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By Peter Della Penna

Unlike the opposition at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy, Division Three in Hong Kong is expected to throw much stiffer competition in the path of USA. A handful of players are ready to make their senior team debuts during the eight-day event beginning on January 22 and much will be expected of them if USA is going to advance up the World Cricket League ladder to Division Two in the UAE this April.

Pic (Right): L to R - Asif Khan, Durale Forrest, Ryan Corns and Ritesh Kadu.

Ryan Corns, Durale Forrest, Ritesh Kadu and Asif Khan all bring varying levels of experience to the USA squad, but each player is eager to contribute whatever they can to push USA toward the tournament title and a third consecutive promotion in the World Cricket League.

The 20-year-old Corns enters the senior team as its youngest player. In 2009, Corns was instrumental in helping USA’s U-19 team qualify for the 2010 U-19 World Cup, but had a disappointing performance at the main event in New Zealand. Although he may not get too many opportunities on this tour due to the established veterans ahead of him, Corns is out to show that he’s a much improved player from the one who fell short of expectations at the U-19 World Cup.

“What I’m hoping to achieve is to I guess prove myself to the senior team selectors that I’m good enough to play here,” said Corns. “So that means I need to contribute with the bat and the ball and I’m just hoping to do well.”

Corns spent part of the winter training overseas and hopes that the hard work will pay off. If an opportunity presents itself, he wants to grab it with both hands.

“I recently just got back from Australia and I did some one-on-one coaching with a Level III coach over there,” said Corns. “So I had about two weeks of good solid practice. I feel good in terms of my form. If I get the opportunity to bat, I’m going to take full advantage of it and bat as long as I can and get as many runs on the board as I can. In terms of the ball, just bowl economically and hopefully take wickets.”

Forrest comes into the team as a fourth pace bowling option that’s also handy with the bat. He made the 40-man list of probables in 2009 when USA was looking to pick a team to tour the UAE and Nepal early last year. After a pair of solid performances at the 2010 USACA Eastern Conference and Senior Nationals, he went from a probable to a definite for Hong Kong.

“I’m expecting to basically go out there and do pretty much the same thing I have been doing,” said Forrest. “To be honest I’m a little nervous, but I’ll be all right. I think I should get accustomed to the situation real fast. I know a couple of the guys pretty well so bonding is pretty good so far.”

Despite the emphasis placed on spin bowling for USA, Forrest could see his number called upon to put in big efforts with bat and ball. Regardless of how well he fares, he wants to soak up everything because he is thrilled just to be part of the squad.

“I’m still overwhelmed,” said Forrest. “My mindset is just basically go out there and try to stay calm and produce.”

Joining USA’s senior team as a reserve wicketkeeper and batsman is Kadu. If USA decides to use Carl Wright as a batsman only, that could open the door for Kadu to have more chances. Either way, Kadu is keen to absorb as much as he can from Wright on this tour.

“I want to learn a lot of things from him, Carl Wright, and I want to learn all the training things from our coaches,” said Kadu. “I’ll get batting tips from [Sushil] Nadkarni and Steve [Massiah], but specifically I’ll be looking forward to play with Carl Wright.”

Kadu was the leading scorer in the Southern California Cricket Association’s Division One in 2010 and got married last month in India. He received news of his selection just days after his nuptials and is excited for the chance to represent America.

“Playing at the international level, that’s any cricketer’s dream to play international cricket,” said Kadu. “I’m very thankful for the committee for giving me this debut opportunity. I’m very excited about the tour, looking forward to play some good cricket. Even if I’m sitting outside, I’ll contribute with giving practice to the batsmen or helping coach with extra stuff and whenever I get a chance in the first XI, I’ll contribute with my bat and wicketkeeping skills.”

The debutant with the most expectations riding on him is Khan. At the conclusion of Division Four in Italy, USA captain Massiah declared that the search was on for a left-arm spinner to be added to the team going to Hong Kong. After four months of deliberation, both Khan and Neil McGarrell were tabbed to share the role. But when McGarrell was ruled ineligible, the workload became Khan’s sole responsibility.

“I think that the experience that I had with first-class cricket, I think that helps me a lot with the pressure and I think I should be all right,” said Khan, who played six matches for Islamabad more than a decade ago in Pakistan. “Definitely there is some pressure to perform but I think I’m prepared for it and I hope I’ll do good.”

Khan works in a radiology lab at a hospital in Milwaukee, Wisc., but still did his best during the winter to prepare for Hong Kong.

“It’s definitely very hard,” said Khan about finding a time and a place to train. “It’s very very cold right now in Wisconsin. I had to drive an hour and a half to almost two hours just to get indoor practice and that was only in a little space that we were practicing. Definitely I prepared hard for this tour. For the last three weeks I’ve been working hard just to do good on this tour so I’m expecting to do very good.”