By Peter Della Penna

 

Most images from Hollywood are associated with the glitz and glamour of the acting world and all the trappings of fame and success that go with it. In the Los Angeles cricket community, Hollywood CC is also projecting an image of undeniable success that is becoming the envy of players and teams across the Southern California Cricket Association.

 

“They have put up a very mature side where they have added some great pieces,” said Nazim Shirazi, captain of SCCA Division 1 rival club Pegasus. Shirazi originally played for Hollywood CC in 1985 when he arrived in Los Angeles as a pro from Bangladesh and is now a coach and selector for the South West Region. “They’ve got role players who know their roles. They’re an organized team. They know what they’re supposed to do. They’ve all matured. Some of them played first class cricket so they’ve already gone through all of that and they’ve been together for many years now. So now this is a dynasty in the making.”

 

After coming in second place for three consecutive years from 2006 to 2008, Hollywood finally cleared the final hurdle in 2009 when Aditya Thyagarajan was appointed captain.

 

“There were jokes in the league which used to hurt me,” said Thyagarajan. “People used to say, ‘Hollywood is the best number two team in the world.’ I really wanted to get that kind of a culture in the team that we have to go and win now and I think it turned out well. The guys have responded to me well and I think being a US national player helps.”

 

One of they key players involved in the team’s transformation has been the emergence of wicketkeeper Ritesh Kadu. After joining the club in 2006, Kadu has had a major impact behind the stumps and at the crease as an opening batsman. For the last two seasons, he has led the club in runs scored and this year he finished second in the league behind only Ravi Timbawala of Vijayta. Kadu scored three 50s and three centuries to finish with 711 runs at an average of 47.70 in 16 matches. It’s the second year in a row he’s had over 700 runs. In the process, he has been selected to play for the South West Region and with a solid showing at the National Championships, he could push other contenders for a spot in the national team.

 

“I have seen many great keepers play here. As far as the country I’m not sure because I haven’t seen all the keepers in this country,” said Shirazi. “In [SCCA] cricket that I’ve seen in the last 25 years, he’s probably one of the two top keepers that we’ve ever had. The other person is Rafiq Patni, who was a pro from Pakistan.”

 

 

“Ritesh is a very very serious cricketer,” said Kamal Azeez, President of Hollywood CC. “When Ritesh walks on the field, he knows what he has to do and he performs excellently. Ritesh is an excellent keeper, the best that I think we have in the league, and he’s also an excellent opening batsman. He’s very focused and he’s a very serious cricketer. He takes this sport seriously and he plays very hard.”

 

Other players have also been solid contributors including Nikhil Iyer, Rishabh Nanda and Parth Shastri. But Shirazi says that when the chips have been down, Thyagarajan has stayed true to his reputation in the national team to come through when the pressure is on.

 

“Aditya has been our most consistent scorer in the last eight years or so in our league,” said Shirazi. “But with Aditya, the way he’s developed over the last two years, he’s played some major innings in difficult situations. Those huge innings, when even though they have a deep team, whenever they go into collapse, like he does with the USA national team, he does the same thing here as well. Now he’s a matchwinner compared to what he was doing scoring a lot of runs but couldn’t win tournaments.”

 

Azeez also credits the amount of depth in playing numbers for the club to improved competition within the side to create better results. When he joined Hollywood CC in 1970, Azeez says that it was still considered a social club much as it had been when it was founded in the 1930s by British actor and former Test cricketer Sir Aubrey Smith.

 

“Hollywood has gone from being a movie star sociable club into a very competitive local club where most of our members are locally here from Los Angeles,” said Azeez. The club president says that part of the reason Hollywood’s acting fraternity from England and Australia don’t want to get involved like stars from generations ago is due to the increased presence of the paparazzi. However, this has not hurt the standard of cricket.

 

In 2005, a third XI was formed. In 2009 a fourth XI was started and this past season they were joined by a fifth XI in the SCCA. 2011 will see a sixth XI join the league and the squad will be dedicated exclusively to SCCA youth players. Despite a hefty annual membership fee ($350 for adults, $250 for students), more and more people are joining Hollywood CC to take advantage of the club facilities at Woodley in Van Nuys and at Marina Vista Park in Long Beach.

 

“Many of the older members, they wanted to stay on and play so the fourth team was formed. Some of the children from the members, they were now cricketers,” said Azeez, referring to some of the reasons for the rapid expansion, which he estimates is now over 100 playing members. “We do have quite a few born American players besides many naturalized American players. The desire of them wanting to play cricket is the reason for us to expand the club.”

 

 

“Hollywood has been successful because we are a very open club and because we are open we are able to grow and attract competitive and dedicated players,” said Azeez. “It’s the membership that keeps a club going, it’s not just one person, but also the club has to be structured in such a way that members will want to join it on a basis of knowing that it’s also competitive as well as being open.”

 

As far as Thyagarajan is concerned, it’s the best club he’s ever played for wherever his career has taken him. He is dedicated to maintaining a winning tradition with the club while also laying a foundation for the future.

 

“It’s a great experience playing for Hollywood,” said Thyagarajan. “I’ve never seen a more close-knit and better managed club in my entire career and it spans around playing cricket in USA, England, Australia and India. Without hesitation I would say that in a non-Test playing country, I’ve found my personal experience that it’s the best club where everything is handled so well. There are no fights. Everybody’s mature and in the end I think we go out and play really well. We have five teams and our club is growing and I think it’s great to be part of Hollywood and help out the youngsters play for Hollywood, SCCA and hopefully for USA some day.”