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By Peter Della Penna

Team Grades

Batting – C+: Just one half-century in the tournament for USA among the seven produced in the week with four made by Bermuda and two for Canada. Batting was not easy on the wickets used during the tournament, especially on the last two days when the ball was routinely stopping in the pitch. However, one would have expected batsmen to make adjustments by the third or fourth game and with the exception of a few players that didn’t appear to be happening. Only two partnerships crossed 50 – against Suriname and Argentina – an indication of how the team struggled to build and sustain momentum. Certain players need to have their position in the order adjusted… or eliminated.

Bowling – B-: Eight wickets were taken with pace, 24 using spin. The ratio is partially a reflection of conditions, but also indicative of the lack of quality pace bowling depth. The departure of Kevin Darlington leaves USA thin on experience outside of Usman Shuja. Most of the opposition was dealt with appropriately, but the few times that USA’s bowlers came up against a decent batsman who took them on – Canada’s Khushroo Wadia and Bermuda’s Lionel Cann in particular – they seemed unsure of how to react. Against teams with more batting depth in next year’s World Twenty20 Qualifier, they might run into trouble.

Fielding – C-: Never USA’s strong suit, it was once again less than stellar in this event. Whereas the problem at USA’s last tournament in Hong Kong was related to chances being dropped, the major issue in Florida was that fielders weren’t even getting a hand to several chances. In a format of the game which requires fielders to be on their toes at all times, USA was consistently slow in reacting to the ball coming off the bat, particularly fielders on the boundary. The dry cleaning bill for uniforms must have been minimal because it was rare to see someone inside the circle dive or slide in an attempt to cut the ball off from reaching the outfield. Little things add up to make a big difference.

Fitness – C: This is partially tied to the fielding as better conditioned and fitter athletes wouldn’t be having as much trouble in the field as some of USA’s players do. The running between the wickets was ordinary. Weather conditions played a part in some of this with the temperature in the high 80s to low 90s throughout the series combined with heavy humidity. However, USA is not going to get any respite from the heat next March in Dubai and recent history shows that their fitness gets even worse when they enter an international tournament during Northern Hemisphere winters.

Individual Grades

Gowkaran Roopnarine – B-: Turned in the highest score of the event for USA with 59 not out against Suriname and finished second overall on the team in runs scored behind Sushil Nadkarni. Juicy looked impervious against Suriname and Argentina, but flaws in his technique were exposed by Cayman Islands and Canada. Prior to this tournament, the last time he came up against quality bowling was in the 2008 WICB Cup when he scored two runs in three innings. It will be interesting to see how he might perform against the likes of Hamid Hassan and Boyd Rankin.

Sushil Nadkarni – B+: Finished as USA’s leading scorer in the tournament and third overall with 149 runs. There wasn’t a single game where he didn’t make a decent contribution as he turned in scores of 26, 26, 18, 40 and 39 not out. He could have carried on to bigger scores from those starts, particularly against Canada. However, it’s clear that USA would have had a much more difficult time finishing second if he wasn’t there and his presence did wonders for the team. His performance underscored what a colossal blunder the selectors made by leaving him out of the original squad.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni file photo. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Aditya Mishra – B: Came into this tournament brimming with confidence and it showed. Mishra finished third overall on the runs chart for USA and scored most of his runs with graceful batting that befits his Ranji Trophy experience. It’s entertaining to watch him use his feet to the spinners, something rarely seen in the past from previous batsmen on the national team. He looks set to nail down a spot on USA’s roster in all formats for the foreseeable future.

Steve Massiah – F: At this year’s USACA Twenty20 National Tournament, he only batted once – coming in at number five against Atlantic to score 14* – in what appeared to be a gesture to give lesser known players a chance to win a spot in USA’s T20 team. With hindsight, it looked more like an attempt to disguise his shortcomings in this format. In his 13 career Twenty20 innings for USA, his strike rate has never finished at 100 or better in any innings and he’s only crossed into double-figures on three occasions. This week was just about rock bottom for him – scores of 0, 0, 17 and 4 against mediocre competition – and the way he arranged the batting lineup against Canada was bizarre. It’s time for him to step aside and let someone else take the reins in both T20 and 50-over cricket while he takes time to focus on his one-day batting because he simply doesn’t deserve to be in USA’s Twenty20 squad.

Quasen Alfred – C: Scored 14 not out, 20 and 11 in three innings against the three bottom feeders in this tournament. As he demonstrated at the USACA Twenty20 National Tournament, he was capable of blasting the ball over the ropes. He split the webbing between his thumb and index finger while spilling a chance on a diving effort against Argentina and as a result missed the final two games against the top two bowling attacks. It would have useful to see how he would have measured up to Canada’s attack.

Akeem Dodson – C+: Finished with 28 runs in limited opportunities with the bat. Gave a nice boost to the team’s total at the end of the innings against Argentina, but failed against Canada and got out playing a mindless shot when he had a chance to open against Bermuda. His main responsibility was behind the stumps where he kept very well with the exception of four byes he conceded standing back to the pace of Allen in the match against Cayman Islands. He won rave reviews from tournament officials for the way he hustled after the ball when it was played to a vacant area in the circle. When that was combined with his two catches and four stumpings, it led to him winning the award for Best Wicketkeeper at the tournament.

Timroy Allen – C+: He took four wickets against Cayman Islands in impressive fashion but failed to follow that up with anything significant and only had one more wicket on the week. His economy rate was solid though and he did a great job to restrict teams in the power play overs while bowling a variety of pace and spin. On the batting side, he came in at number six against Canada with the pressure on to hit fours and sixes but couldn’t get the job done. Allen finished with 30 runs in three innings at an average of 15. More is expected of him at the crease.

Orlando Baker – C: For the second tournament in a row, his talents were underutilized. The only time he got a proper chance to bat was against Bermuda when he scored 15 not out on a difficult wicket to help Nadkarni get USA across the line. With the ball, he only bowled nine overs and took four wickets, but three of those came against Canada at a crucial time in the match. It’s clear that Baker loves to be loved because when he’s given responsibility, he responds by shining brightly. However, when he’s pushed into the background, his body language becomes poor and it rubs off on some of the other players.

Bhim George – A: It’s hard to imagine having a better debut than what the left-arm orthodox spinner did in Florida. George finished on top of the leaderboard at the tournament with 13 wickets, four clear of Canada’s Zahid Hussain, and also had a phenomenal 4.16 economy rate. He produced one of only two five-wicket hauls in the tournament, 5 for 9 against Argentina, and received the Best Bowler Award at the post tournament presentation. The selectors have been criticized for many decisions but they should receive credit for putting George in the team because he was USA’s standout player on the week.

Image (right) - Bhim George file photo. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Usman Shuja – B-: Shuja was stingy in the runs he gave away for the first three games, routinely putting the opposition behind the 8-ball in the power play overs. The pitches were not conducive to pace and as a result he only took two wickets on the week, but he built pressure which allowed the spinners who came after him to strike. His only major blemish was the thrashing he received in one costly over against Canada when Tournament MVP Khushroo Wadia was on strike. The 22-run over completely altered the course of that match and inflated his economy rate to 5.28, but otherwise he was reliable.

Muhammad Ghous – D: For one of USA’s most promising talents, he can also be frustrating to watch. His lackluster performance in limited playing time in Hong Kong was not an aberration. Batting units have caught on to the fact that he doesn’t turn the ball much and in response, Ghous has not done a good job of figuring out how to outsmart them with variations in pace and flight. He took three wickets for 78 runs in 18 overs on the week. His economy rate of 4.33 is acceptable for T20 benchmarks but the scores across the board this week were low so it looks more impressive than it actually was. The major factor as to why his grade is so low is because his fielding has turned into a severe liability for the rest of the team. His poor habits have seen him banished to the third man boundary by Atlantic Region captain Neil McGarrell. Massiah tried to hide him there in this tournament as well, but Ghous missed a very costly chance while fielding at third man on the second ball of Canada’s innings and made a similar blunder at long on the next day against Bermuda. Ghous was a brilliant fielder at the Under-19 level. Those days are long gone. There are better spinners around the country who take their bowling more seriously and can field better too. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to drop Ghous in the short-term to give him a wakeup call he desperately needs. Maybe then he’ll develop a little more maturity.

Japen Patel – Incomplete: Played two games and batted once, scoring 10 against Canada, an innings in which he was lucky not to be bowled first ball. He showed positive energy in the field.

Adrian Gordon – Incomplete: Bowled two overs against Bermuda and got hammered. He gets far too carried away bowling short. He can get away with it at club level against people who think he’s lightning quick. At international level, good batsmen see him as nothing more than medium pace so his short ball is just asking to be smacked around. Once he learns to bowl a fuller length, he will become much more effective.

Samarth Shah – Incomplete: Played one match and took 2 for 16 bowling at the death against Bermuda. Not a bad debut and demonstrated the value of left-arm orthodox spinners.

What the team needs heading into the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier

Preparation: This journalist took an 8:50 p.m. flight on Sunday July 17 from Newark to Fort Lauderdale and who did he see walking down the aisle after him but Muhammad Ghous. It’s not the first, nor will it be the last, show of arrogance for the administration to expect players to show up 12 hours before the first match and perform like world beaters. They can get away with it for matches against teams from the Americas, but not having proper preparation against the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan is asking for trouble.

When the team went to Dubai in 2010 for the last World Twenty20 Qualifier, they got to play two warm-up matches against the UAE before the tournament started and wound up finishing fifth after beating Scotland and losing to Ireland and Afghanistan. They’ll need something more significant in terms of preparation prior to leaving for Dubai to have any hope of finishing in the top two in next year’s qualifier. There is currently nothing scheduled for the men’s team between now and March when the Qualifier is due to be held so making plans to fill that gap in the calendar should be a high priority.