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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

In part two of a two-part interview, USACA CEO Darren Beazley goes into his vision for grassroots development in the country especially in regards to youth and infrastructure development. He also talks about trying to establish a unique identity for cricket in the USA and discusses why he took the job of USACA chief executive in an organization historically plagued by poor administration.

The full episode can be accessed by clicking here. Part one of the interview isavailable here and both parts can also be downloaded for free on iTunes. The following is a quote from part two of the interview.

Image (right) - USACA CEO Darren Beazley (right) with USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed (middle) and USA team manager Shoaib Ahmed (left). [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Peter Della Penna: Some people, when you took the job, they thought you must be out of your mind. Why would you want to leave cushy Australia to come where there’s been so much strife and there’s almost like this scarlet letter attached to USACA? Why on earth did you take this job?

Darren Beazley: When I was first talking… I can read. I went online and I went ‘Whoa, this is a challenge’ and look it is. But why? Two reasons. From a personal point of view, I’ve talked about my family and here’s a chance for my wife to come home and for my children to celebrate their American heritage. That’s really important to me. From a career point of view, it’ll either make me or break me Peter. No, look I love challenges. Why would I be trying to develop football into South Africa? Why would I take on Olympic sailing in Australia. I mean Australians all know about sailing but they know about Australia II America’s Cup. When it comes to Olympic sailing it’s a different thing. I don’t know. I’ve just been through this period in my life the last 20 years or so where I want to give something back to the sport and I’m serious about that and sincere about it and I love a challenge. I can tell you that I think the potential for cricket in America is enormous and I know that the ICC feels the same way. So I think that it behooves everybody that’s listening to this tonight to serious think about putting down their guns for a minute, and their swords and whatever else they’re fighting with, their pots and pans, and actually think about this because I actually think this is a really unique point in time. I really do. I think we’ve got a little window of opportunity here to show that we actually can come together and we can actually show the rest of the cricketing world that we can play because we’ve got guys and girls that are big and strong. We have guys and girls that are smart. We’ve got athletic people. We’ve got a great environment and we’ve got lots of money. This country has got lots of money. I know they’ve been through the [Global Financial Crisis] but we’ll come back and we’ve got lots of smart people that know how to run sport better than any other country in the world, better than Australia, better than England, better than you name it. So why wouldn’t we actually try and have a go at trying to do this? It might be utopic and whatever, but every day I’ve got out of bed so far I’ve been really looking forward to coming to work because for every one person that tells me I can’t do it, there’s four people saying you know what we believe you can and that motivates me. In the same way as people threw brickbats at me and said that you’ll never get sailing on free-to-air television in Australia, you’ll never get a big sponsor, you’ll never play any role in Australia’s ability to pull down gold medals. Well, we did all those things and the Australian sailing team is the most successful team that Australia produced at London 2012. So I love a challenge. This is going to be probably the biggest challenge in my life and I’m going to give it my all and if at the end of my time Peter I’ve failed, I can tell you one thing mate. It won’t be because I didn’t try.

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

In part one of a two-part interview, USACA CEO Darren Beazley discusses his background coming from Western Australia where he was an administrator in several different sports including cricket, sailing and Australian Rules Football prior to taking on the position as the USA Cricket Association’s chief executive in February. Among other topics, Beazley also talks about how he hopes to rectify the lack of domestic women’s cricket tournaments since the team came back from the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh as well as how he hopes to recruit the 32 disenfranchised leagues from the 2012 USACA election back into the USACA fold.

The full episode can be accessed by clicking here and is also available for free download on iTunes. The following is a brief selection of quotes from part one of the interview.

Image (right) - USACA CEO Darren Beazley speaking at the tournament banquet following the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 in Florida. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Peter Della Penna: One of the interesting things I found out about you is that way back when, you used to coach or teach lacrosse in Australia. Kind of similar in some ways to what you’re doing here, I can’t imagine lacrosse is a very popular sport in Australia. What was that experience like and what are some of the things you think you can take from that and some of the other jobs you’ve had - you’ve worked with development in the Australian Football League in South Africa, those kind of things. What are some of the things you learned from kind of developing a sport and teaching and spreading a sport where it’s not very popular in those territories that you think you can apply here?

Darren Beazley: My view when I was teaching – I used to be a phys ed teacher many moons ago and that’s where I taught the lacrosse – was that we have a responsibility to expose young people to all types of games. Now lacrosse was a game in Australia that not many of my students had ever played and the thing I liked about it, it was a really good leveling sport because all of a sudden they weren’t playing through the planes like a vertical plane with a cricket shot or a horizontal plane with a baseball shot because all of a sudden you’re catching and throwing from above the waist and there’s not many sports where you do that, particularly with an implement. So it was a great leveler to find out which were the good hand-eye, but also it’s a very fast running game so which were the good athletes who had the big tanks. I guess I took a lot of that knowledge into developing a niche sport in South Africa and I’m going to apply that knowledge here. What are the fundamentals? The fundamentals are that you need to make sure that the experience that you have is an excellent one because there’s too many reasons for young people who come and taste the sport to not play it. Football is very big here, baseball is very big here. So if they come down to cricket and they have a bad experience, the coach doesn’t make it fun or is too hard on the young person coming down, they’re not going to hang around. They’ll go whereas if you’re in an established sport like cricket is in Perth or in Australia, if the coach is a bit hard on you you’re more likely to keep coming back because it is the sport. I think that’s really important and our coaches need to understand no matter where they are in America, they’ve got a responsibility to give our kids a good experience the first time. The second thing in terms of high performance like my very brief involvement with the men’s national team, same thing. We’ve got to make sure that when they come into the national team that everything is done very professionally and very well so that they think they’re part of something very special because if you do it half-hearted, then they’ll go, ‘This sport’s not serious. This sport’s never going to make an impact on the landscape’ and therefore they’re going to go and choose something else. If I can take one lesson that I’ve learned from Major League Soccer, I think the work that they’ve done and I know it’s been a long time that they’ve been doing it, but from what I can see from the outside, they seem to have done a very very professionally run league and I think they’ve shown what can be done. I think cricket can learn a lot from Major League Soccer.

PDP: What do you see the state of cricket in this country at the moment? A lot of people like making the comparison to soccer and they say cricket is right now is where soccer was 30 years ago or 40 years ago and look where soccer is now. What do you see as the state of cricket and how far off cricket can be from becoming that status that soccer is enjoying now in this country?

DB: It’s the biggest challenge I think I face Peter because I’d like to first of all say to your listeners that the volunteers that have got US Cricket to the point that they have should be really proud of themselves. You think about 49 leagues, 1100 teams across the country, about 35,000 people playing the game, that’s a fantastic effort. But it’s all been done on the back of volunteers by and large. My sense is looking at this I don’t know how much further US Cricket could continue to grow on the basis of volunteerism and the reason for that is that our jobs are more and more demanding. Our appreciation of family time is becoming more apparent so people are less and less likely to give up huge amounts of times to go and try and keep things going… This is the big challenge I think for US Cricket to make that move from amateurism to professionalism. What that means is that there’s going to have to be a real delicate balance from my team at USACA to make sure that we completely respect the work that the volunteers have done to this point and to celebrate the great work that they’ve done and in the same time for the volunteers to understand that things have changed. They do need to let go and they do need to take a bit of advice from people who are doing this in a professional capacity. My sense is from the people I’ve met – and I haven’t been over to the west coast yet – but I’ve been in my seven or eight weeks I’ve been in the job, I’ve been around to a lot of places and I’ve met some really good people. I’m pretty confident that we can make a dent. Now further to your point, can we get as far as soccer has in that time? I’m not sure yet Peter. I haven’t seen enough of it to comment on that but I think we’ve got a good foundation.

PDP: A lot of womens players around the country are very frustrated at the lack of opportunities. USA qualified for the 2011 Women’s World Cup Qualifier. It was a big moment for development in US Cricket, in particular women’s development, and things have stalled since then. There was a great opportunity to sustain momentum and keep momentum going in the right direction but since the women have come back from Bangladesh, there has not been a single domestic tournament organized for them. There were some promises made in 2012 for a women’s tournament. Never happened. How do you get that momentum and that faith restored in the women’s program?

DB: I’ve spoken to two ladies, two women’s coordinators, one from New York and one from here in the South East Region. She’s based in Georgia. My first step is to actually get the women’s representatives from each of the eight regions. At the last USACA board meeting, all regional representatives were asked to put up the name of that person. We’ll speak in the next two weeks and I want to get a national view of this of what they’d like to see happen from that. We’ll then develop part of our overall strategy will be, a core pillar will be aimed at women’s cricket. We will devise some sort of a system for this year. I think it’s important. I don’t know how it looks Peter but I think it’s important. What you’re saying is right that our ladies get a chance to play together and have some sort of an opportunity this year because as I said if we’re going to undertake international duties in 2014, we need to start doing that now. I can’t say after eight weeks in the job exactly what that looks like, but I am firmly committed to making sure that there is some opportunity for the ladies to get together and play some sort of competitive cricket.

PDP: One of the things that has bothered a lot of stakeholders around the country is how that elections played out over the course of 2011 and 2012. Reintegration has been a buzzword in international cricket over the last year. Kevin Pietersen’s reintegration process, Ross Taylor’s reintegration process with New Zealand. What is the reintegration process for the 32 leagues that were disenfranchised and not allowed to vote in the last USACA election?

DB: I’m not really 100% sure about all the facts in that. Obviously I’ve spoken to a lot of stakeholders and they’ve certainly told me their view of it good and bad. What I’m here for, I’ve made a big commitment to come here. This is personally I guess for me terrific because my family is from the US but this is a really challenging job but I’m doing it for one reason because I was lucky enough to play cricket in Australia but also overseas and cricket’s been good to me. It’s my turn to put something back. So that’s my motivation. In terms of some of the things that have happened, what I’m hoping to do is I’ve now spoken to seven of the eight regions. Some people are pro-USACA and some are very vocally not pro-USACA but I’ve offered the olive branch. I’ve said I’m happy to talk to everybody. I’ve mapped out some of my ideas and some of my views and it’s resonated. We have got now some member leagues that have paid their dues, already become financial in the last few weeks that are saying, ‘You know what. I’m not happy with what necessarily happened last year but I’m prepared to be a big enough person to put it behind me and I’m gonna give this guy a go’ and I really appreciate that support. Peter, not everyone has done that and I respect that too. That’s fine. But you know what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing. I think that further to what I said previously that most people are not silly that are involved in cricket. They can see good administration when they see it. They recognize it. So my job over the next six to 12 months is to put in place a serious sustainable long-term cricket structure that will have people wanting to come back on board. To those that haven’t signed up again, I would ask you to reconsider. I would ask you please to give us a go, pay your USACA membership. There is a governance committee which is headed up by Shelton Glasgow. Once you’ve paid your USACA membership, they will come in contact with you and they will walk you through what needs to be done in order to address some of the issues. For those that say, ‘No. I don’t want to do that. I’m going to sit back for a year,’ I’ll respect that too. But you know what? I’ll work with anybody to do my very best for US Cricket. It’s not one that I’m going to be able to wave a magic wand Peter, as much as I’d like to, and pretend that some of the things in the past haven’t happened and I don’t want to make comment one way or the other. It’s not for me to do that. I can only look forward. I’m not trying to pretend that what happened in the past didn’t happen, but I can’t really change it and I don’t know enough about it so my sense is the best thing I can do is continue to try and make those offers and those that want to come with us will. Those that don’t? Well, they can make their own decision.

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Batsman Aditya Mishra, who served as USA’s vice-captain at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, has decided to retire from international cricket despite being just 31.

“Want to thank everyone who has helped me in my cricket journey,” Mishra told DreamCricket.com on Sunday night. “Have played cricket with passion and on my terms, wanted to leave with the same spirit. When I realized that I am not needed, I figured there are other things that need my immediate attention.”

Image (right) - Aditya Mishra drives down the ground during his match-winning 62 against Scotland at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In an email obtained by DreamCricket.com, Mishra informed USA coaches Robin Singh and Thiru Kumaran as well as chairman of selectors Selwyn Caesar and USACA CEO Darren Beazley on Sunday afternoon that other commitments now held a higher priority for him.

“It appears that I am not part of USACA plans for the future. I respect you both as cricketers and coaches. Your high expectations from me is probably a result of my first class cricket experience in India and some good past performances for USA in last year’s World Cup qualifiers in Dubai. Due to work related commitments, it would be impossible for me to meet those expectations without proper motivation.”

His email to USACA also highlighted frustrations with the process involved in selecting teams. Mishra makes note of the fact that he was USA’s vice-captain in the UAE last year at a major ICC tournament and served as stand-in captain on a day when Sushil Nadkarni sat out against Scotland. Mishra scored 62 in that match to top score for USA in their seven-wicket win over Scotland, making USA one of only two teams to beat an ODI nation during the group stage of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. That innings earned Mishra recognition from DreamCricket.com at the end of the year as the 2012 New Inning Foundation Individual Performance of the Year. However, he was surprisingly left out of USA’s Twenty20 squad for the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament last month in Florida.

“I tried to motivate myself after being dropped from the probables list for Americas T20 even though I was the USA vice captain in Dubai and had some very good performances and partnerships,” Mishra wrote. “No one reached out to tell me what led to such a sudden change in mind and what specifically I need to improve.”

“I took it as a challenge and focused on performances. Like to thank Robin to advise and guide me when it was a low point for me. My stats in the NCCA league tell a story of a player who wants to come back and play freely. I am still young and confident of performing at the highest level. However, due to lack of Domestic tournaments and sometimes transparency it is tough to keep up the motivation and work hard when you have limited time to spend between cricket, family, and other social commitments.”

Mishra made his USA debut in 2010 opening the batting with Carl Wright against Jamaica in a Twenty20 match at The Pearls Cup in Florida. He then came back into the USA team at the 2011 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament following a solid showing at the 2011 USACA Twenty20 National Tournament in New Jersey where he was the second highest scorer in the tournament including a best of 87 in 49 balls against a vaunted New York Region team while playing for the Atlantic Region.

Image (left) - Aditya Mishra tees off for one of his four sixes against New York at the 2011 USACA Twenty20 National tournament as wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson looks on behind him. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

At the 2011 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in Florida, Mishra finished third on the team with 98 runs in four innings at an average of 32.66 as USA finished second behind Canada. He was then named vice-captain for the team that went to the UAE for the World Twenty20 Qualifier the following March and stated in an interview before the tournament that he wanted to cultivate a more welcoming culture with newer and younger players after his bumpy initiation into the team in 2010.

Mishra was the only player besides Sushil Nadkarni to score a half-century for USA in the event. In addition to his match-winning knock against Scotland, Mishra scored 53 off 34 balls in a hard fought 17-run defeat to Namibia, who went undefeated in the group stage and finished third overall in the tournament behind Ireland and Afghanistan. He finished third on the team in runs at the event with 169, behind only Nadkarni and Steven Taylor.

He struggled at 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia, scoring 74 runs in five games but was surprisingly dropped from USA’s Twenty20 squad seemingly as a result of his 50-over performances. It is unknown whether Mishra will continue to play locally in the Northern California Cricket Association. Away from cricket, he is a consultant working as Manager of Advisory Services at Ernst & Young.

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By Karishma Goel

Two National Selectors from Florida visited the Northern Western Region to observe the region's cricket trials at the U-19 level. 

"We expect that about 300 boys in USA will be observed by the selectors, which will give them great confidence when they pick the top 14," said Hemant Buch, the co-coordinator for USACA.  Darren Beazley, CEO of USACA, constructed a new cricket development plan along with the youth committees from various regions.  Sunny Singh and Barney Jones, were in the Bay Area as part of that program.

National selectors will continue to make appearances in the next five weeks to five different cities throughout the country that will cover the eight (erstwhile) regions. Fourteen players each from the western and eastern conferences will be chosen to face off in the Western and Eastern Conference tournament, Memorial Day weekend.

Vijay Pradhan, the NWR youth coordinator, first presented the plan to the regional board. Once approved, Pradhan worked closely with regional selectors, Ozair Nana, Khader Mohammad, Vijay Beniwal and Kulwant Virdi to come up with criteria for selection.  The selection process took place on April 6 and 7 at the Clyde L. Fischer Middle School cricket ground in San Jose. A total of fifty-six players showed up, 8:15 a.m., sharp.

The regional selectors had players warm up by assigning various exercises on the first day. After, allotting each player a number to be identified with, the selectors divided the players into five different categories based on their skills.

The players were categorized as top order batsmen, middle order batsmen, wicket keeper, batting all-rounder and bowling all-rounder.

Commencing net sessions, each player, depending on their specific skill was given a chance to bowl, bat and wicket keep. Net practice was part of a circular-like motion workshop that included players fielding, catching and fitness drills.

"I think that this cycling-process was a very unique way of having each player run through all the sessions," said Satsheel Alterkar, a happy parent of one of the players. "It should be started as a routine in most of the practices held," he added.

The 56 players slowly diminished to 24 before lunch time, so that the national selectors would only have to concentrate on a certain amount of players.

The remaining 24, were divided into two teams, one which was led by Krishneal Goel and Arsh Buch as the other was led by Roshan Varadarajan and Vibhav Altekar.  The two teams began playing a 25 over game, where national selectors came and watched as they took notice of all players.

On the second day of trials, the same 24 players played a 40 over game as national selectors took notes again.

"Entire process helped build momentum among youths and youth program organizers as now they have something to look up to and set goals for themselves," said Buch. "They should try something like this at the senior level also."

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By Venu Palaparthi

Stuart MacGill, the former leg-spin bowler of Australia, visited DreamCricket Academy in Hillsborough, NJ, on Saturday, April 13, 2013.  MacGill was on a personal visit to New York and his visit to DreamCricket was facilitated by Jamie Harrison of USYCA.  MacGill's visit coincided with DreamCricket's tenth anniversary as a USA cricket portal and fifth year as an academy. 

MacGill, who took 208 wickets in 44 Tests, observed students and alumni of the Academy, many of whom are now part of the CLNJ Youth Program, and gave them lessons and tips. 

Pic (Right): MacGill shows the kids how to grip the ball as USYCA's Jamie Harrison, Coach Earl Daley and Coach Damien Morgan look on.

The easy going cricketer was a huge hit with the kids, using anecdotes and funny stories to explain what it takes to become a good cricketer.

"[Cricket] is about angles, momentum and levers, I bet you didn’t know that. It is what they teach you in physics," MacGill told the kids.  "Kicking, punching, tennis, all ball sports, they are all the same," he said, advising the bowlers to "throw your weight through the ball."

MacGill told the kids "Old, young, fast or slow, you can be any type of body, there is a job for you in cricket. I am not particularly fast, I am not particularly athletic. I would have loved to have been a fast bowler. I would have loved to have scared people. I couldn’t do that."

"What I could do," he said pausing for a second before continuing, "was get him out."

"My favorite thing in the whole world was to get the batsman out."

"Doesn’t matter what the batsman did, I would keep going and keep going. You will get them eventually. The thing that I did best was if they hit a six, it did not bother me. They will smack the ball past you. I would go back to my mark and ignore them. You never stare at the batsman or talk to them. You just go back to the mark and keep doing your job. Keep doing it and keep doing it. You are going to get them eventually."

"Then I would meet him in the dressing room and say, I am so lucky to get you out.  I am clearly not good enough to get you out. I saw you walking out there and you were so cool. I couldn’t possibly get you out."

"And you can see the batsman going - 'Are you messing with me?"   That's what I liked to do."

Emphasizing the importance of perseverance and understanding their roles, MacGill told the kids, "Don’t try to impress everyone. The cool kids in cricket are the one that will be done soonest."

After the net session was over, he assembled all the kids again and told them, "I am impressed with what I am seeing here today. There are some good skills here.  You are very very lucky that the facilities here at DreamCricket, they are as good as the ones we have in Australia. I hope to see some of you playing for USA soon."

MacGill posed for pictures, signed autographs and asked everyone to visit The Cricket Club, his hangout on Google+ together with Aakash Chopra and Damien Martyn.

MacGill was presented with a memento by Kranthi Bayya of DreamCricket Academy.   MacGill, who is known to be an avid reader browsed DreamCricket's collection of rare videos, books and memorabilia.   MacGill then spoke about his Google Hangout - The Cricket Club's popularity in North America, and about his many interactions over the years with Americans who truly cared about cricket.   "You might be surprised, but Michael Jackson played cricket," MacGill said remembering a conversation with Jermaine Jackson.  

Upon his return to New York, he wrote a note to Jamie Harrison: "After having spent an afternoon in the nets with a bunch of enthusiastic young American cricketers I'm no longer surprised. When you consider this was just a snapshot of youth cricket in the New Jersey region, it was impressive to say the least.

"One of the aspects of the boys skills that struck me most was the fact that they all had their own individual style and technical flair. This might sound as though its a bad thing, but its quite the opposite. Australian coaches in the last 20 years have worked overtime trying to cloning our best players. Consequently we have robbed our young cricketers of the opportunity to become the best version of themselves possible."

"In just 3 hours, I saw at least half a dozen young players with the skills to compete for many years to come. We had a wide range of spin bowling talent, a great left arm seamer who improved with every ball he bowled and some real pace from an athletic right armer who if we're not careful will probably turn his hand to another sport. Its very exciting."

Pic (Right):  Little Tyler gets his first lesson in Physics

MacGill was full of praise for USYCA and its goals: "As for the work that you've done with USYCA; I am absolutely stunned that you have managed to achieve so much in such a small period of time. In Australia cricket has the benefit of vast resources, TV exposure and almost exclusive use of sporting facilities in the summertime, yet we can't boast the enthusiasm and growth that you have in the US. Cricket is a game that provides opportunities for 'regular kids' to triumph over athletes and every single one of us loves to see a kid being given the chance to win because they deserve it.

"I'm convinced that you will have a formidable horde of hungry young cricket players desperate to take on the world before too long. The sooner the ICC realizes the strength of the game in North America rests with its youth and not a bunch of tired ex-pats, the sooner you can genuinely compete on the international stage," he wrote.

"I can't wait to talk with Cricket Australia about the development work USYCA is doing with schools and look forward to watching you take these kids to the next level."

The boys were grateful too.   After the session, Parth Sampath who got some leg spin tips wrote, "Thank you DreamCricket for having Stuart MacGill today." 

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

USACA CEO Darren Beazley responded to criticism surrounding the selection process in a phone and email interview with DreamCricket.com.  

"USACA stands by the team that was selected," Beazley told DreamCricket.com.  Beazley, who has been in the job for just over two months also said that the selection process under his administration would be thorough and professional.   "I have plenty of experience in this sphere and I hope that US cricket can benefit from that experience."

In an opinion piece that appeared on this website and in an article on ESPNcricinfo, Peter Della Penna questioned the dropping of Usman Shuja, who is USA’s second highest wicket-taker, and Aditya Thyagarajan, who is USA’s third-highest run-getter in the 50-over format.   Della Penna argued that the players should have been selected based on their record against some of the WCL Division III opponents such as Nepal and Italy; past performances in Bermuda; and their recent form.  

"Not having Thyagarajan and Shuja in the squad doesn’t make this a bad USA team. USA still has some very solid players. However, heading into USA’s most important qualification tournament since the 2004 ICC Six Nations Challenge without Thyagarajan and Shuja in the squad robs USA of putting their best possible 14-man squad on the plane to Bermuda. That makes it an atrocious selection process," Della Penna wrote in his strongly worded criticism.

In his response, Beazley reaffirmed his faith in the process. “The selection of the US National Men's, Women's and Youth cricket teams is based on performance, future potential and suitability to the particular tournament or competitor format.   This criterion includes whether it is a [2 day] game such as those played in the Auty Cup or a T20 fixture.  It also includes the types of pitches that the team will play on the conditions that will prevail in that country or region.”

“Our focus is to develop a squad and give ourselves the best chance of going to New Zealand,” he said referring to the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup to be hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand. 

"I am satisfied that [the process] gave every player the change to press his case and for the group to begin to 'gel'," Beazley noted.

"The Board of USACA invested in 21 players being considered, including a US citizen based in Queensland.  The selection process was as independent as possible.  ICC America's High Performance Manager Mr. Andy Pick was co-opted to assist with the process.  He sat in on several meetings due to his knowledge about the player group, his experience and pedigree in high performance management and selection and his independence.  He did not have a vote in the final composition of the team, but certainly challenged some of the thinking and his thoughts were debated thoroughly.  I myself brought a level of independence as I could only comment on what I saw, not knowing the players personally.

"My input was all about ensuring that the three criteria for selection were adhered to by the selection group.  The input of the national coach was also an important element that has not been present previously I am told," Beazley wrote in an email.

Beazley said that he knew that the player group was starting to feel that they are building up to something special.  "Self-belief is something that you nurture when you have your elite groups together," Beazley wrote.

Beazley emphasized that USACA has looked within and outside the country to find talent and the ‘practice series’ against Bermuda provided USACA with an opportunity to evaluate Josh Dascombe of Australia.

"This is the first of such experiments that USACA will undertake to ensure that talented US citizens that are playing elite cricket overseas can be considered for national duties in the years ahead.  It is all part of the evolution of US cricket to follow world's best practices."  Beazley said that the added depth would allow USACA to rotate players depending on suitability. 

“Four other high profile candidates made contact with us and we will evaluate them,” Beazley told DreamCricket.com. 

Responding to Della Penna's criticism that Dascombe did not suit up for USA in the first 50-over match 'for some bizarre reason', Beazley said, "Dascombe arrived at his hotel room at 1:00 [AM] on the morning of Tuesday March 26th.  Responsible elite athlete management would not prescribe that after a few hours's sleep, he be put into a competitive situation."   Dascombe had left Brisbane on March 24th and traveled for over 30 hours to be considered, Beazley said.  

Noting that he had personally spoken to the entire group for twenty minutes on March 29th at the conclusion of the game reiterating that the squad of 21 players that played in the T20 tournament and the practice matches were leading contenders for national duties in the months ahead. 

"I explained that should a player not [be] selected it did not mean that the US Selection and Coaching staff did not have faith in their ability or potential to provide great service to the National team in the future.  I reiterated that they are men playing in an international sport and that hard decisions need to be made."

"The players were personally called by the Chairman of the selectors on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st of March.  Each player had the reason for their inclusion or exclusion from the Squad explained to them.  I understand that several who were not selected for the Bermuda tournament asked excellent and mature questions on what they needed to address in the next few months to improve their chances," Beazley wrote in an email.

Beazley said that players that were not selected should not view it as a death sentence.  "There is a really big year in front of us with Auty Cup in Canada, Bermuda and Dubai coming up. The other guys will come into contention for the Auty Cup. So in two months time, they might play again,” he said. 
 

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Two weeks after it began accepting members on March 19th, the American Cricket Federation (ACF) reported that it had registered its first fifty members.  

'This is the first opportunity for US cricketers and cricket organizations to take charge of US Cricket through a truly representative body of all stakeholders. Add your voice, participate in a true democratic election this year,' ACF said in a media release announcing the milestone.

“Such early volume is heartening” commented Mike Thomas, ACF's acting Treasurer. “Together with the broad geographic spread of applicants, it gives the first indication of the extent to which there is significant resonance with the ACF’s vision, goals and principles of governance.”

The ACF was founded by a large group of experienced cricketers and administrators united in the belief that US cricket needed and deserved a new direction. Incorporated on October 9, 2012, it is currently managed by a Steering Committee whose members and biographies may be found on the ACF website.

From its inception, ACF drew praise for its inclusive approach to membership.   Cricket enthusiasts can become members of the organization for as little as $10 per year.   Membership forms have been made available online together with an online payment mechanism.

'[ACF's] inclusive spirit mandates the provision for several classes of members and also recognizes specific designations such as Women, College, Youth and Softball cricketers, besides Clubs and Development Administrators in order to provide them with a voice,' the organization noted in its media release announcing the adoption of its constititution.

'Our needs for development funds are great, but so are the cumulative numbers of players in the U.S. and their Clubs and the Leagues they play in. A united investment in the future of US Cricket not only will bring about change quicker, but will also provide the opportunity for you to make a tangible contribution toward that change,' the organization noted.

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By Tom Melville

For many reasons the American Civil War has been called the world’s first “modern war,” including the more obscure one that this was probably the first war in history that materially disrupted a country’s sporting life, which, in America of 1861, meant transitioning young men from the playing fields of cricket and baseball to the battlefields of Virginia and Tennessee.

Consequently, in this war of “brother against brother” there now appeared the unwelcome dimension of athlete against athlete, and the cricketers of the Cincinnati Cricket Club who, at the outbreak of the war, enrolled en masse into the Union Army, could very well, at some point and time, taken potshots at the Savannah Cricket Club players who had also enrolled, almost to a man, into the Confederate army.

At least this probably ended, once and for all, any lingering ambivalence Americans may have had about the social efficacy of men playing children’s games, since the discipline and perseverance demanded on the athletic field, so it was claimed, was no better schooling for military success. At least this is how the New York Sunday Mercury saw it, certain that “our cricket and base-ball players will be the last to give out” in the fury of combat.

Pic (Right): The monument to Brevet Major General Charles Collis is southeast of Gettysburg in the National Cemetery. [Courtesy: Stone Sentinels, Gettysburg]

If this implies the obligation of giving “the last full measure” for the cause, it became a lethal reality for Sandie Pendleton, University of Virginia cricket club president and officer in Stonewall Jackson’s command, who died at the battle of Winchester in 1864, and Amherst College cricket club member Christopher Pennell who, as an officer in Grant’s army, never came home from the battle of Petersburg.

But if war is a human institution that necessarily produces many dead and a few heroes, some members of the American cricket fraternity thankfully ended the war on the positive side of this equation. Massachusetts abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson and president of the Worcester Cricket Club, would command the first African-American regiment in the Union Army and, after the war, became the confidant of poet Emily Dickenson.

James Garfield left his teaching post where he had played recess cricket with his students (eyewitnesses report he wasn’t much of an athlete), joined the Union army, rose to the rank of general and eventually parlayed his military notoriety all the way to the White House.

A more explicitly battle scarred kind of notoriety came to another American cricketer, Charles H.T. Collis of Philadelphia.

Born in Ireland in 1838, Collis immigrated to the United States when he was fifteen and was soon caught up in the cricket fervor that was sweeping Philadelphia in the late 1850s, a time when the city fairgrounds overflowed every weekend with young Philadelphians playing game after game. A letter of his survives from this period in which he makes the portentous observation that, with some good coaching, these Philadelphia youngsters would be the cricketing equal of their English peers.

As a recent immigrant he was assigned to the “English” side that played against the “American” team in 1857, but within a couple of years he had evidently been accepted as fully American to gain a place on the Philadelphia 22 that played the All-England team touring North America in 1859. This was the Englishmen’s most closely contested match of their tour but it must not have been a happy one for Collis since he was out for a duck each of his innings.

Pic (Right): Brevet Major General Charles Henry Tucker Collis

By the time they were finishing their final match in Rochester in October, the English cricketers were sharing the headlines with more ominous news; John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, the one and final incident that left no more doubts America was going to spill blood over the issue of slavery and within little more than a year North and South were at War.

Collis must have been a popular person with the young men of Philadelphia since he was asked, at the war’s outbreak, to recruit and take command of an entire regiment, the 114th Pennsylvania.

His ability as a military commander came to the front in the battle of Fredericksburg in 1862, Collis showing more than expected bravery in this otherwise disastrous Union defeat to win him the Medal of Honor, a military award recently created by Congress.

Though wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville, and disabled for months by illness, Collis soldiered on, rising through the ranks and eventually finishing the war as a brigadier general.

After the war he returned to his legal career in Philadelphia and though not yet 30 at the war’s end he didn’t seem to have taken any further active involvement with cricket, though it’s hard to believe he didn’t take personal pleasure in seeing his adopted city reach the heights of its cricket glory during his lifetime.

He died in Philadelphia at the age 64, just a year before the Gentlemen of Philadelphia, during their England tour of 1903, would fulfill his ante-bellum prophesy for American cricket.

[Tom Melville is an American cricket player, teacher, and author of Cricket For Americans and The Tented Field: A History of Cricket in America. He’s been working with Americans at cricket for over thirty years.   Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.]

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Farce, sham, disgrace. They are the first three words that spring to mind but if one opens up a thesaurus there are plenty of others that could be found to encapsulate this situation. There is no sugarcoating how abominable the process has been regarding the evaluation and selection of the 14-man USA squad announced on Sunday by USACA that will compete later this month at the 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Bermuda. A slice of Swiss cheese has fewer holes in it than this selection process.

The problem is not the team or the players. The problem is the process. There are good players in this 14-man squad. However, do not fall under any illusions that USACA is sending its best 14 to represent the country in Bermuda. This is not USA’s best 14 and falling short of that represents a failure by the selectors and the administration that oversees them.

There is no possible way that this could be USACA’s best 14-man squad with Aditya Thyagarajan and Usman Shuja missing from the list. They are two titans, pillars in the modern era of the US national team. Thyagarajan is USA’s third highest scorer of all-time in limited overs cricket with 897 runs in live competition at an average of 39.00. Among USA’s top ten scorers, only Steve Massiah (40.44) and Sushil Nadkarni (55.77) have a higher average and more runs overall than Thyagarajan. Shuja is USA’s second highest wicket-taker in the format, with 45 wickets at an average of 15.40. The next best average for any bowler in the top 10 wicket-takers list for USA is Kevin Darlington, who took 32 at an average of 17.19. How could anyone conceivably leave them out of the team going to Bermuda?

The stage was set for this folly in February when the USACA administration, specifically the five-man USACA selection panel headed by Selwyn Caesar, began soliciting availability for the core group of national team players for the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament followed by a three-match 50-over series against Bermuda which would be used for preparation ahead of ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. Because the two tours were scrunched so close together, it presented an issue whereby many players could not get enough vacation time from work to be able to play in both tournaments. Some of USA’s key players could get one week off to go to Florida, but not two, ahead of the time off they would also require for the tour to Bermuda.

If the first-choice players had their way, they would have much preferred playing in the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament, not the three-match 50-over series against Bermuda, ahead of the tour to Bermuda for the simple reason that the ICC Americas tournament and ICC WCL Division Three are part of the pathway for ICC World Twenty20 and World Cup qualification and had much more at stake whereas the three 50-over matches against Bermuda were classed as unofficial practice matches by USACA and counted for nothing. However, players were all made aware that in order to be considered for ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda, they must participate in the three-match 50-over practice series so that they could be evaluated for selection going into the tour to Bermuda.

USACA announced a 14-man squad for the Twenty20 tournament and originally announced a 17-man squad for the 50-over series to follow. In an email on February 26, a USACA spokesperson stated that the 17-man 50-over squad was not formally announced in a press release because the three-match 50-over series against Bermuda was a “practice series” and because “we want the flexibility to bring in players from the Twenty20 tournament who may impress.”

Image (right) - Aditya Thyagarajan running between the wickets in the first 50-over practice match against Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Just one player, Akeem Dodson, stayed on for week two after originally being scheduled to fly home at the conclusion of the Twenty20 tournament while three other players – Orlando Baker, Nicholas Standford and Saqib Saleem – flew home after the Twenty20s as planned. Adil Bhatti, who replaced the injured Karan Ganesh midway through the tournament, also stayed on for the second week. Observers may have been puzzled to discover though that Neil McGarrell, Hemant Punoo and Josh Dascombe appeared in Florida for the 50-over series when they did not impress anyone in the Twenty20 tournament… because they didn’t play in it. It resulted in USA having 21 players competing for 14 spots while only 11 could play at any given time during the 50-over matches.

Now competition is a good thing and certainly the more the merrier within reason. Flying in a 19-year-old US citizen from Queensland after a novel recruiting process initiated by new USACA CEO Darren Beazley was not a bad idea. Yet for an organization that could not afford to hold any proper tournaments in 2012, the remotest hint of a return to the ways of profligate spending last seen when more than $60,000 went to fund a USA women’s team camp to Barbados in 2011 certainly raised a few eyebrows among USA fans following online. More to the point, if a cash-strapped organization is going to pay to fly someone halfway around the world to be evaluated, they better get the most out of that plane ticket.

For some bizarre reason, Dascombe did not suit up for USA in the first 50-over match. Instead, he bowled in a net session, something he could have done for free back in Australia. In the second match, he bowled but didn’t bat while in the third game he bowled and batted. So USACA paid for Dascombe to fly halfway around the world to watch him bat once and bowl a total of 13 overs, not to mention the fact that he was trying out for a tournament he was not even eligible to participate in according to ICC eligibility criteria because he hasn’t fulfilled any developmental benchmarks on US soil.

As for the 20 players present who were eligible, the message was apparently sent out that everyone had to compete for their spot. For a team that was recently promoted from ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia, does it make any sense to tear up the team sheet and start from scratch with just three matches to evaluate everyone on? A reasonable assumption is that eight to 10 players who participated in the tour to Malaysia were clearly going to make up the core group of the squad heading to Bermuda. After finishing as the Division Four tournament’s leading scorer, what did Sushil Nadkarni have to prove by going out to bat in Florida?

Nadkarni sat out the first 50-over match, then opened USA’s chase in the second game. He raced to his 50 off 38 balls in the ninth over with the score 58 for 0. Several people who were at the ground assumed he would retire at that point, especially since USA only needed to chase 186 to win and certainly other players warranted a closer examination for selection. Instead, Nadkarni was instructed to bat on. The situation only managed to get more ridiculous when he started to cramp up at the end of the 23rd over and needed some treatment on the field for his legs. By this point he was on 89 and USA needed 53 to win. Why risk losing your best batsman to a muscle tear or other injury in a practice match?

However, Nadkarni was allowed to continue and he duly raised his century at the end of the 32nd over with the score on 166. At this point, USA needed 20 runs to win and they might as well have let him continue batting until the end. What did any of the remaining batsmen have to gain by going in with 20 runs left to win? In another head-scratcher, Thyagarajan was sent in and scored 6 not out. Seeing as he wasn’t selected for the tour, that 6 not out clearly did not help his cause.

The only possible thing Thyagarajan or anyone else could have achieved by going out to bat in that situation was hurting one’s own chances of selection by getting out. If anyone should have gone in there, it should have been Dascombe for two reasons. He wasn’t going to hurt his chances of selection for Bermuda since he wasn’t even eligible, but more importantly no one in the USA setup had ever seen him bat before and this would have provided the selectors a brief glimpse to see what he could do.

Instead, Thyagarajan went in. The message was clear that the selectors were looking for reasons to cut him loose, hoping he would have gotten out. Nadkarni could sense it because when he was asked if this USA team could be declared favorites for Division Three with the way they were playing, he stated that USA had many players who have experience playing in Bermuda but hedged his answer by saying, “We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.”

The list of curious decisions only grew on Friday at the start of the third match. Nadkarni was left out again as was Rashard Marshall. In essence, it meant that two players who could not get enough time off work to play in the Twenty20 tournament the previous week were flown to Florida and forced to take an entire week off work to make themselves eligible for selection to Bermuda and subsequently played or batted in just one match. It’s disrespectful to Nadkarni and Marshall, two senior players who are definitely in USA’s best 14, to make them burn up five days of vacation time from work just to play or bat once in an unofficial game. Nadkarni was named vice-captain once again in the Division Three squad announcement on Sunday, underscoring his value. So therefore was it even necessary to bring him to Florida in the first place for the 50-over practice matches? The answer is no.

The second thing that should have jumped out to anyone who saw the USA team sheet for Friday’s 50-over match was that both Danial Ahmed and Ryan Corns were left out for the third match in a row. Going back to the point about USACA not holding any tournaments in 2012, stakeholders are led to believe that USACA is pinching pennies yet a week’s worth of stipends and hotel room costs were covered for two players who never took the field for the 50-over practice games. It’s understood though that Corns sustained a minor back injury after being hit by a ball during a net session that occurred on Tuesday for players who weren’t taking part in the first 50-over match and that’s what prevented him from playing in the following two games.

One would assume that neither Corns nor Ahmed would have any shot at being included in the squad for Bermuda if they were not evaluated by USACA selectors Selwyn Caesar and Barney Jones in a 50-over match, especially since the pair of selectors were only present for the 50-over matches and not for the Twenty20 tournament.

Meanwhile, it was the third match in a row for Massiah, Shuja and Thyagarajan. The indication was that all three players still needed to justify their spots in the team. Massiah went out and scored 12, dismissed by a 15-year-old spinner for the second time in three matches to wrap up his week with 58 runs at an average of 29.

Thyagarajan did what he does best: build partnerships to stabilize after a flurry of wickets or an early collapse. In the first 50-over match, USA went from 83 for 0 to 96 for 3 in the space of 4.2 overs. Thyagarajan followed it by building a 71-run stand with Marshall before getting out for 33. On Friday, the dismissal of Massiah put USA back at 45 for 3.

Batting with a rookie, Thyagarajan calmly guided USA out of early trouble by constructing a 50-run stand with Dascombe. Thyagarajan and Dascombe set the platform that allowed Barrington Bartley to go off on a boundary spree later in the innings. Thyagarajan eventually got out for 47 to give him 86 runs on the week at an average of 43. While neither Massiah nor Thyagarajan should be judged solely on last week’s matches, if that was the criteria then Massiah did not merit a spot as a batsman on the team ahead of Thyagarajan, let alone as captain. Apparently the context of Thyagarajan’s runs by way of the partnerships he built was also lost on the selectors.

Past members of USACA selection panels have been seen sleeping at national tournaments and other times on the verge of passing out while nursing a bottle of alcohol in a brown paper bag under a tree outside the boundary. So those at home might have been forgiven for wondering if two of the current selectors present in Florida were actually even watching the matches. The answer would be sometimes, but not all the time. After posting 284 for 6 in the first innings on Friday, Barney Jones was surprised to learn that USA had lost because he left during the second innings to go take someone to the airport. This would be the same innings during which Shuja was supposed to be judged in the field as to whether or not he deserved to keep his spot in the team. USA's players are essentially volunteers, not professionals, yet so much is expected of the players in terms of preparation and performance to meet high standards demanded on the field by the coaching staff and selectors. Unfortunately, the bar has been set pretty low for what is expected of USA's volunteer selectors regarding the approach they take to carrying out the task assigned to them.

Even when they were present at the grounds, the selectors generally could be observed to only be half paying attention to the matches in front of them. It was only when USACA CEO Darren Beazley was present sitting in the same space with them that both men sat up straight with eyes fixed straight ahead. 

The 14-man squad for ICC WCL Division Three was released on Sunday by USACA and in the announcement on the USACA web site, Selwyn Caesar was quoted, “Due to the importance of the ICC tournament in Bermuda, the national selectors wanted to ensure that the selection process was thorough and that players from all over America were give every opportunity to impress. I am delighted that USACA supported our request and provided 21 players with the opportunity to stake their claim to represent their country.” DreamCricket.com attempted to contact Caesar to ask a few questions about how the squad was picked but a voicemail message left for him went unreturned. Several aspects of this squad raise serious doubts as to the process in which players were evaluated prior to being selected.

Twenty20 captain Baker was not among the 21 players evaluated during the three-match 50-over series but miraculously found his way into the 14-man squad to Bermuda. Make no mistake that Baker should be in the squad to Bermuda because he is among USA’s best 14 players, but according to the process that was laid out, how was it possible for him to be selected? Why was he given a pass and not forced to take part in the 50-over trial matches like everyone else yet still handed a spot in the team?

Ahmed and Corns also played the same amount of 50-over matches that Baker did last week: zero. Yet Ahmed was named in the 14-man squad while Corns was given a proverbial kick in the nuts by being left out after being USA’s leading wicket-taker in the Twenty20 tournament as well as one of only three players on the team to notch a half-century during USA’s first week in Florida.

Image (left) - Ryan Corns, bowling here in the second Twenty20 match against Bermuda, was USA's leading wicket-taker in the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament but found himself out of the team for the tour to Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USACA has touted its newly signed partnership with the CricHQ statistical registry and is actively encouraging all USACA leagues to take advantage of it. One of CricHQ’s mechanisms for measuring a player’s worth is their MVP points system. According to the CricHQ MVP points system for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament, Corns was fourth in MVP points behind Tournament MVP Janeiro Tucker of Bermuda, fellow USA teammate Steven Taylor and Sauid Drepaul of Suriname. Other USA players in the top 20 were Bartley at eight, Dodson at 9, Ahmed at 11 and Baker at 18. All six of USA’s players who were ranked in the top 20 for the Twenty20 tournament belonged in USA’s best 14 to go on tour to Bermuda. Corns was ranked ahead of four of them yet he has inexplicably been left out. Why has USACA signed up to use CricHQ’s software and data mechanisms if the selectors show no interest in utilizing the valuable analysis it provides?

The pivotal moment in the loss to Bermuda on Friday occurred when Timothy Surujbally grassed a straightforward chance at deep midwicket off the bowling of Shuja, a chance that selector Jones was not present to see. As a result, Lionel Cann went on to hit two sixes in the subsequent overs to propel Bermuda toward their eventual win. Considering that USA missed no less than 19 catching or run out chances during the Twenty20 tournament, this journalist commented to CEO Beazley, “I wonder how much of an emphasis the selectors are going to put on fielding in regards to squad selection.” The CEO responded that the selectors had a lengthy conversation the previous night on that very topic and that fielding was a definite point of emphasis.

By dropping Thyagarajan and Shuja, USA has lost their two most reliable catching fielders on the boundary. One only had to see the difficult catch that Thyagarajan took on Friday coming in from the long on boundary compared to the alarmingly simple drop by Surujbally at deep midwicket to realize the former’s value in that department. USA’s fielding was woeful in Malaysia, racking up 23 missed chances in six games. Shuja had four chances missed off his bowling in the round-robin loss to Nepal. However, Thyagarajan was one of the few players turned away at the door from entering The All Thumbs Club because he safely pouched the three chances that came his way on tour.

Corns is no slouch in the field either and took a spectacular catch to get rid of Tucker in the first win over Bermuda during the Twenty20 tournament. If USA’s bowlers weren’t already in the habit of crossing their fingers when the ball is in the air, it’s safe to say they’ll be doing it now with three of USA’s best catching fielders absent on tour.

The biggest error of all though is that the selectors have ignored the long established pedigree of Thyagarajan and Shuja with bat and ball respectively. The first consideration when picking this squad should have been form against the opponents USA would be facing. Shuja’s record against Nepal, Italy and Oman in 50-over cricket is sterling. In eight matches against Nepal, Shuja has 15 wickets in 63 overs at an average of 16.07 and an economy rate of 3.83. Against Italy, he has four wickets in three games at an average of 18.75 and an economy rate of 3.13. Shuja has claimed two Man of the Match awards against Oman. He returned figures of 2 for 22 in nine overs paired with a career high 43 not out in a two-wicket win at Division Three in Hong Kong while he suffocated their batsmen at the last ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier with a four-over spell of 1 for 9 in his other encounter against them.

The second consideration when picking this squad should have been form in the conditions USA will encounter on tour. At the 2010 ICC Americas Division One 50-over tournament in Bermuda three years ago, Thyagarajan was USA’s leading scorer with 250 runs including a career high 159 in a match against Argentina.

The third consideration should have been recent form. Thyagarajan did okay, not great in Florida. He looked shaky in Malaysia, especially in regards to his fitness as he looked to protect his right knee in his first tournament back after missing almost two years with the knee dislocation he suffered at Division Three in Hong Kong. But anyone who saw him in Malaysia and compared that performance to what was on display in Florida would know that Thyagarajan was in much better condition last week. In November, he scored 109 not out at the USACA 50-over national championship. The only other player to cross 50 from either team was Orlando Baker and Thyagarajan didn’t fail in any of last week’s matches either.

Thyagarajan may never have a six-pack stomach, but his weight is not an issue. In Shuja’s case, being too thin was a problem. He lost 10 pounds from his playing weight while dealing with pneumonia from over the winter and had yet to put it back on. He didn’t look to be bowling at full pace in the three 50-over games last week and was sapped for energy, but it was nothing that couldn’t have been put right over the course of the next four weeks. Shuja has always been USA’s fittest player on tour.

Image (right) - Usman Shuja, in action at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, is USA's second highest wicket-taker in 50-over cricket. [Courtesy: ICC/Barry Chambers]

If two players with the resumes of Thyagarajan and Shuja are being pushed out of the team, it better be by players who have left no doubt by scoring a century or taking five wickets. Barrington Bartley earned his spot in USA’s 14-man squad ahead of Thyagarajan, but the same can’t be said for some of the other batsmen who squeezed ahead of Thyagarajan and the same goes for Shuja’s place as well.

Above all else, the selectors should have asked themselves what every opponent USA is playing against would be pondering ahead of the tournament: would I feel more comfortable facing a USA team with Thyagarajan and Shuja in it or one without them? Bermuda, Italy, Nepal, Oman and Uganda are all high-fiving each other with the knowledge that they won’t have to face up to either player in Bermuda.

Shuja’s aggression leading the fast bowling unit will be missed greatly, but Thyagarajan’s absence will sting exponentially more. Former USA coach Clayton Lambert referred to Thyagarajan as “USA’s Insurance Policy” after the number of times he rescued his teammates following disastrous top order collapses. Against Ireland at the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, USA was 11 for 5 after the first 20 balls chasing Ireland's first innings 202 and well on their way to total humiliation. USA still lost the game, but Thyagarajan scored 72 not out and along with Baker preserved a small slice of dignity for their team by establishing a world record partnership for the seventh wicket of 99*, a world record in Twenty20 cricket that still stands today. 

USA was four down after 11 balls against Argentina at ICC WCL Division Four in 2010 and in the fifth over it became 17 for 5 when Thyagarajan entered. He stayed at the crease for the final 45.3 overs in sweltering 85 degree heat with 90% humidity at the Ovale di Rastignano outside Bologna, Italy. Three hours of batting in sticky Mediterranean conditions with a wine vineyard in the backdrop meant his USA jersey had been sweat soaked into a darker shade of blue. When Rashard Marshall walked off with him after both made unbeaten centuries, half the team swarmed Marshall while the other half booked it to be first in line at the lunch buffet. Thyagarajan walked across the boundary to no applause, no pats on the back. Everyone took for granted another cool knock from “The Ice Man”.

As good as some other players around the country are, USA only has four genuine match-winners: Steven Taylor, Sushil Nadkarni, Timroy Allen and Aditya Thyagarajan. What sets Thyagarajan apart from the others though is that he provided the backbone for the team in times of crisis. USACA has now created a spectacular one by leaving out the best person suited to save the team in such a scenario. One can only hope it doesn’t come to that during USA’s six matches in Bermuda.

Not having Thyagarajan and Shuja in the squad doesn’t make this a bad USA team. USA still has some very solid players. However, heading into USA’s most important qualification tournament since the 2004 ICC Six Nations Challenge without Thyagarajan and Shuja in the squad robs USA of putting their best possible 14-man squad on the plane to Bermuda. That makes it an atrocious selection process. 

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches last month in Florida. If you have differing views or opinions, we respect those views and urge you to provide your feedback - both positive and negative - in the comments section.]

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USACA Media Release

The United States Cricket Association (USACA) today announced the National Men’s Squad to compete in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Tournament. This competition is a qualification structure for the 2015 ICC 50 Over Cricket World Cup. Currently the USA team are in Division 3 of the WCL and determined to progress to the next phase of qualification in its upcoming tournament in Bermuda from April 28th – May 5th, 2013.

The US squad has been competing in a series of 50 over practice matches against Bermuda at the Lauderhill Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and trialed 21 players from all across the US and one player from Queensland in Australia. The group performed well winning two of the three matches gaining valuable match practice. The practice series also allowed USACA National Selectors to be able to view the players in competition mode and to select the final squad of 14. The final squad to represent the USA is;

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By Peter Della Penna in Lauderhill, Florida (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Florida for the three-match 50-over series between USA and Bermuda is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA allrounder Barrington Bartley scored a thrilling century that was trumped by one from Bermuda’s David Hemp as the visitors knocked off the hosts by two wickets with two balls to spare in the third and final 50-over trial match on Friday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Bartley’s 111 not out off 65 balls catapulted USA to 284 for 6 but Hemp’s cool and composed 103 off 114 steered Bermuda toward victory. It was USA’s first loss since a Twenty20 defeat at the hands of Canada in November in Florida.

"When I went in there were almost 31 overs gone and for me to come out and score a century, I really feel pleased with myself and pleased with my performance," Bartley said after the match. 

USA won the toss and elected to bat first, making seven changes from the team that beat Bermuda on Thursday. Steven Taylor entered the lineup and captained USA on the day and was joined by Bartley, Timothy Surujbally, Abhimanyu Rajp, Japen Patel, Naseer Jamali and Adil Bhatti in the starting lineup. Making way for them were Akeem Dodson, Sushil Nadkarni, Rashard Marshall, Elmore Hutchinson, Muhammad Ghous, Neil McGarrell and Timroy Allen. The only two members of the 21-man squad not to play in any of the three 50-over matches were Danial Ahmed and Ryan Corns.

Taylor and Surujbally opened for USA but their partnership only lasted 17 balls as Surujbally registered an eight-ball duck, caught driving loosely in the air to Dennico Hollis on the point boundary off the bowling of Malachi Jones to make it 5 for 1. Steve Massiah entered and with Taylor added 26 for the second wicket before Taylor struck a low full toss of the toe of the bat back to Janeiro Tucker for a return catch to be dismissed for 24, making it 31 for 2 in the 10th.

Massiah was joined by Aditya Thyagarajan and the pair demonstrated conservative running in their partnership, adding just 14 runs across 6.5 overs before Massiah was given out LBW for 12 off 29 balls to 15-year-old left-arm spinner Delray Rawlins for the second time in the week. Josh Dascombe entered with the score at 45 for 3 in the 17th and was part of a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Thyagarajan as the pair stabilized the innings by knocking ones and two around the ground off of Bermuda’s spinners.

Dascombe was dropped on 22 by Lionel Cann at long off as the fielder turned a catch into a boundary. However, Dascombe was unable to make the most of his reprieve, dismissed two balls later when he played over the top of a full delivery from offspinner Jacobi Robinson and was bowled to make it 95 for 4 with one ball remaining in the 30th.

Bartley entered and in a harbinger of things to come got off the mark on his fifth delivery with a six over long on. He added 38 with Thyagarajan for the fifth wicket before Thyagarajan was bowled for 47 in the third ball of the 37th by Jones but not before the USA veteran fulfilled his reputation by digging his side out of a hole.

The platform laid by the grind it out partnership between Dascombe and Thyagarajan in particular allowed Bartley and Patel to play their shots freely in the latter stages of the innings. USA added 34 during the five-over batting power play from the 36th to the 40th overs to move to 164 for 5 before a startling acceleration in the final 10 overs in which USA added another 120 runs.

Patel stepped his foot on the gas pedal first, hitting two sixes and a four off medium pacer Greg Maybury in the 42nd. Bartley brought up his half-century in the 43rd over off 41 balls with his third boundary to go along with four sixes at that stage. Patel got out at the end of the 46th over, driving Tucker in the air to Samuel Robinson at long on for 40 off 26 balls, bringing an end to a 95-run stand at which point the score was 228 for 6 with Bartley on 75.

Image (right) - Barrington Bartley walks off the stadium pitch after scoring 111 not out off 65 balls against Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Bhatti came in at number eight and with Bartley put on an astonishing 56 runs in the final four overs. Bartley entered the 50th frame on 91 off strike, but a single off the first ball by Bhatti gave Bartley the chance to reach triple figures and he did so in style, crushing back-to-back sixes before ending the innings with his ninth sixth, this time over midwicket. Jones finished with 2 for 49 but with the exception of Rodney Trott, the rest of the Bermuda bowling unit was roughed up during Bartley’s rampage.

Bermuda was undaunted by the size of the target though and unlike the previous two matches when they stumbled after making a good start, this time they made the most of a strong platform set by the top order. Jason Anderson and Tre Manders added 30 for the first wicket before Anderson was caught behind by Taylor off Jamali for 13.

Hemp arrived at the crease and put on 59 for the second wicket with Manders. Abhimanyu Rajp broke up the pair inducing a false drive to Bartley at point to send Manders off for 26. Bermuda’s run rate hovered around five per over for most of their innings and the asking rate never got out of control as a result of Hemp’s efficiency at the crease. He was particularly useful picking balls off his pads through the leg side and brought up his half-century in 59 balls at the start of the 23rd over.

Hemp’s 70-run partnership with Tucker ended in the 34th over when Tucker fell for 25 after he skied a slog off Jamali that was taken on the run by Dascombe coming from long on to the edge of the circle. Hemp raised his century in 113 balls with consecutive fours cut through point off Usman Shuja in the 39th over. He fell one ball later to end the frame, caught by Bhatti at cover to make it 198 for 4 in 39.

With the set batsman Hemp gone and two new players at the crease, USA had a chance to take back control of the match. Shuja got Cann to offer a straightforward chance to Surujbally at deep midwicket on the second ball of the 41st over with the score on 211 for 4 and the batsman on 14. Surujbally got to the ball in plenty of time but grassed the chance and instead of having five men down, Bermuda went on to take 14 off the over in what was the turning point in the match. Rather than nipping the partnership in the bud and ending the stand at 13, Cann and Jones added 54 runs together before Cann got out for 35 in the 45th, well caught at long on by Thyagarajan off Bhatti to make it 252 for 5.

Bhatti struck again in the 47th, getting Jones caught by Dascombe at midwicket for 29 to leave the door ajar for USA to rally back. Jacobi Robinson ended any hope of that happening though with two boundaries to lead off the 49th over bowled by Dascombe. Bermuda entered the final over with one run needed to win and despite a pair of hiccups with the loss of Trott and Jekon Edness, Robinson hit the winning run with an edge to third man. Bhatti finished with USA’s best figures on the day, taking 2 for 17 in two overs while Rajp was the most economical with 1 for 34 in 10.

USACA is expected to announce the squad for 2013 ICC WCL Division Three next week. The final 14 are tentatively scheduled to arrive in Bermuda on April 25, three days before their first match of the tournament. USA will play Italy, Nepal, Oman, Uganda and the host side in a round-robin event with the top two teams advancing to the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand.

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

By Peter Della Penna in Lauderhill, Florida (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Florida for the three-match 50-over series between USA and Bermuda is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA opener Sushil Nadkarni blitzed the Bermuda bowling attack, striking 12 boundaries and two sixes on his way to a century for USA to lead his side to an 8-wicket win in the second 50-over trial match of a three-match series on Thursday at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Nadkarni scored his first 50 in 38 balls before cruising to three figures and retiring out as USA chased down Bermuda’s 185 with 12.5 overs to spare.

“It felt really good. I was looking forward to this tournament because we don’t have many opportunities before Bermuda and getting some international game time was something I was looking forward to,” Nadkarni said after the win. “I was working hard so that I could come here and put up a good show. Just coming into the game today when we were fielding, I kind of sensed that the new ball plays really well on this wicket and the old ball is a little more difficult to score off so I was trying to be a little positive initially in my innings and it worked out well because I think I got 50 in no time.”

Bermuda won the toss and elected to bat first as USA made three changes to their lineup from the first 50-over match on Tuesday. Former Queensland U-19 player Josh Dascombe dressed for his first game in a USA uniform while Nadkarni and Elmore Hutchinson entered in place of Hemant Punoo, Naseer Jamali and Timothy Surujbally.

The visitors got off to an excellent start, adding 52 runs in 11 overs before Dion Stovell was pinned on the crease by Muhammad Ghous on the first ball of the 12th and given out LBW for 31. Tre Manders lasted just four balls, caught at cover by Usman Shuja later in the over for a duck to make it 52 for 2.

Jason Anderson and David Hemp constructed Bermuda’s biggest partnership of the match for the third wicket, 71 runs across 17.5 overs. Bermuda was 117 for 2 after 29 and it appeared they would finish with somewhere between 230 and 260 runs on a good batting pitch. But the wicket of Hemp in the 30th, bowled by Ghous for 40, sparked another dramatic slide for Bermuda as they lost their last eight wickets for 62 runs.

Janeiro Tucker was the next to fall, trapped in front by Dascombe’s left-arm spin for 5 to make it 134 for 4 in the 33rd. Dascombe struck again to remove Anderson for 66 as part of a wicket maiden over in the 37th. Bermuda’s sixth wicket fell with one ball to go in the batting power play as Neil McGarrell induced a top edged slog sweep from Rodney Trott that was claimed by Timroy Allen running in from deep midwicket for 3 to make it 153 for 6. Bermuda only managed to score 11 runs for the loss of two wickets during their five-over batting power play from the 36th through the 40th over.

Malachi Jones fell for 13, caught off a full toss by Nadkarni at cover off Hutchinson to make it 177 for 7. Samuel Robinson fell for 4 in similar fashion off the bowling of Shuja in the following over to make it 184 for 8. Lionel Cann was the ninth man out for 13, bowled by a Hutchinson yorker on the first ball of the 46th. Bermuda managed to lose their last three wickets in the space of six balls when Hutchinson had Dennico Hollis caught pulling a full toss to Shuja at fine leg as Bermuda failed to bat out the final 27 balls in their innings, all out for 185 in 45.3. Hutchinson rode his good fortune to take 3 for 30 in 7.3 overs but once again it was Ghous who shined most with the ball for USA, taking 3 for 28 in 10.

Nadkarni and Akeem Dodson opened the chase for USA and after a relatively modest start, 32 for 0 in seven overs with a maiden bowled by each opening paceman – Jones and Greg Maybury – Nadkarni produced an extraordinary outburst of boundary hitting through to the end of the opening 10-over power play. It wouldn’t have happened had Trott converted a run out chance with Nadkarni on 28 on the first ball of the eighth. Beginning with the last ball of the seventh, Nadkarni struck seven fours and a six off his next 16 deliveries, bringing up his half-century in the process as USA ended the 10th over at 71 for 0.

Image (right) - Bermuda offspinner Samuel Robinson scratches his head in search of answers for how to get Sushil Nadkarni out. The USA opener raised his bat after reaching 100 and spared Bermuda's bowlers by retiring upon reaching the milestone. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“Over the last three months I’ve been here a lot to play in the stadium. There were some domestic T20 tournaments and I got an opportunity to bat here, scored some runs. The wicket’s become really nice actually,” Nadkarni said when asked about the improvement in the quality of the pitches at the stadium over the last year. “I think it’s much more harder and the bounce is much more even so it does allow you to play some shots through the line. Also if the ball is short, you can pull it off to the boundary. I think it’s become a little better for shot making. When the ball becomes old though, it does stop on you so later on in the innings it becomes a little more difficult to score runs.”

At the first drinks break after 17 overs, USA was 110 for 0 with Nadkarni on 83 and Dodson on 20. USA’s wicketkeeper finally fell in the 20th over, bowled by Trott for 27 to make it 120 for 0. Steve Massiah joined Nadkarni and the pair added another 46 runs. The partnership ended when Nadkarni brought up his 100 in 105 balls with a single to the leg side on the last ball of the 33rd over and immediately retired out.

Aditya Thyagarajan joined Massiah and the pair knocked off the last 20 runs required in 4.1 overs. Massiah finished 44 not out and Thyagarajan 6 not out. Trott was the only bowler with respectable figures, finishing with 1 for 21 in 8.1 overs.

USA and Bermuda play the final game of their three-match 50-over series on Friday at the Central Broward Regional Park. DreamCricket.com will have live coverage sponsored by New Inning Foundation beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST with play scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. EST.

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

By Peter Della Penna in Cooper City, Florida (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Florida for the three-match 50-over series between USA and Bermuda is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Rashard Marshall’s bat paid immediate dividends in his return to the USA national team after a 26-month absence to lead USA to a 54-run win over Bermuda at Brian Piccolo Park in Cooper City, Florida in the first 50-over warm-up match of a three-match series between the two sides. Marshall scored 54 off 75 balls in USA’s total of 227 before Bermuda was restricted to 173 for 8. USA’s spinners worked hard to defend a below par first innings total as Muhammad Ghous took 3 for 34 in nine overs of offspin while Neil McGarrell produced a miserly spell of 2 for 18 in 10 overs.

“The wicket was pretty slow, but we have a lot of spinners and we know they struggle against spin,” McGarrell said.

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on an unusually chilly and windy morning with eight players – Marshall, Ghous, McGarrell, captain Steve Massiah, Aditya Thyagarajan, Timroy Allen, Hemant Punoo and Usman Shuja – making their first appearance for USA on the tour to Florida after flying in at the conclusion of the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament.

Two holdovers from USA’s ICC Americas tournament champion squad – Akeem Dodson and Timothy Surujbally – opened the batting and put on 83 runs for the first wicket in 14.2 overs. Dodson was eventually run out for 33 trying to steal a leg bye ahead of a throw from Malachi Jones at point. Massiah entered at three but lasted just three deliveries before he was given out on a questionable LBW decision for 2 to 15-year-old left-arm spinner Delray Rawlins. USA’s top order collapse continued three overs later when Surujbally was given out LBW off an inside edge for 43 to offspinner Samuel Robinson to make it 96 for 3 in the 19th.

Marshall joined Thyagarajan and the pair stemmed Bermuda’s momentum by producing a 71-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The stand ended when Thyagarajan skipped down the track to Rodney Trott’s offspin and was beaten in flight to be stumped for 33 on the last ball of the 37th. USA managed to add 33 for 1 in the five-over batting power play from the 36th to the 40th overs but a short time later Marshall fell leg before to give Rawlins his second wicket as USA slipped to 197 for 5 in the 43rd.

Allen tried to prop up the tail but Bermuda ran through the rest of USA’s lineup with relative ease. McGarrell entered at seven and was out for 3 driving medium pacer Greg Maybury to cover. Punoo ran himself out without scoring two balls later to make it 208 for 7 in the 46th. Allen added 16 with Shuja before Allen was well caught at long off by Rawlins off Maybury for 29.

Ghous lasted just two balls before he was bowled for 1 by Maybury to end the 48th at 226 for 9. Jamali was out LBW for a duck to end the innings three balls into the 49th with Shuja not out on 6. Maybury finished with 3 for 37 after wrecking the tail but Bermuda’s spinners were the ones mainly responsible for holding down the fort after the brisk first-wicket partnership between Dodson and Surujbally.

Bermuda cruised along early in their chase to reach 76 for 1 at the first drinks break taken after 17 overs. Jason Anderson was trapped LBW for 16 by Punoo’s offspin in the 9th, but for the most part Bermuda wasn’t having any issues rotating the strike on an easy-paced wicket. It took the intervention of a brilliant runout by Dodson two balls after play resumed to turn the tide in USA’s favor. Bermuda captain Stephen Outerbridge was on strike and tried to nudge a ball toward point for a quick run. Dodson scampered out from behind the stumps as the batsmen hesitated. Outerbridge came back while Manders strayed outside his crease at the non-striker’s end for a moment too long. Dodson fielded and unleashed a throw into the base of the non-striker’s stumps to leave Manders stunned for 12.

Outerbridge brought up his 50 in 59 balls to begin the 19th, but one delivery later David Hemp was dismissed making it 79 for 3, caught behind for a duck trying to cut Ghous. Outerbridge had a few brushes with danger shortly thereafter, first on 59 when Ghous spilled a straightforward chance at long leg off Allen and then again on 68 two balls into the 33rd when Jamali couldn’t come up with a chance at long on after McGarrell induced a mistimed drive.

Image (right) - Offspinner Muhammad Ghous took 3 for 34 vs. Bermuda at Brian Piccolo Park. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Fortune favored USA at the end of McGarrell’s third over though when Tucker was bowled by McGarrell for 26 after missing a sweep to make it 127 for 4. Outerbridge began the 35th over trying to steal a quick single off McGarrell and pulled his right hamstring in the process, causing him to retire hurt on 71. The experienced McGarrell caught Dion Stovell sleeping with a quicker ball on the first delivery after play resumed following Outerbridge’s injury to make it 129 for 5. Bermuda now needed 99 in 15.4 overs to win, but with Outerbridge unable to return Bermuda’s tail didn’t have the firepower to take them close to the target.

Ghous got his second wicket when Jones was taken by McGarrell at midwicket for 2 in the 36th. Jekon Edness was bowled by Ghous in the 40th to make it 143 for 7 and Bermuda finished their five-over batting power play having scored just 13 runs. Massiah brought himself on for four overs of offspin and dismissed Rawlins in his last frame for 13 to make it 164 for 8 in the 48th. Trott hit a pair of boundaries off Marshall in the final over to take Bermuda to their eventual total of 173 for 8.

The two teams get back in action on Thursday when they square off at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill for the second game in their three-match 50-over series. DreamCricket.com will have live coverage sponsored by New Inning Foundation beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST with the match beginning at 10 a.m.

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

By Peter Della Penna in Lauderhill, Florida (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Florida at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Records continued to tumble on Sunday as Steven Taylor’s 127 not out spearheaded a 77-run win over Cayman Islands to wrap up an undefeated week for USA at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. USA finished 8-0 with the win while Cayman Islands dropped to 1-7 with the loss and as a result they have been relegated to ICC Americas Division Two.

Image (above) - USA finishes number one at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“We really worked hard since we arrived in Florida and the effort that we come here and put out to go 8-0, it’s a big achievement for USACA,” said USA captain Orlando Baker.

Taylor’s second century in as many matches reset his own USA T20 record and took him to 413 runs overall on the week to put him atop the run charts for the tournament.

“It was a dream come true and I’m happy for my accomplishment,” Taylor said. “I had one goal, my main goal was to become the highest run getter…. It’s a big boost for me because we qualified to the UAE and I’d like to do good in the UAE.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first with no changes made to the side that beat Bermuda on Friday as Elmore Hutchinson and Saqib Saleem nursed injuries while Timothy Surujbally sat out. Taylor and Akeem Dodson opened and set a USA record for the country’s largest partnership in T20 cricket. The pair added 155 in 15.1 overs, breaking the mark for highest first-wicket partnership previously held by Taylor and Aditya Mishra with 78 vs. Scotland at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai and the highest partnership overall which was held by Aditya Thyagarajan and Baker with 99 not out in a seventh-wicket stand vs. Ireland at the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Unlike his innings in the first match against Cayman Islands when he scored 95, Taylor’s time at the crease on Sunday was a charmed one with two straightforward chances being put down. The first came when he was on 21 in the fifth over with the score 41 for 0. Taylor top edged a sweep against offspinner Kevin Bazil that went straight to Alessandro Morris at fine leg. Morris misjudged it initially and then reached up over his head while backpedalling before spilling the chance.

Taylor treated Cayman Islands medium pacer Troy Taylor with particular disdain, torching him for a six and three boundaries in the 10th over as he brought up his 50 off just 30 balls in the process. On the first ball of the 11th over, Dodson scooped Ramon Sealy over fine leg for a boundary to break Baker and Thyagarajan’s partnership record.

The partnership finally ended when Dodson missed a slog to midwicket against Kervin Ebanks and was bowled for 46. Baker came out to the middle and for the second match in a row was present when Taylor brought up three digits. Bermuda had another chance to deny him of three figures though just five balls after Dodson got out when Taylor sliced a full toss straight to point but the fielder grassed the chance at chest height.

Instead, Taylor reached his century three balls into the 17th over with a single to the leg side. He scored his second 50 in just 21 balls. Cayman Islands still had three more overs to feel Taylor’s wrath though. The teenager added another three fours and a six in the final two overs before he carried his bat off the field with 14 fours and six sixes at the end of his 62-ball knock. The total of 198 for 1 was a record score for USA in T20 cricket, eclipsing the 193 for 5 USA made against Bermuda in Sharjah at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Image (above) - Man of the Match Steven Taylor after breaking his own USA record T20 score with 127 not out vs. Cayman Islands. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna]

“There’s so many things that happened. There’s so many records that has break in this tournament, with the batters and partnerships.” Baker said. “But from a personal point of view, I’m very happy to lead this team, a young team. I get the respect from each and every player, from the managers right down to the guys. When I came here to Florida, I said I’m here on a mission as a captain and a senior player and the mission is complete.”

Cayman Islands never had a chance to chase the total despite a 60-run opening stand between Sealy and Zachary McLaughlin. Sealy was dismissed for 27 by Danial Ahmed in the 10th over and from there wickets fell regularly. McLaughlin was the first of three wickets taken by Ryan Corns, caught by Taylor at long on for a top score of 35. Corns had Ronald Ebanks stumped for 12 before Abhimanyu Rajp got into the act, removing Conroy Wright for 8 through the assistance of a brilliant catch on the boundary by Naseer Jamali to make it 100 for 4 in the 17th.

Corns capped off career best figures of 3 for 12 with the wicket of Kervin Ebanks, caught at deep midwicket by Japen Patel for 12 to make it 106 for 5 in the 18th. The last wicket to fall for Cayman Islands was that of Troy Taylor, stumped by Dodson for 1 in the 19th over, before Cayman Islands finished on 121 for 6.

In the day’s other match, Suriname stunned Bermuda by five wickets to take their record to 4-4 while Bermuda finished the tournament at 5-3 but still finished in second place to join USA as the two teams advancing from this tournament to the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE this November. Tre Manders and David Hemp both made 51 in Bermuda’s total of 144 for 4, but Suriname chased it down with two balls to spare aided by some shoddy fielding from Bermuda. Sauid Drepaul led Suriname with 42.

USA has an off day on Monday before a three-match 50-over series against Bermuda begins at Brian Piccolo Park beginning at 10 a.m. DreamCricket.com will have live coverage sponsored by New Inning Foundation for all three matches.

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

By Peter Della Penna in Cooper City, Florida (on Twitter)

DreamCricket.com's coverage on site from Florida at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament is sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

Scorecard vs. Bermuda I Scorecard vs. Bahamas I Match Commentary

USA batsman Steven Taylor became the first USA player to score a Twenty20 century on Friday afternoon at Brian Piccolo Park, notching 101 off 62 balls to lead USA to victory over Bermuda by 48 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament. USA’s win was their seventh in seven matches this week and clinched both the tournament title for them as well as a spot in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier this November in the UAE.

Image (above) - Steven Taylor watches the ball sail over the rope for his sixth six to bring up USA's first T20 century. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“We just came out with a positive approach,” Baker said. “We knew it was Bermuda and it’s our last big chance at them. We wanted to crush them. We didn’t want to just win, but win big. We went out and give it our best and we come out today with a big win again.”

In the process of reaching his ton, Taylor broke his own USA record score in T20 cricket which was 95 against Cayman Islands on the first day of this tournament. Taylor is now the leading scorer in the event with 286 runs, well ahead of Bahamas’ Marc Taylor who has 228.

“It felt good because I was very disappointed in myself not getting the first hundred,” Taylor said. “I ought to have two. I was glad to get my first hundred.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first against Bermuda as Timothy Surujbally and Saqib Saleem sat out while Elmore Hutchinson nursed a groin strain sustained in morning warm-ups. The match began after an 11-minute rain delay before Taylor and Akeem Dodson opened for USA on a placid wicket. Play was halted briefly in the second over with USA on 21/0 for an 18-minute rain break before the match resumed.

Keeping their focus in the face of the spitting rain, Taylor and Dodson produced USA’s best first wicket partnership of the tournament, 68 runs in just 5.5 overs. Dodson finished with 23 off 15 balls before he was out caught on the cover boundary off the bowling of Janeiro Tucker. Taylor added 46 with Nicholas Standford and brought up his 50 in 34 balls during their stand. Standford scored 18 and was dismissed leg before missing a sweep against Jacobi Robinson. Barrington Bartley lasted just three balls, bowled for 4 by Malachi Jones in the 14th.

Image (right) - Taylor's innings started with rain drops falling around him as he took on Bermuda's bowling unit. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Taylor was joined by Baker and the pair generated USA’s second half-century stand of the match, 50 runs for the fourth wicket to tie a fourth-wicket record partnership for USA in T20 cricket held by Baker and Aditya Mishra against Namibia in 2012. Baker worked at giving Taylor the strike and with four overs left, Taylor was 25 away from the magic three figures.

Taylor had the strike for all but one delivery of the 17th but could only manage a three off the first ball before dots piled up in the rest of the over. His frustration was evident as he attempted an unsuccessful reverse sweep on the final ball in an effort to get unstuck. However, a full toss from Maybury three balls into the 18th disappeared over midwicket and got the wheels turning again for Taylor. After a two and a three on the next two balls, he entered the 19th over on 89.

In USA’s first match of the tournament, Taylor was caught on the boundary for 95 against Cayman Islands as he tried to bring up a century with a six. This time he was the beneficiary of some good fortune when a chance at long off on 89 was spilled by the sub fielder Sam Robinson over the boundary line for a six to take Taylor to 95. Later in the over, he went for the glory shot and this time succeeded, striking his sixth six wide of long on to bring up triple figures in just 61 balls.

Taylor was finally dismissed on his next delivery, bowled by Jones to start the 20th, but not before he took USA to an easily defendable position of 184 for 4. Tucker was the only bowler who avoided Taylor’s wrath, finishing with 1 for 19 in four overs. Every other Bermuda bowler went for at least nine runs per over.

Image (left) - Taylor punches through the off side after the sun came out. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

The pitch stayed in good shape for the start of Bermuda’s chase. After a blip at the start of their innings with the loss of Lionel Cann for 10, Bermuda was ahead of the asking rate after four overs at 39 for 1. USA’s spinners worked to rein Bermuda back in. Ryan Corns got the momentum shifting back USA’s way with the first of his three wickets, David Hemp caught at deep midwicket for 2 to make it 40 for 2. Bartley foxed Dion Stovell to have the opener out stumped by Dodson for 26 to make it 52 for 3 after 6. Bermuda captain Stephen Outerbridge was caught at midwicket for 4 to give Corns his second. Corns then delivered the knockout blow, inducing a skied chance from Tucker to Japen Patel at long on and Bermuda’s top scorer was out for 27 to make it 79 for 5 in the 11th.

Abhimanyu Rajp took three wickets in five balls to accelerate the Bermuda tailspin. First to go in the sequence was Jones for 14, caught at deep midwicket by Jamali on the fourth ball of the 12th. Rajp opened the 14th over with wickets on back-to-back deliveries. Tre Manders top edged a pull to Corns at point before Rodney Trott slogged to Patel at long off on his first ball to make it 98 for 8. Rain returned in the middle of the 17th over and the umpires took the players off for the final time at the end of the frame. The match was unable to get restarted by the 6:30 p.m. cutoff time and with the par D/L score 161, USA was declared the winners by 48 runs.

“I’m very happy for all the guys,” USA captain Orlando Baker said. “We came here on a mission and we came through and supported each other from the day we arrived in Florida. As you can see, we’re 7-0 and we’re looking forward to the next game to go 8-0.”

Image (above) - Steven Taylor finishes a lofted straight drive to come within one shot of his century. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Earlier in the day, USA brushed aside Bahamas with a 72-run win at the Central Broward Regional Park. USA won the toss and batted first, posting 187 for 4, their highest total of the week and second highest T20 score all-time for USA. Several players got starts but no one capitalized on them as Patel and Baker were co-top scorers with 32. The pair featured in USA’s highest partnership of the innings, 65 for the third wicket to set up USA’s big total.

Bahamas made a confident start to their chase as Marc Taylor and Julio Jemison constructed the largest partnership by any of USA’s opponents this tournament, 62 runs for the first wicket in 8.3 overs. Bartley was the one to make the breakthrough for USA, getting Taylor to send Jamali a catch at long off for 30. Ryan Tappin was dismissed for a duck by Danial Ahmed six balls later and from there the Bahamas innings became unglued.

Jemison eventually finished 52 not out but the only other player besides the openers to cross double digits was Rudolph Fox at number eight with 13. Steven Taylor set the tone for his charmed day by recording a double-wicket maiden in the 20th over, his first over bowled of the tournament, as Bahamas finished on 115 for 8. Bartley was named Man of the Match after following his 25 not out with 2 for 21. 

In the day’s other matches, Bermuda defeated Cayman Islands in the morning match at Brian Piccolo Park by four wickets. Suriname stumbled in the afternoon game at Central Broward Regional Park against Bahamas, who rebounded from the loss to USA by notching a six-wicket win.

Bermuda sits in second place at 4-2 after six games and can clinch the second available spot from the Americas for the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier with a win over Bahamas on Saturday morning. Suriname is still mathematically alive for second place at 2-4 but needs Bermuda to lose to the Bahamas on Saturday combined with Suriname wins over Cayman Islands on Saturday and Bermuda on Sunday. In addition to that, Suriname would also need to close the net run rate gap with Bermuda. Cayman Islands sit in last place at 1-5. Should they lose both their remaining games against Suriname and USA, they will be relegated to ICC Americas Division Two.

USA has Saturday off before their final game against Cayman Islands on Sunday. DreamCricket.com will have live coverage of the match, sponsored by New Inning Foundation, beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.

“We’re here on a mission,” Baker said. “We’re 7-0 and we still got one more to go. Definitely we’re looking to go 8-0. We’re not easing up on no one. We’re not taking any team for granted.”