Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket

By Peter Della Penna

Muhammad Ghous and Adrian Gordon, both of whom made their debuts for USA’s senior team in 2010, arrived in the UK on April 6 to spend one month training with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, the reigning champions of the English County four-day competition. The opportunity was arranged by ICC Americas Performance Officer Andy Pick, who wanted to provide a chance for players within the Americas region to enhance their skills in a professional atmosphere.

“Knowing County Cricket, I know this time of year when the season’s starting, you can never have enough bowlers for your net practice,” said Pick, who played 15 seasons of County Cricket with Nottinghamshire, taking 495 first class wickets and 242 List A wickets. He also previously served as Bowling Coach for Nottinghamshire before working in his current role with ICC Americas and still has strong ties with his former county.

“The head coach at Notts is a good friend of mine, a guy I grew up with and played with. I just asked him at Christmas if I could get some talented bowlers who were good enough, would he be able to give them an opportunity at Notts to join in with the preseason and practice with the professionals and be part of the setup for a month or so to immerse themselves in cricket and learn as much as they could.”

Notts head coach Mick Newell agreed to the proposal. Pick then scanned the player options in the USA before deciding on Ghous and Gordon.

“I selected Ghous and Adrian Gordon, based mainly on what I’d seen in Italy last year with Adrian especially and knowing Ghous is obviously is one of the better young spinners,” said Pick.

Image (right) - Muhammad Ghous in action at the 2010 U-19 World Cup in Australia. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

USACA then agreed to help out funding the initiative by covering the players’ flights and accommodation, easing the burden for the pair of college students.

“I’m really pleased USA Cricket has come up and found the money and they’ve invested in two of their young players to give them this opportunity to develop,” said Pick.

Notts has a host of players with international experience currently on their roster, including captain Chris Read, New Zealander Andre Adams, Australian Adam Voges, Samit Patel, Darren Pattinson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. Notts County also has a Test venue, Trent Bridge, as their home facility. Pick is hoping Ghous and Gordon will soak up as much as possible from the resources at their disposal.

“I went in [April 8] and they were practicing on the actual square at Trent Bridge and having a bat and a bowl at Trent Bridge and I know that they practiced with the first team on a couple of occasions,” said Pick. “Hopefully they’re picking the brains of these top quality players, some international Test players and people like that, being around them, mixing with them and just seeing their professional approach to cricket whether it’s fielding, fitness, net practice, whatever it might be. It’s just an opportunity for them to pick up information and to use it to their advantage as they develop as players.”

Pick used an off day that Notts had to take Ghous and Gordon on a 45-minute drive south to have a training session with Leicestershire and says that both players have helped to improve the reputation of cricket in the USA with the skills they’ve demonstrated in front of both county squads.

Image (left) - Adrian Gordon in action at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy. Pick said the performances he witnessed of Gordon in Italy influenced his decision to select the fast bowler for a chance to train with Nottinghamshire. [Courtesy: ICC]

“I know the coaching staff there pretty well as well and Notts didn’t have a practice on that particular day so I arranged to take them across to Leicester so we went across to Leicestershire and they practiced at Grace Road,” said Pick. “It’s been good. I think both sets of coaching staff have been impressed with what they’ve seen. In England, you talk about cricket in the USA and people have a perception of it. Nobody really knows what the standard of cricket is like certainly in the Americas. I think these two guys have given people a little bit of a surprise with their abilities.”

Pick is trying to organize similar opportunities for other players in the Americas, including players from Canada and Bermuda, and hopes that this endeavor will become a regular occurrence.

“It’s an opportunity I’d like to see some of the best young bowlers in the region make use of,” said Pick. “It’s a regional project. It’s a regional opportunity. If the bowlers are of a standard that they’re going to be able to contribute when they go over there, I’d like to see it be an ongoing thing.”