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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

After being a dominant force at the Under-19 level, USA batsman Ryan Corns has had a stop start experience so far trying to step up to the senior level. With USA’s first game at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE now just a week away, one of USA’s up and coming talents wants to show that he can transfer his skills from 50-over cricket to the game’s shortest form.

The 21-year-old Corns made his senior team debut against Italy at 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Hong Kong, scoring 30 coming in at number three in a losing cause. He feels he did okay under the circumstances, but says he has a lot more to offer.

“I thought I performed fairly well considering the amount of nerves that I was feeling walking out to bat,” said Corns. “I was shaking like anything. My main goal was just to get myself in, not play any rash shots and just bat for as long as I can. I was a little bit nervous walking in but after I faced the first ball and felt the ball on my bat then I was on my way.”

“When I went out in the first game, it was to prove to myself that I was good enough to be there and to prove to other people that I was worth being picked in that spot. I wanted to prove to myself and to the selectors and to the team that I was meant to be there.”

Image (right) - Ryan Corns file photo. [Courtesy: ICC/Bryan Vandenburgh]

Five months after coming back from Hong Kong, the inaugural USACA Twenty20 Nationals took place in New Jersey. The tournament was badly affected by rain on the first day and poor field conditions the rest of the weekend in Newark. Corns opened the batting for the Central West Region with current USA captain Sushil Nadkarni, but struggled to produce runs in the three games his team played.

“Leading up to that tournament I had played in the regional T20 tournament and I batted fairly well there,” said Corns. “But based on my performance in New Jersey, which wasn’t good at all, I wasn’t gonna be disappointed if I wasn’t picked because I know that I didn’t perform well enough in the nationals to be selected.”

When the USA squad was selected for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in July, Corns was left out. As a result, he says he committed himself over the summer to develop a more attacking style. Back in Texas, he participated in two IPL style Twenty20 tournaments: the Houston Premier League and the Dallas Premier League. Such was the determination of Corns to improve that he drove five hours each way from Houston to Dallas on several occasions or took a plane on others to play in the DPL in order to hone his game.

“We had the Houston one first and the team I played for won that,” said Corns. “I scored quite a lot of runs in that. Then I got called to go play in the Dallas Premier League along with Jermaine Lawson who played in my team and I opened the batting with Orlando Baker in most games. I just focused on being more of an attacking batsman without throwing my wicket away and again every game I scored quite a lot of runs and we ended up winning that tournament as well. From those two tournaments, I guess I proved to myself that I can actually play Twenty20 and be successful in it.”

After receiving an invite to a USACA selection camp in January, Corns arrived to play in four trial matches. The first day of the camp included a four-hour fitness test followed by the first trial match, one in which he didn’t perform very well. He came back out with a vengeance on the second day and caught the eye of the selectors. Nadkarni, who like Corns plays his cricket in Houston and has been a teammate of Corns with the Central West for a few years now, says it was like watching a new player on the second day of the trials.

“Ryan was one of the players who had come into the selection games with not much cricket behind him and the first game that we played he looked completely out of sorts,” said Nadkarni. “The stadium wicket in Florida had low bounce and he was not able to middle the ball. He was edging it. He wasn’t getting out but he wasn’t really getting runs and he wasn’t looking impressive while on the field.”

“I don’t know what happened from that innings to the next two innings that he played in the next two selection games but he came back the following day and it was like a big transformation in a player. He ended up hitting some huge sixes. I think two of his sixes went 90 plus yards on the stadium and he was looking a very very different batsman, very fluent and running hard between the wickets. That’s where I think selectors really noticed a difference in his game from the first day to the next couple of days.”

A few weeks later, Corns found his name back in the USA squad. Like many players, he’s been spending the time since then working hard on his fitness. When he was part of the USA U-19 squad at the 2009 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Canada, Corns had to play seven 50-over games in 10 days to finish off the event. Looking at how tired he was by the end of that tournament, he says he’s been put more effort into training this time around to make sure he won’t struggle physically in the UAE.

“Prior to that tournament [in Canada], I thought that I was relatively fit. I was probably match fit halfway through that tournament and the second half of that tournament I was starting to feel it. My body was tired, muscles were tired. I had to work on my stamina and endurance fitness to be able to go through a tournament without any muscle fatigue. I think that will be a big factor this tournament, just how long people can endure nonstop… I mean yeah it’s Twenty20 cricket but in Twenty20 cricket you run around a lot more than you do in 50-over cricket. I just think that endurance will be a factor for just about every team and how long they can last on the field without getting tired.”

Because the team hasn’t been able to train together since the selection camp in January, it’s been up to each player to be responsible enough to show up ready to go for the team’s stretch of seven group games in eight days to start off the tournament, beginning with a match against Uganda in Sharjah on March 13. Corns has been using the P90X2 physical training regimen to get himself in the best possible shape for the event.

“There’s no point cheating yourself telling people you’re so-called fit when you’re really not,” said Corns. “For myself that’s pretty much the main thing I’ve been focusing on the last month is just getting super match fit and physically fit.”

Nadkarni says that in addition to potentially having a role in the middle order, Corns might be expected to contribute a few overs of left-arm spin depending on the state of matches.

“Ryan has been improving every season,” said Nadkarni. “He brings a lot of the younger energy that we need on this team.”

Corns is looking forward to getting the opportunity to play in the facilities on offer in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah at the tournament, especially since they’re a far cry from some of the grounds that players in the USA have to deal with on a regular basis.

“It’ll be a lot better than playing on that ground in New Jersey I can tell you that much,” said Corns. “I’m excited. I love playing in stadiums. It’s the big stage and I feel that when you play in stadiums you want to perform at your best. I mean, it’s exciting. I’m excited beyond words to play in those stadiums.”

The USA will be leaving from New York tonight and will arrive in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night before playing three warm-up games in Sharjah. The first will be against a local UAE side on Thursday the 8th while the second will be against either Namibia or another local side on Friday the 9th. The third game will be against Denmark ahead of the pre-tournament banquet on Sunday the 11th. Corns will be working to cement a spot in the starting XI for the first official match against Uganda, a game he believes will go a long way toward establishing the path USA will travel during the tournament.

“A team goal for me would be to go out and win our first game because that could be a catalyst to keep us motivated for the games that follow,” said Corns. “I think the first game is very important to us because it will determine the mood in the camp for the games going forward.”

“I just want to do well for the team, do what I’ve been asked to do and to my best for the team, and make a contribution toward the team to win the game.”