USA Cricketer : 2012 ICC WCL Division Four

USA Cricket: 2013 ICC WCL Division Three Report Card Part 3 - Outlook for USA's 50-over future

openingbat — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:22:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades and Part 2 - Player Grades

Part 3 - Outlook for USA’s 50-over future

1. Sort out the coaching situation – According to multiple team sources, Robin Singh was furious when talking to the team over the phone from India after USA lost to Bermuda on the last day of round-robin play. It’s hard to understand why he was furious though. Was it because he took a bigger paycheck from the Mumbai Indians to be in India instead of with USA during the Division Three tournament?

Singh is understood to have spoken to the team or team management after every match in Bermuda. Coaching by conference call is no way to coach. At the U-19 and men’s level, USA’s only successes under Robin Singh and his crew have been a second-place finish last September at ICC WCL Division Four and against ICC Americas competition, which is the least competitive standard USA encounters in international play.

Image (right) - Robin Singh, pictured during a match-day training session at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in Florida, has USA way down the totem pole on his list of coaching priorities. Will he commit fully to USA or should USACA search elsewhere? [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

It is very hard to understand why Robin Singh is paid a princely sum for his services when the USA Cricket Association is an administrative pauper. A cash-strapped governing body certainly should be able to find a less expensive coaching option that will get them more value, specifically someone who is based in the USA and is willing to work with the players on a more consistent basis locally. Singh is paid to more or less be a chaperone on tours or as was the case in Bermuda, to consult by telephone rather than in person because he has higher priorities in India.

USACA needs to put their foot down once and for all to make Singh choose between coaching USA or sticking with his other commitments in Twenty20 franchise leagues around the world. If he wants to make more money coaching with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League or the Khulna Royal Bengals in the Bangladesh Premier League then that's a perfectly normal decision. Coaching USA should be someone's first priority though, not their third, fourth or fifth.

2. Choose a new captain – Steve Massiah took over the role from Richard Staple as USA captain at the ICC Americas Division One tournament in August 2006. There are currently 42 international teams that USA has either played against from 2006-2013, been at the same tournament as USA in that time or are currently ranked above USA in the global 50-over rankings. Of those 42 teams, only three still have the same captain in 50-over cricket: Argentina (Esteban MacDermott), Papua New Guinea (Rarua Dikana) and Tanzania (Hamisi Abdallah).

It’s worth noting that not only has every ICC Full Member changed their 50-over captain in that time, but also every one of the High Performance Program Associate teams. Having a new captain is not necessarily a reflection of a regression in skills from the incumbent. It’s about having fresh ideas and fresh styles, trying something different when the status quo has not achieved desired results.

Image (left) - Steve Massiah, pictured batting against Uganda, has been USA captain since 2006, during which USA has failed to reach the ICC World Cup Qualifier in two consecutive World Cup qualification cycles. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA has effectively stood still in the global rankings since Massiah became captain. As a result of their 10th place finish at the 2005 ICC Trophy under Staple, USA was due to participate in 2007 ICC WCL Division Three in Australia before an ICC suspension dropped them down to Division Five. USA has since clawed back into Division Three twice. They were relegated from Division Three in 2011 and are now stuck there after a third place finish in 2013 instead of advancing to the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier. Prior to Massiah becoming captain, USA had participated in every single ICC Trophy, the former name of the ICC World Cup Qualifier, from 1979 through 2005. In seven years under Massiah's captaincy, no progress has been made and USA has arguably gone backwards after failing to reach the ICC World Cup Qualifier, let alone the main event, during two World Cup qualification cycles ahead of the 2011 and 2015 ICC World Cup.

Massiah is USA’s all-time leading scorer in one-day cricket and provided solid contributions at Division Three against Italy and Oman. However, his leadership has become stale and captaincy appears to have had some drain on his batting. He has not scored a century in tournament play since 2006. He doesn’t command a place in USA’s T20 team, let alone a spot as captain, with a T20 average of 11.00 in 14 games. So it’s conceivable that Massiah might not be a participant in any ICC tournament for two years when the next Division Three tournament is anticipated to take place in 2015. The time is right to make a change.

There are a few players who are good candidates to be USA’s captain in both formats. Sushil Nadkarni has been USA's vice-captain for several years and served as captain of the T20 team in the UAE last year. Orlando Baker led USA well in March at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One T20 and has plenty of experience under his belt.

Image (right) - After leading USA to an 8-0 record in March at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament, Orlando Baker would make a good choice to become USA's captain across all formats. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA could also choose to go in a different direction and adopt policies that countries such as Hong Kong and Nepal have employed by naming a much younger player as captain to give them time to ease into the role. In that scenario, Steven Taylor would be the obvious choice. Taylor served as vice-captain to Baker in March during the ICC Americas tournament. He will most likely be captaining the USA U-19 team in Canada this July and has previously captained the USA U-15 squad in 2009 so he is already gaining plenty of experience in leadership positions. It might be good for Baker or Nadkarni to be the captain for the next few years though until Taylor or another up and coming player like Ryan Corns, who captained USA during one of the two T20s against Canada during the Auty Cup tour in November, is ready to take over the mantle.

3. Commit to a core squad, one with better balance focused more on specialist batsmen and bowlers instead of an overload of allrounders and one-dimensional sloggers– USA's selection snafus were chronicled on DreamCricket.com well before the squad took part in Division Three. Taking a much closer look at the composition of USA's squad, they went to Bermuda with only three specialist batsmen: Massiah, Nadkarni and Rashard Marshall. The rest of the 14-man squad was made up of two wicketkeepers, four allrounders and five bowlers. It is almost impossible to win a tournament with such an unbalanced squad.

Taking the field with only three specialist batsmen, USA was basically forced to pick all four allrounders - Baker, Timroy Allen, Barrington Bartley and Japen Patel - in their starting eleven every game during the round-robin phase. Several members of USA’s management touted the fact that USA could bat to number 10 with Neil McGarrell and Elmore Hutchinson down the order, but that meant nothing if the players taking up those spots throughout the order are bits and pieces batsmen rather than full-fledged specialists. The truth is that having so many allrounders created the illusion that USA's batting contained more depth than there actually was. It also meant that no matter what, it would be near impossible for Danial Ahmed or Naseer Jamali to get a game in place of one of the allrounders because it would make USA's batting even thinner.

The unbalanced squad selection came back to bite USA by the end of the tournament, especially when Nadkarni was out with an injury in the final round-robin match against Bermuda. USA was not a team playing with six specialist batsmen in their usual starting eleven, let alone did they have the luxury to call upon a reserve specialist batsman. When Nadkarni couldn't play, USA sent out a starting eleven consisting of two specialist batsmen, two wicketkeepers, four allrounders and three specialist bowlers. It should surprise no one that they lost.

This was why dumping players like Aditya Thyagarajan and Aditya Mishra ahead of the tournament was a mistake. Specialist batsmen who can dig in and rotate the strike rather than relying on fours and sixes to score all of their runs would have been very handy to have against Uganda and Bermuda but they were nowhere to be found.

Although Marshall is a specialist batsman and Allen an allrounder, they have similar batting styles as does Bartley. Marshall demonstrated against Oman that he can knock the ball around for singles, but all three are heavily reliant on clearing the ropes to score the majority of their runs and they sometimes struggle to adjust if the match situation calls for a different method of scoring. At most, two players who play in that style can afford to be in the middle order and not three. Japen Patel playing at number nine and not bowling means he is not capable of holding down a spot in the team on his batting or bowling alone, let alone as an allrounder. Two of those spots in the starting eleven could have gone to specialist batsmen or one each to a batsman and a bowler like Danial Ahmed.

Overall, USA made six changes to the squad that advanced from Division Four in Malaysia. Nepal, the Division Four champions, only made one change to their squad for Division Three in Bermuda. Changing almost half the squad that gained promotion for USA into Division Three was a radical maneuver and clearly didn’t pay off. Meanwhile, Nepal stuck to their core group and wound up Division Three champions.

Image (left) - Aditya Thyagarajan is one of several veterans whose presence was sorely missed in Bermuda at 2013 ICC Division Three. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

The respective squad selections by USA and Nepal from 2012 ICC WCL Division Four to 2013 ICC WCL Division Three are a microcosm of a much deeper issue. From 2008 ICC WCL Division Five in Jersey - the first tournament that USA and Nepal ever played against each other - to 2013 ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda, Nepal has used 26 players in 81 games in 50-over and T20 cricket. Meanwhile, USA has used almost three times as many, 67 players, across 90 games in 50-over and T20 cricket (see list at end of section three). The list of 67 does not include four other players - Abhijit Joshi, Glen Hall, Hemant Punoo and Josh Dascombe - who either toured with USA's senior team without appearing in a starting eleven or played for USA in unofficial/warm-up matches. USA has picked 52 players that have appeared in 50-over and/or 20-over cricket plus an additional 15 players who have appeared solely in 20-over cricket. Nearly half of those players, 30, were picked for a single tour in that timespan. This means that USA has used more players for a solitary tour experience than Nepal has used for all of its tours combined from 2008-2013.

Those numbers, 67 total players and 30 one-and-dones, are absolutely staggering figures. It can’t be blamed on lack of availability for players to get time off from work or school classes either. It simply comes down to USACA’s lack of vision and planning, with almost no continuity from tournament to tournament.

USA only had five players in their squad for Bermuda that participated in the previous Division Three tournament in Hong Kong in 2011. Clearly, experienced hands like Thyagarajan and Shuja were missed more than anyone in Bermuda, but the services of others who were part of the team in Malaysia such as Mishra, who was USA’s T20 vice-captain in 2012, and Corns were also missed. More continuity and faith in a core group could have led to better results.

Looking elsewhere, a model Associate Member like Ireland has more or less used the same core group of players over the last few years which unsurprisingly has been a recipe for success. From the 15-man squad that was picked to go to the 2011 ICC World Cup, 11 were named in the squad that will play two ODIs against Pakistan later this month. The four who weren’t – Andre Botha, Nigel Jones, Boyd Rankin and Albert van der Merwe – are absent because all four have retired from international cricket. Regardless of the fact that the majority of Ireland’s players are contracted professionals and USA’s are amateurs with either classes or jobs to attend on a daily basis, Ireland’s administration has shown faith in a core group of players and stuck with them.

From the start of the 2011 ICC World Cup, Ireland has used a total of 19 players in ODIs and T20s. Essentially, Ireland has had 11 core players from 2011-2013 and has committed itself to developing four players to replace the four who retired since the 2011 ICC World Cup. Meanwhile, USA has used 50 players in official one-day and T20 matches from 2011-2013. Ireland and Nepal's consistent selection policies have been rewarded with on-field success while USA's fluctuating fortunes are a reflection of their inconsistent, mercurial, haphazard and scatterbrained selection policies.

Players USA has used in official matches since 2008 listed in alphebetical order
Note - Players who only appeared in a single tour from 2008-2013 are listed in bold italics

George Adams, Danial Ahmed, Quasen Alfred, Timroy Allen, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Adil Bhatti, Ryan Corns, Robert Cresser, Lennox Cush, Kevin Darlington, Jignesh Desai, Sudesh Dhaniram, Akeem Dodson (wk), Dennis Evans, Durale Forrest, Karan Ganesh, Bhim George, Muhammad Ghous, Adrian Gordon, Hussain Haidar, Elmore Hutchinson, Moazzam Imtiaz, Naseer Jamali, Nasir Javed, Howard Johnson, Ritesh Kadu (wk), Asif Khan, Bilal Khan, Rahul Kukreti (wk), Rashard Marshall, Steve Massiah, Neil McGarrell, Ashhar Mehdi (wk), Stu Mills (wk), Aditya Mishra, Masood Mohamed, Andy Mohammed, Shahid Munir, Nauman Mustafa (wk), Sushil Nadkarni, Kumar Nandalal, Amir Nanjee, Japen Patel, Mital Patel, Timil Patel, William Perkins (wk), Steve Pitter, Abhimanyu Rajp, Gowkaran Roopnarine, Saqib Saleem, Greg Sewdial, Niraj Shah, Samarth Shah, Hammad Shahid, Usman Shuja, Saami Siddiqui (wk), Charan Singh, Nicholas Standford, Timothy Surujbally, Steven Taylor (wk), Aditya Thyagarajan, Anand Tummala, Clain Williams, Carl Wright (wk), Saurabh Verma.

4. Find at least one sponsor for the national team – USA and Oman were the only two teams in Bermuda not to have a sponsor on their jerseys. The USA jerseys themselves were flimsy, with the lettering on the jersey of at least one player falling off halfway through the tournament. Last year, USACA apparently had a brief arrangement with Reebok to have their jerseys provided but that deal has since dried up. It’s hard to believe that a USA national team in any sport has to pay for their uniforms instead of being paid by a major apparel sponsor to wear that sponsor’s logo, but that is the situation USACA continues to find itself in.

Although USACA cleverly presents several business entities as “USACA Partners” on their web site, USACA doesn’t have any genuine sponsors. An ideal business tie would be with one of the many domestic airlines in the USA. Since 2011, USACA has had two board members who are employees at a pair of major airlines, United and American. Such a sponsorship might help defray costs of flying players in and out of Florida for camps, trials and domestic tournaments.

One of former USACA CEO Don Lockerbie’s failures was in not securing any sort of sponsorships in the five to six-figure range. Lockerbie overestimated USA’s market value and kept seeking million dollar deals which never appeared. Although he played a major role in linking USACA with New Zealand Cricket and other investors to form Cricket Holdings America LLC, that partnership has so far done little to advance cricket in the USA financially or developmentally.

Image (above) - Uganda had a sponsor, Mehta Group, at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three. Meanwhile, USA was without corporate support for yet another international tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

There’s no reason why USACA should not be able to find a bank sponsor, airline sponsor, hotel sponsor, automobile sponsor and/or a beverage sponsor in addition to a separate corporation or business as a title sponsor for all of its endeavors. Securing sponsorships is supposed to be Darren Beazley’s calling card. USA’s stakeholders will see over the next few years if he lives up to his billing in that regard.

Reaching the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier might have made it easier for Beazley to secure a sponsorship and finishing in the top four would have almost made it a slam dunk because USA would have then qualified for the ICC High Performance Program, which would have carried admission into the Intercontinental Cup as well as ODI status. USA would have then had a guaranteed number of fixtures each year outside of ICC tournaments. Another domino effect of that would have been an incentive to give a handful of USA’s younger players such as Taylor, Allen and Muhammad Ghous central contracts with any sponsorship funds that could have flowed in.

Instead, USA will now be without a 50-over ICC tournament until at least 2015 and if USA doesn’t finish in the top six at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in November, USA will not participate in a single 50-over or 20-over ICC tournament in 2014. It’s nearly impossible to award a USA player a central contract when they may only be playing a handful of games a year. It’s also hard to secure sponsorship when a team has only a handful of non-televised fixtures to display a sponsor’s logo on a jersey on the field, meaning the opportunities are limited for the sponsor to get exposure and a return on their investment. That makes Beazley’s job much harder, but not impossible.

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. 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.]

USA Cricket: 2013 ICC WCL Division Three Report Card Part 1 - Team Grades

openingbat — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:18:00 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)

Part 1 - Team Grades

Batting – C+: USA had the tournament’s highest scorer after the group stage and overall in Steven Taylor. They also had eight of the 12 highest partnerships in the tournament, with two century stands and seven half-century stands overall. Unfortunately, USA’s batting lacked the overall consistency from the beginning to the end of the tournament as well as from the top to the bottom of the order.

The team scored one century and eight half-centuries, but also compiled eight ducks. The first wicket partnership of Taylor and Orlando Baker produced 125 runs on the first day, USA’s best ever partnership against Nepal, but after that the first wicket partnership averaged just 6.20 the rest of the tournament.

Image (left) - Steven Taylor acknowledges his USA teammates after reaching 100 against Nepal on the opening day of the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA’s best opening tandem in 50-over cricket is Taylor and Sushil Nadkarni. Although USA has had a long established strategy of slotting Nadkarni down the order against Nepal, there was no reason why he should not have been opening in the other matches he played. USA coach Thiru Kumaran stated after Nadkarni missed the crucial round-robin showdown against Bermuda that, “Sushil getting injured and not coming in, maybe that could have affected us a little bit. Being an important game, we didn’t have our best player, our best opener there.”

If Nadkarni is USA’s best player and best opener, it stands to reason that he should have been opening throughout the tournament but he never opened the batting once for USA and that hurt them in the end. The most surprising pair sent out to open was Japen Patel with Taylor against Uganda. Patel is a player who has shown some improvement with his batting and USA’s administration is eager for him to develop, but he has no business batting above Nadkarni under any circumstances, let alone open above him.

USA’s best partnerships of the tournament came for the third wicket where they averaged 71.83. Baker and Taylor produced USA’s best partnership from that spot in the third place game, 156 runs against Bermuda. USA also had half-century stands for the third wicket against Nepal (Taylor and Nadkarni), Italy (Massiah and Nadkarni) and against Bermuda in the last round-robin game (Baker and Dodson).

USA’s middle to lower order partnerships were strong when the pressure was off in the third place game against Bermuda and after a huge platform had been set against Nepal, but otherwise the segment of the game where Aditya Thyagarajan usually specializes in fell apart for USA in his absence. They averaged 14.17 for the fifth wicket and 6.83 for the sixth wicket in the tournament. USA put up a 93-run unbeaten stand for the seventh wicket against Nepal, but in the other four group games they averaged 12.50 for the seventh wicket. Thyagarajan’s ability to put together partnerships in the middle and lower order was sorely missed especially against Oman, Uganda and Bermuda.

Worst of all was the cardinal sin committed by not batting out all 50 overs against Uganda. It cost USA by the end of the tournament when the net run rate tiebreaker came into play. The team shot themselves in the foot multiple times in that match with foolish shots to get out and displayed an inability to rotate the strike. The game plan appeared to be for batsmen to slog their way out of trouble or get out doing it. Uganda scored 92 runs off ones and twos in that match while USA could only manage 36 runs off singles and doubles. No matter how difficult the pitch was in the second innings, that’s poor.

Overall, USA benefitted greatly from missed chances by their opponents. The tournament could have turned out much worse for USA had they not had such good fortune at the crease, although USA more than repaid it in the field against Bermuda. Opponents committed less drops than USA in the field, but USA punished their opponents more for each drop. USA's opponents conceded 14 missed chances during the group stage, but USA seized an extra 354 runs off the misses. Four times a USA batsman finished not out after being dropped. After the first time a batsman was dropped, USA averaged 44.25 extra runs. The most valuable second chance USA had during the group stage was when Oman goofed up a runout opportunity when Rashard Marshall was on 12. The bowler dislodged the bails without the ball in his hand and Marshall went on to win the match for USA by making 72 not out in a two-wicket win.

Bowling – B: USA’s bowling unit performed well for most of the tournament with their only glaring letdown coming during the Christopher Douglas ambush in the last group match against Bermuda. USA allowed just three half-centuries during the tournament, but allowed eight half-century stands during the event, including two in that crucial match against Bermuda. Neil McGarrell was tied for first atop the wickets list after the group stage with 12.

Image (right) - USA fast bowler Elmore Hutchinson on his approach to the crease. Hutchinson finished second on the team with 10 wickets in the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA’s opening bowlers were good at making early breakthroughs. The opposition averaged 13.50 for the first wicket and twice the opposition lost their first wicket without scoring. But the biggest opening stand came at the worst possible time for USA, 43 by Bermuda in their upset win on the last day of round-robin play. The opposition’s best partnerships were for the fourth wicket with an average stand of 37.00 including two-half century stands produced by Bermuda and Uganda. Each of those stands could have been curtailed had USA converted catching or runout opportunities provided to them in the field.

USA also lacked a killer instinct to wipe out the tail, something they have struggled with in the past, as Steve Massiah’s preferred method of captaincy is to let a match drag on rather than go for the kill. As a result, the ninth wicket stand for the opposition averaged 27.40. Noteworthy partnerships of 44 and 41 were produced by Nepal and Oman, something that turned out to be crucial by the end of the tournament when the net run rate tiebreaker came into play.

Fielding – F: USA missed 24 definite chances in the tournament (19 drops and five missed runouts), an average of four per game, while numerous other runout half-chances were missed in the field. Many teams have varied levels of batting and bowling skills, but the two things that every international side can do to narrow any gap against their opponent is to outwork them with fitness and fielding. USA always lags behind in both areas and it keeps their opponents in games.

USA had 19 missed chances during the group stage with the chances coming off 10 batsmen. On six occasions in the group stage, USA gave the same player multiple lives and on three of those occasions they dropped a player three times in one innings. After a batsman’s first missed chance, USA gave up an average of 24.33 extra runs to that player during the group stage, conceding a total of 219 runs overall after missed chances in their first five games. On average, USA conceded an extra 36.50 runs per game in the group stage on missed chances.

The costliest miss came against Nepal, when number seven batsman Sharad Vesawkar was dropped on 0, the first of three extra lives he was given, and made 72. USA’s fielding was horrendous against Bermuda, with six definite missed chances and many more half-chance runout opportunities lost. At 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia, Singapore began a frantic chase on the last day against USA by stealing sharp singles at will in the first nine overs. A direct hit by Ryan Corns in the 10th over put Singapore on notice that they could no longer keep challenging USA in the field the way they had been and suddenly the pressure shifted onto Singapore as USA strangled the scoring rate.

All it would have taken was a single runout in the first 15-20 overs to put off Bermuda from stealing those sharp singles at the National Stadium on the final day of round-robin play in Hamilton. USA’s fielders did not score a direct hit the entire afternoon, whether or not a batsman had his bat across the line, and on multiple occasions fielders panicked under pressure by choosing the wrong end to throw to. Many other opportunities could have been converted with an accurate throw to wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson over the stumps. Instead, throws short-hopped into his feet or were wide enough of the stumps that he had to dive just to save them from turning into extra runs on overthrows. USA finally converted a run out in the 35th over, by which time Bermuda had run away with the match. Bermuda reached the target in the 45th.

Fitness – C-: USA’s fitness was good in the early stages of the tournament, but flagged as the tournament continued and was a contributing factor in their losses to Uganda and Bermuda. Taylor was well conditioned at the start of the tournament and his 162 against Nepal was chanceless.

However, he appeared to be weighed down by wicketkeeping on top of opening the batting as the event wore on. The team’s flagging fitness had a definite impact against Bermuda with so many sloppy fumbles, misfields, misfired throws and drops. It’s not as if Bermuda’s fitness was much better with two batsmen, Douglas and Stephen Outerbridge, struggling through their innings while cramping up. Yet they managed to find a way past it while USA was hampered.

USA will have plenty of time to work on their fitness though. By finishing out of the top two in Bermuda, their next 50-over ICC tournament won’t be for another two years.

Coming up in Part 2 - Player Grades

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches. 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.]

USA Cricket: Former USA vice-captain Aditya Mishra retires from international cricket at age 31

openingbat — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:54:00 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)

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.

USA Cricket: Steven Taylor to play in Sanath Jayasuriya's World XI vs. Pakistan All-Stars in Karachi

openingbat — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:24:00 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 opening batsman Steven Taylor has been selected to be a part of a World XI team captained by former Sri Lanka star Sanath Jayasuriya against a Pakistan All-Star XI in a pair of exhibition matches this weekend in Karachi, Pakistan. The 18-year-old Florida native confirmed his participation in the event via text message on Monday prior to boarding a flight for Pakistan.

Taylor was named the 2011 Cricketer of the Year in DreamCricket.com’s New Inning Foundation USA Cricket Awards. The menacing left-hander was USA’s vice-captain at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland where he finished tied for second overall at the event with 455 runs including two centuries. He is the only American player in the 12-man World XI squad for the matches which will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi on October 20 and 21.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor in action vs. Denmark at 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

At the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE, Taylor was USA’s second most productive batsman with 179 runs at the tournament. His best score was 40 in USA’s upset win over ODI-nation Scotland. In August, he captained the ICC Americas U-19 team in Barbados at the West Indies Cricket Board Regional U-19 Tournament, making a top score of 75 against Barbados U-19. At ICC World Cricket League Division Four last month in Malaysia, he finished second overall at the tournament with 216 runs at an average of 36.00 including two half-centuries for USA at a strike rate of 104.85.

In addition to Taylor, former West Indies Test bowlers Adam Sanford and Jermaine Lawson, who played for the New York and Atlantic Regions respectively in USACA National Tournaments in 2010, are also in the World XI as is former West Indies international Ricardo Powell, former South African internationals Justin Kemp, Loots Bosman, Nantie Hayward and Andre Nel and current Afghanistan players Shapoor Zadran and Mohammad Shahzad.

The Pakistan All-Star XI will be captained by Shahid Afridi and includes seven other players from Pakistan’s 2012 ICC World Twenty20 squad: Nasir Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Imran Nazir, Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Sami. Also in the Pakistan All-Star XI squad is Younis Khan, who has played 79 Tests and was the title-winning captain for Pakistan at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England.

The matches are being staged in an attempt to help revive international tours to Pakistan. No Test playing nation has toured the country since the Sri Lanka team bus was the target of a terrorist attack on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium for day three of a Test match in Lahore on March 3, 2009.

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC WCL Division Four Report Card Part 3 -Outlook for 2013 ICC WCL Division Three

openingbat — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:56:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Click here for Part 2 - Player Grades

Outlook for 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three

Find a committed coach for USA

Next year’s ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda is scheduled for April 28-May 5, right smack in the middle of the IPL. This means that Robin Singh will not be available, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Despite being paid a fee rumored to be five figures per tournament to chaperone USA’s players, the results have been mostly unconvincing for Singh in his efforts at women’s, junior and senior level for USA. Most alarmingly, USA’s fielding has been dreadful at all three levels when he has been in charge despite a reputation staked as a player on fielding excellence.

Outside of a handful of days spent with the USA U-19 team in Florida in February and July 2011, Singh has not spent any time on U.S. soil doing any sort of coaching with USA’s teams. For Division Four, he flew into Malaysia the night before the first match and somehow thought all he had to do was snap his fingers to make magic happen. If Singh doesn’t fly into the Mumbai Indians camp on the night before their first match in the IPL to begin coaching them, why should it be acceptable for him to do the same for the USA and expect the team to respond positively?

Image (right) - Robin Singh most likely will not be around to coach USA at 2013 ICC WCL Division Three due to IPL commitments, not that it will adversely affect USA on the field. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Former USA coach Clayton Lambert may not have been the best tactician, but he knew the strengths, weaknesses and capabilities of all the players he went on tour with because he spent considerable time around the USA at tournaments and training/selection camps to get familiar with the players he’d be working with on tour in order to strategize the best possible batting lineups and bowling combinations. Singh has not devoted any time in the USA to get familiar with USA’s senior players and it is clear that it has negatively impacted the team based on the disjointed results USA has had under his stewardship.

Speaking on behalf of the team, vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni said that USA approached the final match against Nepal by picking what was felt to be the lineup that gave USA the best chance at winning that day rather than giving younger players an opportunity to gain experience against Nepal’s bowling attack in a match where promotion and relegation wasn’t at stake. If USA was honestly going all out for a win that day, there is no reasonable explanation for why Abhimanyu Rajp batted at number three other than to say that the man in charge of setting the batting order, Singh, didn’t have a solid grasp on the strengths and weaknesses of the players who were a part of USA’s squad on tour.

Shifting Timroy Allen up, down and around the batting order cost the team badly in the first game against Nepal. Shifting Aditya Thyagarajan, Aditya Mishra and Orlando Baker all over the place also worked to unsettle and undermine their considerable talents. Players must have defined roles throughout the tournament so they can tailor their games to maximize their output for the team.

USA needs to find a coach, whether currently in the USA or abroad, who is willing to work with the players locally in the USA in camps ahead of Division Three in order to form better plans and figure out the best combinations before the first game begins on April 28, not in the middle of the tournament as was the case at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE and at times during 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia. Asif Mujtaba and Kumaran Thiru, who served separately as assistant coaches for USA in the UAE and Malaysia respectively during USA's two overseas tours this year, are both based in Texas and appear to be qualified coaching candidates with international cricket experience who would be useful if given an opportunity to assume the head coach role for USA.

Better individual accountability for fitness

USA’s players may struggle from tournament to tournament with team chemistry because the players do not play with each other year-round, but there is no excuse for players to show up unfit because they haven’t been playing with other national team players year-round. Fitness is an individual responsibility. Players in California are not responsible for running sprints on behalf of players in Texas or New York and vice versa.

Other teams at the Associate level face the same struggles that USA’s players do as amateurs in terms of getting enough time away from work to dedicate to their games. However, USA’s Associate level opponents are almost always head and shoulders above USA when it comes to their fitness levels despite being fellow amateurs. The fact that this tournament was played during the USA season means that not only were the majority of USA’s players unfit when they showed up for national team duty, it’s highly probable that they are unfit for club cricket duty on a weekly basis as well.

Instead of being the number one priority for USA’s players, it appears that for many of them fitness is something that is addressed if they get around to it. USA may have gotten away with substandard in Division Four, but that will not be the case in Division Three. Anyone who doubts this only needs to check the DreamCricket.com Report Card for 2010 ICC WCL Division Three. USA’s overall fitness contributed heavily to their downfall in the round-robin match against Denmark in Hong Kong and consequently led to them getting relegated.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni's fitness on tour in Malaysia was top notch, but the rest of his teammates need to pick up the slack or else finishing in the top two for Division Three in Bermuda may be difficult. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA went 3-0 on the first day of back-to-back matches in Malaysia and 0-3 on the second day. A similar effort in Bermuda will definitely put USA behind Nepal and most likely put USA behind Italy as well to finish in third place and short of the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand. Quite simply, if USA puts in a similar effort in Bermuda to the one they produced in Malaysia, both individually and as a team, they will finish out of the top two and the consequences will be severe.

An eye to the future

Attempting to qualify for the 2015 ICC World Cup may be the last hurrah for many of USA’s players. Finishing in the top two in Bermuda and then the top two again at the ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand would be a massive achievement and result in clinching a spot at the 2015 ICC World Cup. However, even finishing in the top six at the qualifier would be huge because it would mean that USA would be able to participate in the next cycle of the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Being in the Intercontinental Cup would not only provide increased funding from the ICC, but would present tremendously valuable opportunities for some of USA’s younger players to gain experience and develop their skills in multi-day cricket on turf wickets against other top-tier Associates without the pressure of promotion and relegation being at stake. Having a bigger and more consistent schedule of matches for USA’s players to participate in might also open the door for several players to be given central contracts for the first time, a major step toward professionalizing the game in the USA.

Conversely, if USA does not achieve these things and with participation virtually non-existent for Associates in a 10-team 2019 ICC World Cup, it is conceivable that many of USA’s senior players would step aside if they failed to reach the 2014 ICC World Cup Qualifier and/or the 2015 ICC World Cup in order to allow a younger nucleus to form and focus on qualification for the next several ICC World Twenty20 events which are due to have 16 teams in 2014 and 2016.

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC WCL Division Four Report Card Part 2 - Player Grades

openingbat — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:35:00 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)

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Player Grades

Sushil Nadkarni – A-: USA’s vice-captain finished as the leading scorer at the tournament with 238 runs at 47.60 and two half-centuries. His century stand with Steven Taylor to open the tournament against the host side set the tone for a solid event. He top scored for USA in three of the five games he played. His highest score, and the highest score at the event by a USA player, was his 84 in the group game against Nepal. If he had been able to bat to the end to score a century and take the team to victory, it would have been perhaps his greatest knock in a USA uniform, but he fell just short thanks to a spectacular catch by Binod Das at backward point.

Nadkarni’s fitness has waxed and waned over the last couple of years depending on the tournament. It was definitely waxing at this event where he looked much slimmer than he was at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in March. Nadkarni and Timroy Allen were the only USA players who never looked tired while at the crease. He was a spritely fielder inside the circle as well, regularly flinging his body along the turf to save runs.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni completes a cut shot against Malaysia. Nadkarni finished as USA's leading scorer for the second tour in a row. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Steven Taylor – B+: The youngest player in the squad may have taken over the mantle from Nadkarni as USA’s most intimidating batsman during this tournament. He finished second overall in the runs list behind Nadkarni with 216 at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 104.85. He scored half-centuries against Malaysia and Singapore. The only game he really failed to get going was in the final match against Nepal where he made just 11.

While he had several explosive starts, Taylor somehow managed to get out just when he appeared set to destroy the opposition. He looked tired toward the end of the tournament, particularly in the ways he got out against Nepal so fitness may be something he should focus on, particularly if he is committed to keeping wicket. He finished with six catches and a stumping, but also missed two stumping chances.

Steve Massiah – C-: The reinstalled captain struggled to get going on a day when batting looked easy for everyone else against Malaysia, then looked even more out of sorts against spin versus Denmark. He made his highest score of the tournament against Nepal with 41 coming in at number five, but the batting order was mangled for that match to accommodate him after his early troubles against spin. USA wound up paying for it by the end of the match despite an 89-run stand between him and Nadkarni that put the team on the brink of victory. He finished as USA’s fourth highest scorer on the week with 121 runs at 24.20, but generally did less with more opportunities at his disposal than other batsmen.

In the past, Massiah has typically been one of USA’s most reliable fielders, both on the ground and in the catching department. At this tournament though, he looked a step behind, grassing three catches against Nepal and missing a golden opportunity for a run out early against Denmark. He was also responsible for a slow over rate against Denmark that prevented USA from using some of their more desired options later in the innings though he did well leading the side during a hectic second innings against Singapore by going to spin within a few overs after play resumed following a rain delay.

Aditya Thyagarajan – C-: USA’s leading scorer in 2010 had a lukewarm return from injury at this tournament. He top scored in the team’s warm-up match win over Denmark with 48 coming in at number four, but then managed just 35 runs in four innings during the live matches. He didn’t seem to respond well after being shuffled around the batting order to accommodate others, batting at three different positions for his four innings.

Image (left) - Aditya Thyagarajan in action against Denmark at the Selangor Turf Club. Thyagarajan had a rough return to the national team after missing more than a year due to injury, making 35 runs in four innings. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

He played for the team against Malaysia, going to slog after entering with six overs to go and wound up getting out for 2. He failed against Denmark, then got out cheaply again in a situation that appeared tailor-made for him with 10 overs to go against Nepal. His 21 against Singapore might not look special on paper, but it was part of a vital 59-run stand, providing the anchor at one end to allow Allen to swing away at the other. Thyagarajan also gets credit for his fielding. In a team full of butterfingers, he held on to three solid catches running in from the boundary and never dropped a chance.

Aditya Mishra – C-: Mishra was one of USA’s best batsmen in March at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, but overall in this event he was inconsistent and mixed two decent innings with two failures. He provided a solid late boost against Malaysia scoring 25 off 14 balls and along with Taylor tried to score as quickly as possible against Tanzania to lift the team’s net run rate, which made a huge difference by the end of the tournament. He had two sloppy failures against Denmark and Nepal in the group stage and then threw away his wicket in the final against Nepal after getting a decent start. He’s a batsman who can be classified as a team player after being rotated into three different batting positions to suit the needs of the team, although it wasn’t always to great effect for him personally.

A greater cause for concern for him is his fielding. Along the ground he is okay and generally puts in some good efforts to slide or dive to save balls from going over the boundary. In the air though, he is poor at judging the flight of the ball coming off the bat and it leads to bad mistakes, such as when he ran in from the rope against Nepal for a chance against Paras Khadka only to see the ball go over his head before landing inside the rope and bouncing over for a boundary.

Orlando Baker – C: Someone who didn’t do a lot wrong, but didn’t set the world on fire either on this tour. Baker stabilized USA with help from Allen against Denmark after a middle order collapse, but the pair never got a proper chance to bring USA completely back into the contest once rain intervened. He failed after being thrust into the opening slot against Nepal in the group game and then was somewhat harshly dropped for it. Recalled for the final against Nepal, he showed that he still has some gas left in the tank by grinding out 39 to top score with Nadkarni in the defeat. He finished with 66 runs at an average of 33.00 on tour, USA’s fourth best average in Malaysia.

With the ball, he wasn’t used that much, but took three wickets in 15 overs, a strike rate that other players in the squad would have gladly traded for. He dropped two chances that came his way, a sharp one at square leg against Nepal and a reflex return chance against Malaysia. He also missed a chance to run out Subash Khakurel on 99 in the group game against Nepal and fluffed a stumping late in the final against Nepal after putting on the pads to relieve Taylor. The four misses by Baker summed up a forgettable tour in the fielding department for USA overall. However, the fact that Baker is willing to keep wicket if called upon in an emergency shows his unselfishness for the team.

Timroy Allen – A-: USA’s most dynamic player, Allen showed how much USA missed him last year in Hong Kong and again in the UAE in March. Came in with 15 overs to go against Malaysia and produced his best score in a USA uniform, 72 not out in 43 balls on his way to claiming the first of two Man of the Match awards in Malaysia. Allen topped the averages for USA in the event with 166 runs at 55.33. Had he come in at number seven with 11 overs to go against Nepal instead of number three in the fifth over of the chase during their group game, USA would have had a much better chance of winning that game.

Image (right) - Timroy Allen poses with his Man of the Match award after USA's win over Singapore that clinched a spot in next year's ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In addition to topping the batting averages for USA, Allen took the most wickets with 10 at an average of 19.80, although he was slightly expensive going at more than five runs per over. Allen also had more chances put down off his bowling than anyone else. USA’s fielders dropped six chances off him and that had an effect on his numbers across the board. In the field, he’s not as energetic as he used to be. He took one catch and put down a sharp one at gully in this tournament. In general he looks more reserved when it comes to throwing his body around, mindful of how he aggravated a back injury in Italy two years ago while diving to stop a boundary in a 10-wicket win over Tanzania.

Ryan Corns – C: When given an opportunity, Corns responded quite well. His stats might not say so, but he was a valuable niche player on tour and has plenty of room to grow into a position where he can be a solid all-rounder for USA in the future. Selecting him as the lone left-arm spin option ahead of Asif Khan was a bold move as Khan is a better pure spinner, but Corns justified the move with some handy performances and the tour did a lot for his continued development.

Batting wise, Corns did about as well as could be expected when thrust into a role he is not suited for, coming in late in the innings to slog quick runs batting at number eight. He finished with 45 runs in three innings at an average of 15.00, his best contribution coming against Singapore with 24 in a tight match. Fielding wise, he needs to work on his throwing accuracy. He is very energetic fielding at point, but dropped a chance and missed two run out opportunities, including a crucial one against Nepal when Subash Khakurel was on 22, before finally converting one against Singapore.

Elmore Hutchinson – B-: Quietly was one of USA’s better bowlers on tour. Hutchinson had the best economy rate for any of USA’s pace bowlers at 3.90 in 40 overs, the second most overs bowled by USA behind Muhammad Ghous. He sometimes had trouble locating his line though, bowling a team-high 14 wide deliveries that went for 19 wide runs out of the 62 wide runs USA conceded. He finished with six wickets, tied with Ghous and Shuja for second on the team.

With the bat, he had USA’s sixth best average on tour, 17.66. Hutchinson scored 53 runs in four innings and was used as a pinch hitter against Tanzania, coming in at three to slog some runs when USA was looking to boost their net run rate. He showed good athleticism overall in the field and despite only taking one catch, never grassed any and always showed tremendous effort and hustle to save balls from going over the boundary.

Image (left) - Elmore Hutchinson bowling against Nepal at Kinrara Academy Oval. Hutchinson was one of USA's better bowlers in Malaysia and finished with the second best economy rate on the team behind Muhammad Ghous. [Courtesy: ICC/Peter Lim]

Abhimanyu Rajp – C-: Rajp was dropped after three games, which may have mystified many back home as he was USA’s second best wicket-taker at the time behind Allen, but his economy rate was frightfully high for a finger-spinner. Rajp shined at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier because it’s a format where a bowler can get away with trading off runs for wickets. A 7.55 economy rate in that event looked okay next to 10 wickets, which was good enough to tie for the team lead. However, a 5.73 economy rate standing next to five wickets in Malaysia was not good enough. Rajp has a learning curve to adjust to in 50-over cricket. He must strike a balance between being economical and attacking for wickets.

With the bat, he was bizarrely asked to bat at number three in the final against Nepal in his only appearance at the crease and didn’t score. Fielding wise, teams aren’t afraid to take him on in the circle and he missed a critical run out chance against Andreas Lambert of Denmark, but in the air he is one of USA’s sure-handed fielders. He got official credit for two catches but also took two other very crucial ones as a sub fielder in a tense battle against Singapore.

Usman Shuja – C: Shuja was named Man of the Match in an easy win over Tanzania after taking 3 for 14. Overall though, he was very average. In the other four games he played against Singapore, Denmark and twice against Nepal, he took just 3 wickets for 116 runs. While he was economical against Denmark, he struggled to make the most of the new ball when conditions were in his favor in that match, taking 1 for 20 in seven overs. Entering the tournament, he had a phenomenal record against Nepal with 14 wickets in six games at an average of 11.86 and an economy rate of 3.25. In the two matches USA played against Nepal in Malaysia, Shuja finished with 1 for 75 in 12 overs.

Shuja had multiple chances dropped off his bowling in the group game against Nepal, but in general was just not as effective as he usually is. His batting has also been marginalized by the current management. This is the same player who rescued USA from 20 for 7 against Oman and took them to a remarkable two-wicket win at Division Three in Hong Kong last year by scoring 43 not out. He is good enough to bat at number eight, definitely no lower than nine but he was sent in at numbers 10 and 11 in this tournament and responded by batting down to that level, scoring 4 runs in three innings.

Muhammad Ghous – B: After going through a sophomore slump in 2011, Ghous has bounced back during his third year with the senior team to be a dependable performer. He had the best economy rate for the team on tour with 3.62 runs per over in a team high 48.3 overs. He can sometimes look lethargic when not a lot is at stake, but put Ghous in a pressure-packed situation and he is very hard to rattle. He was chiefly responsible for the shift in momentum during the second innings against Singapore. After batsman Chetan Suryawanshi flew out of the gate following the rain delay, Ghous reeled Singapore back in by applying outstanding pressure. It didn’t take long for dot balls to turn into wickets.

Like Mishra, Ghous reacts very poorly when the ball comes off the bat in the air and it can result in some angst for his fellow bowlers. When the ball travels directly to him though, he is a solid catching fielder. He put down a difficult return chance in the final against Nepal, but took two catches during the tournament. He finished tied for second with Shuja and Hutchinson by taking six wickets, but also had three chances dropped off his bowling.

Andy Mohammed – Incomplete: Mohammed played two matches, batting just once at number four against Singapore in the final group game. He entered in the 21st over in a situation that called for pushing the ball around for singles and doubles to rebuild in the middle overs after both openers had been dismissed. Instead, he kept trying to slog Singapore’s spinners for six. He succeeded once before being caught on the boundary for 10. Mohammed needs to show greater maturity and awareness of match situations to get more opportunities in the future. In the field, he converted a run out chance against Tanzania and had a brilliant diving catch against Singapore to spark USA’s fightback in the field.

Akeem Dodson – Incomplete: Dodson only played one match, scoring 3 against Singapore. He took one catch behind the stumps but also missed a straightforward stumping. Regardless of whether he was fielding inside the boundary or wearing a 12th man’s pinnie outside of it, no one brought more positive energy to the team when they were at the ground than Dodson. He’s eager to improve and his attitude demonstrates he has unwavering commitment to the team, supporting the squad wholeheartedly whether he plays no match or every match.

Click here for Part 1 - Team Grades

Coming up in Part 3 - Outlook for 2013 ICC WCL Division Three

USA Cricket: 2012 ICC WCL Division Four Report Card Part 1 - Team Grades

openingbat — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:05:00 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)

Batting – B: USA had the tournament’s two highest run getters in Sushil Nadkarni and Steven Taylor. The team had five half-centuries against four ducks, two of which came in the final against Nepal where promotion and relegation wasn’t at stake. None of the four centuries scored in the tournament were made by a USA batsman. USA had 14 individual scores between 20 and 49, showing that lots of people were getting starts but then failed to convert them into more substantial scores.

The team had one century stand, the very first partnership of the tournament between Nadkarni and Taylor against Malaysia, and seven half-century partnerships. USA’s first wicket partnerships in Hong Kong at Division Three last year produced an average stand of 11.33 runs. At Division Four in Malaysia, it was 53.67. In theory, having starts like that should take pressure off the rest of the batting unit.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor completes a cut shot against Denmark at the Selangor Turf Club. Taylor made a huge difference to the top of the order for USA compared to the team's opening partnership struggles at Division Three in Hong Kong last year. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

However, USA’s middle order, in its many jumbled configurations during the tournament, largely disappointed. Nadkarni made one of his two half-centuries at number four against Nepal and the other 50 that didn’t come at the top was Timroy Allen’s assault on Malaysia at number four when he was sent up the order with less than 15 overs to go to boost USA’s total. Otherwise, the middle order didn’t have anything significant to write home about.

Part of the lack of overall success from the middle order can be attributed to batsmen constantly being shuffled around without having a clearly defined role. There were also some strange decisions made, like having Allen come in to bat at number three in the fifth over of the group match vs. Nepal and Abhimanyu Rajp entering at number three in the fifth over against Nepal in the final.

Several other batsmen could have been utilized to knock the ball around for ones and twos in the early to middle overs to make 29 off 39, which is what Allen wound up with in the group game against Nepal. However, no one else on the team is better suited to come in at number seven with 10-15 overs remaining and clear the ropes when the team needs a major acceleration. Some fans may try to assign blame for that loss to some of the batsmen who came in later and couldn’t get USA across the line when the pressure started to rise in the final 11 overs, but it was a tactical blunder to have Allen unavailable to walk in at that stage. Experimenting with Rajp at three was also a mistake, or a two-word British phrase that rhymes with it.

Bowling – C+: There were 11 individual performances where a bowler took four wickets or more at this tournament, but none of them were by a USA player. Collectively the bowling unit was average. Allen tied for fourth overall on the wickets list with 10. USA took 39 out of a possible 60 wickets, the same amount Malaysia took and less than Singapore’s 49 and Nepal’s 59 in six games.

No bowler really stood out, but more importantly no one really threatened to devastate the opposition. On the whole, it never appeared that the better teams felt intimidated by USA’s pace bowling attack, which was supposed to be one of USA’s strengths heading into the tournament.

Image (left) - Timroy Allen took home two Man of the Match awards and was USA's leading bowler at the tournament with 10 wickets bowling a combination of pace and spin. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA’s lack of incisiveness was on full display over the first two days against Malaysia and Denmark. USA only managed to take eight wickets against Malaysia while allowing them to reach 219 in 50 overs. In their next two games, Malaysia reached 91 for 8 against Singapore and was steamrolled by Nepal for 69. USA won the toss and bowled first against Denmark with overcast conditions at the Selangor Turf Club and a seaming wicket weighing heavily in their favor but they made poor use of the new ball as Denmark rode out the testing conditions to eventually post 244 for 9. The only batting lineup USA managed to bowl out was Tanzania, not exactly a stellar achievement.

Not only were they not able to take wickets easily, but USA’s bowling attack struggled to keep the runs down as well. It was not often that USA’s bowlers were able to string together six dot balls in a row to build pressure individually or as a unit. USA’s attack completed 13 maidens in the tournament compared to 23 bowled against USA. The only team that had fewer maidens bowled than USA was Tanzania with 12, but Tanzania fielded for just 173 overs whereas USA’s bowlers completed 80.1 more overs in the field than Tanzania and had just one more maiden.

USA’s bowlers allowed four half-centuries and one century to be scored against them. The opposition also had six half-century stands and one century stand against USA. Some of those lengthy stands could have been curtailed had the fielders provided better support to back up the bowlers, but the bowlers didn’t make life easy on them either.

Fielding – F: On most days, USA’s fielding would make any fan want to cover their eyes. It reached its nadir against Nepal in USA’s fourth match when they dropped five catches, missed two run outs and never got a hand to perhaps as many as four other balls in the air that could have been chances. USA should consider themselves fortunate that the fielding output that day didn't wind up costing them a spot in Division Three.

By this journalist’s count, USA missed out on 23 clear cut chances during the tournament: six missed run outs, four missed stumpings and 13 missed catches. Not included in that figure are numerous other half-chances that fielders never got a hand to because they were slow to react to the ball coming off the bat. Regardless, 23 misses in the field over six games is a staggering number, especially since USA didn’t field for 50 overs in every game. They fielded for 251.3 overs in the tournament. That means that USA missed out on a clear chance every 11 overs they were in the field. Conversely, USA’s opponents offered them eight chances in 238.1 overs. That’s one chance about every 30 overs.

USA’s missed chances allowed their opponents to score an additional 307 runs. On average, batsmen added 21.93 more runs from the time they were initially given a life until the time they were dismissed, if they were dismissed at all. Four batsmen finished not out after being dropped. Conversely, USA’s batsmen produced 92 more runs off the eight extra chances they were given, adding 13.14 runs after the initial missed chance until they were dismissed.

Nadkarni said at the end of the tournament that one way to fix USA’s fielding woes was to hire specialist fielding coaches to work with the team, which is quite ironic since USA’s head coach in Malaysia, Robin Singh, used to be employed as a specialist fielding coach by the BCCI and was known as a superb fielder during his playing career.

Fitness – D: The team looked very tired batting second after having to field for 50 overs against Denmark and Nepal. The heat In Malaysia was draining on every team, but a team’s strategy can’t be based on winning the toss to avoid having to field first.

USA looked particularly woeful on the second day of back-to-back matches. The team had a 3-0 record playing after an off day and an 0-3 record playing for the second time in two days. The World Cricket League format is not new to USA, so there shouldn’t have been any surprises about what was expected in regards to the fitness requirements to make it through six matches in eight days.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni finishes a cut shot with a flourish against Malaysia at Bayuemas Oval. Nadkarni was the tournament's leading scorer and never appeared to be troubled by the hot and humid conditions in Kuala Lumpur. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Just about the only players who looked like the heat didn’t affect them were Nadkarni and Allen. Otherwise, most players struggled whether it was batting, bowling or fielding. USA’s 23 missed chances in the field can be partly attributed to the poor fitness standards. The playing field was level for all teams with regards to the heat, but it looked like USA felt the effects more than most.

Coming up in Part 2 - Player Grades

USA Cricket: Basant Regmi shreds through USA lineup once again as Nepal wins Division Four title

openingbat — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:26:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Left-arm spinner Basant Regmi took five wickets for the second consecutive match against USA to catapult Nepal to an eight-wicket win in the 2012 ICC WCL Division Four championship match on Monday at Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Just three days after Regmi took 5 for 35 in a 32-run win over USA, he claimed 5 for 20 to help bowl out USA for 145 before Nepal chased the runs for the loss of two wickets in 28 overs. Not only was Regmi named Man of the Match, but he also walked away with the award for Player of the Tournament after taking a tournament-best 21 wickets in six matches at an average of 6.66 and an economy rate of 2.80.

“Mentally we thought we had some momentum going into the game from our win against Singapore yesterday but the end result was something different,” USA vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni said after the match. “I think it’s a combination of tiredness as well as the ability to play good spin bowling. I think the Nepal guys are good spinners and the guys in our team, some of them are more used to playing fast bowling than spin.”

USA won the toss and batted first on a day that was overcast to start with but turned clear and sunny as the match wore on. Nepal fielded an unchanged lineup from the win over USA in the group stage while USA made three changes to their starting eleven from Sunday’s win over Singapore. Aditya Thyagarajan was out injured while Andy Mohammed and Akeem Dodson were subbed out in favor of Aditya Mishra, Orlando Baker and Abhimanyu Rajp.

USA’s best partnership of the day went for just 39 runs as they looked tired and overmatched against Nepal’s fresh and energetic fielding unit. Steven Taylor opened the batting with Mishra but just as he did on Friday, Taylor fell in the fifth over to Sanjam Regmi, this time playing onto his stumps for 11 to make it 16 for 1.

Despite the fact that he was the only player in the USA squad who had yet to face a single delivery in a match on tour, off-spinner Rajp was bizarrely sent in to bat at number three. He lasted just six deliveries before edging medium pacer Binod Das behind to wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel for a duck to make it 17 for 2.

Nadkarni arrived and has he has done all tour long provided some stability to proceedings and built up a steady partnership with Mishra. They added 39 runs for the third wicket but just when it appeared they were steering USA out of trouble, Mishra skipped down the track and lofted Basant to Pradeep Airee at long off to go for 28. Steve Massiah came in and departed without scoring when he spooned a catch to Amrit Bhattarai at mid off to give Paras Khadka a wicket at 57 for 4 in 19 overs.

Baker entered and the veteran knuckled down with Nadkarni to grind out runs against the Nepal spin attack which was making excellent use of a turning track. They added 26 together before Nadkarni got out in uncharacteristic fashion, pulling left arm spinner Shakti Gauchan to Bhattarai at deep square leg for 39 to make it 83 for 5 in the 28th over. Nadkarni finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 238 runs in five matches at an average of 47.60.

Timroy Allen joined Baker and the two built a methodical partnership to take USA to 98 for 5 when the batting power play was taken to start the 36th. Allen cracked the fourth ball of the over for a boundary, USA’s first since the 24th over, but on the very next delivery he was hit on the back leg in front of the stumps and given LBW for 10 to make it 104 for 6.

Ryan Corns entered at eight and fought hard with Baker to extend the USA innings through all 50 overs. He added 33 runs for the seventh wicket with Baker before driving Basant to Gyanendra Malla at cover to leave for 9 and make it 137 for 7. Two balls later, Baker tried to flick a short ball through the leg side and sent a leading edge back to Basant for 39 to put USA at 138 for 8 in 45 overs.

Basant removed Elmore Hutchinson for 2 with his second successful LBW appeal of the day in the 47th to make it 141 for 9 and then wrapped up the innings on the first ball of the 49th by winning a third LBW decision to claim Usman Shuja for 2 with USA all out for 145. Nepal’s innings in the field was especially impressive because they conceded just one extra, a leg bye.

Nepal had a brief hiccup at the start of the chase, losing Anil Mandal for 3 when he drove Hutchinson to Massiah at cover to make it 9 for 1 in the third. Khakurel was then joined by Malla and they added 93 runs for the second wicket as Nepal cruised toward the target. Malla played a free spirited and enterprising knock, successfully connecting on numerous reverse sweeps over the off side, including one that went for six, before crashing USA’s spinners down the ground for two more sixes. He brought up his 50 in 53 balls and eventually finished with 66 before finally perishing to the reverse sweep as Muhammad Ghous knocked back leg stump to make it 102 for 2 in the 20th.

Khadka entered and took just 8.2 more overs to finish the job with Khakurel. Khadka hit the winning runs through cover to finish 25 not out and cap an undefeated run to the tournament title. They’re the first team to go 6-0 at a World Cricket League tournament since the UAE did it at Division Two in 2011.

Image (above) - Some of the more than 100 Nepal fans in attendance celebrate with the players after Nepal received the World Cricket League championship silver. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Both USA and Nepal now progress to 2013 ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda from April 28-May 5. Denmark and Singapore stay in Division Four, which won’t be played again until 2014. Malaysia and Tanzania drop down to Division Five which is also due to be held in 2014 where they join Guernsey and Cayman Islands.

In the other playoff matches on Monday, Singapore beat Denmark in the third place game by five wickets after bowling them out for 83 at Selangor Turf Club. In the fifth place match, Malaysia beat Tanzania for the second day in a row, winning by five wickets after chasing down Tanzania’s 187.

USA Cricket: All-round Allen takes USA past Singapore, assist from Nepal sends USA to Division Three

openingbat — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:23:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

A sensational final day of the group stage saw USA surge to a 37-run win by Duckworth-Lewis Method over Singapore while Nepal defeated Denmark by 25 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method on Sunday at 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The combination of results vaulted USA from fourth to second place and secured them promotion to 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Bermuda from April 28-May 5.

"I think against Denmark [the rain] kind of worked against us so at least once now it worked with us," USA's Timroy Allen said after the weather affected win. Allen was named Man of the Match after scoring 45 off 31 balls and taking 2 for 29 in six overs of off-spin. "So we're really happy. I don't mind it today."

USA won the toss and batted first under bright sunny skies at the Bayuemas Oval. Eighteen miles to the east, Nepal also won the toss and batted first at Kinrara Academy Oval against Denmark, who played their must win game without key batsman Freddie Klokker after he left the tournament a match early to play for Dosti Amsterdam in the Netherlands domestic league final. USA made two changes to their lineup from the loss on Friday to Nepal, bringing in Andy Mohammed and Akeem Dodson for Orlando Baker and Aditya Mishra.

Steven Taylor and Sushil Nadkarni opened for USA, putting on an 80-run stand for the first wicket. Taylor cracked five boundaries and three sixes, bringing up a half-century in 45 balls with a massive strike down the ground that caused a replacement ball to be brought out at the end of the 14th over. Taylor fell on his next delivery though, clean bowled by Singapore captain Saad Janjua and finished with USA’s top score on the day.

Over at Kinrara, Nepal dug themselves an early hole as Subash Khakurel, who made 115 on Friday against USA, was dismissed on the second ball of the match. Gyanendra Malla and Paras Khadka also fell cheaply to put Denmark on top at 50 for 3 in the 14th over.

USA captain Steve Massiah came in to bat at number three and added 29 for the third wicket with Nadkarni before the vice-captain was caught behind by Kshitij Shinde off the medium pace of Chetan Suryawanshi for 33. Mohammed came in at number four and scored 10 before holing out to long on, giving Dharmichand Mulewa a wicket with the score now 129 for 3. Aditya Thyagarajan entered at five and reached 4 off 16 balls in the 31st over when he strained a ligament in his right knee, the same one he dislocated in Hong Kong last year, and had to retire at 141 for 3.

By this time, Nepal had climbed back in front in their match thanks to a 91-run partnership between opener Anil Mandal and Sharad Vesawkar and from there maintained the upper hand throughout the rest of the match. Mandal went on to score 113 as Nepal eventually finished with 240 in their 50 overs, a very defendable total behind their spin bowling attack.

Akeem Dodson joined Massiah in the middle at Bayuemas, but both men fell in quick succession to put the first innings in the balance. Massiah went first, driving a return catch to 17-year-old left-arm spinner Abhiraj Singh for 30. Dodson had already offered two chances by the time he was dismissed on 3 off the bowling of Anish Param, caught behind by Suryawanshi, who had started the match as the wicketkeeper and then took over from Shinde again after finishing a brief bowling spell.

USA was 148 for 5 in the 36th over, but Thyagarajan’s return to the middle was a welcome sight after he was declared fit enough to join Allen at the crease. Thyagarajan provided the steady foil to Allen’s explosive hitting and the pair put on 59 crucial runs for the sixth wicket, of which Allen contributed 43. After losing the wicket of Dodson and scoring just one run in the first over of the batting power play in the 36th, Allen and Thyagarajan cracked 41 off the next 24 balls to boost USA closer to 200. Allen finally got out edging behind off medium pacer Amjad Mahboob and the score became 207 for 6.

Thyagarajan fell in the 44th, given LBW for 21 off Mahboob, to make it 223 for 7. Ryan Corns and Elmore Hutchinson calmly added 37 runs for the eighth wicket to take USA to 260 before three wickets fell in five balls to end USA’s innings in 49 overs for 263. Janjua was the one-man wrecking crew for Singapore in that over and finished with 4 for 40 in eight overs. Mulewa bowled a probing spell but only managed to snag 1 for 32 off 10. USA took advantage of five drops by Singapore during the innings, the costliest of which was Taylor at short midwicket on 17. Even though Singapore’s target was 264, USA had to restrict them to 257 in order to pass Singapore on net run rate.

Image (above) - USA celebrates on a damp Bayuemas Oval after gaining promotion to next year's ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Denmark’s chase at Kinrara got started well before USA took the field for the second innings at Bayuemas. The Danes suffered an early blow in the second over when their leading scorer in the tournament, Carsten Pedersen, was out for 1 in the second over falling to Nepal captain Paras Khadka.

While it was hot and sunny all through USA’s innings, dark clouds rolled in during the lunch break and only two overs were able to be completed before a flash thunderstorm unleashed heavy rains on the ground. A 2 hour and 10 minute delay followed at Bayuemas as attention turned to Kinrara where play was still going on.

Nepal’s spinners once again turned up the heat on an opponent as Denmark stuttered to 67 for 3 in the 21st over. The third wicket was vital for USA as it caused Denmark to fall well behind on Duckworth-Lewis, with the rain moving east from Bayuemas to Kinrara and set to interrupt that match at any moment. Denmark was able to reach 77 for 3 in 25 before rain finally arrived at Kinrara.

Once the rain stopped at Bayuemas, the outfield dried up quickly thanks to a superb drainage system. The few problem areas were soaked up by the ground staff and play eventually resumed with a new target set for Singapore of 186 to win in 27 overs. USA needed to hold them to 182 to prevent Singapore from finishing above them on net run rate.

Suryawanshi and Arjun Mutreja came out slugging and scored 28 runs off the first three overs by Shuja and Hutchinson after play resumed to leave USA shell-shocked. The introduction of spin was the undoing of Singapore though as Muhammad Ghous struck on his fourth ball to turn momentum back in USA’s direction. Mutreja tried to flick him over midwicket but Mohammed ran in from the rope and completed a fantastic catch on the run to get Mutreja for 21 and make it 39 for 1 in the sixth.

Like Singapore, USA had some troubles in the field as two run out chances were missed and another ball was dropped at backward point in the space of seven deliveries in a helter-skelter sequence. Allen was now bowling off-spin in tandem with Ghous and struck in the ninth over, getting Chaminda Kumarage caught at deep midwicket by Rajp, on as a sub for Thyagarajan, to make it 49 for 2 in eight. With skies still very grey, the second wicket also put USA in front on Duckworth-Lewis should rain curtail the match once 20 overs were completed.

USA continued to build more pressure in the field which led to another wicket in the next over as Param was run out for 1 by Corns, connecting underhanded with a direct hit after flying in from backward point to make it 50 for 1 in the 10th. Allen then removed the dangerous Suryawanshi five balls later for 23 and USA could start to sense victory coming closer at 52 for 4.

Christopher Janik, who made a century earlier in the tournament, could not make the most of a second life after a stumping chance was missed by Dodson with Janik on 4. Janik made it to 12 when he lofted Ghous to Taylor at long off to put USA a step closer to winning at 79 for 5 in the 16th.

Not long after, play got restarted at Kinrara as well with Denmark set a new target of 156 from 31 overs, meaning they had to make 79 off 36 balls with seven wickets in hand. On the first ball after play resumed, Andreas Lambert was bowled by Sanjam Regmi for 47 to effectively seal the match for Nepal.

At Bayuemas, Corns continued his bright tournament with the ball by getting Munish Arora caught behind by Dodson for 26 to make it 93 for 6 in the 19th. Singapore’s last roll of the dice was the now two-over batting power play in the 23rd and 24th overs as rain returned to the field. However, Hutchinson and Shuja showed no signs of having trouble gripping the ball and each man bounced back with a wicket after rough opening spells.

Hutchinson bowled a nerveless 23rd which began with the wicket of Janjua for 8 to make it 118 for 7. Shuja then capped the 24th as Shinde was caught on the point boundary by Rajp for 22. The umpires tried to give Singapore every opportunity to stay out there and finish the match on the field of play while a steady rain came down during both overs, but once the eighth wicket fell, the umpires took both teams off the field with Singapore resigned to defeat.

A half hour after restarting at Kinrara, the match ended with Denmark on 130 for 9. Nepal had clinched first place in the group stage and promotion to Division Three while the other promotion spot was now USA’s to claim. With only seven minutes remaining until the cutoff time of 6:45 p.m. and a minimum of 10 minutes needed for the umpires to inspect the field once the rain stopped, play was called off at Bayuemas. USA was declared the winner by 37 runs with Singapore way off the par score of 166 after 24 overs. The United States squad broke out into chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” in the locker room to celebrate the win and the news that they had been promoted back into Division Three after falling out in Hong Kong last year.

Ghous finished with 2 for 20 in six overs. Corns also contributed a vital 1 for 8 in two overs as USA’s wicket-taking spin trio on the day of Ghous, Corns and Allen gave up their runs at a hair over four an over between the three of them.

In the day’s other match, Malaysia beat Tanzania by five wickets. Malaysia opener Rakesh Madhavan scored 102 to chase down Tanzania’s 187 in 37.1 overs to give the host nation their first win of the tournament. Both teams will have a rematch in the fifth place game on Monday at Bayuemas Oval.

Singapore and Denmark will square off in the third place game at Selangor Turf Club on Monday. Meanwhile Nepal and USA will clash for the eighth time in four tournaments on Monday in the Division Four championship match at Kinrara Academy Oval. Both teams will then have seven months to get ready to face Bermuda, Italy, Oman and Uganda at Division Three next year.

DreamCricket.com’s live coverage of the 2012 ICC WCL Division Four championship match between USA and Nepal from Kinrara Academy Oval begins at 10 a.m. Monday, 10 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. PST on Sunday night in America.

USA Cricket: Khakurel's century and Basant Regmi's five scalps seal tense 32-run win for Nepal over USA

openingbat — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 03:10:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel took advantage of several fielding miscues by USA to notch 115, the highest score of the tournament thus far, to set the stage for a dramatic 32-run win for Nepal over USA on Friday at Kinrara Academy Oval on day four of the 2012 ICC WCL Division Four tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 19-year-old Khakurel was named Man of the Match for his performance, narrowly beating out teammate Basant Regmi who took 5 for 35 to prevent USA from chasing down Nepal’s first innings 258 for 8. Nepal remains undefeated at 4-0 with the win while USA drops to 2-2 after the loss.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first on a perfect batting track. USA made two changes to their starting XI from the day before against Tanzania, bringing back Sushil Nadkarni and Ryan Corns in favor of Andy Mohammed and Abhimanyu Rajp.

Khakurel and Anil Mandal opened the batting for Nepal. In the sixth over, USA committed their first dropped chance of the innings, one of seven clear cut missed chances in the innings as well as four others that fielders misjudged or reacted poorly to off the bat and as a result never got a hand to. Mandal was on 9 when he edged Usman Shuja low to Nadkarni at slip, but the USA vice-captain spilled the chance with the score at 15 for 0.

“I really don’t know what went wrong,” Nadkarni said. “We were well prepared for this game. We knew this was a must win game. Basically we had talked a lot in the team meetings about this game so to come out and miss so many chances in the field, this was by far our weakest performance in the field over the last three games so I really don’t have an explanation for what happened out there.”

Two overs later, Khakurel was on 6 when he chipped Shuja gently in the air to the right of Muhammad Ghous at mid on, but Ghous reacted late and despite a dive never got a hand to the ball. Mandal was on 11 in the 10th with the score 23 for 0 when he pulled a bouncer from Timroy Allen straight to Orlando Baker at square leg, who lunged to his left and spilled a fairly straightforward chance.

Mandal retired hurt on 12 after the 11th over with the score 30 for 0 but Gyanendra Malla came to the crease and added 81 more runs with Khakurel before Nepal would finally lose their first wicket. With Malla fresh at the crease, both batsmen showed hesitation running between the wickets. Khakurel was on 22 in the 13th over with the score on 39 when Malla prodded a delivery to point that Khakurel tried to take a run off of while Malla stayed put. Corns charged in from point and fielded with Khakurel stranded down the pitch, but the throw to the non-striker’s end was wild and sailed by five yards over the stumps.

USA’s bowlers continued to do a decent job of keeping the scoring rate down despite not taking wickets as Nepal hovered around four runs per over through the halfway stage of the innings. Khakurel brought up his half-century off 85 balls to start the 29th over, but on the last ball of the over, Malla was dismissed for 46 by Corns, well caught at long off by Aditya Thyagarajan diving forward to make it 111 for 1.

Image (right) - Subash Khakurel drives through the leg side during his 115. [Courtesy: ICC/Peter Lim]

Nepal captain Paras Khadka came in and with wickets in hand, made efficient use of the batting power play from the start of the 36th over, adding 46 runs with Khakurel over the next five frames to boost Nepal from 138 to 184. Both players were most effective combating the pace of Allen, scoring 14 runs off the 37th and 10 more off the medium pacer in the 39th.

The 37th could have ended with a wicket for Allen when Khadka, on 25, pulled a full toss flat in the air to the deep midwicket rope, but Aditya Mishra misjudged the ball in the air and ran in only for the ball to clear him and land two yards inside the rope before bouncing over for a boundary. On the very next ball to start the 38th, Khakurel was offered another life on 71 with the score on 160 when he drove Elmore Hutchinson to Steve Massiah’s left at cover. The USA captain reached across his body and spilled the chance, the first of three drops by him on the day.

Khadka was run out for 41 off 34 balls in the 40th over as Khakurel struck a full delivery from Elmore Hutchinson straight to Nadkarni at midwicket and Khadka took off when there was no run on offer. Nadkarni connected with a direct hit at the non-striker’s end to make it 180 for 2.

Mandal then returned to resume his innings, adding eight more to his total before pulling a full toss from Allen to Hutchinson at deep midwicket to depart for 20 and make it 207 for 3 after 44. Corns finished up his spell in the next over, conceding just four runs and finished with 1 for 44 in 10, by far USA’s best bowler not only statistically but by the amount of times he troubled the batsmen on the day. Nepal was 211 for 3 after 45 and it looked like USA might possibly keep Nepal under 250, which was crucial to their chances of winning on a day when they had to spend 210 minutes in 90 degree heat before coming out to bat.

However, it was not meant to be as USA’s fielding horrors reared their ugly head several more times in the last five overs. Pradeep Airee skied a chance off Allen three balls into the 46th that Massiah couldn’t claim running back from cover. Airee ran two and then hit a boundary off the next ball before being bowled by Allen for 14 to end a 13-run over at 224 for 4.

Khakurel started the 47th over on 99 and Baker had a chance to run him out on the second ball do deny him a century. Khakurel pushed a full ball from Hutchinson to point and took off while his new partner Basant Regmi wasn’t interested. Baker fielded at point and from 10 yards out missed the stumps. Khakurel brought up his century with a single off the next delivery, taking 135 balls to reach the milestone.

Regmi received two lives in the 48th, the first when he was controversially reprieved off a no ball called on height. Shuja bowled a full toss well outside off that seemed to dip below waist height as Regmi slashed it in the air to Thyagarajan on the third man rope where a simple catch was taken. The umpire signaled a no ball though and it appeared to rattle USA further. Khakurel took the following two pitched up deliveries and smacked them for four and six over long off. When Regmi got on strike again later in the over, he skied a pull to midwicket where Massiah settled under a simple chance before spilling it. Nepal wound up with 15 from the over to stand at 245 for 4 in 48 with 250 now a certainty.

Khakurel finally ran out of lives in the 49th when he edged Hutchinson behind to Steven Taylor to depart for 115 off 142, striking 10 boundaries and two sixes along the way. Sharad Vesawkar was run out first ball on the next delivery as Hutchinson fielded adjacent to the pitch and fired to the non-striker’s stumps behind him to make it 248 for 6 with eight balls to go in the innings.

USA took two more wickets in the final over, Shuja bowling Binod Das for 7 off the third ball and then getting a hand to a drive from Shakti Gauchan down the pitch with the ball continuing on to the non-striker’s stumps to run out Regmi for 6 but Nepal ended on 258 for 8.

Despite the fact that the wicket was still perfectly good for batting, Nepal entered the second innings as favorites to defend with their tidy spin bowling attack and crisp fielding. As has been the case before in USA’s contests against Nepal, Sushil Nadkarni was shifted down the order to negate Nepal’s spinners. As a result, Orlando Baker opened the batting with Steven Taylor.

USA started out the chase in confident fashion as Taylor struck the first two deliveries from left arm seamer Amrit Bhattarai for boundaries. Taylor saw all but three deliveries from the first four overs to take himself to 17 and the team score to 19 but Bhattarai was taken off immediately after one over and off-spinner Sanjam Regmi provided the breakthrough in the fifth when Taylor tried to sweep him but couldn’t keep the ball on the ground and sent a catch straight to Vesawkar at backward square leg to make it 19 for 1.

USA then committed a major tactical blunder, sending Allen in to bat at number three. Massiah’s troubles against spin on tour meant there was a strong probability he would be shifted down the order against Nepal, but rather than have Mishra or Corns enter at number three, two players who are geared to knocking the ball around for ones and twos against spinners while building an innings, USA sent their best late innings basher in at number three early in the innings and asked him to knock the ball around for singles, rotate the strike and build the innings. While Allen did so effectively, it meant that if he couldn’t carry on through the 40th over, USA had no one left in reserve to provide a surge of boundaries in the final 10 overs if they got behind on the required run rate.

Baker was having trouble scoring against Nepal’s spinners and on the last ball of the 10th over, tried to use his feet against Basant Regmi and was beaten in flight and stumped for 8 off 27 balls to make it 35 for 2. Nadkarni entered and built a solid partnership with Allen to provide some stability to the innings. Nadkarni took some time to get settled, scoring just 6 off his first 18 deliveries, but started to heat up in the 16th, cracking the off-spinner Sanjam Regmi twice through the covers for a pair of boundaries.

Nadkarni then brought up the half-century partnership with a six over deep midwicket off left-arm spinner Gauchan to start the 23rd and followed it four balls later by skipping down the track and slamming a massive six over long on as USA ended the 23rd at 94 for 2. The partnership finally ended when Basant Regmi trapped Allen on the crease playing across to dismiss him for 29, giving Nepal the advantage once again at 96 for 3.

Massiah entered at number five and after a cautious start, played his best knock of the tour. A six off Khadka in the 29th spurred him on and soon after, both he and Nadkarni were rotating the strike with relative ease. Nadkarni brought up his 50 in 74 balls in the 31st over and USA entered the batting power play to start the 36th at 147 for 3 having just brought up the half-century partnership in the previous over. USA needed to make it through the next five overs without losing wickets to swing the momentum fully in their direction.

They started off looking like they would make it happen as Massiah smacked a six over midwicket off Sanjam Regmi to end the 36th for a 13-run over to make it 160 for 3. After five runs off Basant in the 37th, Massiah and Nadkarni feasted on Khadka for 17 runs in the 38th, taking the required run rate below seven per over as USA edged in front at 182 for 3 in 38.

With only three runs off the first five balls in the 39th, Massiah tried for a heave over midwicket and was bowled for 41 by Basant to make it 185 for 4. The wicket sparked a collapse for USA which saw shrewd captaincy backed up by more spectacular fielding from Nepal.

Mishra, USA’s best player of spin, arrived to start the 39th and Khadka immediately brought Bhattarai back on for Nepal’s first over of pace since the 13th over. It worked to brilliant effect as Mishra was trapped LBW third ball without scoring to make it 185 for 5 in the 40th. USA scored 35 runs for no wickets in the first three overs of the batting power play, but Nepal took two wickets for six runs in the final two overs of the batting power play to once again take command of the match.

Two balls later, the match was firmly in Nepal’s grasp when Nadkarni was caught by Das at backward point off Sanjam Regmi for 84. Nadkarni got a short ball that he tried to cut in the air through the off side and it looked like the ball would clear the ring, but Das sprung to his left and knifed the ball out of the air with his left hand before crashing to the turf and holding on to make it 188 for 6. USA had lost both set batsmen and three wickets overall in the span of nine balls for just three runs.

Thyagarajan and Corns came together and had a shaky partnership, with both men nearly running each other out on several occasions while Thyagarajan looked rusty, missing out on several full tosses. By the start of the 45th, the required run rate had crept up to nine per over and two balls later Thyagarajan tried to clear long off but Malla took a simple catch on the rope to remove him for 8 to give Gauchan his first wicket and make it 210 for 7.

Corns was caught at deep midwicket by Malla for 12 off Basant in the next over and two balls later Basant completed his five-wicket haul, bowling Shuja without scoring to reduce USA to 213 for 9 with 46 needed off 24 balls and only Hutchinson and Ghous in the way of victory for Nepal. The match ended two balls into the 49th when Ghous was bowled by Gauchan for 2, USA all out for 226.

Nepal’s vibrant and youthful fielding – the oldest player on the team is Sanjam Regmi at 29 – was the clear difference on the day, with the Asian unit holding onto all their catches while Malla and Khadka were effective at making countless diving stops in the circle to prevent singles during the middle overs.

In Friday’s other matches, Denmark had a difficult time beating Malaysia, winning by three wickets with 11 balls to spare after being set a target of 253. It caused their net run rate to take a major hit. Singapore beat Tanzania by eight wickets, bowling out the African side for 94 before chasing the runs in 11.2 overs. The losses for Tanzania and Malaysia meant both teams have now been relegated to Division Five.

After four days of competition, Nepal sits in first place at 4-0 while Singapore and Denmark are at 3-1 with Singapore in second on net run rate. USA is now fourth at 2-2, but has a better net run rate than Denmark and is only 0.078 behind Singapore on net run rate.

While the loss for USA was damaging to their chances of promotion, they are still very much alive but do not control their own destiny. No team has yet qualified for Division Three with several scenarios possible for the final group standings after Sunday. Nepal plays Denmark and USA squares off against Singapore on the final day of group play. USA will need to beat Singapore by only a small margin and have Nepal beat Denmark in order for USA to finish second and be promoted to Division Three.

“We’ll do our best to regroup and make plans and come out fighting,” Nadkarni said. “These games are very tough on any given day. Any team can beat anybody. We will try our best. We’ll try to study the Singapore team through our video analyst and come out and play hard.”

If Denmark beats Nepal, then USA cannot qualify for Division Three. If Denmark beats Nepal and USA beats Singapore, then Denmark and Nepal will finish in the top two and move to Division Three. If Nepal beats Denmark and Singapore beats USA, then Nepal and Singapore will be promoted. If Denmark beats Nepal by a wide margin and Singapore beats USA by a wide margin, both Singapore and Denmark could potentially pass Nepal on net run rate, leaving Nepal in third after winning their first four matches.

DreamCricket.com will have live coverage of an action filled final day in Kuala Lumpur when USA takes on Singapore from Bayuemas Oval on Sunday morning. Live coverage begins at 10 a.m. Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, 10 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. PST on Saturday night in the USA.

Update: Below are some scenarios for USA in their match against Singapore on Sunday in order for them to pass Singapore on net run rate.

USA bats first and scores 200: USA must restrict Singapore to 190 or lower.
USA bats first and scores 225: USA must restrict Singapore to 217 or lower.
USA bats first and scores 250: USA must restrict Singapore to 243 or lower.

Singapore bats first and makes 200: USA must reach the target in 48.0 overs.
Singapore bats first and makes 225: USA must reach the target in 48.3 overs.
Singapore bats first and makes 250: USA must reach the target in 48.5 overs.

USA Cricket: Shuja and Taylor lead USA to 7-wicket win over Tanzania

openingbat — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:37:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

Fast bowler Usman Shuja took 3 for 14 to spearhead the USA attack as they bowled out Tanzania for 92 before a Steven Taylor blitz ensured USA needed just nine overs to seal a win by seven wickets over Tanzania on Thursday at Kinrara Academy Oval on day three of the 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shuja was named Man of the Match for his performance, which helped move USA to 2-1 while Tanzania remains winless in the tournament at 0-3. USA now sits at second place on net run rate after previously undefeated Denmark lost to Singapore later in the day.

While Tanzania never figured to pose a serious challenge for USA, the match was still critical for USA in the net run rate equation which is the tournament’s first tiebreaker if teams finish with identical records at the end of the round robin stage. Because of that, USA elected to field first after winning the toss in a bid to bowl Tanzania out as quickly and cheaply as possible followed by a rapid chase to boost the team’s net run rate.

“We definitely wanted to win and win by a huge margin to improve our net run rate,” Shuja said after the win. “The reason we wanted to bowl first was I think we had more control over our second innings. We wanted to finish the innings as quickly as we could and secondly we wanted to make the game as short as possible so we are more fresh for tomorrow’s game and that’s exactly how it worked out.”

Sushil Nadkarni was rested for the match with Andy Mohammed coming into the starting eleven on the day. USA went through a frustrating first six overs as both Shuja and fellow opening bowler Elmore Hutchinson repeatedly beat the outside edge with a packed slips cordon – there were as many as five catching fielders at times lined up alongside Taylor behind the stumps during the innings – waiting for a nick to come their way.

Hutchinson finally broke the opening stand by bowling Nasibu Mapunda through the gate for 5 to make it 15 for 1 in the seventh. Six balls later, Shuja made his first breakthrough of the day, bowling Seif Abdul for 11 as Tanzania’s openers were now back in the pavilion with the score 21 for 2.

In the 10th, Shuja had Abhik Patwa caught by Abhimanyu Rajp at third slip for 5 and then castled Zamayoni Jabeneke for a golden duck to put himself on a hat trick at 30 for 4. Orlando Baker nailed Issa Kikasa on the toe with a yorker in the next over and his LBW appeal was upheld to remove the Tanzania wicketkeeper for 3 and the score was 31 for 5.

Image (right) - Usman Shuja received the Man of the Match award after taking 3 for 14 in six overs as USA bowled out Tanzania for 92 before completing a victory by seven wickets at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Tanzania could have sunk even further had Timroy Allen held onto a chance at gully three balls later from the new batsman Kassim Nassoro Mussa with the score at 35 for 5 and Mussa on 4. The reprieve opened the door for Tanzania to have their best partnership of the match, 38 runs for the sixth wicket, as Mussa attempted a counterattack, striking five boundaries that included a couple of superbly timed cover drives mixed with two straight drives through mid on.

Mussa’s innings finally came to an end when he tried to cut Allen but was cramped for room and played onto his stumps, ending his innings for Tanzania’s top score at 28 and leaving the score 69 for 6. Tanzania then crumbled quickly, losing three wickets in 10 balls while the score was on 74.

The first was a solid piece of fielding from Mohammed as he pounced on a ball running in from point and fired a direct hit at the non-striker’s end to run out Abdallah for 11. Four balls later, Allen bounced out Benson Mwita Nyaikini for 4 after the batsman top edged a pull that Allen waited under for a return catch. Muhammad Ghous nabbed Riziki Kiseto in the next over without scoring, edging behind to Taylor.

Tanzania’s last pair hung around for six more overs, adding 18 for the final wicket, their second best partnership of the match. Ghous ended the resistance when he dove to his left to claim a return catch off a full toss. Khalil Rehemtulla had to go for 13 as Tanzania succumbed for 92 in 29.3 overs. Ghous finished with 2 for 14 while Allen took 2 for 20 in a pair of tidy bowling displays to support Shuja.

Taylor opened the batting with Aditya Mishra and saw every ball from the first two overs, blasting two sixes and three boundaries in that span to take USA to 37 for 0 after 12 balls. Taylor brought up the 50 partnership – with 39 of the runs provided by him – in 3.4 overs with a lofted drive over mid on. He started the fifth over with a monstrous bash over long on, but was dismissed the next ball for 46 off 22 balls after getting a fine edge through to the keeper attempting to back away from the stumps to drive Nyaikini over the off side. The score was 57 for 1 and Mishra was on 1, having faced just four deliveries while having a perfect view of Taylor’s devastating display.

Hutchinson joined Mishra as the two continued to speed toward the target with Mishra hitting a six over midwicket and Hutchinson launching one over the sight screen at the south end of the ground. Both departed three balls apart when USA needed just one more shot to reach the target. Mishra top edged a full toss and was caught at short third man by Abdallah off Mapunda for a run a ball 15 while Hutchinson was bowled for 14 off 11 after missing a massive heave to make it 89 for 3 on the first ball of the ninth. Allen and Steve Massiah knocked off the final four runs over the next five deliveries to give USA the win.

Nepal moved to 3-0 on Thursday and sits alone atop the standings after a 10-wicket win over Malaysia at Selangor Turf Club. Nepal bowled out the host side for 69 as leg-spinner Shakti Gauchan returned remarkable figures of 10 overs, eight maidens, 3 for 2. Nepal chased the runs in 12.2 overs with Anil Mandal making 41 not out.

Denmark suffered their first setback on Thursday at Bayuemas Oval after losing to Singapore by four wickets, a result that helped USA move into second place on net run rate tiebreaker with all three teams now sitting at 2-1. Denmark was bowled out for 173 in 46.3 overs after choosing to bat first. Singapore chased the runs down with 20 balls to spare as Munish Arora followed up his half-century against Malaysia with 39 not out against Denmark.

USA now faces a huge showdown with Nepal in a game that could decide first place in the group stage. The two sides have engaged in several tight contests over the last four years with each team notching two wins against the other while two other matches finished with no result. Shuja, who took a five-wicket haul against Nepal at 2008 ICC WCL Division Five in Jersey and has 14 wickets in six ICC World Cricket League matches against Nepal, is preparing for another classic encounter.

“Nepal and USA cricket teams are extremely good rivals,” Shuja said. “We have had extremely good games in the past. I expect tomorrow’s game to be a cracker as well. The division is on the line so I think it’s gonna be a phenomenal game. Nepal is playing really well right now and so are we. They rely heavily on their spin attack and their players who play spin very well. We on the other hand rely on playing fast bowling well and our fast bowling attack is pretty strong.”

“So I think it’s gonna be a very different type of cricket that’s gonna come together tomorrow but I’m very very confident that we’re gonna do well. The team is looking very good right now. Our bowling attack is looking good. Steven Taylor is batting phenomenal. So I think overall the team is coming together well and if I have to put my money on I would put it on USA.”

Live coverage of the showdown between USA and Nepal from the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur begins on DreamCricket.com at 10 a.m. Friday in Malaysia, 10 p.m. EST and 7 p.m. PST Thursday night in the USA.

USA Cricket: Denmark jinx lives on as USA loses by 56 runs on D/L Method

openingbat — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 01:26:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

USA paid for a lethargic display in the field after sending Denmark in to bat, allowing them to rack up 244 for 9 in 50 overs, before a batting collapse saw USA go from 40 for 0 in the fifth over to 71 for 5 in 20 overs as USA lost by 56 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method when rain stopped play in the 24th over of their chase on Tuesday at 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four in Kuala Lumpur. Denmark captain Michael Pedersen was named Man of the Match after top scoring with 59 off 69 balls. USA drops to 1-1 with the loss while Denmark stays unbeaten at 2-0.

The match was played at the Selangor Turf Club, the same ground where Singapore was bowled out by Nepal for 111 after batting first on Monday. Combining that knowledge with some overnight moisture in the pitch, USA elected to take the field first after winning the toss. USA was unable to make good use of the new ball though to justify the decision as Denmark openers Carsten Pedersen and Shehzad Ahmed grinded out 31 runs in 10 overs for the first wicket.

“What we talked a lot about this morning after losing the toss was obviously making sure we got through the first 10-15 overs when the ball was gonna do a bit and I think the openers did a really good job,” Michael Pedersen said.

Carsten should have been run out on 6 on the first ball of the ninth over with the score on 23 after Ahmed pushed a delivery from Elmore Hutchinson into the covers. Steve Massiah fielded the ball as both batsmen hesitated but his throw from 15 yards out bounced over the stumps at the striker’s end. Ahmed was finally removed for 13 by Usman Shuja at the end of the 10th, chipping a checked drive to Muhammad Ghous at mid on. Carsten kept plugging away until the 14th over when he was caught behind by Steven Taylor off Timroy Allen for 13 to make it 43 for 2. Despite scoring at only three per over, the openers did a very good job of seeing off the new ball to set the stage for a surge later in the innings.

Allen claimed his second wicket in the 18th when Rizwan Mahmood was beaten for pace and top edged a bouncer to Abhimanyu Rajp at midwicket for 7 to make it 57 for 3. USA failed to capitalize on a golden run out opportunity moments later in what would turn out to be a major turning point in the game. Number three batsman Andreas Lambert flicked a full delivery from Hutchinson into the on side and called for a run but his partner fresh to the crease, Freddie Klokker, was slow to respond and both men hesitated as Rajp swooped in from square leg. They finally committed to the run as Rajp fielded adjacent to the pitch and had a clear shot at all three stumps but his underhand effort at the non-striker’s end missed, which would have claimed Lambert on 9 and reduced Denmark to 58 for 4.

Instead, Lambert and Klokker produced the best partnership of the match, 65 runs for the fourth wicket as USA’s bowlers and fielders failed to exert any pressure from there on out. Lambert was methodical at the start of his innings, but played USA’s bowlers with relatives ease once he got set. He brought up his half-century with back-to-back fours off Ghous to end the 29th over, but got out on the next delivery he faced when he was beaten in flight by Rajp two balls into the 30th over and was stumped for 51 to make it 122 for 4.

Klokker teamed up with Michael Pedersen for a 45-run stand across 8.2 overs. Both players were particularly adept at using the sweep to USA’s spin bowlers. Klokker took some time to get going, playing just one scoring shot off the bat in his first 18 deliveries, but he then cruised to 39 off 48 balls before he nonchalantly walked across his stumps to paddle Rajp fine and was bowled behind his legs to make it 167 for 5 in the 38th. Rajp capped the over by bowling Aftab Ahmed for a second-ball duck and it appeared that USA had a chance of bowling out Denmark for under 200.

But just as they showed last year in Hong Kong at ICC WCL Division Three, Denmark will not fold easily and Michael Pedersen got excellent assistance from number eight Bashir Shah to build a 60-run stand in 8.4 overs. Michael brought up his half-century in 59 balls slogging Rajp for a six over long on to start the 46th. Shah smacked another six two balls later as part of an expensive 17-run over.

Image (right) - Denmark captain Michael Pedersen was named Man of the Match after top scoring with 59 in Denmark's win over USA. [Courtesy: ICC/Peter Lim]

It took Ghous to break the partnership, removing Shah for 19 when he drove to Aditya Thyagarajan at long on. Bobby Chawla was run out by Massiah for 4 with 10 balls to go in the innings and Michael top edged to Massiah in the circle off Orlando Baker to end the 49th. Denmark added seven runs off the final over to finish on 244 for 9, making them favorites to defend.

USA’s ragged display in the field was evident in the 32 extras they conceded, including 20 wides. Rajp’s three wickets were tops for USA, but they came for a costly 60 runs. Allen finished with 2 for 33 in nine while Shuja curiously finished with three overs unused in his quota after being USA’s most economical bowler on the day, taking 1 for 20 in seven.

At the start of the chase, it looked like the target was easily achievable as Taylor and Sushil Nadkarni got off to another explosive start. Taylor took a liking to opening seamer Henrik Hansen, hitting six boundaries off him in the 11 deliveries he faced from the bowler as USA finished the fourth at 38 for 0. The partnership ended in the next over though when medium pacer Aftab Ahmed had Nadkarni caught on the point boundary slicing a square drive in the air to Lambert who took a leaping catch to dismiss Nadkarni for 9.

After dominating the opening partnership, Taylor didn’t see any deliveries in the seventh and eighth overs as Massiah couldn’t turn over the strike to him. Taylor started the ninth over on strike, defending the first ball and missing a drive on the second before edging behind another attempted drive on the third ball to give Ahmed his second scalp. Taylor left for 30 in 24 balls and USA was now at 49 for 2. With dark clouds overhead and the possibility of rain looming, the second wicket gave Denmark an edge on the Duckworth-Lewis calculation which they never relinquished.

Thyagarajan came in at number four and scored 4 before being dismissed by the left-arm spin of Shah, taken at slip to make it 54 for 3 in the 12th. Aditya Mishra made 6 before he skipped down the track and was beaten in flight by Shah to be stumped, making it 64 for 4 in the 16th. Massiah finally perished for 15 off 48 balls, trapped in front by Shah to complete a destructive three-wicket spell for the spinner.

Allen and Baker entered and added 15 runs in 3.4 overs with level-headed batting, but thunder began to roll across the ground at the start of their brief partnership and shortly thereafter the rain arrived to put a halt to play. The showers stopped after about 20 minutes and the covers were taken off the field, but just when it looked like play would resume, heavier rains came back and didn’t cease for the next hour until the match was finally called off and a win awarded to Denmark.

Nepal sits alongside Denmark at 2-0 after defeating Tanzania by eight wickets on Tuesday, bowling out the African side for 82 before chasing the runs in 19.4 overs. Singapore moved to 1-1 with a 112-run win on Duckworth-Lewis Method over Malaysia. Singapore was in trouble at 35 for 4 until Christopher Janik and Munish Arora added 138 runs for the fifth wicket, Janik scoring the first century of the tournament with 106 off 144 balls to take Singapore to 230 for 9. Malaysia was then reduced to 91 for 8 before rain intervened.

USA now sits in fourth place on net run rate behind Singapore with identical records. Nepal is above Denmark on net run rate with both teams 2-0. Tanzania is fifth on net run rate and Malaysia sixth as both teams remain winless. All teams have a day off on Wednesday before play resumes on Thursday. USA will take on Tanzania at Kinrara Academy Oval. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage continues on Thursday morning from Kuala Lumpur at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday night in the USA at 10:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. PST.

USA Cricket: Allen fireworks too explosive for Malaysia in 70-run win for USA

openingbat — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:46:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation I Match Commentary

A century stand by Sushil Nadkarni and Steven Taylor to open the match was followed by a scintillating knock by Timroy Allen to set up a 70-run win for USA over Malaysia at Bayuemas Oval on Monday at the 2012 ICC WCL Division Four tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Allen was named Man of the Match after notching 72 not out in just 43 deliveries, a career high for Allen in a USA uniform, to take USA to an easily defendable 289 for 5.

“This is all a team sport,” Allen said. “The two openers gave us a solid start in order for me to go out there with an arsenal of shots, playing whatever shot I feel comfortable playing.”

Malaysia won the toss and elected to send USA in to bat on a hot and sticky morning at Bayuemas Oval. Usman Shuja, Akeem Dodson and Andy Mohammed were the three to sit out for USA while Taylor was asked to open the batting less than 24 hours after arriving in Kuala Lumpur and combined with Nadkarni to put on 110 runs for the first wicket.

For Nadkarni, it was a role reversal playing the anchor position in an opening partnership as Taylor took the initiative cracking five boundaries and a six straight down the ground in the first six overs to take USA to 37 for 0. Taylor brought up his 50 off 52 balls at the start of the 17th over when he guided his seventh boundary through third man to take the score to 90. He added two more boundaries before he was dismissed on a marginal LBW decision for 62 by off-spinner Suharril Fetri.

Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni cuts through the off side in the middle of his innings vs. Malaysia. Nadkarni top-scored for USA in the match with 73. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“We’ve always known Steve can get going pretty quick and he started doing that pretty regularly towards the end of the Dubai tour,” Nadkarni said. “Today when he started going, I quickly changed my role and wanted to support him.”

Steve Massiah joined Nadkarni and USA’s scoring rate slowed down as Massiah struggled to rotate the strike against Malaysia’s spinners with Nadkarni well set at the other end. Nadkarni brought up his half-century in 68 balls in the 25th over, pulling Hassan Ghulam over midwicket for his eighth boundary and then followed it up two balls later with a massive six to the same region.

Nadkarni got out hit wicket in the 36th over for 73 when he mistimed a hook shot against medium pacer Suresh Navaratnam. The ball hit him in the armpit and started rolling towards the stumps, but never actually touched. However, Nadkarni was slightly off balance in his follow through and took one hand off his bat to try to stay upright. In the process, the bat glanced the stumps to knock the bails off. That made the score 157 for 2 and set the stage for Allen to get promoted up the order and put on a destructive display to demoralize Malaysia after they looked like they were clawing back into the match.

Massiah was on 8 off 43 balls when Allen joined him at the crease and seemed to be spurred to find the gaps better when Allen arrived, scoring 25 off his final 25 deliveries. Allen crushed the third delivery he received from Navaratnam over long on for his first six, then did it again to Navaratnam off his eighth delivery to set the tone for what would come throughout the rest of his knock. Spinners were no match for Allen either as he dispatched left-arm orthodox bowler Shahrulnizam Yusof for a monstrous six in the 39th over that hit three quarters of the way up a 10-story viewing tower behind the bowler.

Massiah was dropped on 13 at mid off by Hiran Ralalage to keep the partnership alive and a few overs later Allen teed off on Yusof even further in the 43rd, crushing a four and two sixes over long on to bring up the half-century stand. Massiah hit his first and only six an over later as he finally looked ready to accelerate but then got out two balls later on the deep midwicket boundary for 33 to make it 227 for 3 after 44.

Aditya Thyagarajan got out second ball for 2 trying to clear the man at long off to give Yusof a wicket and make the score 229 for 4. Aditya Mishra arrived but Allen had crossed while the ball was in the air on the dismissal and proceeded to continue his demolition of Yusof with two more boundaries to bring up his half-century in just 30 deliveries and then capped the over with his sixth six into the sightscreen.

Image (left) - Timroy Allen raises his cap to the USA bench after reaching his half-century off just 30 deliveries against Malaysia. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

When Mishra finally got the strike he had no trouble keeping pace with Allen, using his feet repeatedly to the spinners with great success as he struck three boundaries and a six to finish with 25 in just 14 balls. He got out with seven balls to go in the innings just after the pair had raised a 50-run partnership in just 4.1 overs. Orlando Baker arrived and slogged one six over midwicket before finishing 7 not out while Allen walked off deservedly unbeaten with four fours and six sixes in his thrilling knock.

Malaysia suffered early damage in the chase as Allen and Elmore Hutchinson wrecked the top order to leave the host side at 21 for 3 in the sixth over. Allen had Rakesh Madhavan caught by Mishra at second slip for 4 while Hutchinson trapped Shafiq Sharif LBW for 1 and bowled Faiz Ahmed Noor for 5.

Malaysia captain Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam and Fetri then started a counter-attack with some excellent running between the wickets combined with elegant strokeplay by the captain. What initially looked like a cakewalk turned into a legitimate contest as Kumar flayed several short deliveries through the covers while USA struggled to build pressure and slow the pair down.

Alagaratnam hit his seventh boundary early in the 18th over off Baker to take him to 39 off just 47 balls before Baker spilled a return chance on the next delivery. However, Baker atoned two balls later when he drew a thin edge on a forward prod from Alagaratnam and Taylor took the catch to put USA back in the driver’s seat at 84 for 4.

Muhammad Ghous bowled with increasing precision after the first drinks break to strangle the scoring rate which aided USA’s cause further. A few overs later Abhimanyu Rajp was brought into the attack and he struck in his second over, getting Khizar Durrani to hole out to Thyagarajan at long on for 14 to make it 105 for 5 in the 27th.

Fetri kept battling though and with Navaratnam produced Malaysia’s second half-century stand of the match. The pair put on exactly 50 for the sixth wicket before Allen returned for a second spell during the batting power play and had Navaratnam caught by Mishra at midwicket for 28. Ryan Corns removed Hassan Ghulam for 7 to make it 166 for 7 and Fetri was finally dislodged by Rajp for 60 in the 47th to make it 198 for 8, but Malaysia managed to bat through all 50 overs and finished on 219 for 8.

Allen finished his all-round performance with 2 for 35 in six overs and was well supported with the new ball by Hutchinson who took 2 for 22. Rajp finished with a slightly expensive 2 for 51 in 10 overs. Ghous went wicketless but bowled a key spell to finish with 0 for 26 in nine overs.

In the day’s other matches, Denmark defeated Tanzania by 88 runs after posting 224 in the first innings while Nepal won by five wickets over Singapore after bowling Singapore out for 111 and chasing the runs in just 24.5 overs after a rocky start when they lost their fifth wicket for 47 runs.

USA plays Denmark on day two in Kuala Lumpur at the Selangor Turf Club. DreamCricket.com will have live coverage of the match with play set to get underway at 10:30 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday morning, 10:30 p.m. EST and 7:30 p.m. PST on Monday night in the USA.

USA Cricket: Squad ready to do battle at 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia

openingbat — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 20:41:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur (on Twitter)

Nineteen months after the heartache of a last place finish and relegation in Hong Kong, USA will attempt to reestablish a positive presence in 50-over cricket on Monday at 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Kuala Lumpur, the next phase of qualifying for the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. USA needs a top two finish to advance back into ICC WCL Division Three, which will take place next year in Bermuda from April 28-May 5.

USA captain Steve Massiah makes his return to the squad after missing the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier when his travel was restricted after a November arrest in connection with an alleged $50 million mortgage fraud scheme. Speaking publicly for the first time since November, Massiah said at the captains’ press conference on the eve of the tournament that he doesn’t feel he let the team down at all for having to miss the tour to the UAE.

“I don’t think I’ve let the team down,” Massiah said. “Due to certain personal circumstances I wasn’t able to make it. I’m here to do my best for the United States of America, do whatever it takes for us to achieve qualification.”

Image (right) - Steve Massiah at the opening press conference for 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Two other players returning to the squad on this tour are Timroy Allen and Aditya Thyagarajan. Both players are making comebacks after injuries.

“It’s a pleasure to be back and first and foremost I must say I really do appreciate the selectors giving me this opportunity, helping the USA get back where we’re supposed to be. It felt really good to be back with my teammates,” Allen said. He also doesn’t want to go home regretting a missed opportunity and wants to get the event started with a win against Malaysia in the opening match at Bayuemas Oval.

“It’s a long flight here and I really don’t want to go back home without holding something so I’m really ready for this tournament. I have no doubt in my team that we’ll come out on top in this game because these guys are basically hungry for a win and we want to give all our spectators back home something to start off with and we don’t want to fall in a hole right off the top.”

Allen took 2 for 37 in 10 overs in the team’s warm-up match win over Denmark on Thursday. Massiah says Allen’s value to USA is immense because of the many ways in which he can be used.

“He performs a dual role for me in the sense that he opens the bowling and also I have the option of using him as a spinner if the wicket is conducive to it and he’s a tremendous lower order batsman,” Massiah said. “In my humble opinion he’s probably the most talented cricketer in America.”

Meanwhile, Thyagarajan top scored with 48 coming in at number four in the warm-up match against Denmark, his first match in a USA uniform since injuring his right knee at 2011 ICC WCL Division Three in Hong Kong, and says he’s looking forward to the opportunity to make his mark once more for USA.

“It’ll be a personal challenge playing six games in eight days first tournament after injury but I’m looking forward to it and positive that I’ll be able to get through it and hopefully do well for the team,” Thyagarajan said. Allen says he’s extremely happy to make a return to the squad alongside Thyagarajan.

“Aditya has always been a fighter for us,” Allen said. “It’s not like we’re gonna go out and depend on one batsman, but that’s one person you can really depend on. If he gets out, it’s not because of a crazy shot. He probably got a good ball. He’s patient and focused and I just love when he’s in the team.”

One player who looked noticeably slimmer during the team’s training session on Sunday was Sushil Nadkarni, who says he’s lost 10 to 15 pounds through a refined training regimen since the team returned in March from the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

“After the Dubai tour and working with Robin a little bit in that tournament, I kind of realized some of the things I needed to work on when I was putting my time in the gym,” Nadkarni said. “It wasn’t that I wasn’t putting time in the gym before, but I just realized after talking to him and others where I should be focusing or what are the different things I should be doing. So I’ve been focusing on a lot of sprinting, a lot of running. I’ve been doing some weight training as well so I’m trying to do activities that would help me optimize or maximize my performance on the cricket field.”

As far as the team composition for the first match against Malaysia, the tour management may have a difficult decision on their hands with key players Usman Shuja, Aditya Mishra and Steven Taylor all arriving in Malaysia on Sunday afternoon less than 24 hours before the start of the tournament. All three looked exhausted at the tournament’s opening ceremony just a few hours removed from more than 20 hours of flights from the USA. Massiah says their status will be assessed in the morning before a game-time decision is made.

Image (left) - USA's Akeem Dodson, Andy Mohammed, Abhimanyu Rajp, bowling coach Charlie Javed and Ryan Corns at the the tournament opening ceremony. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“It’s the first game and we’d like to start on a winning note so probably we’ll go with our best combination for tomorrow because it’s important that we start well so this way we’re not behind the eight ball,” Massiah said. “We’ll make a game time decision tomorrow as to how they feel. But obviously it’ll take them at least two days for them to recover. Hopefully they can be fine. We trust their judgment and we’ll do whatever it takes to help the team so we just have to see how they feel.”

USA has gone through a similar situation in the recent past with poor results. At 2010 ICC WCL Division Five in Nepal, Nadkarni missed the first two matches while attending to some work obligations back in Texas, then flew in and was slotted back into the lineup straightaway against Jersey and Singapore for the third and fourth matches of the tournament. He made 1 off 7 balls and a golden duck respectively so Nadkarni is very aware of the challenge that lies ahead for Shuja, Mishra and Taylor.

“Talking about myself, it was tough,” Nadkarni said. “It was about a 25-hour flight and then a change in timings and everything. It was a little bit tough to get into the ground and play an international game the next day. Overall it does take its toll on your body and you might find yourself a little sluggish in the field because your body is trying to catch up to the time differences, etc.”

Thyagarajan knows this will be a tough event, but if they can grind out a top two finish, the path ahead will be easier in the spring at 2013 WCL Division Three where Bermuda, Italy, Oman and Uganda await the two teams that get promoted at the end of this tournament in Malaysia.

“I think this will be an extremely tough tournament,” Thyagarajan said. “This reminds me of the Division Five tournament in Nepal. Like I said then, if we get through Five, we’ll surely get through Four. I say the same thing here. If we get through Four, we’ll surely get through Three. Everybody needs to play really well.”

DreamCricket.com will have live coverage for all of USA’s matches at 2012 ICC WCL Division Four beginning with the team’s first match on Monday against Malaysia from Bayuemas Oval. Each match is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. EST and 7:30 p.m. PST the previous day in America.

USA Cricket: Abhimanyu Rajp's journey leads him from the land of Ludhiana to the USA National Team

openingbat — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 11:01:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in (on Twitter)

It’s the second match of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier for USA and the game is five overs old when the captain decides to toss the ball to the debutant off-spinner. Under normal circumstances, it might be cause for feelings of nervousness to overwhelm a new bowler. Gripping the ball too tight could result in a half-tracker, clammy hands could cause the ball to slip out too early and result in a full toss, either ball probably winding up as a four or six for the batsman. Abhimanyu Rajp might have been a little nervous when bowling his first ball at the senior international level for USA, but he didn’t show it simply because he didn’t have the time.

“Normally you’re told, ‘You’re up next over,’ but Sushil didn’t do that,” Rajp said, referring to the moment his captain in the UAE, Sushil Nadkarni called his number. “He just tossed me the ball and said, ‘Abhi, come on.’ I was taken a bit by surprise so I didn’t have much time to think about anything.”

Moments later, Rajp landed one of his sharp spinning off-break deliveries right where he wanted it. The batsman, Italy’s Andy Northcote, played over the top of the good length ball and was struck on the pads.

“I think all of Abu Dhabi heard my appeal. As soon as I delivered that ball and hit Northcote’s pads I knew that I had him. That was really special.” It’s a moment Rajp says he’ll never forget, getting his first wicket on his very first delivery for USA. It’s just one of many special moments in the cricketing journey of Rajp.

Rajp was born in Ludhiana in Punjab, India, and like most kids took to the streets to play the game with his friends.

“When you’re growing up and you’re six years old, you don’t know who Sachin is or who Gavaskar was. You’re just playing for the fun of the sport. I had a good friend in my neighborhood and we were always just playing this game every day.”

One of Rajp’s older sisters says that as far as she can remember, she would always see him walking around with a cricket bat in his hands.

“When he used to go to the cricket camp, the willow bat used to be taller than him,” Milli Rajp said. “He was that tiny when he started.” While Rajp is known for his off-break deliveries now, he claims he began his cricketing career as a seam bowler who also kept wicket, but shifted to bowling spin in a fateful match while representing the Ludhiana Cricket Association in an U-12 tournament.

“We were playing on a pitch where the ball was turning square and our main spinner had finished all his overs,” Rajp said. “We wanted someone to spin the ball and I was keeping at the time. So I said I’ll take off my gloves and give it a try. I ended up being the second highest wicket-taker of that tournament bowling off-spin and that’s where I discovered I can spin the ball and should be a spinner and not a wicketkeeper.”

Rajp continued progressing through Ludhiana’s age group teams as a spinner. While his parents emphasized the importance of schoolwork, especially since his mother worked as an English teacher, both his mom and dad fully supported his cricket ambitions and paid for him to participate in summer cricket camps. Then in 1999, the family’s green card application was approved and in the summer of 2000 Rajp arrived in the USA as a 14-year-old.

But rather than have his cricket dreams dashed, they only seemed to grow stronger. The family settled in California’s San Fernando Valley with the cricket fields at Woodley close by in Van Nuys. Rajp joined Ventura Cricket Club the following spring and began playing with them for the next five seasons in the Southern California Cricket Association.

Image (right) - Abhimanyu Rajp bowls against Scotland at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]

Rajp went to try out for the USA U-19 team in 2003 prior to the squad traveling to the ICC Americas U-19 tournament, but was ineligible for selection because he did not meet the ICC’s four-year residency requirement. In the meantime, Rajp got connected with Ashok Patel’s US Cricket Academy and began going on tours with them to the Caribbean which provided valuable learning experiences for him over the next several years.

“I played a lot on those tours and you learn a lot,” Rajp said. “A cricket player has all this knowledge about what to do and how to do it, but the main thing is when to do it, when to apply that knowledge to the best of your abilities. It was just about when to set what kind of fields, what works for what bowler and for yourself, how can you do better against this batsman, what kind of field you should set for him, basically trying to understand all aspects of the game. You have coaches there but it’s your first time getting exposure to real turf and real stadiums. We had not played in those kind of facilities in the USA. Playing in your age group, the best way you can learn is playing with other players who don’t know anything. For young players, that’s the best experience you can get. You don’t know anything and they don’t know anything so you’re all learning together and trying to understand the game as a unit and that helps a lot.”

Rajp also gives a lot of credit to former USA player Reggie Benjamin for coaching him and other youth players locally in Southern California when there wasn’t a lot of activity going on at the national level for junior cricketers.

“Having Reginald Benjamin on my side over here, who used to be one of the main youth guys when the youth movement started, he was always here and he’s the one who started coaching us with the help of Nazim Shirazi,” Rajp said.

In 2005, Rajp went to another tryout for the USA U-19 team and this time managed to be selected. However, there was a lot of doubt whether or not he would get to play any games for USA since USACA had just been suspended by the ICC and the U-19 team’s participation at the ICC Americas tournament was in doubt.

“The communication was very hazy at that time. Nobody knew whether we were gonna go or not. A week before the tour we found out it was on. We’re going. The tickets are coming. The tickets came a couple days before we had to fly and then we went to Canada.”

Despite the hectic leadup to the tournament, Rajp says the team felt okay about their chances entering the first day of the 2005 ICC Americas U-19 tournament against defending champions Canada because most of the USA players had played with each other on the US Cricket Academy tours.

“The camaraderie had started a lot earlier than the 2003 tour so by 2005 everybody had a good idea of who was capable of what,” Rajp said. “When we landed, we basically had one day of practice and it was basically for the guys people hadn’t seen before and for the coach Larry Gomes to find out who was gonna be the off-spinner, the leg-spinner, the batsmen, the slip fielder.”

USA defeated Canada in the first match by 39 runs and never looked back on an undefeated run to the tournament title, clinching a spot at the 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Rajp was the standout bowler in Canada, taking a tournament best 11 wickets which included five-wicket hauls against Argentina and Bermuda.

In Sri Lanka, Rajp finished tied for the team lead in wickets with eight, which included 5 for 61 against New Zealand. Among the scalps he claimed in that match was future Test batsman Martin Guptill. USA also faced off against West Indies, Australia and South Africa in the group stage, whose squads contained numerous future senior international representatives including Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Sunil Narine, Craig Kieswetter, Richard Levi, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Wade and David Warner.

“It was a real eye-opener for myself and my ability to bowl against the likes of David Warner and guys who are now at Test level,” Rajp said. “It was a surreal experience for us. By no means could we say we were better than them or as good as them in our ability, but we can say that if the players in the USA play every day like those players play then there is no reason why we can’t beat them. But because we are weekend cricketers, we got beaten at the end.”

“We were playing the West Indies with Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, William Perkins and we have them 8 for 2 in the first two overs and a dropped catch off William Perkins and we are feeling on top of the world because we are doing some major damage and after that catch was dropped [Perkins made 133]. Every game, we were in it for a certain amount of time because every team took us lightly. They thought, ‘USA? Who the hell is USA?’ but when we got on the field and started playing and started giving them heart attacks, that’s when they started getting serious that this is a team to be reckoned with and they had to play with more responsibility and not think it’s just an easy 50 or easy 100. That’s when the game got away from us because their talent was better than ours but our determination was probably better than theirs to get them to those points in those games.”

“If you analyze all three of those group games, we had 140 in 25 overs for the loss of two wickets against West Indies. What more do you want from an Associate team chasing 300? That doesn’t happen. South Africa we had them 101 for 5. We needed two more quick wickets and we could’ve had them out for 150. Australia we scored [148] against them and we had them 53 for 4 so a couple more wickets and we might have had them, but almost doesn’t count. That goes to show that we only played weekends. If we played every day, we could have beat some of these guys.”

Rather than be demoralized about losing all but one match in that tournament, Rajp says he came out of it gaining more confidence from the experience because of those moments when USA was able to stand toe-to-toe with the heavyweights.

“The one thing I took away from that tournament was that we belonged. We can do it at that level. Every time I think about that tournament, it’s made me realize that yes I can do it. I can bowl against these guys and get them out. I can get a five-wicket haul at a World Cup stage against a Test nation. I can do good.”

Despite his personal success at the junior level in Sri Lanka, Rajp had to bide his time before breaking into the USA senior side. He stayed on the outside looking in for six years and says he kept his spirits high after receiving encouragement from several national team players.

Aditya Thyagarajan, who has been a teammate with Rajp on South West Region teams and plays against Rajp’s Cosmos CC side regularly in the SCCA Division One competition, says that Rajp has become a more complete bowler in recent years after altering his approach to batsmen at the senior level compared to what he was doing at the Under-19 level.

“Over the last two or three years he has really improved and he’s understood the value as an off-spinner to bowl the ball consistently on one spot,” Thyagarajan said. “Like any talented youngster, he was trying to take a wicket every ball and that just doesn’t work at the senior level, especially when you’re an off-spinner or finger-spinner. So I kept talking to him over the years about how you need to improve your consistency. I think over the last two years I really saw him take that advice really well and the results have been very clear.”

In 2010, Rajp was the leading wicket-taker in USACA national tournaments including 7 for 35 in one match at the USACA Western Conference tournament in September of that year at Woodley as he hovered around the national team selection radar. However, he was passed over for both of USA’s squads at ICC tournaments in 2011. Rajp tried to be philosophical about it and remained patient.

“I am the kind of person who does not keep any expectations. Any time I’m playing cricket, I’m not playing to get selected for another team. I’m playing to do well for my team on that day,” Rajp said. “I never went out and said, ‘Why are they not picking me?’ I always think that when the time is right, it will happen. I didn’t take it in a bad way when they didn’t call me or select me because in the back of my mind I was always thinking this is not my time yet.”

Rajp’s time finally arrived in March when he got selected to go to the UAE for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. He delivered from the moment Nadkarni first tossed the ball his way against Italy right through to the end of the event as he finished tied with Muhammad Ghous for the team lead in wickets as both off-spinners took 10.

Image (left) - Rajp bowls against Italy in his first tournament match in a USA senior uniform this past march. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]

“I think Abhimanyu’s addition to the team has been fantastic,” Nadkarni said at the end of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. “I think for a long time we had Ghous who made an impact as soon as he came into the team. Now I feel like we have another bowler who can support Ghous and who is a wicket-taking option so I think Abhimanyu is a great addition to the team.”

Although he had the experience of playing against future Test players at the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006, Rajp says playing in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was a completely different experience.

“It was a real eye-opener. The level of competition is so much harder and higher than what we’re accustomed to playing in US club cricket culture,” Rajp said. “You have to be on the ball from ball one. There is no margin for error. You miss and they hit.”

“When you are coming in to bowl you better bet on your eye that the guy who is batting in front of you is ready to launch your first ball for six. If you are coming in to bat, you can bet that the first ball is either coming at your head straight to take your helmet off or to break your toe off. The intensity and focus that’s required is so much higher than you’re used to. You have to be completely focused.”

“I learned a lot from bowling against almost everybody. The quality of opposition that we were playing was obviously great quality. Bowling against them, every game I was learning more and more stuff about my bowling and how to bowl to such batsmen as Ed Joyce and Kevin O’Brien. I’ve never in my whole life bowled around the wicket. It was the first time in my life bowling around the wicket to Kevin O’Brien because I had taken the advice from Robin Singh and Mark Johnson telling me to try to come around the wickets to see if the batsman has a little tough time against you with those angles because I do get a lot of turn. That’s one thing I tried that worked and I never tried that. Small things like that make a huge difference at that level.”

Even though it was a Twenty20 tournament in March, the experience gained from bowling to players like O’Brien and Joyce will serve Rajp well as he gets ready to make his 50-over debut for USA at 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four next week in Malaysia. He continued his good overall form by claiming 3 for 33 in 10 overs in USA’s warm-up match against Denmark on August 30 and will look to keep it up in the live matches beginning on Monday against Malaysia.

While Rajp has experienced a tremendous amount of success on the field throughout his cricket career, he says none of it would have been possible without the support of his family. From the time he represented Ludhiana to his exploits for the USA at the junior and senior levels, they have been his biggest fans.

“Whatever I’ve achieved so far has been the blessing of my mom and my family,” Rajp said. “They’ve really supported me and helped me in a way that a family can. My dad, my mom, my sisters have been really influential in my whole life.”

Away from cricket, Rajp graduated from California State University, Northridge in 2010 with a degree in finance and began working for biotech company Amgen that same year at the company’s headquarters in Thousand Oaks. He also has a singing alter ego, recording under the name Musafir Ludhianvi as part of Suvah Entertainment whose other members include Brainstorm and Apartment E. The songs are sung in Punjabi and Hindi.

“Musafir Ludhianvi means a lone traveler from the land of Ludhiana,” Rajp says. “It’s a fun thing. I write my own songs and I sing. I’m not a good singer, I’m ok and the producers help me out a lot. We spend one day a week, we have a dedicated day that we go into the studio and have our sessions, whether it’s studio recording or writing lyrics or working on tracks or perfecting a track. All of us work. All of us have other commitments plus music doesn’t pay. It’s something that we are passionate for. Other than cricket, there’s another passion I have which is singing.”

Rajp became a US citizen in 2007 and while his music is a way for him to maintain a strong connection to his Indian roots, he is proud to be able to represent the USA on the cricket field. He’s still just 26 and if he continues the strong start he had for the senior team earlier this year, he could be representing USA on the cricket field for many years to come.

“Obviously this country has given me a lot so I owe a lot to this country, from cricket to making me as a person who I am today,” Rajp said. “You don’t get some of these opportunities back in your motherland, although I do love my motherland, but there’s pros and cons to everything. I still love India but there’s a lot that I owe to the USA and I’m very grateful that I’ve landed here and gotten through so many different feats in my life in the United States. Being able to represent the United States is also a privilege and an honor and a gesture for me to give something back to this country also by doing good for this sport in this country for this country. It’s my country and that’s what I want to do.”