USA Cricketer : 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp

USA Cricket: ICC data illustrates the need for a sense of urgency in grassroots development

openingbat — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:55:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

In June, the ICC released its Development Program Census Results for the 95 Associate and Affiliate countries for 2011 and also included participation figures for each country dating back as far as 10 years for most of the 95. The census charts each country’s participation level in terms of increase or decrease in the number of players, number of coaches and number of umpires as well as the increase or decrease in the number of facilities. It doesn’t take long to realize when scanning through the figures the importance youth participation numbers has on the overall success of many nations.

More often than not, countries with strong youth participation figures, especially countries whose youth participation figures strongly outnumber the adult participation figures, have experienced a significant amount of success or improved results over the timespan of the census compared to those countries where adult participation outweighs youth participation.

For example, Ireland had 4515 adult players and 3540 youth players in 2007, the year they pulled off a massive upset victory over Pakistan to advance past the group stage of the World Cup in the West Indies. A year later, youth participation levels had gone up 57% to 5565, eclipsing the adult figures of 5340. Through 2011, the youth numbers had grown to 8145. Seeing the impact the win over Pakistan had percentage wise from 2007-2011 and bearing in mind Ireland pulled off an even bigger upset in 2011 over England at the last World Cup, Ireland could have 15,000 or more youth players by 2015.

Nepal’s successes at U-19 World Cups in the last decade have not only contributed to success at the senior level but have resulted in an uptick in youth and overall participation numbers. In 2002, Nepal’s adult participation numbers were at 3240 and their youth numbers were at 1080. By 2011, the adult figures have grown to 7500, but more impressively the youth figures have multiplied more than eight-fold to 9285.

Other countries like Namibia may have small participation numbers overall, but their numbers are still skewed heavily in favor of youth percentage and ratio wise. In 2004, Namibia had 465 adults and 1185 registered youth players. In 2011, those figures were 765 and 2405 respectively.

In 2004, when USA participated in the Champions Trophy in England, the country had 12,675 adult players. Based on the other aforementioned countries and figures, one would assume that USA would have had several thousand youth players at the very least and by 2011 conceivably should have had double or triple the amount of youth players, well into the tens of thousands.

Unfortunately, neither is the case. In 2004, USA had 960 registered youth players. After reaching a high of 1020 registered youth players in 2007, USA experienced a 41% drop to 600 in 2010. In 2011, USA’s adult participation numbers were 16,680, a 32% increase from the year they played in the Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, USA reported 750 youth players registered in 2011, a 28% drop in the same time span that the adult figures went in almost the exact opposite direction.

So in a country of more than 300 million people, there are only 750 registered youth players. That includes roughly 400 players participating in the New York City Public Schools Athletic League. Outside of New York City, there are less than 400 youth players playing in organized cricket competitions nationwide. If you don’t believe that, keep in mind that the Central West Region failed to send a squad to the USACA U-15 National Tournament in 2010 and 2011. That’s right, the Central West is a region that has three thriving adult leagues in Texas with a combined 85 teams – that’s more than 1000 adult players in Texas – and one league in Colorado and had four players named in the USA senior team for 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia but could not come up with 11 players aged 15 and under to participate in a national tournament.

Most shocking is the overall ratio disparity of adults to youth cricketers in the USA. While most top tier Associate countries are hovering around 1:1, 2:1 or 3:1 ratios in favor of youth to adult players, USA has 22.24 adult players for every one youth player. As evidenced by the Central West, some regions have a disparity of somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 adult players to one youth player.

Image (left) - Long Island City celebrates winning the 2012 NY PSAL championship. When will other cities follow the lead of New York and establish their own youth leagues? [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In April, USACA vice president Michael Gale posted a PowerPoint presentation on the USACA web site advocating for an increase in youth participation levels to “2000 active U-19 youth players in order to pick up 5% that could be competitive on a world stage.” Top 5% from any figure is just scratching the surface and would include a lot of mediocre talent by international standards, but with a sample pool as small as 2000 that would especially be the case.

Take a look at other pro sports in the USA and less than 1% of all athletes participating from high school on up ever truly make it to an elite level. At the moment, there are 120 NCAA Division One/FBS college football programs with a maximum of 85 full scholarship players allowed on each roster, not including walk-ons. There are hundreds of thousands of high school football players across America, but only 10,200 players get a full scholarship to play Division One college football in any given season. From this already highly select group of players, only 253 became NFL draft picks in 2012. That’s just 2.48% of super elite athletes from an already elite group who may get drafted to play professionally.

College basketball is just as popular if not more so at the high school level especially with the rise of AAU teams traveling and playing outside of the high school season. There are currently 344 NCAA Division One men’s basketball programs and each program can have 13 players on full scholarship not including walk-ons. This means that of the hundreds of thousands of high school basketball players playing nationwide, only 4472 possessed an NCAA basketball scholarship in 2012. Then from this group of 4472 scholarship players, there were just 60 draft picks made by NBA teams in 2012 or 1.34% of NCAA players. Nine players who were from overseas and did not play NCAA basketball were drafted in 2012. So there were actually only 51 NCAA basketball players out of 4472 who were drafted, 1.14% of the already elite pool.

Going back to that figure of registered junior players in the USA, 750, and applying the 1% theory to it, that means that there are really only 7 or 8 players at the U-19 level in the country who could potentially be considered elite. On the evidence of the performances of the USA U-18 team in Florida last month, which should also supply the core of the USA U-19 team in 2013, saying that this country had 7 or 8 elite players in that team would be extremely optimistic. The same would be true of the squad that went to the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland.

In reality, the USA U-18 squad in Florida was Steven Taylor, Ryan Persaud and everyone else. USA arguably had just two elite players out of 750 that exist in this country. Multiply 750 by seven and you get 5250. That’s how many registered youth players USA needs nationwide before they can realistically find 14 players just to be competitive on an elite level to represent a junior national team.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor is one of the USA's few elite age group cricketers. Overall participation figures need to rise in order to unearth more talent like him. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Double that figure to get to 10,500 and that’s how many youth cricketers this country would need for the cream of the crop to be competing with each other for the right to make it into the final 14 of a youth national team. Only then will this country really begin to make strides not only at the youth level, but as a by-product the senior men’s level.

The ICC census data should be a wake-up call to all cricket administrators to get their priorities straight and put an immediate focus on youth development. Many fans and stakeholders like to place all of the blame on USACA for the historically negligent approach to youth development and USACA is a very convenient target. However, much of the fault lies directly with the clubs, leagues and administrators at the local level. In the five seasons since it debuted in 2008, the NY PSAL high school cricket league has mushroomed from 14 to 26 teams and is considered a tremendous success, a model success. Yet, no other city has copied that model and New York City remains the only city in America with a high school cricket league.

While most clubs in overseas leagues have an U-11, and U-13, U-15, U-17 and an U-19 squad as part of the overall club structure, the vast majority of “clubs” in the USA are just that in name only. The majority of leagues in this country don’t have a youth team, let alone each individual club within the league.

In reality, the vast majority of “cricket clubs” in the USA are a solitary team comprised of 13 or 14 guys in their mid 30s to late 40s with no desire to develop a formal club structure, which would mean building a relationship with the local community by inviting local residents, - boys, girls and adults – to tryout, participate and build up a membership base to the point that the municipality could designate a proper ground specifically for cricket and not to be shared with baseball, soccer or anything else.

It’s up to the clubs and leagues to develop these programs and structures themselves because if they wait for help from USACA, this country will still be hovering between 750 and 1000 junior players in the year 2020. The onus is on the administrators at the local level to help effect change. Progress is being made by the USYCA to help increase youth participation numbers, but a bridge must be built from the kids who are being introduced to the game in school programs to connect with youth leagues or youth teams within adult amateur clubs and leagues.

The Michael Gale target of 2,000 U-19 youth players will not be enough to field a truly competitive squad at the international level. USA must grow the total to 10,000 youth players over the next 10 years from which the top 1% will be truly competitive at an elite level suitable for international cricket tournaments. Otherwise, the USA will continue to be stuck in limbo while other Associate and Affiliate countries leave America in their wake.

USA Cricket: Lots for junior squad to improve on in year ahead of 2013 ICC Americas U-19 tournament

openingbat — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:20:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

With roughly 12 months to go before USA’s next engagement for a junior level squad with the 2013 ICC Americas U-19 Division One Tournament, there were a few things to be encouraged about for USA’s future. However, for all the positives there are even more warning signs that may cause fans and administrators to worry about the state of junior cricket in the country. The following is a synopsis of USA’s performance at the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 event earlier this month in Florida analyzing the good, the bad and the ugly for USA.

Batting

Positives – USA turned in the highest team score and highest individual score of any squad during the week of matches in Florida, both coming in the same game against Canada. USA’s total of 218 for 7 was even more impressive in that it came in just 45 overs after five overs were shaved off due to time constraints.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor file photo. Taylor was the leading scorer in Florida this month at the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp, but lacked support from other players. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Steven Taylor turned in the highest score of the week for any player when he notched 102 off 117 balls in that match. Taylor was also the leading scorer in the event with 159 runs. With Taylor at the crease, America will always stand a chance of victory no matter the opposition in an Associate level tournament.

Negatives – The next best score for USA in the four live contests against Bermuda and Canada was 28 from Amarnauth Persaud in the first match against Canada. USA also had eight innings of scores between 15 and 25, indicating that players don’t know how to push on after getting a decent start. Each of those scores between 15 and 25 came from someone batting in the top seven.

Of particular concern are USA’s struggles at the start of the innings. The bonus point structure for the event awarded one point to the batting side if they could make it to the 15 over mark with less than three wickets down. If the fielding side had taken three wickets by the 15 over mark, they would take the bonus point for that stage of the match.

USA failed to claim that bonus point in four opportunities while batting. It was inexcusable to miss out on the bonus point in their second match against Bermuda when they only had to make 61 to win but managed to lose four wickets inside of 15 overs before scratching across the target in 19.3 overs. By contrast, Canada claimed the bonus point at the 15-over mark three out of four times while batting, a sign that they always had a good foundation to build on in their innings, something that helped them finish in first place at the end of the week with two wins and a no result.

The failure to string together decent partnerships was also a major problem. USA only had one partnership of 50 or better in their four live matches. By contrast, Bermuda had three half-century stands and one century stand despite only getting three opportunities to bat.

USA’s field awareness was also absent at the crease. USA’s batsmen had an uncanny knack of drilling the ball as hard as they could straight at a fielder in the circle at times when there were only four men inside the ring. It didn’t appear they knew how to rotate the strike by placing the ball into gaps, particularly when the field is spread after the first 15 overs are finished. This was a major problem for the USA U-19 squad that finished seventh at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland and doesn’t seem to have improved with this crop of juniors either. One over in particular stuck out when a USA batsman allowed a maiden to occur by hitting all six deliveries in the over back to Canadian leg-spin bowler Trevor Manoosingh when there were only four fielders in the circle. That should never ever happen.

Scores in the teens and 20s will cut it at club level, but not at international level. USA must be able to find junior level players who can occupy the crease, rotate the strike and build partnerships if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup.

Bowling

Positives – As has been the case traditionally with USA’s age group teams, USA’s strength was their spin bowling, which accounted for 18 out of the 33 wickets taken by USA in the field. Ryan Persaud and Zahib Tariq provided a good contrast, one a wicket-taking leg-spinner with flight and the other an economical off-spinner darting the ball in flat to choke the runs and build pressure. These two will be vital to the USA U-19 squad’s efforts to win the ICC Americas tournament in 2013.

Negatives – Pace bowlers struggled to take wickets, mainly because they had no pace to offer. The ball might be bouncy in club cricket when playing on artificial or matting strips, but bowling on turf is a different challenge altogether, one they did not seem well-equipped to handle. If the seam bowlers who were in Florida want to stay in the squad for next year’s U-19 Americas event, they need to commit themselves to a serious strength and conditioning program to get up to pace of international standard.

Fielding

Positives – USA completed the most run outs in the field of any team, racking up seven in four games. Their ground fielding was adequate in this regard.

Negatives – USA dropped nine catches on the week and had a missed stumping. Arguably seven of the nine drops were straightforward chances, with most of the drops coming from spilled chances at mid on or mid off whether they were fielding on the circle or on the boundary. When players are contributing in other ways, some coaches might overlook a fielding weakness. However, this squad had players who were deficient in all three facets of the game which makes the fielding gaffes much harder to accept.

Several players who were part of the USA U-18 squad in Florida this month just won’t cut it at the U-19 international level. Coaches and captains can’t afford to have passengers in a traveling squad who serve as ballast instead of batsmen and bowlers. It’s up to USACA to organize an U-19 national tournament next spring ahead of the 2013 ICC Americas U-19 Division One Tournament so that deserving players who missed out this time around can be identified on merit and given an opportunity to contribute to the national team.

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author. 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.]

2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp All-Tournament XI

openingbat — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:37:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

1. Steven Taylor, USA (vice-captain, wicketkeeper, pictured right) – The physically imposing left-hander turned in the highest score of the week with 102 off 117 balls against Canada on the final day of the event. He would be disappointed to come away with only one century after setting a goal to get four, but he still managed to lead all batsmen with 159 runs in live matches at an average of 39.75. Behind the stumps he completed six dismissals, including five stumpings. It’s also worth noting he took two wickets and had an economy rate of 2.14 in 14 overs bowling seam in two games.

2. Christian Burgess, Bermuda – Burgess only got two opportunities to bat, but wound up being the only opener besides Taylor to reach 50 in an innings as he laid a solid platform for his side on the first day against Canada which they were unable to capitalize on.

3. Nikhil Dutta, Canada (pictured left) – There were no trophies handed out at the end of the week, but if there were then Dutta would have been the Tournament MVP hands down. His only failure was on the first day against Bermuda when Delray Rawlins pulled off the catch of the tournament at point to dismiss him for 5. After that, Dutta turned in scores of 35 not out, 43 not out and 71 to finish with 154 runs, just five fewer than Taylor, but at a tournament best average of 77.00. He was also the leading wicket-taker on the week. His tidy off-spin was responsible for eight wickets at an average of 11.00 and a 3.54 economy.

4. Tre Manders, Bermuda – The wiry Manders might have caught some people off guard with his strength as he had no issues attempting to clear the ropes in his knock of 88 against the USA, which was the second highest score of the week. His 92 runs overall were third behind Dutta and Taylor at an event where the batting depth was thin.

5. Gurkaran Dhillon, Canada – His 63 not out in a two-wicket win over Bermuda on the first day was the difference between Canada finishing in first place instead of third. His 79 runs were good for fourth overall on the week and they came at an average of 39.50.

6. Sudeepta Aurka , Canada (captain) – Canada’s captain was third on his team and fifth overall in the event with 75 runs in four games. Just as importantly, he was an economical bowling option. Despite only taking one wicket, he had a 2.96 economy rate in 24 overs of off-spin.

7. Joshua Gilbert, Bermuda (pictured right) – Gilbert has already represented the Bermuda senior side and that experience paid dividends in a few situations. He came into the first match against Canada with his side in trouble at 72 for 3 in 14 overs and stuck his head down to bat through to the end with 47 not out. On the bowling side, he had a match-winning performance of 4 for 17 in nine overs against the USA. Gilbert’s 2.84 runs per over was tops for Bermuda.

8. Delray Rawlins, Bermuda – The 14-year-old is the youngest member on the All-Tournament Team. His left-arm spin provides an added dimension to the unit. He took four wickets on the week at an average of 17.25. Rawlins also pulled off the catch of the tournament on the first day to dismiss Canada’s Nikhil Dutta with a leaping salmon one-handed effort at point.

9. Zahib Tariq, USA – The New Yorker might have disappointed with the bat but certainly not with the ball. Tariq was the most economical spin bowler in Florida, conceding just 2.70 runs per over in a tournament high 30 overs while taking five wickets, tied for fourth, at an average of 16.20.

10. Kwaisi James, Bermuda – At first glance, James bowled innocuous slow medium seamers. Yet, he was one of the most difficult bowlers to score off of and finished tied for second overall with six wickets, most of any seamer. James bowled the most maidens on the week with six and had Bermuda’s best average, taking a wicket for every 13 runs he conceded. His economy rate of 3.02 was the third best of any seamer behind Steven Taylor and Vibhav Altekar of the USA.

11. Ryan Persaud, USA – Persaud was perhaps the most eye-catching bowler on display during the week. Persaud had the magic touch at the U-15 level and has managed to carry it with him as he progresses through age-level cricket. For a leg-spinner, he rarely bowled a bad ball and while many other spinners just darted deliveries in flat, Persaud never shied away from giving the ball some flight while getting prodigious turn. He finished the week tied for second with six wickets at 15.33 with a 3.41 economy rate. Aside from Steven Taylor, he is USA’s best junior cricket prospect heading into next year’s U-19 World Cup Qualifier for the Americas Region.

[Views expressed in the article are those of the author, who was present at every match during the tournament. All images courtesy of Peter Della Penna.]

USA Cricket: Taylor century takes USA to 75-run win over Canada at 2012 ICC Americas U-18

openingbat — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 02:38:00 GMT

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

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA U-18 captain Steven Taylor became the first and only player of the week to raise triple figures when he scored 102 off 117 balls to lead his side to a 75-run win over Canada U-18 on the final day of the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp on Saturday in Lauderhill, Florida. Taylor brought up the century with his eighth boundary and also struck two sixes during his innings just a day after scoring 81 off 35 balls in a T20 friendly match against Bermuda U-18. Despite the loss, Canada finished in first place at the event with two wins and a no result as well as enough bonus points to put them well clear of both the USA and Bermuda.

“The overall performance of our batting just goes to show… Canada and Bermuda have played together for some time and our guys didn’t,” said USA coach Mumtaz Yusuf after the win. “From day one, the main thing from a development point of view is that we improved, though there are a lot of things we need to work out but still it was a gratifying win to show that the first two days when we got outplayed, the team needed to gel first.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first in a game with a start time moved up to 9 a.m., an hour earlier than the scheduled starting time of the previous five matches during the week, and reduced from 50 to 45 overs to accommodate for a semi-pro football league game that was scheduled to take place on Saturday evening on the same stadium field at the Central Broward Regional Park.

Karteek Kankanala opened the batting with Taylor and lasted until the end of the seventh over when he was caught at mid off for 7 by Canada U-18 captain Sudeepta Aurka off the bowling of Abrash Khan to make it 26 for 1.

Taylor and Shakeel Ahmad then produced USA’s best partnership in live matches during the week, 88 runs for the second wicket. Taylor survived a few lucky chances at deep midwicket on 21 and 37 when fielders on the west boundary lost sight of the ball staring into the sun, which was higher in the eastern sky due to an earlier start than previous matches. The partnership finally ended with the score on 114 when Ahmad failed to clear mid on and was caught for 23 to give Khan his second wicket.

Taylor and Arsh Buch combined for 38 runs to take USA past 150 before Buch was stumped for 10 off the bowling of Nikhil Dutta. Taylor had earlier reached 50 in 74 balls with a four swept to fine leg and proceeded to raise his century off 116 balls with Krish Goel at the other end when Taylor pulled a short ball over fine leg to end the 37th over.

Goel had struggled to find runs in his stay at the crease coming in at number five and eventually ran himself out for 1 off 15 balls in the 38th. Taylor then fell on the next delivery, slogging left arm spinner Farhan Malik to Bakshpreet Gill at long on to make it 168 for 5.

Dutta’s off-spin was responsible for two more wickets before the end of the innings, Amarnauth Persaud driving to cover for 16 and Vibhav Altekar slogging to long on for 25 in the final over of the innings. USA eventually ended on 218 for 7. Dutta had Canada’s best figures with 3 for 38 in nine overs while Khan had 2 for 43 in eight.

With Canada’s tournament points lead not in jeopardy, they demonstrated little desire to attempt to chase the target of 219. After five overs they were 14 for 0 and after 10 they were 23 for 1 after the fall of Shan Anantharajah to Taylor’s medium pace for 5 off 24 balls, caught mistiming a pull to square leg.

Aurka fell at the end of the 12th to give Taylor his second wicket, caught at point by Krish Goel for 15 to make it 28 for 1. Canada’s best partnership of the day was put on by Dutta and a combination of Armaan Kapoor and Gurkaran Dhillon for the third wicket. They had taken the score to 63 for 2 in the 23rd when Dutta slammed a full delivery from Ahmad right into Kapoor’s body and the batsman was forced to retire hurt. Dhillon came in and contributed three runs before the third wicket fell on 70 at the end of the 25th.

Dutta had just been dropped the previous ball on 24 when he skied Ahmad’s off-spin to Kankanala at long on, who dropped a straightforward chance. Dhillon then was late trying to cut Ahmad and feathered an edge to Taylor behind the stumps, who had taken over from Kankanala with the gloves after finishing his bowling spell.

Siddharth Shekar was out without scoring when he dragged a drive off Zahib Tariq onto his stumps in the next over. Dutta and Arjun Parikh added 32 runs before Parikh was runout for 5 to end the 32nd. Kapoor returned to the crease to start the 33rd but was out before the end of the over, caught at deep midwicket by Amarnauth Persaud off Ahmad for 10 to make it 107 for 6. Khan was then stumped for 2 after he was beaten in flight coming down the track to Ahmad.

Dutta added 30 for the eighth wicket with Malik before he was finally dismissed for Canada’s best individual score on the week, 71 off 99 balls. It was Tariq who claimed him, caught by Randall Wilson at deep midwicket. Malik was out three balls later for 10 and the match wrapped up another four balls after that when Prushoth Wijayaraj was stumped by Taylor off Goel to end Canada’s innings in 41.2 overs for 143. Tariq had USA’s best return of 3 for 30 in nine overs while Ahmad finished with 3 for 43 in nine. Taylor had a tight spell at the start of the innings, taking 2 for 13 in eight overs with three maidens which helped stifle Canada and put them behind the 8-ball throughout the second innings.

All three teams now leave the tournament with areas to analyze and improve upon before next year’s ICC Americas U-19 Division One Tournament where the winner will claim a spot in the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup. Yusuf has eyed a few things he wants to see happen for the players, with help from the USACA administration, ahead of the 2013 ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament.

“There’s a lot of work to be done. We need to have the team together for a longer period of team if you want to really succeed,” Yusuf said. “The pace bowling, we can’t have a wicketkeeper standing up [to the stumps] from the first over to the 50th over. That gives a bad signal to the other team the pace that we have. We have to do a lot of work on our fielding, especially their techniques. The catches that we dropped, their arms are locked and that’s the reason why those catches popped off. Those are not catches that should have been dropped.”

USA Cricket: Bowlers lead USA to six-wicket win over Bermuda at 2012 ICC Americas U-18

openingbat — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMT

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

50-over Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I T20 Friendly Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA dismissed Bermuda for 60 in 29.1 overs, the lowest total by any team this week, before wrapping up a six-wicket win on Friday afternoon at the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp in Lauderhill, Florida. Vibhav Altekar, Arsh Buch and Ryan Persaud took two wickets each to lay the foundation for the USA U-18 team’s first win in Florida.

“I was very happy the way they performed,” said USA U-18 coach Mumtaz Yusuf. “This is the first time all these guys have come together. They have shown improvement from the first day and to come back and beat Bermuda who we lost to on the first day is very creditable. But still I’m not very happy with the way we fielded. We fielded much better than the first two days but still I’m not happy. The catches that were dropped were not catches that you drop at this level of cricket. Those are areas where we have to work.”

Bermuda won the toss and elected to bat first as Karteek Kankanala came in for USA in place of Omari Williams. USA dropped Bermuda opener Shaquille Jones twice in the first over of the match, including off the very first ball, but from then on USA produced a disciplined performance in the field while Bermuda proceeded to commit several sloppy mistakes.

Bermuda’s other opening batsman Christian Burgess chopped a short ball from Randall Wilson onto the stumps in the second over for a third-ball duck. Number three William White played across a full delivery from Buch to be given LBW for 2 to end the third before Buch struck again in the fifth when Tre Manders drove a full delivery to Zahib Tariq at cover for 4 to make it 13 for 3.

Bermuda’s most fruitful partnership only managed to add 16 runs for the fourth wicket before Jones was sucked into pulling Altekar’s second ball to Shakeel Ahmad at deep square leg for 13 in the 10th over. Alex Dore only lasted two balls before spooning Altekar to Goel at point while Joshua Gilbert was slow responding to a call for a run from Delray Rawlins which resulted in a direct hit by Tariq to send Gilbert off for 5 and after 14 overs Bermuda was 37 for 6.

Persaud got into the act in the 17th over when Kwaisi James dragged his foot out of the crease while coming forward to defend and was stumped by Steven Taylor without scoring. Zico Burgess was then run out in embarrassing circumstances to end the 20th over after Rawlins swept a ball from Tariq to deep square leg. The batsmen appeared to have completed one run but Burgess was drifting out of the crease at the striker’s end while thinking about coming back for a second. The throw from Ahmad came in to Taylor, who flicked the ball onto the stumps and Burgess was given out as the umpires did not even credit the first run being completed meaning Burgess apparently never grounded his bat over the line despite the ball going to a fielder on the boundary.

Persaud had Rawlins caught by Goel at point to end the 21st with the score 52 for 9 to get his second wicket. Demieko James and Christian Gibbons then held out until the 30th over before Goel came on and snagged a return catch off the only ball he bowled to get James for 1 to wrap up the Bermuda innings for 60.

USA still managed to make the chase look slightly complicated, losing four wickets before eventually crossing the target in the 19th over. Ahmad opened with Kankanala and both batsmen were gone by the seventh over. Ahmad sliced a short ball from Gibbons to Zico Burgess at third man for 6 before Kankanala top edged a sweep against Rawlins and was caught at fine leg by Dore for 9 to make it 32 for 2.

Taylor was runout in unlucky fashion for 20 after coming in at number three when Goel drove a full delivery from Kwaisi James straight down the pitch that the bowler managed to get fingertips to as the ball whizzed by on the way to hitting the stumps with Taylor backing up out of his crease at the non-striker’s end. Amarnauth Persaud was the fourth wicket to fall with nine runs still needed to win when he flicked loosely to White at short midwicket to give Rawlins his second scalp. Goel finished the match a short time later though with a six over the midwicket rope to finish 19 not out.

Because the match finished as early as it did, both teams agreed to play a T20 friendly after taking a break for lunch to give an opportunity for the players to gain as much experience as possible. Bermuda won the toss and elected to field this time, but the results weren’t much different as USA completed an 86-run win.

Taylor finally made the most of a start, abusing the Bermuda attack to score 81 off 35 balls. He brought up his half-century off just 17 deliveries with his seventh boundary, which was swept behind square. At that stage he only failed to score off of one delivery. He finished with 11 fours and three sixes before being caught on the long off boundary. At the time he was dismissed, the score was 96 for 1 at the end of the ninth over and his opening partner Buch was on 10.

Buch batted through all 20 overs to finish 34 not out off 46 balls. Other contributions were made by Kankanala with 18, Goel with 16 and Ahmad with 27 not out off 10 balls as USA finished on 189 for 3, which was way out of reach for Bermuda. Altekar took 3 for 12 in three overs in the second innings as Bermuda was restricted to 103 for 6. Dore made 24 off 34 balls to top score for Bermuda at number three before retiring out after 16 overs.

USA U-18 takes on Canada U-18 takes on Canada U-18 in the final match of the tournament Saturday at the Central Broward Regional Park. The match is scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. start. Live coverage on DreamCricket.com, made possible in part by the New Inning Foundation, begins at 9:15 a.m.

USA Cricket: More USA batting woes lead to six wicket loss to Canada at 2012 ICC Americas U-18

openingbat — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:23:00 GMT

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

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA’s batting struggled for the second match in a row as they posted just 112 before losing by six wickets to Canada on Wednesday in a rain-reduced 30-over match at the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp in Lauderhill, Florida. USA’s failure to find singles inside the circle during the middle overs when Canada had five men on the boundary cost them dearly as 101 of the 180 deliveries in their innings, 56%, wound up being dot balls.

The match was delayed by five hours and 15 minutes due to rain in the area that started early Wednesday morning and didn’t let up until 2 p.m. When the field was finally ready for play to begin, USA won the toss and elected to bat first. Vice-captain Dave Parikh was left out of the XI in favor of Omari Williams after Parikh sustained a leg injury while the team was warming up on the field less than an hour before the start of the match.

For the second day in a row, Steven Taylor lasted until just the fourth over before getting out caught. One ball after hitting a six over the boundary at extra cover, Taylor drove straight to Armaan Kapoor at short cover to depart for 12 with the score on 24. Two overs later, Abrash Khan got his second wicket when Shakeel Ahmad took a wild swing and missed to be clean bowled for 8 which reduced USA to 34 for 2 in the sixth over.

USA’s biggest partnership of the day produced 32 runs between Amarnauth Persaud and Randall Wilson with Persaud being the aggressor in the stand. He finished with 28 off 40 balls before he dragged a return catch straight back to leg-spinner Trevor Manoosingh in the 16th over. Wilson needed treatment on his right wrist at one point and eventually retired hurt on 8 off 34 balls after 18 overs with the score on 68 for 3. Eight balls later, Williams was bowled for 2 trying to slog Manoosingh over midwicket to make it 71 for 4.

Despite having plenty of wickets in hand midway through the innings, USA’s batsman could not find ways to up the scoring rate. In a seven over stretch from overs 15 through 21, USA scored just 13 runs as they mostly pushed the ball back to the bowler or drove straight to one of the four fielders inside the circle. Once pressure started to mount, they couldn’t respond in an efficient manner and wickets started falling more regularly.

Krish Goel was caught on the boundary at long off to give Canada U-18 captain Sudeepta Aurka a wicket to make the score 82 for 5 in the 23rd. Zahib Tariq was dismissed without scoring for the second match in a row when he was stumped off his fourth ball to give Nikhil Dutta the first of two wickets. Roshan Varadarajan came in at number nine and lasted 10 balls before going to slog medium pacer Amanpal Gillar and skied a return catch to go for 4 to start the 27th over. Wilson returned at the fall of Varadarajan’s wicket with the score 96 for 7 and managed to add five more runs to his score before he was bowled by Gillar to make it 108 for 8 with nine balls to go in the innings.

The tournament structure states that a bonus point is up for grabs at the end of the first innings for either side. It goes to the batting side if they bat out their overs without losing 10 wickets but if they are bowled out then the fielding side claims the point. USA seemed to be unaware of this in the final over which resulted in the final two wickets going down.

Arsh Buch was runout after hesitating to go for a run with Vibhav Altekar, who had been in since the 16th over. Ryan Persaud entered with three balls to play in the innings and on the fifth ball of the over tried to slog Dutta but was caught at cover and USA was bowled out for 112 in 29.5 overs giving a bonus point to Canada in the process. Altekar finished not out on 22 off 37 balls. Manoosingh had Canada’s best figures with 2 for 17 in six overs.

Canada went about the chase in methodical fashion with Aurka being the only batsman showing any aggression in going after the target, scoring 40 of Canada’s first 61 runs. Steven Taylor wound up opening the bowling with Arsh Buch and was USA’s most threatening pace bowler of the first two days. He bowled out his six overs, taking 0 for 17. Stephan Joseph was run out off Taylor’s bowling, trying to steal a single to point where Goel made a solid diving stop and threw to Ahmad with the gloves on who whipped off the bails to dismiss Joseph for 13 with the score at 48 in the 12th. After 12 overs were completed, Taylor took over wicketkeeping duties from Ahmad for the rest of the innings.

Two deliveries after being dropped by Williams at long on, Aurka drove Ryan Persaud’s leg-spin to Ahmad at long off to make it 61 for 2 in the 18th. Ahmad then had Kapoor LBW for 3 to make it 69 for 3 in the 21st as the run rate started to inch up. However, Dutta did just enough to keep the scoring rate creeping along towards the target. He did offer a chance on 13 in the 24th over when Taylor missed a stumping off Goel, but went on to take the team across the line with 35 not out in 61 balls.

Gurkaran Dhillon was run out for 11 in the 27th as Goel and Ahmad teamed up again in the field, but the match ended in the 29th after a wide by Ahmad gave Canada the winning run with seven balls to spare. Canada moves to 2-0 with the win while USA remains winless. Ryan Persaud had USA’s best figures with 1 for 17 in five.

USA has an off day on Thursday while Canada and Bermuda square off for the second time in the U-18 event. Live coverage on DreamCricket.com, made possible in part by the New Inning Foundation, begins at 9:45 a.m. EST.

USA Cricket: Batting collapses to be all out for 84, Bermuda wins by 115 runs at 2012 ICC Americas U-18

openingbat — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 02:40:00 GMT

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)

Scorecard Powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Ball-by-Ball Commentary

USA plummeted from 39 for 0 in the fourth over to be all out for 84 by the 22nd as Bermuda completed a remarkable turnaround in the field to win by 115 runs on Tuesday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida on day two of the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp. Tre Manders top scored with 88 for Bermuda in the first innings after being dropped on 9.

“I think apart from the pressure situation, basically most of these guys have not played on turf,” said USA coach Mumtaz Yusuf after the loss. “But I cannot hold that as an excuse, just because you didn’t play on turf wickets, for that collapse. Also, they have to realized that every time you can’t depend on one player. You can’t depend on Steven Taylor every time to get a 100 to bail you out.”

Bermuda won the toss and elected to bat first, posting 199 for 9 in their 50 overs. Bermuda made two changes from their lineup on Monday, leaving out Christian Burgess, who scored 50 against Canada, as well as Kamel Easton.

USA made an early breakthrough with the wicket of William White, caught at point by Krish Goel off the bowling of Randall Wilson in the second over to make it 8 for 1. Bermuda recovered to put on a 57-run partnership, one that could have been nipped in the bud at the start of the eighth over had Zahib Tariq held on to a lunging chance at short cover off Manders. The score was 30 for 1 at the time and Manders was still one run away from reaching double-figures. USA would pay dearly for the missed chance.

Tariq would finally break the partnership by having Shaquille Jones stumped for 25 when he shuffled down the track for a swipe at Tariq’s off-spin and missed badly. Tariq made it two in two when Onias Bascome drove his first delivery straight to Goel at point and the score was 65 for 3 in the 18th.

Alex Dore then teamed with Manders for a century stand as Bermuda took command of the match in addition to claiming two bonus points for the partnership. Dore was dropped on 21 with the score at 133 in the 34th when he tried to scoop leg-spinner Ryan Persaud over mid off. Roshan Varadarajan was fielding there in the circle when the ball was delivered but ran back 15 yards while the ball was in the air and appeared to have covered enough ground to make the catch. He reached out over his shoulder and got two hands to the ball but couldn’t claim it as the batsmen ran two.

The stand ended in the 42nd when Manders tried slogging Goel’s off-spin over Arsh Buch at long on but didn’t get enough elevation, hitting the ball flat and hard straight to Buch five yards in from the boundary to make it 166 for 4. Dore was run out in the next over for 39 after a mixup with new man Joshua Gilbert to make it 173 for 5.

Persaud then claimed his first two wickets on back-to-back balls in the 45th over. Gilbert was the first of the pair, lofting a full ball to Tariq at long off for 6 before Kwaisi James overbalanced on a wild swing and was stumped for 1. USA’s poor fielding reared its head again two overs later though to deny Ryan Persaud another scalp when Amarnauth Persaud missed a straightforward catch at long off. Delray Rawlins was on 2 and drove in the air to Amarnauth but the ball was parried over the rope for a boundary to compound the error. The three Bermuda batsmen who were dropped wound up scoring a combined 109 runs after they had been given a second life.

Ryan Persaud took his third when he foxed Christian Gibbons with a quicker ball for 6 in the 49th to make it 191 for 8 before Rawlins was run out for 16 with four balls to go in the innings to make it 196 for 9. Because Bermuda was able to bat out the final four deliveries without losing their 10th wicket, they achieved another bonus point, their fifth overall in the innings. Ryan Persaud finished with USA’s best figures in the innings by taking 3 for 45 in nine overs while Tariq was USA’s most economical, taking 2 for 30 in 10.

Just 21 balls into USA’s chase it appeared that the innings would be over in no time, but not in the manner that it finally turned out. Steven Taylor opened the batting with Shakeel Ahmad and Taylor proceeded to go on a rampage, giving especially harsh treatment to Gibbons in a second over which went for 23 runs. Midway through the fourth over, USA had 39 runs on the board when Taylor got a full toss on his knees and casually flicked it straight to Dore at square leg to depart for 25.

Ahmad played a scratchy knock before departing for 6 to make it 52 for 2 in the eighth when he tried to pull a full toss from Gibbons through mid on only for the ball to pop straight up to cover. Number three Amarnauth Persaud was the next to go for 17 to make it 67 for 3 in the 12th when he walked too far across his stumps to pull the seam bowling of James and was bowled behind his legs.

USA then added another seven runs before proceeding to lose their last seven wickets for just 10 runs as the middle and lower order collapsed in stunning fashion at the hands of Gilbert’s off-spin. Randall Wilson started the rapid coming and going back to the pavilion when he was out leg before for 6 playing across to a full delivery.

Gilbert and James then began building pressure in tandem as they didn’t allow a run off the bat from the 15th to the 19th overs. On the last ball of the 16th Vibhav Altekar pushed a ball behind point and tried to scamper a run but Goel failed to respond. Goel wound up being the player run out as he drifted out of his crease with both players at the same end.

Gilbert then struck twice in the 17th as Altekar tried to hit out in an attempt to relieve the pressure with 10 fielders in the circle but failed to clear Bascome at mid on. Tariq was out three balls later when he top edged a full toss to square leg to make it 77 for 7.

Dave Parikh was bowled through the gate in the 21st to give Gilbert his fourth before James wrapped up the match in the next over, trapping Buch and Ryan Persaud in front of the stumps for a pair of leg before decisions in the span of three deliveries to wipe out USA for 84 in 21.5 overs. Bermuda had reduced Canada to 77 for 6 on Monday but couldn’t close out a win while defending 198. On Tuesday they had USA at 77 for 6 and this time around were able to seal victory in relatively easy fashion. Gilbert finished with 4 for 17 in nine with three maidens while James took 3 for 10 in 5.5.

“I think this team could have performed much better,” said Yusuf. “They need to play for their pride. You cannot play the cricket that they played today plus I wanted some intensity. I saw there was no intensity when they were fielding.”

USA’s next match is Wednesday against Canada at the Central Broward Regional Park. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by the New Inning Foundation, will begin at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Scorecard Powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Ball-by-Ball Commentary

USA Cricket: Taylor sets goal of scoring four 100s in four games at 2012 ICC Americas U-18 event

openingbat — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:00:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

USA U-18 captain Steven Taylor is finding new ways to motivate himself in age group competition at this week’s ICC America’s U-18 Match Play Camp in Florida. Taylor, who made his USA senior team debut in 2010 at the age of 16 says he wants to score a century in every one of USA’s four round-robin matches against Bermuda and Canada at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill.

“It’s big but I know I can do it, to make four hundreds, one in each game,” Taylor said in an interview last week when asked about any goals he had for the upcoming event. “I know it’s a big thing to do but I think I’m capable of doing it, and I want for us to win everything.”

Taylor previously captained the USA U-15 squad in New York in 2009 when they finished runner-up to Canada in the ICC Americas Northern Division U-15 Tournament. More recently, he had a leadership role last summer in Ireland as the USA U-19 team’s vice-captain at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor file photo from his century against Papua New Guinea at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. Can he score four in four matches this week? [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Taylor doesn’t say much on the field and prefers to let his bat do the talking. However, he says he won’t be afraid to speak up if he sees problems pop up in one area specifically: team chemistry. In the past there have been rumors about divisions in USA’s junior teams based on regional factions. Taylor admits there have been problems and plans on doing what he can to prevent it from happening again, both with this squad and the one that is picked next year to play for the USA U-19 team at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One Tournament.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge for us to play as a team in Ireland because we were having our differences,” Taylor said. “In the past it was all just who was from where. We’re from here and they’re from there. There was always different groups, always a west coast and an east coast thing. The main thing now will be just playing as a team. It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from, New York, South West or Central. Just play as one team, United States Under-19.”

USA’s first match at the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp begins Tuesday morning against Bermuda. Canada defeated Bermuda by two wickets with three balls to spare on Monday in the event’s first match. Bermuda posted 198 for 9 in a rain-reduced 47-over match after being sent in to bat. Canada were 77 for 6 in the 30th over before clawing back to pull out a win. DreamCricket.com will have live coverage of every match beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST.

USA Cricket: Mumtaz Yusuf to coach USA U-18 team in Florida

openingbat — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:58:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Former Sri Lanka and Malaysia national team coach Mumtaz Yusuf will coach the USA U-18 team next week in Florida at the ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp against Canada and Bermuda. Yusuf has been living in the USA since 1999 and is a Level Three qualified coach who currently works with players in Southern California. USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed confirmed the news and also said that Wesley King will serve as the Team Manager.

Yusuf says that he wants to put a greater emphasis on fielding and fitness with this group to help get them ready for next year’s ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament when USA will look to qualify for the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup in the UAE. Yusuf believes USA should have finished in the top six in Ireland at last year’s ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier and doesn’t want to let this current group of players fail to qualify for the next global event in two years’ time.

“In my coaching where I have succeeded in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, the side has to be fit and has to be a very good fielding side,” Yusuf said. “I would always give the edge to a fielder slightly over his batting and bowling. Especially in Florida with humid conditions, if you are not fit and you are not a good fielder, that’s going to be a minus point for us.”

Yusuf coached Sri Lanka and was a national selector from 1989-1992. He then coached Malaysia beginning at the 1994 ICC Trophy in Kenya continuing through the 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia and finally concluded his five-year stint with them in 1999 before moving to America.

Image (left) - Mumtaz Yusuf [Credit: USYCA]

He has been actively involved in coaching players in Southern California for the last decade and most recently coached the South West Region U-15 squad in Connecticut last year at the USACA U-15 National Tournament. Yusuf said that one player from that event who caught his eye and who he is looking forward to coach is Randall Wilson from the New York Region. Yusuf is also eager to work with USA U-18 captain Steven Taylor, who has already represented the senior side at multiple tournaments.

“I witnessed the U-15 final against Northern California last year and I was very impressed with Randall Wilson,” Yusuf said. “Not only Randall Wilson, I think we have a very talented bunch of players. I have been very impressed with Steven Taylor. I think working with that young kid will be a great pleasure to me because it will be the first time I will be working with Steven Taylor though I know his capabilities and his caliber and mental approach.”

Building up towards preparing a team for next year’s ICC Americas U-19 Division One qualifier, Yusuf is recommending that USACA should also select a shadow squad of players to keep the competition level amongst the current squad high so that players stay hungry and work hard to stay in the team.

“Once this tournament is over, I would recommend that apart from these 14 core players, we need to pick another team of 14 players who have missed out on selection,” Yusuf said. “We cannot allow players to be complacent and let them think they have been picked for this so [next time they have] 100% chance of being selected because when that happens you don’t want to try hard. You need to have someone breathing down your neck. Only then you’ll want to keep yourself sharp. After this tournament is over, pick another 14 players and play some games to keep players on their toes.”

USA’s squad arrives in Florida on Friday and will have three days of training before their first match on Tuesday at the Central Broward Regional Park. USA will play a total of four round-robin 50-over matches against Canada U-18 and Bermuda U-18 next week.

USA Cricket: USACA names 14-player squad for 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp

openingbat — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:56:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

USACA has selected the 14 players who will represent the USA against Bermuda and Canada in Florida next month at the 2012 ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp. The squad for the 50-over double round-robin event was announced on Monday night. It contains six players who have previously represented USA at the U-15 or U-19 level.

Steven Taylor will captain the squad, a strong indication that he will hold onto the role in 2013 when a USA U-19 squad will compete in the ICC Americas U-19 Division One Tournament for a chance to qualify for the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup in the UAE.

Amarnauth Persaud, a teammate of Taylor’s on the USA U-19 team last summer at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland, was named in the squad. Persaud was one of the top scorers this season in the NY Public Schools Athletic League high school cricket competition while representing Martin Van Buren High School.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor will captain the USA U-18 team next month in Florida. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

The vice-captain will be Dave Parikh, who captained the USA U-15 squad to a first place finish last August at the ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament in Winnipeg, Canada. Parikh was also named Tournament MVP of that event.

Parikh is joined by four other North West Region players. Krish Goel was in the list of probables for the USA U-19 squad in 2011 and is a former USA U-15 teammate of Steven Taylor and Persaud. Roshan Varadarajan was Taylor’s vice-captain on the USA U-15 team in 2009 and previously captained the North West Region to an undefeated title-run at the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament while Arsh Buch, another USA U-15 representative, was the Tournament MVP at the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament. Vibhav Altekar, who represented the USA U-15 team in 2011, scored a double-century at the 2011 USCA U-15 National Tournament.

Three other New York Region players join Persaud on the team. Zahib Tariq emerged as a solid prospect for USA at the 2010 USACA U-15 National Championship for his all-round abilities. Just last week he scored 28 not out and took 6 for 13 in a quarterfinal win for FDR High School over Persaud’s Martin Van Buren High School in the NY PSAL Playoffs. Randall Wilson, who took 2 for 34 and scored 51 not out in a quarterfinal win for John Adams High School over Abraham Lincoln, has scored three centuries in the last two years at USACA U-15 National Tournaments.

Omar Afridi is also from the New York Region and in 2011 was named Scotland’s U-17 Player of the Year. He previously represented Scotland at the U-13 and U-15 levels but his family moved to the USA last summer. He is able to play for USA without having to wait four years by virtue of his US citizenship and because he did not represent Scotland at the U-19 level or above.

Ryan Persaud was selected from the Atlantic Region. He was the leading wicket-taker at the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament. Shakeel Ahmad, the younger brother of USA U-19 player Salman Ahmad, is the lone representative from the South West Region. Ahmad scored a century this past weekend for Citrus Valley CC against Hollywood CC in Division Two of the Southern California Cricket Association and currently averages 44.40 in Division Two matches this season. Karan Patel and Omari Williams hail from the Central West and South East Regions respectively. Williams made headlines last year as a 15-year-old when he scored 128 in a match for Osswald Park against Myrtle Grove in the South Florida Cricket Alliance Premier Division.

A coach, manager and physio have yet to be named by USACA. The ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp runs from July 9-14 at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Fla.

USA U-18 Squad: Steven Taylor (captain, South East), Dave Parikh (vice-captain, North West), Omar Afridi (New York), Shakeel Ahmad (South West), Vibhav Altekar (North West), Arsh Buch (North West), Krish Goel (North West), Karan Patel (Central West), Amarnauth Persaud (New York), Ryan Persaud (Atlantic), Zahib Tariq (New York), Roshan Varadarajan (North West), Omari Williams (South East), Randall Wilson (New York).

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC Americas U-17 tournament rebranded "U-18 Match Play Camp"

openingbat — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:38:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

This year’s ICC Americas U-17 tournament, scheduled to take place from July 8-15 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been reclassified as the ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp between USA, Canada and Bermuda. According to an ICC Americas spokesperson, the tournament has been redesigned with the goal in mind to put the teams “in the best position to challenge for the one spot available” from the Americas that will move on to the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup.

The age of eligible players for this tournament was raised one year from U-17 to U-18 to allow for all players eligible for the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup qualification cycle to participate in this ICC Americas event. Players must be born on or after September 1, 1993 to be eligible to play for an Associate country at the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup. This means that Amarnauth Persaud and Steven Taylor, members of the USA squad at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland, will be eligible to play for USA in July at this ICC Americas event as well as next year's ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament. Should USA finish first in that event, they will advance to the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup in the UAE.

The two Americas representatives at last year’s ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier – USA and Canada – both failed to qualify for the ICC U-19 World Cup which begins this August in Australia. Overall, the standard of play from the Americas has dwindled in recent years. As recently as 2004, the USA was one of the highest rated Associate teams and qualified for the Champions Trophy in England. After ICC suspensions in 2005 and 2007, they were demoted from ICC World Cricket League Division Three to Division Five and have struggled to climb back to the upper echelon of Associates.

In 2007, the region had two representatives in the ICC World Cup with Bermuda and Canada taking part in the tournament played in the West Indies. Since then, Bermuda has dropped down to ICC World Cricket League Division Three. Argentina, which was in ICC World Cricket League Division Two in 2007, has now been relegated in four consecutive WCL tournaments to plummet to Division Six. They have lost 24 straight matches in the WCL beginning with the championship match at Division Three in 2007 through the fifth place match at Division Five in 2012.

Most recently, the Americas representatives at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE – Canada (6th), USA (12th), Bermuda (13th) – had the worst average finishing position (10.33) of any of the five ICC Associate development regions. The best way to fix this is by beginning at the junior levels and so July’s tournament will have a bonus point structure that will reward teams for achieving certain milestones within a match. According to an ICC Americas spokesperson, “The points structure for the Match Play Camp is designed to force countries on focusing not only on the winning aspect but on developing the players’ attitude as to how to become better players.”

USA, Bermuda and Canada will each play each other twice in 50-over round-robin matches. Teams will receive 10 points for a win and five points for a no result. At the 15 over mark of each innings, one bonus point is available for either side. The bowling side can claim the bonus point if they have taken three wickets from their opponents. If the batting side is less than three wickets down after 15 overs, they will receive the bonus point.

Image (left) - Steven Taylor at 2011 USA U-19 trials in New York. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

For the team batting first, a bonus point can be claimed for batting out all 50 overs. If the side fielding first bowls the opposition out inside of 50 overs, they will claim the bonus point.

A bonus point is given for each partnership by a batting side that is 50 runs or more. Two bonus points are given to a batting side for each partnership that is 100 runs or more. A fielding side can claim one point for each run out resulting from a direct hit. Another bonus point is available for bowling a side out in the second innings (as opposed to winning the match by restricting the chasing team below the target without taking all 10 wickets).

Besides Taylor and Persaud, other players who may be in consideration to make the USA squad for the July event include a slew of players from the North West including Krish Goel, Arsh Buch, Roshan Varadarajan, Vibhav Altekar, Dave Parikh and Neil Tagare. Goel was invited to USA U-19 trials last year and was a member of the USA U-15 team in 2009. Varadarajan served as vice-captain to Taylor for the USA U-15 team in 2009 and captained the North West Region to the National Championship at the 2010 USACA-15 National Tournament. Buch was the leading run-scorer and tournament MVP at the USACA U-15 National Tournament in 2010.

Parikh captained the USA U-15 squad in Winnipeg last summer to a first place finish and was named Tournament MVP at the ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament. Altekar scored a double-hundred in the 2011 USACA U-15 National Tournament and was USA’s leading scorer with 140 runs at last summer’s ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament. Tagare had USA’s highest individual innings score at last summer’s ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament with 79 vs. Bermuda.

Image right - Dave Parikh, the MVP of the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament in Winnipeg, Canada. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Multiple cricketers from New York also stand an excellent chance of getting picked including Zahib Tariq, Randall Wilson and Troy Mars. They have the benefit of playing consistent age group cricket in New York’s Public Schools Athletic League high school cricket program throughout the spring. Tariq was one of the best all-round performers at the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament as well as a consistently solid performer for the New York Region U-19 team and FDR High School, one of two currently undefeated teams this season in the PSAL. Wilson scored two centuries in the 2011 USACA U-15 National Tournament as well as one in the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament and plays for John Adams HS, currently 8-1 this season in the PSAL. Depending on eligibility, Wilson’s John Adams HS teammate Troy Mars stands a solid chance as well. Mars has a high score of 177 and is currently third overall in runs for this season’s PSAL behind Persaud, who attends Martin Van Buren HS.

Several others on the USA junior level selection radar are Kwiese Edmondson of the South East Region, Shakeel Ahmad from the South West Region, Ryan Persaud from the Atlantic Region, Gordon Makin from the Central East Region and Rafeek Nazeer from the New York Region. Depending on eligibility, New York Region player Omar Afridi is also a top candidate after excelling in Scotland’s junior development program and representing the country at U-13 and U-15 levels prior to moving to the USA last year.

However, some players from the North West and New York might be squeezed out of getting a chance to even compete for a spot in the USA squad for the ICC Americas U-18 Match Play Camp. The USACA U-17 National Tournament was postponed from February and no announcement was ever made to reschedule the tournament. With the ICC Americas event just over six weeks away, it is highly unlikely that USACA will be able to hold a national tournament in enough time to help evaluate talent ahead of the ICC Americas tournament.

According to a source, USACA has discussed the possibility of asking each region to submit a list of four names to be invited to a national selection camp, which would hold up to 32 junior players. However, that would mean that regions which are historically weak at developing solid junior players, such as the Central West and North East, might take up spots at the expense of better players from regions which are historically strong at developing solid junior players, such as the North West and New York. Another issue is whether or not junior players from leagues who are not in good standing according to the USACA compliance audit from February will be invited to participate in any selection or evaluation process.