sales@dreamcricket.com or calling DreamCricket Academy at 877-HIT-A-SIX. That is 877-448-2749.
About DreamCricket Academy:
DreamCricket Academy, which was founded in 2008, has steadily become
the pre-eminent coaching institution in the tri-state area. The Academy
is proud to have introduced cricket to hundreds of boys and girls
through its Kiddie Cricket and Summer Camp programs. After receiving
initial training in the camps, boys wishing to continue playing
cricket can do so by joining the year-round cricket programs offered by
the Academy.
The Academy has made huge strides in only two years since its
founding. In addition to winning praise from visiting greats
including Sunil Gavaskar, Balwinder Sandhu and Lance Gibbs, the Academy
is proud of the fact that five DreamCricket Academy cricketers now play
in New Jersey's senior cricket leagues.
Also, the DreamCricket Academy Under-13 team recently finished
runner-up at a national level invitational tournament held in
Cupertino, California.
Four boys recently earned selection to the USA Atlantic Region's
Under-15 team. Plans are underway to send a team to the World Masters
Under-13 Invitational - a 10 nation tournament in Jamaica and Barbados.
DreamCricket Academy is affiliated to USA Cricket Association and is a proud supporter of youth cricket across USA.
West Indies cricketing great Lance Gibbs with boys from the DreamCricket Academy, Hillsborough, NJ
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar with boys at DreamCricket Academy, Hillsborough, NJ
Balwinder Sandhu, member of the victorious 1983 World Cup Indian team, speaks to boys at DreamCricket Academy, Hillsborough, NJ
Nauman and Rushi get the bowling machine going for some batting drills conducted by Coach Ian Pont at DreamCricket Academy
DreamCricket boys huddle with former TN Coach Bharath Kumar during a break in practice
DreamCricket boys huddle with former TN Coach Bharath Kumar during a break in practice
Bowling supervised by Coach Bharath Kumar
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
By Peter Della Penna
 While
American sports fans often get to see their fair share of baseball,
basketball and football themed movies, it’s not often that cricket hits
the silver screen in this country. However, people in Southern
California will get an opportunity this weekend when Rohit Kulkarni’s
“Pitch of Dreams: Cricket in America” will be shown in the Pickford
Theater at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood on Sunday July 11 at the All
Sports Los Angeles Film Festival.
“It’s really funny that apart from the cricket playing community, a lot
of people don’t know about the happenings of cricket and it would be a
good opportunity for people in Los Angeles, especially sports lovers,
to know more about the game of cricket, the history of this game and
also the current situation of this game,” said Kulkarni, who filmed
portions of the 40-minute documentary at Woodley Cricket Ground in the
Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys.
Kulkarni says that his film has appeared in three other festivals so
far this year, including the East Carolina Film Festival in April. The
students at ECU gave Kulkarni a very positive response and he hopes
that plenty of students from USC and UCLA, as well as the rest of the
local community, will have the same reaction if they come out to watch
the film. “Pitch of Dreams: Cricket in America” is scheduled to be
screened on Sunday at 12:25 pm along with three other short films
packaged together to form Short Series G on the event schedule. Tickets
are $10.
“The biggest selling point is obviously its association with mainstream
America in the sense that the historical association that America has
with cricket which is fairly unknown, even the baseball fanatics here
don’t know that before baseball it was cricket and the guy who wrote
the first rules of baseball was a cricket player,” said Kulkarni. “So
there are certain interesting elements about the history.”
One of Kulkarni’s reasons for making the film was to help bridge the
gap in terms of American sports fans’ knowledge about cricket by giving
them something concrete to watch and absorb.
“They have heard it, but they haven’t really seen. The one thing that
was consistent throughout a lot of people that I met, everyone
mentioned that they don’t understand the game,” said Kulkarni. “They
just know it’s closer to baseball and every time they’ve visited
England or other countries they have seen it on TV. But no one I think
ever attempted first to make this connection and show the excitement
related to cricket and I think that’s one of the main factors of this
documentary, to show America that this game is very exciting and a lot
of people are playing it, whether it’s the immigrant population or
whether it’s the first, second generation of American kids.”
 A
total of 67 films will be shown from July 10-11 at the All Sports Los
Angeles Film Festival with a mixture of fiction and non-fiction
entries, shorts and feature length movies. The sports that will be on
view besides cricket include popular ones like baseball, basketball,
football and soccer while other films delve into the worlds of rugby,
boxing, cycling, surfing, judo, horse racing, marathon running, Aussie
Rules football, kite running, lacrosse, badminton, roller derby,
wrestling and hula hooping.
Kulkarni plans to enter his film into several more competitions this
year, including the South Asian Film Festival in New York. DVD copies
of the film are also available to purchase. For more information about
“Pitch of Dreams: Cricket in America” write to
citylightsfilms@gmail.com. For more information about the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival, visit www.allsportslafilmfest.com. You can also watch a trailer by clicking here.
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