June 2011 - Posts

• USA Cricket: 2011 Twenty20 Nationals Preview Part 1

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Peter Della Penna The first ever USACA Twenty20 Nationals takes place this weekend in Newark, New Jersey. The following is a brief look at half of the teams scheduled to compete in the tournament. Atlantic – Atlantic had a strong showing in the USACA Senior Nationals event last year, falling short of the 50-over title after they lost on the second day to North West, a match that was cut short due to bad light. The host region will once again be captained by former West Indies Test player Neil McGarrell (pictured right). Aditya Mishra, who played two Twenty20s for USA against Jamaica in Florida last year, is the vice-captain. Four other players on the roster have represented USA at the senior level – Naseer Islam, Muhammad Ghous, Gowkaran Roopnarine and Imran Awan – while former West Indies speedster Jermaine Lawson will ply his trade with the region for the second straight year. The most notable addition to this year’s team is Stuart Mills, a former first-class cricketer from New Zealand who played for the New York Region last year. Mills was one of three wicketkeepers in the New York squad, but will now have a chance to stake his claim as first choice gloveman for his new team. Atlantic squad – Neil McGarrell (captain), Aditya Mishra (vice captain), Imran Awan, Adil Bhatti, Muhammad Ghous, Naseer Islam, Jermaine Lawson, Siddharth Mehta, Stuart Mills, Junaid Rasheed, Gowkaran Roopnarine, Damaine Sangster, Charan Singh, Sean Stanislaus. Central East – The region that finished as national runner-up in 2009 crashed back down to earth at the USACA Western Conference in 2010 as Usman Shuja and Amit Kumar were no longer part of the squad. However, they still possess a fair amount of talent to be competitive and will look to bounce back in this year’s Twenty20 tournament. Former USA wicketkeeper Ashhar Mehdi will captain the squad while Akhil Pathan (pictured left) serves as vice-captain. Medium-pacer Pathan performed very well in 2009 with a pair of five-wicket hauls and had a strong showing at USACA trials in November that year but was passed over by selectors. A solid weekend in New Jersey could make him a darkhorse to make the short list of candidates for USA’s squad at the ICC Americas T20 next month in Florida. Mehdi and Pathan are joined by left-arm orthodox spinner Asif Khan, who was one of the few bright spots on USA’s tour to Hong Kong in January. Young talents Fahad Babar and Saminda Siriwardena will be responsible for getting Central East off to a good start at the top of the batting order. Central East squad – Ashhar Mehdi (captain), Akhil Pathan (vice-captain), Adnan Ali, Fahad Babar, Praveen Bangara, Asif Mehmood Khan, Hansraj Meena, Darshan Patel, Syed Fawad Raza, Venugopal Reddy, Manpreet Singh, Kamran Syed, Saminda Siriwardena, Syed Airaj Wahan. North West – The reigning national champions in 50-over cricket will be looking to sustain that form in Twenty20 cricket for 2011. However, they’ll have to do it without leading scorer James Crosthwaite, who is rumored to have returned to live in Australia after less than a year on the US domestic scene. Also missing from the squad is the twin leg-spin duo of Saurabh Verma and Saqib Saleem, who represented USA at the senior and junior levels respectively in 2010. The team is captained once again by wicketkeeper Nauman Mustafa (pictured right) who turns 37 in August but despite his age is still looking to force his way into the USA squad and has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic tournaments over the last few years. Vijay Beniwal from Microsoft Cricket Club in Seattle is the team’s vice-captain. Batsman Rishi Bhardwaj and all-rounder Shantanu Divekar joined Mustafa and Crosthwaite on DreamCricket.com’s All-Tournament Team at the 2010 Senior Nationals and they will be back to provide a solid foundation for success. Other key players include Arjun Thyagarajan, Samarth Shah, Srinivasa Santhanam and Syed Fareed Ahmad, who fetched the highest bid for any player at the recently concluded IPL-style auction for the NCCA 4th of July Twenty20 tournament. North West squad – Nauman Mustafa (captain), Vijay Beniwal (vice-captain), Syed Fareed Ahmad, Rishi Bhardwaj, Shantanu Divekar, Naseer Jamali, Santosh Leslani, Nilesh Rane, Srinivasa Santhanam, Samarth Shah, Ashok Singh, Sunny Singh, Srikanth Sundaragopalan, Arjun Thyagarajan. South West – The region has been hit hard by injuries and by finances relating to this tournament, but is still turning out to give it their best shot. National players Aditya Thyagarajan and Ritesh Kadu are missing due to injury. According to a source, three other players will not be coming to New Jersey despite being selected because the cost of flying from Los Angeles to Newark on short notice was prohibitive. Instead of a 14-man squad, South West will only be sending 12 and it is also believed they will be traveling without a coach or manager due to budget reasons. However, the 12 are a very promising bunch and could still contend for the title. They will be captained by Mehul Dave, quietly one of the top performers in domestic cricket in the last few years. Ravi Timbawala will keep wicket in place of Kadu. Former first-class Ranji Trophy players Amit Sood and leg-spinner Timil Patel are back for the second year in a row. Fast bowlers Elmore Hutchinson and Hammad Shahid form a potent pace attack. They’re joined by the leading wicket-taker in USACA tournaments for 2010, off-spinner Abhimanyu Rajp (pictured left). South West squad – Mehul Dave (captain), Nitesh Anandan, Elmore Hutchinson, Timil Patel, David Pieters, Abhimanyu Rajp, Hammad Shahid, Ricky Singh, Amit Sood, Marcus Stewart, Ravi Timbawala, Peshan Wedanarachchi Posted Jun 14 2011, 08:16 AM with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Neil McGarrell, Nauman Mustafa, Akhil Pathan, 2011 USACA Twenty20 Nationals, Abhimanyu Rajp, Laurel Hill Park

• USA Cricket: USA U-19 to play four matches against West Indies U-19 prior to Ireland tour

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Peter Della Penna The USA U-19 squad will play four 50-over matches next month in preparation for their tour to Ireland for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier. According to USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed, the matches will take place July 8, 10, 12 and 14 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The West Indies U-19 squad is scheduled to arrive in Florida on July 6 and leave on July 16. West Indies U-19 notched impressive victories over Australia U-19 during a series of matches played in Dubai this past April. West Indies U-19 beat Australia U-19 in two out of three Youth ODIs before winning a subsequent three-day Youth Test match by four wickets. After the series of four matches against the West Indies U-19 team, the USA U-19 squad will continue training in Florida before departing for Ireland on the 19th. Mohamed said USA would likely have two warm-up games in Dublin before playing their first official match of the Qualifier on the 28th. From there, USA will play nine matches in 13 days and must finish in the top six to qualify for next year’s ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia. The selectors have some interesting decisions to make after this weekend’s selection camp took place in New York. Greg Sewdial made his presence felt at the crease during a mini-trial game on Saturday in which he cracked three fours and a six before walking off unbeaten. Sewdial and Cameron Mirza were the most impressive of the batsmen on Saturday while left-arm orthodox spinners Shayan Abdulghani and Prashanth Nair stood out among the bowlers before the session was cut short by rain. It was previously reported that Abhijit Joshi and Mital Patel would not attend the camp, but Gurpreet Sandhu and Fahad Babar also were not in attendance. Joshi and Patel were excused to continue with specialized training programs in India. According to a USACA administrator, Sandhu was excused in order to travel to India to obtain a visa for Ireland and the UK to be able to go to the tournament. Games will be split between Dublin in the south and Derry in Northern Ireland. Babar did not attend because he has apparently made himself unavailable to tour Ireland due to personal reasons. Barring any fitness concerns, Sewdial now appears to be a shoe-in for the squad that will go to Ireland in a straight swap for Babar. Nair will have a tougher time forcing his way into the team. It may depend on the desire to have a third spinner who can turn the ball away from right-hand batsmen as Gurpreet Sandhu and Shayan Abdulghani both had strong showings at the ICC Americas U-19 tournament in February. Nair was invited to the USA U-19 selection camp in January, but was not yet eligible to play for USA based on residency requirements. However, he is now eligible according to a USACA source. Leg spin and left-arm orthodox spin played a vital role in the success of the USA U-19 bowling attack during the 2009-10 cycle with Saqib Saleem, Yash Shah, Ryan Corns and Andy Mohammed making key contributions with the ball. The key difference is that Shah was the only specialist bowler of that group while the others doubled as genuine all-round options up the order. Image (right) - Prashanth Nair (left) and Shayan Abdulghani (right) at USA U-19 selection trials in New York. If selected together, they could form a potent left-arm spin tag team. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com] The same scenario is not likely to happen in the current USA U-19 lineup. Abdulghani was slotted to come in at number 11 against Canada, but never batted at the ICC Americas U-19 tournament while Sandhu made four runs batting once at seven against Canada and was not among the seven batsmen used in the first game against Argentina. Should he get selected for the squad and make it into a starting XI, Nair would likely play as a specialist spinner as well. Because the three aren’t considered genuine all-round options at the international U-19 level, the probability of all three featuring in the same XI is slim. In addition to Nair, the other candidates who appear to have a slight chance at forcing their way into the team for the first time are Jasdeep Singh, Amarnauth Persaud and Akash Jagannathan. If the selectors prefer an extra seamer over another spinner for Irish conditions, Singh or Persaud would serve that purpose with their medium pace. Persaud is also considered by many in the New York area to be a handy all-round option, particularly because he bats left-handed. Right now, Steven Taylor and Patel are the only players in the squad who bat left-handed. If the selectors decide they want a reserve wicketkeeper for Taylor, or to allow Taylor to play as a specialist batsman, then Jagannathan could come into the frame as well. More than likely, only one out of Nair, Singh, Persaud and Jagannathan may get selected in the 14-man squad but all four have a solid chance of being in the initial list of 18. A squad of 18 players is expected to be named later this week. According to a USACA source, the selectors will consult with USA U-19 head coach Robin Singh before the list is narrowed to the 14 that will go to Ireland. All countries must submit their final 14-man squad to the ICC by June 28. Posted Jun 12 2011, 05:52 PM with 6 comment(s) Filed under: USA U-19 cricket, USA cricket, Ireland, ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier, West Indies U-19 cricket

• USA Cricket: Sewdial ready to challenge for an invite to Ireland at USA U-19 trials

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Peter Della Penna Former USA U-19 vice-captain Greg Sewdial made a return to organized cricket last month after more than 15 months on the sidelines. This weekend at the USA U-19 trials in New York, he is eager for the opportunity to show selectors that he is worthy of a spot in the 14-man squad that will go to Ireland next month for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier. “I definitely think I have something to prove and I’ll always have that chip on my shoulder,” said Sewdial on Thursday. “People are always gonna write you off and say what they want to say. I basically disappeared from the cricketing world of New York and USA for over a year so I just want to come back strong and let people know what they missed.” Sewdial was USA’s leading scorer at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. However, he has been out of action since the end of that tournament due to a serious ankle injury. The 19-year-old first sustained the injury to his left ankle in May 2009 just a few days before the start of the 2009 U-19 National Tournament in New York. He decided to play through the injury during both of USA’s qualifying tournaments in Canada as well as at the World Cup, which exacerbated the damage to his ankle ligaments. After returning from New Zealand last January, Sewdial waited until the end of his spring semester at Hofstra University before having surgery in May. The hope was that he would be back to normal after six months of rehab. Instead, he got the crushing news that a second surgery was needed. Image (right) - Greg Sewdial file photo. [Courtesy: ICC/Bryan Vandenburgh] “I was heartbroken,” said Sewdial. “I thought that one surgery, one shot, it was gonna be over with. I come to find out six months later when I went for a second opinion when my ankle was giving me some more issues, the doctor told me I may need some screws in here. A week later I took an MRI. The MRI turned out positive. I had the surgery two weeks later.” The second surgery, performed in December, was deemed a success by Sewdial’s doctors but three more months of rehab meant he had to miss out on a chance to be a part of the ICC Americas title-winning USA U-19 squad in February. That left him itching to get back on the field. “The hardest part was seeing all the scores online when the Under-19 team was playing and not being able to play,” said Sewdial. “I just want to leave whatever’s in the past in the past and just move forward.” “I’m just hungry. I just want to go out there. Over a year of missed cricket feels like forever for me. With two operations, it was really something I’ve never experienced before. It could set you back or it could motivate you and I’m just trying my best to keep on the right path and let it motivate me to be even better than I was.” Sewdial says that he needs to lose some weight he gained while being away from the field, but that the greater obstacle to being fit again is getting enough time out in the middle. He’s played four matches in the last month for Seven Star CC in New York’s Commonwealth League, making a couple of starts but no major scores. “I’m definitely not 100% yet, but I’ll slowly be there. I’ve been going to the gym very often, like four or five days a week, just trying to rehab it as soon as possible. The main thing is I just need some batting practice and some real cricket practice to really find some form at least before any major tournament I play in. I just want to have that reassurance in myself that when the real time comes I can provide for the team.” At this weekend’s trials, Sewdial hopes he can do enough to convince selectors that he’s “a leader, that I’m capable, I’m dependable” and that those attributes, along with his batting, make him a desirable player to have in the USA U-19 squad going to Ireland that will be attempting to qualify for a second straight ICC U-19 World Cup. “I think the side that we have now will do good with an extra batsman in the middle order anyways,” said Sewdial. “I think if I were to go to Ireland, that would show some stability on paper at least. I think overall I’m just ready to go out there and make up for a year of lost cricket on my part.” The USA U-19 trials are scheduled to take place June 11-12 at Idlewild Park in Queens, just around the corner from JFK Airport. The New York metro area received heavy rain overnight and more rain is in the forecast throughout Saturday and Sunday so it remains to be seen how much work the players will get to do outside. An 18-man preliminary squad has to be sent from USACA to the ICC by Monday June 13 before the final list of 14 is submitted to the ICC on June 28. Cricket Association of Nepal released their country’s 18-man squad on June 1 for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier. Among the players selected was Rahul Vishwakarma, who took 7 for 15 in a match against the USA senior team at ICC WCL Division Five in Nepal in February 2010. Vishwakarma was also a member of Nepal’s squad at the 2008 ICC U-19 World Cup in Malaysia where he played in all six of his country’s matches, taking 10 wickets as a 15-year-old in the event as Nepal lost to the West Indies in the final of the Plate Championship. Posted Jun 11 2011, 05:24 AM with no comments Filed under: USA U-19 cricket, ICC U-19 World Cup, USA cricket, Nepal, Greg Sewdial, ICC Americas U-19, Ireland, ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier, Rahul Vishwakarma

• Chik Masood removed as Regional Representative of Central East region

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket Akhtar "Chik" Masood Syed was removed by his Central East Region as the Regional Representative on the USACA Board of Directors.  In a meeting on June 8, 2011, a motion was moved to remove Akhtar Masood Syed as Regional Representative.   According to DreamCricket.com source, the motion was supported unanimously by those present in the meeting.  According to our source, the CER region met on May 28, 2011 to elect a new secretary, to address the issue of inactive members of the regional administration, and to select a CER team for the national T20 tournament.  That meeting triggered a firestorm of controversy including of allegations of corruption and misinformation.  In the aftermath of the May 28 meeting, Masood reportedly submitted a CER team for the T20 tournament on June 6 without consulting with the CE regional administration.  The regional administration had also submitted a team to USACA after following due process.   That act of Masood appears to have been the proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back.  The CE region met once again on Wednesday and a discussion ensued.  In the end, all 10 members present voted for Masood's removal as the Regional Representative.  2 were absent.  No decision has been made on who would replace Masood until the forthcoming election. This is not only a huge loss for Chik Masood, but dramatically changes the electoral math at the national level.   Masood has been a loyal supporter of Gladstone Dainty through the years.  During the last presidential election on May 29, 2008, the Central East Region's support, largely through the efforts of Masood proved to be the tipping point.  Posted Jun 09 2011, 08:09 PM with no comments Filed under: Central East Region cricket, Chik Masood, Akhtar Masood Syed

• Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference wins the SER Regional Tournament for the first time

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket [Conroy Reid and Lada Bedi contributed to this report.  For earlier report, click here.] Japen Patel, Atlanta-Georgia Cricket Conference’s (AGCC) two time player-of-the-year, and one of the most dynamic young players in the country, turned in a strong all-round performance – 8 wickets and 184 runs in three games – to lead AGCC to the 2011 SER tournament title in the games played in Orlando this past week-end. Pic (right): Japen Patel's fine performances with bat and ball earned him the tournament MVP award. The fine performance earned Japen Patel the MVP and Best Bowler honors for the tournament. The former national under 19, and member of the SER team for the last four years, continued his strong season run from league competition where he has racked up two consecutive undefeated centuries, complimented with two consecutive five wickets haul. Japen was supported by a very young and talented squad consisting of few former SE national players such as Jibran Gul, Anand Tummala and Hammad Choudry.  AGCC played some exciting cricket under the newly appointed captain Jibran Gul to take the title.  Middle order batsman Anand Tummala scored three impressive half centuries to accumulate 199 runs.  AGCC completed the tournament with a 2-0-1 record – defeating South Florida (SFCA), then tying defending champions Central Florida in the tournament’s most exciting game, before crushing Florida Southeast (FSCL) by over 100 runs. Georgia Supreme (2-1) lost in their bid for a second hold on the title by falling to the defending champions CFCA, after defeating both FSCL and SFCA. Mid Atlantic did not field a team.  In its first match against SFCA led by Timmy Surajbali, AGCC won the toss and elected to bat first putting 208 on the board on a good batting surface yet with a very sluggish outfield.  Japen Patel provided a stable start scoring 38 runs and Anand Tumala high scored with 81* to stabilize the innings.  In reply, SFCA scored 159 all out in 34.3 overs with Steven Taylor scoring a hard earned 53.  The pick of the bowlers was the smart and talented left arm spinner Nimir Desai getting 5 wickets for 34 runs in his allotted 10 overs and Japen Patel with 2 wickets. For AGCC, its encounter with CFCA was a nail-biter.  The CFCA captain Christopher Chung won the toss and chose to bat as his side finished with 253 all out.  The top scorer was Bhim George with 95*, the recipient of the Best Batsman award for the tournament.  Japen Patel bowled an excellent first spell and ended with 3 wickets while former SE National player Hammad Choudry took 3 in 7.1 over to wrap up the innings. Pic (Right): AGCC captain Jibran Gul AGCC started their chase with Japen Patel scoring 78 well supported by Anand Tumala 52, Jibran Gul 27 and Nimir Desai 30.  The match had many twist and turns.  In the end, AGCC needed 3 runs to win and ended up with a tie. It was an amazing game of cricket and both teams showed their sportsmanship. AGCC's third match was against the strong FSCL side with former USA players such as Nasir Javed and Muazzam Imtiaz.  On the South field on Sunday, AGGC won the toss and opted to bat.  Keyur Patel (12) and Jibran Gul (4) were removed early, before Japen (68) and Tummala (66) shared an 81-run third wicket partnership to lay the foundation for a formidable score. Sunju Patel (39) and Suhail Sangoi, 33 not out added the finishing surge to propel the score to 239 for 5 off the allotted 50 overs.  With the ball, AGCC used a confident and aggressive strategy as Jibran Gul opened with a spinner who struck in the very first over and followed up with a second wicket soon after . The choke-hold tightened with every over owing to aggressive field placement and consistent bowling. The middle order provided some resistance with the help of Muazzam Imtiaz who seemed to have settled well and scoring at will until his crucial dismissal by in swinging delivery by the captain Jibran Gul. From that point forward AGCC were in complete control and destroyed FSCL in 26.5 overs for a tournament-low score of 105 all out.  The top bowler for AGCC was Japen Patel with figures of 7-0-29-3.  He received ample support from Grover (2 for 11) and Jaideep Desai (2 for 39).  The FSCL batsmen showed poor judgement of the moving ball as AGCC keeper Nitin Sanam had a dream day behind the stumps grabbing 7 catches, some through spectacular effort.  Overall, it was just an unbelievable team performance on the field by AGCC. Meanwhile, the center field was the venue of the highly anticipated match-up between the last two title holders, CFCA and GSCL. At stake was the tournament title, where a win for the GSCL would give them their second hold.  Central Florida won the toss and took first strike. Even though the opening batsmen fell cheaply, and the score was soon 20 for 3 off just four overs, GSCL failed to make any further inroads as the number four batsman, Bhim George, the tournament’s Best Batsman, chalked up the only century (114) of the tournament.  George, when on 53, snicked one into the keeper’s gloves but stood his ground while the close-in fieldsmen and bowler celebrated in the middle of the pitch.  The umpire though was unmoved, and celebration quickly turned to dismay and a short lived disruption. Ed Lewis (47) and Chris Chung (42) chipped in with significant scores to take the total to 260 off the allotted 50 overs.  Pick of the GSCL bowlers were Jowayne Powell (4 for 50) and Evroy Dyer (3 for 54), as both finished in a three way tie for most wickets in the tournament.  McFarlane failed to pick-up a wicket but had the mean figures of 10-3-23-0. GSCL’s reply was stymied by some accurate bowling from the Central Florida’s pacemen, and the opening batsmen failed to negotiate the deliveries that pitched on off stump and moved away. Runs were nowhere to be had, and the first 10 overs yielded just twenty-five. After Powell drove one hard to mid-off, and Tulloch prodded inside the line of an off-break, the score reached a mediocre 63 for 4, and the required run rate had escalated to nearly seven per over. But hope was restored by an exciting partnership between Parchment and McFarlane, and at the second break – 31 overs – 128 runs were required with still six wickets in hand.  The inning had been revived, and with Lindo and Dyer still to come GSCL seemed set. It turned out not to be. With the score at 153, McFarlane (56) was foolishly run out – taking off on a suicidal run to a ball collected by the wicketkeeper standing back - to end a 90 run partnership. Parchment (52) and Lindo were given out LBW, only to be followed by Dyer on another suicidal run, as GSCL batsmen lost their way, and hopes for a second title evaporated. The inning closed at 198 off 41 overs. “Our goal was to come out here and play team cricket, no one player is too valuable to the team, it had to be a complete team effort if we were to succeed. I am happy that all the players responded well to my captainship and we really gelled together on and off the field. AGCC has finally made a mark in Cricket in USA and have proved they have taken plenty of strides towards the right direction," AGCC Captain Jibran Gul said, adding, "AGCC is a team to team to watch out for in the years to come.”  --- PostScript: The South East region owes much to the untiring efforts of Barney Jones (CFCL's president) and his team who worked hard to repair the damage to the pitches as some individuals tried to sabotage the entire event by vandalizing the synthetic turf wickets.    Posted Jun 09 2011, 09:28 AM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Georgia Cricket, atlanta cricket, South East Region cricket, Japen Patel, Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference, Jibran Gul

• NCCA 4th of July T20 tournament to hold IPL inspired player auction

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Peter Della Penna The Northern California Cricket Association’s July 4th weekend Twenty20 tournament will be taking on a new look this year with the implementation of an IPL-style player auction. Arjun Thyagarajan, the North West Region batsman who has been taking the lead in organizing this year’s event, is pleased with the amount of interest shown this year as more than 200 players have signed up to be a part of the auction process. “We had this tournament last year and I was part of the organizing committee. I’ve been part of the LA Open. I’ve seen what happens in these kinds of tournaments,” said Thyagarajan. “Of all the teams that are entering the competition, three or four teams tend to be really strong because everyone wants to play for a good team and you have contacts and things like that. The other teams in the competition end up being weak teams. It’s not really fun going into a competition with four strong teams and four weak teams.” In last year’s NCCA tournament, which was called the USA Independence TANA Cup 20/20, Thyagarajan was part of the DreamCricket Fooglies which romped through to the final, largely as a result of having a stacked lineup that included several current or former USA national team players including his brother Aditya Thyagarajan, Sushil Nadkarni, Aditya Mishra and Ritesh Kadu as well as regional stars Samarth Shah, James Crosthwaite, Nikhil Iyer, Vijay Beniwal and Karnataka player NC Aiyappa. Thyagarajan feels that having an auction this year will help balance the playing field and make it a much more exciting and competitive tournament. The number of teams has also been trimmed from eight to six which should also help to eliminate the lopsidedness of some matches. “My concept really this year was to figure out a way to reduce the teams to six and to have the best six players in the country playing in that,” said Thyagarajan. “That way you have an even playing field among all teams. The only way that’s possible really is to have some kind of an auction system where you have a pool of players and you can pick the players.” Each of the six teams has a team owner responsible for drafting a squad with a cap of $10,000 virtual dollars. As part of the scheme to build squads, the tournament committee identified icon players and each team could have up to four such players assigned before the start of the auction to become the core of the team. Icon players were automatically assigned a value of $1000 against the team cap. The list of icon players was published on Wednesday and includes Nauman Mustafa and Srinivasa Raghavan for the CSZ Titans, Mishra and Shantanu Divekar for the Fooglies, Rishi Bhardwaj and Pranay Suri of the Stanford Supernovas and Shiva Vashishat and Saqib Saleem of the Cloudalyze Spinners. In all, 22 players were designated as icon players. Non-icon players are divided into two subsets for the auction – representative and club players. Representative players are defined as having played for a league team in an interleague tournament or a regional team in a USACA tournament within the last three years and have a starting bid of $200. All other players are listed as club players and have a starting bid of $100. Raises in the bidding will be in $25 increments. San Jose’s Kaama Lounge, one of the tournament sponsors, will be hosting the live player auction on June 9 at 6 p.m. PST. The auction will be streamed live on the tournament web site, www.nccat20.com. As of Wednesday, there are roughly 50 players in the representative pool and 150 in the club pool. While the majority of players are from the Bay Area, double-digit signups have come in from Los Angeles and Seattle. With 22 of the 84 roster places already taken by icon players, just 62 players from the overall auction pool of 200 will wind up with teams. The six teams will be split into two groups of three with round-robin matches to be played on July 2 and 3 at Santa Clara Cricket Ground. The semifinals and final will be played on July 4 at the same venue and all matches will be streamed live on the tournament web site. Last year’s 4th of July NCCA Twenty20 tournament winner, the San Francisco Blasters, took home a $3000 prize. This year’s prize pool is currently $5000, but organizers are hoping to get more sponsors, including a title sponsor, to get the first place prize up to $10,000. “What this tournament is really providing is no politics, no administrators. Team owners buy players for what they’re worth,” said Thyagarajan. “What [players] like about this is if a player really thinks he is worth x amount, he will sign up and hope that he’s bought for that. If you’re not, then I guess team owners didn’t really want you.” Posted Jun 09 2011, 04:54 AM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Shiva Vashishat, Aditya Mishra, DreamCricket Fooglies, James Crosthwaite, Nauman Mustafa, Saqib Saleem, Kaama Lounge, Arjun Thyagarajan, NCCA T20

• Kapil Dev to attend NATS T20 Final in New Jersey

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket North America Telugu Society (NATS), as a part of the America Telugu Sambarulu, announced the inaugural T20 tournament scheduled to start on Tuesday June 9th and conclude at the Sambarulu convention on July 1st. Pic (Right):  Kapil Dev is the guest of honor for the NATS T20 Tournament. The logistics for the T20 tournament will be provided by South Gujarat Cricket Club (SGCC) and will be played under lights at Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus NJ. This invitational tournament will comprise of six teams that will be divided in two groups of three teams each. The teams in the individual groups would compete on a round robin basis where the top two teams would progress to the semi finals. The tournament will be played with color clothing and white balls. The prizes are $3,000 for the winner and $1,500 for runner-up, plus prizes for tournament MVP and Man of the Match awards.   Group 1 comprises South Gujarat Cricket Club, Global Challengers Cricket Club and New Jersey City Cricket Club.  Group 2 comprises South Gujarat Cricket Club - Juniors, Freedom Cricket Club and Prince Cricket Club. Here is a sneak preview of some of the top players that have agreed to participate in the tournament: Neil McGarrell - McGarrell played 4 Tests and 17 ODIs representing West Indies and was a former captain for Guyana. McGarrell also was part of the Guyana side in the Stanford 2020. One of the best left-arm spinners in USA, McGarrell has single-handedly led his team to the various titles in the region by virtue of his intelligent bowling, consistent batting in the middle order and electric fielding in the covers. Jermaine Lawson - Jermaine Lawson is a West Indian cricketer who has played in 13 Tests and 13 ODIs. Lawson, at his peak, was a fast bowler capable of bowling over 150 km/h. His accomplishments in his first few matches include the rare figures of 6/3 against Bangladesh in his third Test, a hat-trick against Australia in 2003/04, and a haul of 7/78 against Australia which was important in the West Indian victory in the final Test of that series. Sudesh Dhaniram - Dhaniram a former USA and Guyanese international is a local cricketing legend and the NY Cricket League is replete with stories of his batting exploits such as the time when he once took 48 runs in 3 overs. Dhaniram, who has 46 first-class matches under his belt has 4 hundreds and 10 fifties in first-class cricket for Guyana. He also scored an unbeaten 257 on June 24, 2006, which is among the highest individual limited-overs innings in USA. His aggressive batting style is tailor-made for 20-20 cricket and his addition not only instantly adds power and depth to the Challengers line-up, the younger boys will benefit from his vast experience. Siddharth B. Mehta - Leading from the front, Sid is a left-handed opening batsman and is a chinaman bowler as well. Having trained at the Kiran More Cricket Academy in Baroda at a young age, this cricket prodigy moved to the US when he was 18. He has won multiple individual awards in the bowling and batting categories and some of his personal milestones include hitting 200 in a 40-over game and scoring an unbeaten 144 against the Jamaican national team. He is known for his big-match temperament and has always stored his best for the key matches. The organizers are also awaiting confirmation on former India player and Karnataka captain Sunil Joshi and former West Indies fast bowler Adam Sanford. Kapil Dev, India’s first world cup winning captain has agreed to attend the finals and distribute the prizes for the tournament.  "This is a very exciting time for cricket in the United States," Jaideep Reddy, Tournament Director said.   "With a T20 tournament played under lights, we expect to see superb action on the field, from the region's best players, with the recently concluded Cricket World Cup and the IPL 2011, cricket fans from the New Jersey area will be thrilled with what they see during the NATS T20," he said.  The Tournament Director thanked the following members of NATS for their support - Madhu Korrapati (Conference Co-Chairman), Mohana Krishna Mannava (Operations Director), Vasu Tupakula (Sports Committee Chair), Raj Allada (Guest Relations Chair), Ranjit Kumar Chaganti (Co -Chair, Sports Committee), Chandrasekhar Konidela (Co-Chair, Sports Committee). North America Telugu Society (NATS) is a non-profit national organization for Telugus living in North America. NATS primary objective is to address the needs and concerns that affect the everyday lives of Telugu people living in North America. The Society provides needed social, financial and educational support services to the North American Telugu community in an effective and efficient manner.     Source:  NATS Media Release Posted Jun 08 2011, 12:35 PM with no comments Filed under: Kapil Dev, NATS T20

• USA Cricket: Mahammad A Qureshi announces campaign for USACA president

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket Roughly three weeks after he announced his resignation as Chairman and CEO of Cricket Council USA, Mahammad A. "Maq" Qureshi launched his campaign for President of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA).  Among others,Mr. Qureshi will face Nabeel Ahmed who was the first to announce his intention to run for President back in November of 2010. In a media release announcing his candidacy on June 7th, Qureshi said, "I’m running for President in order to bring credibility to USACA - what should be an esteemed organization. Credibility is only established when an organization demonstrates responsibility and integrity from within. Only then can we gain the confidence of our members and sponsors." "I’m running for this position because I am committed to the development and expansion of cricket in the United States. I’m running for office to make USACA an effect (sic) yet transparent organization that earns the respect of its membership, other cricket associations, the ICC, existing and potential sponsors, and, of course, the millions of potential cricket enthusiasts in America.“ Qureshi is the President and CEO of USA based MAQ Group, Inc.  According to the media release, MAQ Group has enjoyed great success by specializing in high-profile commercial real estate investments, financing, development, management and consulting and owns trademarked brands, such as PetroAmerica, Subco, SuperStop and Bizder.  Some years ago, Qureshi started Cricket Council USA (CCUSA), which has organized and sponsored tournaments bearing his company's name in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York.  The organization is also a supporter of the City of Lauderhill T20 Night Cricket Tournament. After ten years at the helm of CCUSA, on May 13, Qureshi announced his resignation as CEO and Chairman.  “The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change," the CCUSA media release noted invoking Bill Clinton's words, adding that "It is after much contemplation and reflection, the Chairman and CEO of Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) Mohammad A. Qureshi announced his resignation after holding the post for ten years." "Hopefully his new endeavors will still include further development to the sport of cricket in America,”Jeff Miller, Cricket Council USA Vice President of Operations said in the release dropping a hint about things to come.   The June 7 announcement was consistent with Mr. Miller's hopes when it noted: "It is a natural transition for Maq to take the helm of USACA’s ship which is seemingly sailing in circles. Maq’s dreams to elevate USACA to a well respected and transparent organization are achievable upon him being elected to President." Source: Media Release Picture courtesy: Maq Qureshi/FB profile Posted Jun 07 2011, 08:13 PM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: MAQ T20, USACA election, Maq Qureshi, Mahammad Qureshi

• USA Cricket: USACA Interim VP Syed wants more attention given to youth and women's recruitment

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Peter Della Penna Rafey Syed, the newly appointed interim second vice president of USACA, wants changes made to the USACA Constitution to penalize leagues by stripping them of their USACA membership if they do not have at least one woman on each league’s administrative body. “How many women are there participating in US cricket right now? If you look around it’s a male dominated game right now,” said Syed in a recent interview. “A very small percentage of women are playing cricket. I don’t know if it’s about the cultures or if people are not into it.” “I want every league in the United States for it to be a constitutional requirement that if you don’t have a women’s cricket coordinator or some sort of role for a woman in the league then they should not be granted full membership. There are two things. First of all, we promote cricket. There should not be any gender bias. Second one is, if you have a woman, she is the one who raises the children and she knows how much time her kids would allocate for games. Obviously, in America all the kids go and play different games. If we promote women to be a part of the league administration, they will call other women. They will be the first encouraging point so that the women could come and play and she could pull her kids whether it’s a boy or girl to play cricket. It’s very important.” When asked how receptive league presidents would be to approving of such a measure, Syed said it would not happen overnight, but hopes that pressure would be applied to enact change. “This may take time but it will come,” said Syed. “If a push comes from the board itself saying that we need to have something in the constitution and if the board passes a law saying that every league has to abide by this otherwise they can’t be a full member, then I don’t think it should be a problem. The league presidents will have to agree with it.” Syed also wants to have leagues make a more concerted effort to recruit players from outside traditional communities to become involved in the game, especially at the youth level. “Right now how the youth cricket is based, it’s all the people who are coming from the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean,” said Syed. “They are the people who are playing cricket. If you look at the ratio, how many people who were born here in the US are part of the cricket community? A lot of people say we don’t have facilities for coaching. If you go to any league, they will have tournaments organized and if you look at any particular team, all the mature players came from overseas and they are playing here. If you look at the ratio of 100, 99 people are from overseas and maybe there’s a one percent chance that somebody US born is playing cricket.” “We need to have coaching. Wherever you go in the country, they don’t have free coaching. Sometimes they set up some camps but that’s not enough. You have to have mandatory free coaching by every league to get full membership. That should be a requirement to become a full member of USACA.” Syed had been involved as Secretary in the Central East Region administration for four years before taking up his role on the USACA board. He also represented the Central East as a player several years ago in a USACA Western Conference tournament. However, he hopes to make a bigger impact at the national level over the next several months and potentially over the next three years should he be reelected to the USACA board at the general elections later in 2011. “The USACA board has to come up with more solid foundational work. We have been playing cricket for many years and we don’t have a solid foundation. We don’t have youth or the general American people playing cricket. We don’t have women playing cricket. We don’t have enough grounds. There are a lot of things that need to be discussed and go over all the time.” Posted Jun 07 2011, 09:50 AM with 11 comment(s) Filed under: USACA, Women's cricket, Central East Region cricket, Rafey Syed

• Nadia Gruny etches a ton into history books as Tri-State Lynx continues undefeated run.

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By John Aaron The Tri-State Lynx Women’s Cricket squad is indisputably the most organized and well coached women’s cricket program in the United States at the moment, as is evidenced by their rate of success under the watchful eyes of their coach and mentor Linden Fraser. Pic (right): Nadia Gruny registered the second recorded century in USA women's cricket Meeting for the second time in this year’s Tri-State Women’s One-Day Tournament in the tri-state area, the undefeated Lynx with an arsenal of players, including several US national players and others who have represented cricketing nations, clobbered New York Warriors by 179 runs last Saturday at Gateway Park in Brooklyn. The Tri-State Lynx appears to showcase a different star on their team each outing. This past weekend it was Nadia Gruny scoring only the second century (107 not out) in US history by a female player. The other and first one, a few weeks ago by Lorena Vitte, 100 not out. USA national player Indomatie Goordial-John missed scoring a ton by the margin of a single boundary earlier in the tournament. All three ladies no doubt help to make Tri-State Lynx the cricket powerhouse it is fast becoming. In their now familiar orange and blue uniforms, the team enjoyed a romp in the park against the New York Warriors, themselves with a few former national players from other cricketing countries. With recent women’s cricket benefactor John Warburg in attendance and a moderate group of spectators, the Lynx paraded another of their stars Nadia Gruny, and appears to do so at every outing, making it virtually impossible for the opposition to identify and target a specific player as the threat to victory. However, staples like Indomatie-Goordial John are almost expected to be involved in the Lynx victories. Last Saturday was no exception, as Goordial-John grabbed 4 wickets for 5 runs off of 8 overs, and including 5 maidens. Batting first Tri-State Lynx was in a spot of trouble as teammate Tamika Kowlessar “on loan” to the Warriors struck early claiming the prized scalps of Lorena Vitte and Meena Bhaskar (sister of 15 year-old teammate Shebani Bhaskar), but not before Catherine Joy Jones, a pillar of the Warriors had sent USA national wicketkeeper Monique Mathee back to the stands without scoring. The Lynx would recover from 15 for three to score 238 for 5 in their allotted 40 overs, albeit recording one of their lowest totals of the tournament, thus far. The Lynx if bothered by the tally did not appear worried at all. It was business as usual – go out and get the job done. Pic (right): Catherine Joy Jones took 2 wickets and scored 67 runs The Tri-State Lynx’ total was a result of worthy partnerships between Nadia Gruny and three of her teammates – Karen Bayles, Goordial-John and skipper Candacy Atkins. Gruny who arrived in New York on a red eye flight from San Francisco just hours before the start of the match, would record the highest total (107 n.o.) by any US women’s player and only the second recorded century. Her painstaking recovery knock included 6x4s and a massive 14 off of the final over. She was ably assisted by Karen Bayles, herself arriving on Saturday morning from Florida and scoring 33, including 3x4s. Indomatie Goordial-John and Candacy Atkins each scored 29, as part of the Lynx total of 238. Tamika Kowlessar with figures of 5-0-26-2 and Catherine Joy Jones 8-1-52-2 were responsible in large part for the five Lynx dismissals. In response, it was a daunting and uphill task for the New York Warriors, with a batting line up that was missing US national Joan Alexander. New York was off to a disastrous start losing wickets at rapid intervals, but standout bowler, turned batswoman Catherine Joy Jones was applauded for a stalwart effort, scoring 67 in the New York Warriors response of 119 all out in 29 overs. The only other player to reach double figures was veteran Beverly Brown with 17, including two boundaries. However, it was Jones’ enthralling knock that kept the crowd on its feet, as she played an array of shots, both aggressive and defensive, while dispatching the ball to the ropes on eight occasions. Unfortunately, Jones ran out of partners and gas, shortly before the embarrassing debacle came to an end, as the late afternoon sunlight crawled across the Gateway Park and away from the Belt Parkway towards downtown Brooklyn. Stalwart Goordial-John’s devastating match figures of 4 for 5 was supported by Shondell Ward 7.2-2-31-3, Shinead Emerson 4-1-28-2 and Triholder Marshall 7-0-37-1. When one looks at the production effort of the Tri-State Lynx against the backdrop of the commitment and effort the ladies make to participate, it is not surprising that they have yielded the success they have in less than two years. Nadia Gruny took the red eye flight out of San Francisco and entered the record books; Karen Bayles and Monique Mathee arrived on Saturday morning from Florida just hours before the match and contributed 33 and some excellent work behind the sticks, respectively. Lynx skipper Candacy Atkins worked until midnight on Friday night, before traveling from Connecticut to contribute 29, and so the stories go, for both teams I am sure, but one cannot question the dedication of the Tri-State Lynx players and their coach Linden Fraser, to a cause they are all passionate about – making the USA national team. “I am amazed by the level of commitment and passion of these ladies,” said benefactor, cricket fan and player John Warburg, as he watched the match to the end.   Posted Jun 07 2011, 06:48 AM with no comments Filed under: Nadia Gruny, Goordial-John, Catherine Joy Jones

• SER Tournament: Pacemen bowl Georgia Supreme to victory in Game 1. Pitches sabotaged.

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Conroy Reid The team from Mid Atlantic Cricket Conference (MACC) did not show up.   And an attempt by unscrupulous individuals (or groups) to sabotage the SER tournament games at the new facility in Orlando caused some disruptions but failed in intent.   Pic (Right):  An attempt by unscrupulous individuals (or groups) to sabotage the SER tournament games at the new facility in Orlando caused some disruptions but failed in intent.  The games went on and Georgia Supreme Cricket League prevailed in the end. On center field it was GSCL vs Florida Southeast Cricket League (FSCL), while at the South field it was Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference (AGCC) vs South Florida Cricket Alliance(SFCA). The North field had been rendered useless by the saboteurs, while days of work and commitment by the host salvaged the event by them completing repairs to the damage done to the other two. After winning the toss, FSCL chose to bowl first and were rewarded immediately. Mumby pulled across a short one from Potgeiter, and failed to handle the high bounce and pace off the new surface – and it was 1 for 1. Tony Powell, former Jamaica national, and Morgan staged a mildly patient recover to post a 42 run partnership before he steered one straight into the hands at slips. Later, with the score at 51, Morgan was too nonchalant on latching onto a Singh long-hop, and gave a simple catch to square-leg. Then in quick succession two more wickets fell. First, Parchment played all-around a straight one from Singh and was hit plumb in front, and then Taylor edged a wide delivery to be taken by the keeper diving forward and inches off the ground. At 54 for 5 off just 15 overs, GSCL was reeling, and the touted deep batting lineup seemed rather limp, even more so when Seelai was run out at 72 for 6, and McFarlane fell to Javed at 93 for 7. But batting at number seven was Lindo – the regular opening batsman for his home club Tropical, and at number nine was captain Mark Baker. Under the now sweltering Florida sun, a 14 overs, 63 runs, eight wicket partnership developed between these two, and the FSCL fielders withered, failing to grasp a few simple chances. When Dyer was last out in the 46th over, the recovery had been staged and a modest 185 had been posted. FSCL’s run chase suffered an early setback to the fast and furious pace attack of Dyer and Jowayne Powell. The slips and gully cordon accounted for two quick wickets at 10 for 2 as Ahmed edged to Morgan, and Liyanage did similarly, but to Powell. Mungal and Hassan put on 34 for the third wicket before disaster struck – three wickets for no runs. First, Dyer removed Mungal, caught by Taylor for 20. Then Powell bowled “the over of the day”. With successive deliveries he team up with Parchment at first slip to remove Ashton and Timitiaz, as both edged fast rising deliveries on off stumps. At 44 for 5, FSCL back was against the wall, but Hassan and Blake refused to give in, and produced their own version of the Lindo/Baker partnership by adding 53 off 13. McFarlane then produced the “ball of the day”. A fast turning, bouncing off-break, evaded the long forward defensive prod by Blake to clip the top of mid stump, and it was 97 for 6. Hassan continued to fight, reaching a well deserved half century before falling to McFarlane for 56. Dyer and Powell then returned to finish off the tail-enders, and GSCL seal the victory as the winds picked up and the temperature dropped.   Posted Jun 06 2011, 08:11 PM with 7 comment(s) Filed under: Georgia Supreme Cricket League, SER tournament, vandalized pitches, Sabotaged pitches

• Dish Network, SG Cricket join impressive list of sponsors for Radiant Info Atlantic Region Inter-league

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket USACA's Atlantic Region reached out to supporters and sponsors of cricket in a sponsorship drive to enhance the appeal of the Atlantic Region Inter-league tournament.   Radiant Info, a prominent sponsor of cricket in the region has signed on as the Title Sponsor and the tournament will now be called the Radiant Info Atlantic Region Inter-league.   The Radiant Info trophy and a cash prize of $1000 will be presented to the winner of the inter-league. Pic (right): Aditya Mishra receiving a prize from NJ Deputy Speaker Upendra Chivukula at NJ's Radiant Info T20 event.  (File photo) Speaking on the sidelines of the ICUSA vs CLNJ match on May 30th, Venu Myneni, CEO of Radiant Info, said: "We are proud to be associated with yet another premier championship in the region.  This tournament will not only decide the best league across the Atlantic Region,  it will provide a stepping stone for greater visibility if you are an aspirational cricketer." Dish Network, the leader in cricket programming in USA, has signed on as a Gold Sponsor.   The tournament MVP will receive the Dish Network MVP Award and a gift certificate valued at $250.   The New Inning Foundation, a supporter of youth cricket across the country, will also step in as a Gold Sponsor.   The New Inning Foundation will present the New Inning Emerging Player award and a $250 gift certificate to the best U-19 player in the tournament.  Speaking about his organization's support, Ram Varadarajan, Founder of the New Inning Foundation said: "I am pleased that the tournament rules encourage U19 cricketers by giving a bonus point for a winning effort by a team that includes an U19 cricketer." SG Cricket has agreed to come on board as an equipment sponsor.   The tournament will be played using SG Test balls and the Best Batsman will receive the SG Best Batsman trophy and a cricket bat made by SG. InfoDrive and DreamCricket.com signed up as silver sponsors.  The top bowler and best fielder will each receive the InfoDrive Medal and four free hours at DreamCricket indoor nets.  DreamCricket.com team will also lend its score repository system for the tournament. [If you wish to sponsor cricket in the region or assist with fundraising, please email frontfoot@dreamcricket.com.  SG sponsorship courtesy of Bedessee Imports.] Posted Jun 03 2011, 12:37 PM with no comments Filed under: DreamCricket Academy, New Inning Foundation, InfoDrive, Radiant Info Atlantic Region Inter-League Tournament, Dish Network cricket

• Queens to face Brooklyn in 2011 NY Mayor's Cup Final

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By John L. Aaron The 2011 Mayor’s Cup Final kicks off this Saturday, June 4 at 10:00 AM at Seaview Park at 80th Street and Seaview Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. The fourth annual Mayor’s Cup Twenty20 Cricket Tournament finals will see the Borough of Queens represented by an Eastern American Cricket Association (EACA) XI come up against the Borough of Brooklyn appropriately represented by a Brooklyn League XI. The Queens Borough President Helen Marshall’s XI has won the Mayor’s Cup the first two years it has been staged, while Marty Markowitz’s Brooklyn XI won last year, and will no doubt be looking to repeat the feat. The Borough of Manhattan XI represented by an Under-25 XI won in 2009. Queens will be aiming for its third championship ring this Saturday with a team led by Karen Ganesh and including players selected from among Tamesh Balwant, Henderson Blades, Adrian Gordan, Telston Johnson, Rocky Kowchai, Andy Mohammed (Vice Capt.), Zaaid Majeed, Prashant Nair, Michael Noble, Carlton Senior, and Clain Williams, with Sew Shivnarine, Coach, and Courtney Legall, Manager. The final Brooklyn XI will be selected from Mark Audain (Captain), Bilal Ahmad, Adil Ali, Gregory Anthony, Dominic Audain, Romeo Dean, Mohammad Imran, Andre Kirton, Imran Mazhar, Asad Munawar, Mohammad Naeem, Abdul Qayyum, Gavin Smith, Kester Sylvester, (Vice Capt.), and Mohamed Tayyab, with Lance Debarrio, Manager. The Queens XI will be sponsored by Golden Arrow Sports Bar located at 107-14 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, NY and by EACA president Rudy Persaud. The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens earned the right to meet in the finals by eliminating their opponents in fine fashion on their way to this Saturday’s finale, expected to be watched by a large group of cricket fans from the metropolitan area, including New York City Department of Parks and Recreation officials. Queens I (EACA) defeated Queens II represented by a New York Nassau XI, before defeating Staten Island represented by the Metropolitan District Cricket League. The Borough of Brooklyn I squad defeated Manhattan represented by the Commonwealth Cricket League, while earning a walk-over from Brooklyn II (American Cricket League). Along the way the Bronx (Combined Under-25), lost to Queens II (NY Nassau) and Staten Island (Metropolitan). Manhattan (Commonwealth) lost to Brooklyn I in one of the final deciding clashes preceding this weekend’s championship final. This Saturday’s final promises to be one of youth versus guile and experience, as the more experienced Brooklyn XI face off against a youthful Queens XI, missing the likes of veterans Lennox Cush, USA skipper Steve Massiah who enjoyed a century and one fifty in the earlier rounds of this year’s tournament, and Zamin Amin, among the notable and experienced stars from the previous tournaments. However, it would be interesting to see how the Brooklyn big bats handle spinning sensation Prashant Nair, Karen Ganesh, Carlton Senior, and USA pacer Adrian Gordon, just back from training spells in the UK and India. Posted Jun 03 2011, 07:22 AM with no comments Filed under: Mayor's Cup

• NWCL winner of NW Region's Reebok T20 inter-league tournament

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket Seattle area's North West Cricket League won North West Region's 2011 Reebok T20 tournament over the Memorial Day weekend.   Pic (Right) - Sunny Singh, MVP of the event receiving a Reebok bat from Hemant Buch, Chairman of the NW Region. NWCL finished undefeated in the tournament winning all three games that they played.  One game against Sacramento Cricket Association was rained out. NWCL's victories came on the back of superb bowling performances by USA U-19 bowler Naseer Jamali, spin bowler Samarth Shah, and paceman Srinivasa Raghavan.   The bowling was so effective that the team restricted their opponents to under 100 runs in each of the three matches.   In what is a clear proof of the recent gains made by the next generation of cricketers, several U-19 players represented their leagues including Saqib Saleem, Saad Khan, Pranay Suri and Jodhbir Singh. Bay Area's Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA) finished runners up winning 3 of their matches but losing against NWCL.  Arjun Thyagrajan, Sunny Singh, Ranvir Kumar, Imran Khan and Rishi Bharadwaj recorded impressive performances for NCCA.   Bay Area Cricket Alliance (BACA) won two of its matches losing to NCCA and NWCL.   Left arm fast bowler Iftikhar Khan and batsman Snehal Fulzele were impressive for BACA.  California Cricket League was the beneficiary of a forfeited match against Sacramento.   Best Batsman: Arjun Tyagarajan from NCCA (129 from 73 balls faced) Best Bowler: Iftikhar Khan from BACA (10 wickets for 77 runs from 15 overs) and Samarth Shah from NWCL (10 wickets for 60 runs from 10 overs) Chairman's Award (MVP): Sunny Singh from NCCA (125 runs at a 62.5 average) Scoresheets: http://super25cricket.org/index.asp?tx_id=1192&m_id=3&mm_id=9 Satndings/Points: http://super25cricket.org/index.asp?tx_id=1192&m_id=3&mm_id=11 Stats: http://super25cricket.org/index.asp?tx_id=1192&m_id=3&mm_id=10 Posted Jun 02 2011, 09:24 AM with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Seattle Cricket, North West Region cricket, Bay Area Cricket, NWCL

• Former USA U-19 player Ravi Timbawala lights up SCCA Division One

  Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket By Peter Della Penna Former USA U-19 player Ravi Timbawala is making a strong bid to break into the USA Senior team on the back of his blazing form in the first month of the Southern California Cricket Association season. In five 45-over matches for Vijayta CC, all of which have been played on turf wickets at Woodley Park just outside of Los Angeles, Timbawala has three centuries and one half-century to lead the league’s run charts with 438 at an average of 219. “I have been going to [USA selection] camps the past couple years,” said Timbawala. “Last year unfortunately I missed out. I couldn’t put up any performances at the regionals or anything so I missed out on the camp. I was disappointed at myself that I was very close the year before and the fact that last year I couldn’t make it, I took it upon myself to go back out there again and try and score as many runs as I can.” “I have been scoring the past couple seasons and I just wanted to make sure that instead of scoring those 700 or 800 runs whatever it is, I’d rather concentrate on converting my 50s into bigger scores and that’s what I wanted to focus on so that when I do go and play nationals, hopefully that will help me a lot and hopefully try and play for the US soon.” Timbawala  finished as the leading run scorer in 2010 for the SCCA Division One with 740 runs at 56.92 in 16 innings. However, he had trouble converting his starts into big scores. Image (right) - Ravi Timbawala (front left) at the 2009 USACA Western Conference Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn. [Courtesy: Ravi Timbawala] Timbawala registered seven 50s but only one century. This year, his mission has changed from thinking about scoring runs to just occupying the crease for as long as possible. He’s also gotten a lot of help from his teammates, both from the club and the region. “I’ve been working a lot with my teammates, especially my captain [Mehul Dave] and my other teammate Timil Patel,” said Timbawala. The 27-year-old Patel played 38 first-class Ranji Trophy matches for Gujarat before moving to the USA. “They’ve been helping with some of my batting. To get tips from someone who has played first-class cricket in India always helps.” “Aditya Thyagarajan, when I always went to camps with him, he always told me whenever you go out there, just think long, just think batting out the overs. Don’t think about the runs you get. Just go out there bat, just come out not out. Those words still stick to me today. That’s what I’ve been trying to do since. It was a process. That’s why you see a lot of 50s last year but not 100s. I’m thankful that it’s coming now. He always told me that in order to play at the next level, you should in local leagues, you always want to bat longer and longer and longer and come in unbeaten. I’ve just been trying to do that, just bat long.” Timbawala also credits Reggie Benjamin for giving him the initial tools for success. The newly hired Bahamas coach was recently in Los Angeles and paid Timbawala a visit to see how his game was going before giving a few pointers. “Reginald Benjamin has always been working with me,” said Timbawala. “I did get an opportunity to work with him a couple weeks back when he was visiting. After he left I got two hundreds in two games. His coaching has always been valuable to me. When he got here, I already played three games. I had the opportunity to work with him. That week we didn’t have a game. Then after that I got 134 and then 119 not out.” Timbawala turns 22 next week, just two days before he graduates from UC-Irvine with a degree in chemistry. He begins pharmacy school in the fall at USC, but before then he’s hoping to make a big impression at the USACA Twenty20 Nationals later this month in New Jersey. A couple of big scores at a national tournament will help his chances of earning a spot in the senior squad for the ICC Americas Twenty20 Division One in July. “I’m looking forward to the tournament that’s coming up,” said Timbawala. “Hopefully everything goes well and the South West Region team can pull out a good performance.” Posted Jun 02 2011, 03:47 AM with no comments Filed under: USA U-19 cricket, USA cricket, SCCA cricket, Ravi Timbawala, USACA Twenty20 championship