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USA Cricketer
May 2011 - Posts
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
By Venu Palaparthi
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After a process that has been decribed as contentious by some, USACA elected four representatives to the board of Cricket Holdings America (CHA) on April 29.
 USACA, which owns 31% of CHA, is entitled to four representatives on the board of CHA. New Zealand Cricket and Insite together own 28% and Top Bloom and Podar Holding own the remaining 41%.
(L to R) Neil Maxwell of Insite; John Thickett and Gladstone Dainty, of USACA; Justin Vaughan of NZC and Rajiv Podar of Podar Enterprise at the conclusion of the signing agreement in December, 2010.
While the appointment of Gladstone Dainty and John Thickett was expected given their role in negotiating the deal with CHA, the election of Ram Varadarajan and Dr. Asif Ahmad is significant.
John Thickett told ESPNCricInfo last week: "One of the things I believe will be good for US cricket is actually bringing in people from outside USACA and broadening the roles of involvement of people outside of USACA who have a link to cricket and who can do a lot of good work." In an article that appeared on the USACA website, Gladstone Dainty called the election of Dr Asif Ahmad and Ram Varadarajan "a sign of the maturing of USACA cricket that it is appointing people from outside the game."
In an email to DreamCricket.com, Mr. Varadarajan wrote: "I appreciate the opportunity to serve on the board of CHA. The role is consistent with my commitment to provide a ladder for talented youth cricketers in the US and my experience with building profitable business ventures. As a board representative, I will look out for the best interest of the USA cricket community and development of cricket in America."
As we reported here on December 24, 2010, USACA is expected to get $2 Million annually in licensing fees from CHA during the first three years. In addiition, USACA is said to be in line for $3 Million in guaranteed share sales at the start.
Distributing the funds
USACA has planned a series of GoToMeeting.com web conferences to reach a consensus on how to distribute the money. "Strategically important decisions are being made and stakeholders can have a say in how to invest the money. If robust decisions are made it will make us a top associate member," said Thickett.
Kicking off a discussion on how the money should be spent, Thickett spoke of using the cash to fulfill "needs for a robust national operation and then wanting to give enough out for the regions and leagues." To this end, Thickett has proposed a 40-20-20-20 formula, which would allocate 40% to USACA national operations, 20% towards creating a long-term reserve fund, 20% to the regions and the remaining 20% to the leagues.
The first of the web conferences was held on May 10, 2011 for representatives of the North West Region. Hemant Buch, the newly elected NW Regional Director, was among the attendees. Speaking to DreamCricket.com, he said "The idea of the townhall style meeting is commendable and it is good to hear about the plans of [CHA] LLC. It is also good to have Mr. Dainty and Mr. Thickett interact with the leagues." However, Mr. Buch added, "I would have liked to see greater unanimity among the USACA board at such an important juncture."
Result-oriented distribution
The goals of setting aside 40% for national operations and allocating 20% for a rainy-day reserve are laudable. It is the distribution of the remaining 40% that must be carefully managed.
In order to produce results, the money should be used towards creating a solid and sustainable foundation, enhancing participation, rewarding performance and promoting excellence. Just as accomplishments on the field must be rewarded, initiatives off the field such as outreach efforts, infrastructural improvements, and good governance must be encouraged.
All of which means that USACA must first develop its capabilities to monitor and verify achievement of performance targets, review activities of leagues and non-leagues to ensure that they fall within USACA's mandate, and evaluate key governance indicators.
The web conferences offer the regions and the leagues a chance to speak up and shape the discourse. If good intentions are matched by actions, then USACA will have truly turned the corner.
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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
USA batsman Aditya Thyagarajan is struggling to rehabilitate a knee
injury suffered in January against Denmark at the ICC World Cricket
League Division Three tournament in Hong Kong. His slow recovery process
means he is now a longshot to make USA’s roster for the ICC Americas
Division One Twenty20, due to be held from July 17-24.
“I’ve done rehab in Santa Barbara. I meet a physical therapist once a
week and then I meet a doctor once a month. I would say the progress is
average,” said Thyagarajan on Monday. “Right now, my walking and all
the daily activities which do not revolve around any sports, they have
come back to normal. The biggest hindrance I see, and I might be a month
late, is I’m still not able to jog or run so that’s I think where it
has become slow. Initially, my prognosis was that there is no ACL and
MCL tear and I should be completely fine, but there’s a lot of weakness
in the joints which I completely underestimated and that has caused the
recovery to be pretty slow.”
One doctor had placed him with a two to three month recovery time
before playing again, but three and a half months since the injury, the
32-year-old Thyagarajan is still a long way from playing club cricket,
let alone suiting up for the national team.
“The first doctor who saw me in Hong Kong said it would take six
months to come back on the field,” said Thyagarajan. Less than 24 hours
after the injury occurred in Hong Kong, he was on a plane to India to
see a specialist who gave him a more optimistic outlook. “Then after I
drained my knee in India and there was no ACL and MCL tear, I was
actually hoping to be back in like 45 days, which now I think was
completely absurd. If I go back now, I think the six month period seems
right and I think my real focus and target right now is give it the best
shot and try to be able to play the Americas Cup at the end of July.”
However,  Thyagarajan
has given himself a self-imposed deadline to play in a 45-over match
for Hollywood CC in the SCCA Division One by the end of June before he
will even consider putting himself up for selection consideration for
the national team.
Image (right) - File photo of Aditya Thyagarajan [Courtesy ICC].
“I want to be able to tell USACA by the end of June if I can play or
not,” said Thyagarajan. “I don’t want to leave them hanging until the
last week. So I’ve given myself basically six weeks from now. I want to
play my first Hollywood game by the end of June. That’s really the
target I have right now. How confident I am that I’ll be able to meet
it? Not very, but that is definitely my target is to lose weight, get
fit and try to play the Hollywood game by the end of June.”
“If I can’t play for Hollywood by the end of June, then I really
don’t see how I can play for USA by the third week of July,” said
Thyagarajan. “The biggest hurdle concern I have is I’m not able to jog
or run. I’ve not even started thinking about how I will dive and how I
would jump and take a catch and things like that because right now I’m
just thinking why am I not able to run and how do I run. So I’m at that
scenario, that situation right now. I haven’t really thought too far
ahead. That’s my single most prominent concern. I really need to jog and
run and then that’s when I’ll know I think when I’ll be able to come
back on the field. Now I have end of June date, a target to come back,
but it’s definitely very optimistic because I need to run first to be
able to really start playing the game again.”
If he doesn’t make it back in time for the ICC Americas event,
Thyagarajan feels there is enough talent across the country to step up
and perform in his absence.
“I really feel that I don’t want to take any shortcuts and if I’m not
completely okay, I think there are enough players who will do a much
better job than me if they are completely fit,” said Thyagarajan. “I
don’t think that by playing 80% or 75% fit, I’ll be able to contribute
more than any other player. I can wait if I’m not fit. I’ll wait for the
next tournament which will be sometime next year. I’m really anxious
and looking forward to play. At the same time I’m not desperate that
I’ll say I’m fit and go out there and take some person’s chance who will
be able to do better than me. That’s not good for me and it’s not good
for the team.”
Thyagarajan says he is “95% sure” he will not be fit in time to
participate in the USACA Twenty20 National Championship, scheduled for
June 17-20 in Dallas. USA’s top scorer in 2010 admits that he has
struggled with his approach to rehab, mainly because he has never had a
serious injury before in his career and so doesn’t have any previous
experiences to use as a point of reference. Instead of taking an
aggressive approach, he has remained cautious, not wanting to aggravate
his condition.
“My first three months, I definitely didn’t work as hard as I should
have in the gym,” said Thyagarajan. “So what I do is I do the other
exercises which are elliptical and the bike so last two weeks, I’ve
actually tried to walk fast like brisk walking and I tried to jog on the
treadmill so next two to four weeks are really important. That’s where
the physiotherapist is going to focus on me trying to run again.”
In addition to the physical battle of getting back into shape,
Thyagarajan is also attempting to overcome mental hurdles as well.
“I’m not scared about it that a dislocation could happen… well, I
need to take a step back,” said Thyagarajan. “Until today, me nor
anybody knows why it happened in the first place. When I was batting in
the nets for the first time over the weekend on Saturday, I was just
again and again replaying the same shot which is a simple cover drive,
my bread and butter shot which got me so many runs against opposition. I
still don’t know how it happened.”
“So I’m not scared of a recurrence that it will happen again but it’s
definitely going to be on the back of the mind that while playing a
really simple shot this happened. If it happened while I was running
behind the ball and there was a pothole on the ground then I slipped or I
twisted, that I can understand but all of us have seen the video
multiple times and it’s really difficult to figure out why it happened.
Even today when I play that shot, I just think it’s a normal shot. How
can it completely twist and move your knee from your knee location to
your calf?”
Despite these worries, Thyagarajan feels capable of returning to 100% fitness and back to his match-winning ways.
“I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to make a complete comeback,”
said Thyagarajan. “What I think all of us are apprehensive about for an
injury like this is it could happen again with an impact, the ball
hitting the knee, or me having a similar twist like I had in Hong Kong.
There are those two scenarios where there is a higher chance of it
happening but luckily cricket is not really a contact sport like rugby
or soccer or anything else. The chance of recurrence is definitely lower
than some other sports. I’m confident I’ll be able to come back to
normal what I was before but at the same time me and everybody who I’m
gonna be playing with will know that a recurrence of patellar
dislocation is a side effect of the injury and I’ll be living with that
as long as I continue playing.”
USA’s “Ice Man” has taken some inspiration from another USA player
who suffered a devastating injury but managed to come back arguably
better than ever. Thyagarajan’s roommate on the road with USA, Sushil
Nadkarni, ruptured an Achilles tendon in August of 2009. It could have
ended Nadkarni’s career, but instead the vice-captain returned in just
over six months to help USA advance through WCL Division Five in Nepal
before taking Player of the Tournament honors at WCL Division Four in
Italy.
“We’ve already spoken a few times. He came back really strong and
really well and was instrumental in moving USA from Division Five to
Three,” said Thyagarajan. “I feel really confident that the way he came
back, I feel even I should be able to come back and even I might have a
couple years to be able to contribute. Definitely I’m optimistic and
it’s an inspiration to see how he came back.”
Regardless of when he comes back, Thyagarajan is grateful for all the
support he’s received throughout his injury experience and is eager to
show everyone what he can do upon his return.
“It’s quite an experience my first injury. I’m really looking forward
to coming back,” said Thyagarajan. “Many people have reached out to me
who like USA cricket and follow it. Thanks for everybody’s wishes and I
really look forward to coming back on the field again.”
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
 New Inning Foundation has announced a $500 donation to USYCA for the purchase of additional American Cricket Champ sets. This marks the third major gift from New Inning to USYCA in the past year, and demonstrates the foundations’ determination to support promising youth cricket initiatives.
Pic (Right): A student of Browbell Talbot, a school that received a free kit from USYCA, expressed his thanks.
Ram Varadarajan of New Inning Foundation said, “I have always believed that for Americans to enjoy cricket they must first have an opportunity to play cricket in a fun setting so that they can experience the joy of hitting the ball, scoring runs, fielding and taking a wicket! Thanks to USYCA’s cricket clinics and demos at schools across the country, more and more kids are getting a chance to enjoy cricket. At New Inning, we are happy to contribute to this wonderful initiative.”
Above and beyond the direct donation, New Inning will match, dollar for dollar up to $500, all direct donations given to USYCA from Saturday May 7 through Friday, May 13.
 “USYCA is honored to have the continuing friendship of New Inning Foundation,” President Jamie Harrison said. “Ram and his organization have been in our corner, and in youth cricket’s corner, from the very outset, and have been willing to give significant funding to make our vision possible.
“With the New Inning matching campaign, a challenge has been set before us, and I’m confident that USYCA’s supporters will rise to the occasion, as they always do.”
The matching drive ends on Friday, May 13.
To give to USYCA via Paypal or a credit card go to: Support Youth Cricket
Checks are accepted at:
USYCA
1211 Aster Drive
Glen Burnie, MD 21061
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
 The
New York Region has elected five fresh members to its board, led by new
Regional Director Lester Hooper. He replaces Selwyn Caesar, who himself
replaced Jefroy Morrishaw halfway through his term in 2009. Hooper is
known for his involvement and commitment to youth cricket in the region.
Other new members include Patrick Sutherland as Secretary,
Lakhwinder "Lucky" Kaur as Treasurer, Nigel Harper as Youth Cricket
Coordinator and Steve Kalloo as a member-at-large in charge of umpire
coordination. While Lucky Kaur has a CPA, Kalloo is generally regarded
as one of the top umpires in America.
Holding onto their positions were Krish Prasad as the regional
representative on the USACA board of directors, Venelda Wallaca as
Women’s Cricket Coordinator and Godfrey Mitchell as a member-at-large
in charge of marketing and fundraising.
The league representatives are Wesley King (American), John Wilson
(Brooklyn Cricket League), Leslie Lowe (Commonwealth Cricket League),
Rudy Persaud (East American Cricket Association), Mascelles Bailey
(NY Metropolitan and District Cricket Association), Pual DaSilva
(Nassau Cricket League). The New York Cricket League's representative
is Milford Lewis. However, he was was ruled ineligible to vote in the
election.
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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
Canadian national team player Zubin Surkari top scored with 40 to
lead Toronto Cricket Club’s chase of 117 as they defeated Sarasota
International Cricket Club by seven wickets on Sunday at the
Philadelphia Cricket Club in the final of the 19th annual Philadelphia
International Cricket Festival. Sarasota’s first innings total of 116
for 7 in 20 overs was never going to be enough against the batting
firepower of Toronto, who reached the target in 15.1 overs.
“We have a lot of good players that came this year,” said Toronto CC
captain Hassan Choghtai. “The Canadian captain Ashish Bagai and Zubin
Surkari, who just played in the World Cup, a couple of former Canadian
players and Under-19 players. We had a pretty strong team so that was
the reason for the success.”
“We play with full intensity and we play to win. Although it’s a
festival game, we just come here to play hard, play good cricket and win
it so it’s more fun.”
Choghtai accepted  the
winner’s trophy from former Indian Test cricketer Sunil Joshi, this
year’s VIP guest. Choghtai says it’s the great facilities on offer in
Philadelphia, in addition to the chance to mingle with players like
Joshi, that make it an easy choice to keep on coming back each year.
Image (right) - Toronto CC captain Hassan Choghtai accepts the
festival trophy from former Indian Test cricketer Sunil Joshi.
[Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]
“I don’t know if there’s grounds like this or clubhouses like this
anywhere in North America,” said Choghtai. “It’s great grounds, the
wickets are a little tricky, but all the grounds have good outfields.
You get value for your shots. Good people, you get to meet the VIP every
year which is a pretty awesome thing.”
Joshi was delighted with the experience he had at the festival on many levels.
“This is the 19th year the organizers have conducted this sports
festival and being the first Indian to have been invited to grace the
occasion makes me feel very proud and privileged because if you look at
the players who have come here as a guest of honor, my childhood hero
Garry Sobers, I couldn’t have refused this great event to come over here
and grace the occasion,” said Joshi.
Players like Mark Boucher and Jonty Rhodes established a tradition of
playing alongside the members of many of the clubs, particularly the
Philadelphia area teams. Joshi played in four matches this year and was
excited by the mix of talent on offer, particularly the fact that there
were more than a few Americans in the teams.
“There are quite a few Americans,” said Joshi. “I had seen the
Under-19 guy Kalim [Ahmed]. I played alongside him yesterday with the
British Officers Club. He’s a young upcoming left arm seamer. I was very
happy to see someone being an American playing cricket. It was great.”
Among others, ICC Americas Under-19 tournament MVP Cameron Mirza also
played in the tournament for Indoor Cricket Rising Stars. Current Canada
Under-19 player Kyle Edghill also played for the champion Toronto CC
squad along with former Canada 2010 Under-19 World Cup squad member
Arsalan Qadir.
“The standard is fantastic,” said Joshi. “You look at the players who
have been playing for the Canadian team. A couple of players who took
part in the 2011 World Cup, they’ve been playing for the [Toronto]
team.”
“Before I came into the ground to look at these teams playing, I had
my own reservations on these sorts of wickets, but the enthusiasm the
cricketers have shown for the last three days, it’s amazing. It’s great
to see these players playing and there’s so many Americans, English, the
Asians, the expats. It’s a great event.”
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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
The newly formed North West and South West Regions have conducted
their first elections with a mix of new and familiar faces taking
positions on each regional board. USACA issued a press release to
announce the results.
In the South West, Kelly Dunagan is the new Regional Director.
Dunagan is the chairman of Corinthian Cricket Club in the SCCA, founded
in 1934. According to the club’s web site, he is one of several
American-born members in the club.
The region  did
not have any nominees listed for Secretary so the position remains
vacant. Anil Cheruvu was appointed Treasurer. Cheruvu belongs to the
Arizona Cricket Club in the Arizona Cricket Association. David Sentence,
the American cricket historian based in Los Angeles, and Tiran Mendis
were each elected to fill the Member-at-Large positions.
Sandra Ibarra, who formerly represented the USA Women’s team, won the
Women’s Coordinator role. Richard Blackledge, who has been involved in
youth coaching in Los Angeles and is also a member of Corinthian CC, was
picked to be the region’s Youth Coordinator.
Hemant Buch, former Regional Director of the dissolved Western
Region, will take over the same position in the newly formed North West
Region. Buch is the founder of the California Cricket Academy in
Cupertino, Calif.
Susheel Kumar was elected to be the North West Secretary.
Chandrasekharan Tirumurti received the nod to be the region’s Treasurer.
Vijay Beniwal, a former captain of the North West Region team who
plays his cricket in Seattle, was elected as a Member-at-Large. The
other Member-at-Large position was won by Ozair Nana, a former USA
national team player and longtime member of Marin Cricket Club in the
NCCA.
The Youth Coordinator will be Vijay Pradhan, affiliated with the
California Cricket Academy. The Women’s Coordinator vote finished in a
tie between Nithya Bayya and Ritu Bhargava so the Regional Director,
Buch, will cast the tie-breaking vote.
The regional representative to sit on the USACA board of directors has yet to be selected by each region.
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Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook. Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket
 Cupertino chapter of International Rotary organization has established a fellowship program with the help of California Cricket Academy. Rotary celebrated Fellowship Day on April 27th by introducing cricket to their members.
Coaches and volunteers of California Cricket Academy provided instruction to over 50 participants. The event began with a lunch meeting and Spirit of Cricket presentation by Hemant Buch, founder of California Cricket Academy and past chairman of USA Western Region.
Cricket is not new to Rotary of Cupertino. In 2010, Rotary of Cupertino hosted a dinner for the participants of the National Women's tournament and the club has assisted CCA during national junior tournaments over the last five years.
“An interest in cricket is natural,” said Beverly Lenihan, president of the Rotary Club of Cupertino, “given the ethnic makeup of our Club and our Community. We are proud to be the United States host of the Rotary International Cricket Fellowship, joining with like-minded Rotarians in the US and around the world.”
Rotary's past District Governor Jim Walker said: “I have played baseball and softball my entire life, but yesterday was the first time I was able to bat, hit a cricket ball and score a couple of runs. I now consider myself a beginning cricketer! What fun!”
“ I loved trying to bat. It's harder than one might think. It would be great if we could have a Cupertino Rotary Cricket Club. I would play”, says Jerra Rowland, Rotary member.
Also speaking on the occasion, Jagi Shahani of Alain Pinel Realty said: “Cricket and Rotary! What a great combination! One more avenue to foster fellowship and community. Bringing cricket to the area will attract many people from the Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan members of our community. Could we ask for more?"
Mahesh Nihalani of Rotary Club of Cupertino who initiated and started the local chapter of the International Fellowship of Cricketing Rotarians on Wednesday, April 27th said: "Introducing the Cricket Fellowship in our own club and subsequently District 5170 will encourage a lot of cricket loving non- Rotarians to join Rotary-thus increasing membership. Cricket can also be encouraged amongst our youth through Interact and Rotaract. It would also provide a great opportunity for Fellowship and Service to work towards making this a Beautiful World to live in for our Future Generations! I am thankful to CCA for having come forward to help us with introducing the game to Rotarians here in California."
According to Mr. Nihalani, Rotary will invite at least 30 cricket-loving Rotarians to play in an exhibition series where a commentator will explain what is going on on the ground. Plans were also being made to Invite at least one international team of IFCR members to take part in a tournament, which could also be an annual fun and fundraiser to support Rotary Community Service Projects.
Ajay Athavale, President of California Cricket Academy offered to host future Rotary cricket events at the CCA facilities.
[Source: CCA - visit www.calcricket.org for more details]
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