USA Cricketer : Adrian Gordon

USA Cricket: Team and player reviews for The 2012 Auty Cup

openingbat — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 18:03:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Batting: USA’s batsmen got off to plenty of decent starts, but hardly any of those starts were converted into a meaningful score. USA had one half-century by Timil Patel in the final Twenty20 match. In comparison, Canada’s batsmen contributed five half-centuries over the four games: two by Raza-ur-Rehman, and one each by Usman Limbada, Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema.

In the two-day match, three players made it to 20 – Timothy Surujbally, Karan Ganesh and Ryan Corns – but none of them made it to 30. The pattern was repeated in the 50-over game by Surujbally, Patel, Neil McGarrell and Barrington Bartley, then again in the first Twenty20 by Surujbally and Nicholas Standford. Canada’s players were more determined to make their starts count while USA’s players wasted theirs far too often.

In the 50-over match, USA racked up a stunning number of dot balls, 216 to be exact, almost 70% of the total deliveries in the innings. In the 35 non-power play overs, USA scored just 41 singles which highlights their struggle to find gaps in the circle and turn over the strike to keep pressure from building up. More evidence came in the first Twenty20 match where USA had 61 dot balls, a shocking number for a Twenty20 match especially since USA only batted 19 overs.

USA’s biggest challenge was against Canada’s spin bowlers, particularly leg-spinner Junaid Siddiqui and the left-arm spin of Rehman. Canada’s bowling attack was good but not nearly as good as some of the ones they’ve used in World Cups over the last decade.

Bowling: Against most of Canada’s first choice batsmen, USA’s bowlers turned in an admirable showing, especially in the two-day match. To bowl out a Division One Associate team for under 200 runs in a multi-day match was impressive and they nearly did it twice but ran out of time. Naseer Jamali’s opening spell which claimed three wickets set the tone for USA’s bowlers throughout that match.

The USA bowling was a bit flat in the 50-over match although if they had another 30 to 40 runs to play with they might have had more of a spring in their step. With the exception of Cheema’s first over assault of Adrian Gordon in the first Twenty20, USA’s bowlers were collectively committed in not letting Canada’s batsmen score too freely in those games as well.

USA’s greatest success came through their spin bowlers. Danial Ahmed and Timil Patel led the way while Karan Ganesh provided good support with the ball in the limited overs matches. Barrington Bartley showed a brief glimpse of what he can do in a supporting role with the ball as did Japen Patel with his medium pace, but neither should be seen as a frontline option.

Player Reviews

William Perkins – Scored 15 off 25 balls in the two-day match, 46 off 73 in the 50-over game, and made 32 off 21 in the second T20. He looked solid at the crease, but not dominant. For someone with plenty of recent experience playing domestic cricket in the West Indies, as well as participating in the Champions League T20 with Trinidad & Tobago, more was expected. He certainly didn’t do enough to displace Sushil Nadkarni and Steven Taylor as USA’s incumbent openers, but might be worth consideration in a 14-man squad, if eligible, for some of USA’s upcoming tournaments.

Steven Taylor – Scored 4 off 15 balls in the two-day match, retired hurt on 10 in the 50-over match after pulling a hamstring trying to complete a quick single. Taylor has always carried slightly more weight than he should. The hamstring pull may give him the nudge he needs to focus more of his attention on improving his fitness. He has gotten away with it at most stages because of his supreme natural talent, but the higher the level of competition, the greater risk he runs of his fitness being exposed.

Timothy Surujbally – Scored 24 off 55 balls in the two-day game, 28 off 54 in the 50-over match, made 27 off 10 before retiring hurt in the first T20 with a hamstring pull trying to complete a quick single; with the ball took 0 for 6 in three overs during the two-day game. His performance was a microcosm of so many batsmen during the week who teased, but probably fell short of satisfying the expectations of themselves as well as the selectors with their batting. If there’s one thing that would hold him back more than anything else from making it into a 14-man squad next year, it would be his inability to score off the ball turning away from him. Canada’s Siddiqui and Rehman put the clamps on him and Surujbally didn’t seem to have a plan for how to get off strike.

Image (right) - Timothy Surujbally

Andy Mohammed – Scored 0 off 7 balls in the two-day match, made 11 off 12 opening the batting in the first T20; with the ball took 0 for 6 in one over in the two-day game. Two loose dismissals demonstrated that he still has a lot of maturing to do. Despite his talent, he doesn’t ever look determined to stay at the crease for very long. He needs to go back to the drawing board to develop his game.

Karan Ganesh – Top scored for USA in the two-day match with 29 off 70 balls, made 1 off 4 in the 50-over match and 2 not out off 3 balls in the second T20; with the ball took 0 for 14 in eight overs during the two-day match, 2 for 24 in eight overs in the 50-over match, 1 for 20 in four overs in the second T20. Ganesh should have stayed at the crease longer in the two-day game but only has himself to blame for runout that curtailed his innings. With the ball, his flat off-spin was efficient at restricting runs, particularly in the limited overs matches. He wouldn’t get into a full-strength USA squad solely on his batting or bowling alone, but makes an intriguing case as a reserve player for his combined skillset.

Timil Patel – Scored 11 off 15 balls in the two-day match, 22 off 39 in the 50-over game, 0 off 2 in the first T20 and 67 not out off 55 balls in the second T20; with the ball took match figures of 7 for 107 in 34 overs during the two-day game, 2 for 49 in 8.5 overs in the 50-over game, 1 for 24 in three overs in the first T20, 1 for 28 in four overs in the second T20. Had the best all-round performance of any USA player during the week. It’s unclear if he’ll be eligible to play in ICC tournaments next year though because he’s only been in the USA since 2010.

Japen Patel – Scored 0 off 9 balls in the two-day game, 9 off 17 in the first T20; with the ball took 0 for 34 in seven overs during the two-day game, took 4 for 26 in four overs during the first T20. Inserted into a new ball role in the two-day game that he was ill-suited for, he bowled tidily enough and had a chance dropped off his bowling early, but overall lacked penetration. In the T20 he played, he kept a disciplined line and as a result took more wickets than some of his teammates who bowled quicker but with far less control. Such performances with the ball need to be the rule, not the exception, for him to have any chance of cracking USA’s XI. He still has a long way to go with the bat as well to be up to international standard.

Image (left) - Japen Patel

Adil Bhatti – Scored 7 off 35 balls in the two-day game, 7 off 13 in the first T20, 0 off 1 ball in the second T20; with the ball he took 1 for 20 in five overs during the two-day game, 0 for 24 in three overs in the first T20. Bhatti is a player with similar skill sets to Japen Patel and is probably a better player but was outperformed by Japen during the series by way of Patel’s 4 for 26 in the first T20. Bhatti’s best moment came when he pulled off a fantastic catch as a substitute fielder in the 50-over match, but that’s not going to get him selected. He’s a player who gives tremendous effort but needs to work hard on his batting in particular, much like Japen, to merit full-time selection.

Ryan Corns – Scored 20 off 39 balls in the two-day game, 5 off 7 in the first T20, 5 off 5 in the second T20; with the ball took 1 for 46 in 14 overs during the two-day game, 1 for 22 in four overs during the first T20, 1 for 21 in three overs during the second T20. His spin bowling is always improving, but his batting still hasn’t progressed to the point where it should be. He got a few opportunities to bat higher up the order in this series than he had in previous tournaments USA played in 2012, but didn’t make the most of those chances. The fact that he was selected as a stand-in captain in place of the injured Taylor for the second T20 says a lot about how highly he is now thought of by USA’s management hierarchy, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a nervous wait this winter to see if his spot is secure the next time USA picks a 14-man squad.

Danial Ahmed – Scored 1 not out off 6 balls in the two-day match; with the ball took 6 for 73 across 37.4 overs in the two-day game, took 1 for 13 in three overs in the second T20. Ahmed was the biggest revelation for USA in the matches against Canada. Although he isn’t a very big turner of the ball, he displayed immaculate control and used clever variations of pace and flight to keep batsmen off balance. USA has tried out numerous specialist left-arm spinners over the past few years – Asif Khan, Samarth Shah, Bhim George – to match up with Nepal’s arsenal of them. Ahmed may be the end of that search. He also was brilliant in the field, another area where USA could definitely benefit from his presence.

Naseer Jamali – Scored 2 off 5 balls in the two-day game; with the ball took 3 for 42 in 12 overs during the two-day game, took 0 for 9 in one over in the second T20. His opening spell in the two-day game was very impressive as he wiped out Canada’s top three with relative ease. He doesn’t have blinding pace, but is showing signs of maturing by bowling a more disciplined line and recognizing that he won’t be able to bounce people out. Not a first-choice option now, but wouldn’t be a bad option should Usman Shuja, Elmore Hutchinson or Timroy Allen get injured.

Nicholas Standford – Scored 0 off 8 balls in the 50-over match, 23 off 26 in the first T20, 18 off 22 in the second T20. He played similar to Surujbally in the way he got some good starts, but ultimately failed to convert them. Looked fluent at the crease in both T20s but at the end of the day a number three batsman needs to do more after getting set like he did regardless of the format.

Neil McGarrell – Scored 26 off 46 balls in the 50-over match, scored 3 off 5 balls in the first T20; with the ball he took 0 for 28 in 10 overs in the 50-over match, took 1 for 14 in three overs in the first T20. Even though he’s 40, McGarrell maintains a very professional approach to the game at all levels. He demonstrated he still has value with the ball and as a fielder, but if there was room for just one specialist left-arm spinner in a USA squad and the choice was between the former West Indies Test bowler and 27-year-old Daniel Ahmed, then Ahmed should get selected. It’s not because Ahmed is younger, it’s because Ahmed showed he’s better.

Barrington Bartley – Scored 23 off 24 balls in the 50-over match, scored 26 off 14 balls in the second T20; with the ball took 0 for 44 in eight overs in the 50-over match, took 3 for 14 in three overs in the second T20. While Bartley had the same issue of carrying on after getting set like many of his teammates, he was actually one of the few efficient batsmen in the squad. It was rare to see him waste a delivery and he was much more skilled at turning over the strike than Ganesh, Surujbally or Standford in particular. He’s also a better fielder than the other three. With the ball, his 0 for 44 in the 50-over game is a more accurate reflection of his bowling abilities than his 3 for 14 in the second T20. If he were to get picked, it would be for his batting.

Saami Siddiqui – Scored 6 off 20 balls in the 50-over game, scored 7 off 8 balls in the first T20; completed no dismissals as a wicketkeeper, conceded 1 bye. Siddiqui kept adequately enough behind the stumps, but as is the case in the modern era of cricket he needs to offer more with the bat as a keeper.

Hammad Shahid – Scored 1 off 10 balls in the 50-over match; with the ball took 1 for 32 in eight overs during the 50-over match, took 0 for 10 in one over in the second T20. The 50-over game was a decent start to his career at the senior level but he didn’t get much of a chance to build on it in the T20 game he played. He hasn’t progressed as quickly as it looked like he would when he was a 16-year-old, but he has a strong frame and will hopefully get better with experience.

Mital Patel – Scored 2 off 9 balls in the 50-over match, made 0 off 4 balls in the first T20; with the ball took 0 for 19 in four overs in the 50-over match, took 0 for 11 in two overs during the first T20. Patel needs to be more disciplined and focused on the basics of finding a consistent line and length. His figures in the 50-over match included a maiden and on paper they look good, but part of the reason he didn’t get to bowl a second spell was because he was somewhat erratic, offering too much width too often. If he can bowl on the stumps on a regular basis, he’ll become a better prospect.

Adrian Gordon – Scored 14 not out off 10 balls in first T20; with the ball took 0 for 26 in one over in first T20, took 1 for 1 in 0.4 overs in second T20. Gordon has practically fallen off the cliff from where he was in his development after ICC WCL Division Four in August of 2010. He’s nowhere close to the bowler he was then. Despite generating good pace, his radar is all over the place. He’s still only 25 so he has time to sort himself out, but it would be good for it to happen sooner rather than later.

Image (right) - Adrian Gordon at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy in 2010. [Courtesy: ICC]

Outlook for 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 and ICC WCL Division Three

Much depends on the eligibility of certain players. Ahmed arrived in the USA in the spring of 2009 so his eligibility for these tournaments depends on how the ICC calculates the residency requirement for qualification, which stipulates that a player must reside in a country for a minimum of 183 days in the four years immediately preceding a tournament in order to play for that country. Only two such players can be picked in any starting XI, which may leave a captain limited if there are multiple such players in a 14-man squad. There is no limit on players who have been residents for a minimum of 183 days for seven years immediately preceding a tournament, or if they are a passport holder/citizen.

Timil Patel arrived in the USA in the summer of 2010, so may not be eligible to play for USA in ICC tournaments until 2014. Perkins last played for the West Indies in 2008, so his eligibility to play for the USA would depend on whether or not he fulfills the residency/citizenship requirements. All three players are definitely capable of slotting into a 14-man squad, but at the moment Timil Patel might be on the outside looking in due to ICC rules.

Probable USA first choice XI for ICC Americas Division One T20 in March:

1. Steven Taylor
2. Sushil Nadkarni
3. Steve Massiah
4. Aditya Thyagarajan
5. Aditya Mishra
6. Orlando Baker
7. Timroy Allen
8. Elmore Hutchinson
9. Usman Shuja
10. Danial Ahmed
11. Muhammad Ghous

As for the three reserves, much of it may depend on squad balance. Would USA opt for a pair of spinners and a batsman? A seamer and two batsmen but no pure spinner? To include or not to include a backup wicketkeeper? Several combinations could be construed. Ryan Corns and Abhimanyu Rajp stand a good chance of keeping their spots in USA’s squad for the time being, but both may be under pressure to hold on to them. If Perkins is eligible he would almost certainly take up the last spot, particularly because he can also keep wicket. Several other players are in contention to be included in a 14-man squad as well including Bartley, Bhatti, Ganesh, Surujbally, Rashard Marshall and Akeem Dodson.

[Views expressed in this article are those of the author. If you have differing views or opinions, we respect those views and urge you to provide your feedback - both positive and negative - in the comments section.]

USA Cricket: Canada beats USA by 36 runs in first T20; USA gets revenge in second T20 with 46-run win

openingbat — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:14:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Match One Scorecard I Match Two Scorecard

Openers Hiral Patel and Rizwan Cheema each produced a half-century to push Canada to a 36-run win over USA in the early game before Timil Patel’s 67 not out at the top of the order propelled USA to a 46-run win over Canada in the second of two Twenty20 matches played on Saturday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Canada’s 148 for 9 in the morning match was more than enough to defend against a struggling USA batting unit, but USA finally clicked in game two to post an easily defendable 162 for 5.

The day’s play was delayed by 90 minutes due to a wet outfield from overnight rain. When the field was finally deemed fit for action, USA won the toss in game one and sent Canada in to bat. USA made five changes from the team that lost to Canada by four wickets in the 50-over match on Friday. Andy Mohammed, Ryan Corns, Adil Bhatti, Japen Patel and Adrian Gordon came in for Barrington Bartley, Karan Ganesh, the injured William Perkins, Hammad Shahid and the injured Steven Taylor. Canada made just one change bringing in Manny Aulakh for Henry Osinde.

Gordon opened the bowling for USA and wound up being rocked by Cheema. After a single by Hiral Patel on the first ball of the match, Cheema slammed three fours and connected with two big sixes straight back over Gordon’s head as part of a 26-run opening over for Canada. Cheema scored 24 runs in his first five deliveries faced and took another 21 balls to score his next 26 runs to bring up a half-century. Cheema got slightly carried away after reaching his 50 and tried to reverse sweep Timil Patel a few overs later but wound up bowled in between his legs for 54 to make it 86 for 1 in the 11th.

While Cheema and Hiral Patel capitalized on any width offered by USA’s bowlers, Japen Patel bowled a tight stump to stump line and was rewarded with his best bowling return in a USA uniform, 4 for 26 off four overs. He started off by claiming number three batsman Ruvindu Gunasekera for 3 thanks to a good catch by Mohammed running back from midwicket in the circle to make it 103 for 2 in the 14th. Raza-ur-Rehman fell for 7 to give Japen Patel his second after the batsman failed to clear Neil McGarrell with a lofted drive to long off. Damodar Daesrath entered and missed a flick to midwicket off his first delivery and was promptly judged LBW to put Patel on a hat trick to end the 17th.

USA took three wickets in three balls as a team when Corns opened the 18th by taking the wicket of Hiral Patel for 54 after he had been dropped on 8 in the third over. Patel drove a delivery to Timothy Surujbally on the cover boundary to make it 126 for 5 as momentum shifted completely toward USA.

Usman Limbada was the next to go for 1 three balls into the 19th, slogging across the line to be bowled by Japen Patel for his fourth wicket. Hamza Tariq was caught slashing a thick edge to Gordon at short third man off the bowling of left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell for 3 to make it 139 for 7 with four balls remaining in the innings. Junaid Siddiqui was run out for 1 trying to complete a tight second for Jimmy Hansra with one ball to go in the innings. Jeremy Gordon was run out without facing a ball after he tried to take a second run on the final ball of Canada’s innings and Canada finished 148 for 9 off their 20 with Hansra not out on 17. McGarrell was USA’s most economical bowler, finishing with 1 for 14 in three overs.

For the second day in a row, USA had their opening partnership disrupted by an injury to a batsman attempting to complete a sharp single. On Friday it was Taylor who walked off injured and in the first T20 on Saturday, his club teammate Surujbally succumbed to a pulled hamstring. Surujbally got off to a rollicking start opening the chase with Mohammed. Seemingly inspired by what Cheema did in the first innings against Adrian Gordon, Surujbally rocked Canadian opening pace bowler Jeremy Gordon for 23 runs in the first over, including four boundaries and a six with four of the shots finishing up at the ropes between midwicket and fine leg.

However, Surujbally pulled up lame on the first ball of the third over bowled by Cheema and after staying out for two more deliveries could no longer continue, retiring hurt on 27 off just 10 balls with the score on 31 in 2.3 overs. Mohammed fell on the first ball of the fifth trying to hit a six over midwicket and instead sent a leading edge in the air to Daesrath in the covers for 11. Timil Patel lasted just two balls before he was caught on the long on boundary to give Junaid Siddiqui a wicket to make it 45 for 2. Two overs later Corns fell for 5, caught driving in the air to the cover sweeper off the left-arm spin of Rehman to make it 53 for 3 in 7.2 overs.

A day after getting out for a duck, Nicholas Standford got his eye in and appeared to be on his way to a sizable score, but he was dismissed for 23 playing back to a good length ball from Aulakh and was pinned LBW to make it 72 for 4 in the 11th as USA’s run rate began to plummet with the procession of wickets. Bhatti was stumped for 7 after he was beaten in flight by a quicker delivery from Daesrath. McGarrell slogged against the turn of Rehman and was caught at mid on for 3. Japen Patel skied an attempted slog off Daesrath that wound up in the hands of Rehman at mid off for 9 as USA fell to 95 for 7 in 16.

After being punished by Surujbally to start the innings, Jeremy Gordon was finally brought back in the 19th over and responded with a double-wicket maiden to end the match. He dismissed Saami Siddiqui for 7, caught at point by Rehman, before Mital Patel was bowled off an inside edge for a duck. With Surujbally unable to resume his innings, USA finished all out for 112. Rehman had Canada’s best figures, finishing with 2 for 21 in four.

In match number two, USA won the toss again but this time chose to bat first. While Timil Patel captained the team in match number one, Ryan Corns was tasked with leading the side for match number two and wound up shepherding USA to their only victory of the week. USA made six changes from the team that lost the first match of the day. Perkins, Bartley, Ganesh, Shahid, Danial Ahmed and Naseer Jamali entered the XI in place of McGarrell, Mohammed, Japen Patel, Mital Patel, Saami Siddiqui and the injured Surujbally. Canada made one change, swapping Aulakh out for Osinde.

Timil Patel opened the batting with Perkins and the two manufactured a 61-run stand for the first wicket in just 5.4 overs to put USA in a dominant position which they never relinquished. Perkins met his downfall when he made an ambitious attempt to clear Cheema at long off, one of the two fielders outside the circle in the power play overs, and was caught for 32 off the bowling of the leg-spinner Siddiqui. Standford got a start for the second match in a row, but fell in disappointing fashion when he spooned a full toss from Daesrath to Hansra at midwicket in the circle for 18 to make it 93 for 2 in the 12th.

Bartley entered at four and just as he did in the 50-over match on Friday, rarely wasted a delivery. He struck two sixes in his 26 off 14 balls, but just as importantly continued to turn over the strike at every opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking. He was given LBW after being hit on the back leg to a full length delivery from the pace of Jeremy Gordon to make it 135 for 3 in 16. Corns entered at five and lasted until midway through the 19th before he played across to Cheema and was given LBW for 5 to make it 150 for 3. Bhatti entered and was caught on the midwicket boundary first ball to put Cheema on a hat trick.

While wickets were falling at the other end, Timil Patel played the anchor role for USA in the innings, knocking the ball around for singles and taking advantage of loose deliveries when possible to strike seven fours and a six. He brought up his 50 off 40 balls and by the time the innings was done, he finished with 67 not out off 55 balls, the second highest score by a USA batsman in T20 cricket behind Aditya Thyagarajan’s 72 not out against Ireland in Abu Dhabi at the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Canada made a good start to the chase, taking 32 runs off the first 4.5 overs with Gunasekera and Hiral Patel at the crease. But Canada’s chances of winning were essentially wiped away when the openers were dismissed on consecutive deliveries. Gunasekera was the first to go, hit on the back leg by a skiddy off-spinner from Ganesh to depart for 17. Patel went on the first ball of the sixth over for 10 when he skied a return catch to left-arm spinner Ahmed after an attempted slog to midwicket against the turn went awry. It was part of a wicket maiden by Ahmed who recovered superbly to give up only one run in his last two overs after giving up 12 runs in the opening over of the chase.

Tariq was the next to go for 12 after he slapped a wide delivery from Corns to Ahmed, who made a leaping catch in the covers. Hansra was the next to go for 19, runout after bolting for a single from the non-striker’s end while Daesrath rightly stayed put after hitting a delivery from Corns straight to Ganesh at midwicket. Daesrath departed three balls later for 15 at the start of the 13th as Ahmed made the catch of the week with a brilliant effort running from short cover to the edge of the circle to complete an over the shoulder catch, giving Timil Patel his only wicket of the match and Canada was at 79 for 5 to start the 14th.

Limbada was run out by Ganesh on the very next ball for a diamond duck when he hesitated coming back for a second run. Rehman was on strike and edged a delivery from Patel past the keeper Perkins. Ganesh ran from short fine leg across to short third man to field and it was his hustle that created the confusion. He threw the ball to Perkins with Limbada and Rehman halfway down the pitch, unsure whether to go for the second or return to their respective creases. Both wound up doing neither and Limbada paid for it in the end.

Cheema was dismissed by Bartley for 1 to make it 86 for 7 and two overs later Bartley got his second when he bowled Siddiqui for 3. Bartley claimed wicket number three in the 19th, bowling Osinde for 2 after he missed a slog backing away from the stumps. Adrian Gordon took the final wicket for USA, trapping Jeremy Gordon for 1 to end the match with Canada all out for 116 in 19.4 overs. Bartley had USA’s best figures in the innings with 3 for 14 in three overs. Rehman finished not out on 28 off 23 balls.

According to a press release prior to the Auty Cup, USA’s next scheduled action will be in March at the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament. Exact dates and location for the event are yet to be finalized. Meanwhile Canada’s next scheduled action will either be the same ICC Americas tournament or the next round of the Intercontinental Cup in Kenya. However, Kenya’s most recent match in the Intercontinental Cup was moved to Namibia after security concerns denied Kenya the opportunity to host the match and the same fate could occur for their fixture against Canada.

USA Cricket: Ghous enjoys training stint with Nottinghamshire

openingbat — Fri, 13 May 2011 13:29:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

Muhammad Ghous has returned to New Jersey after spending four weeks training with reigning English County champions Nottinghamshire. The 21-year-old USA off-spinner was joined at the county by fellow USA prospect Adrian Gordon and can’t say enough good things about his time there.

“The atmosphere was really good,” said Ghous. “They had a standard. Everything was really good. The practices were totally different, like I had never seen before. It was totally proper cricket, proper training. Everything was set up, organized in a good way. It was probably the best organization I’ve seen.”

“I would like to go back there. The people are really nice. I would just want to go every year.”

The trip was organized by ICC Americas Performance Officer Andy Pick and financed in part by USACA. According to Ghous, the experience allowed him to participate in training sessions for up to four hours a day.

Image (right) - Muhammad Ghous bowling against Australia at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. [Courtesy Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

“We had the best training,” said Ghous. “They provided everything. We attended all the practices with the first team, the second team and the academy. Afterward if you wanted to do another little practice, you could use the indoor [facility], the gym. We used everything.”

Ghous particularly enjoyed getting to work with some of the various players with international experience including Chris Read, Adam Voges, Samit Patel and Stuart Broad.

“I got a chance to work with Stuart Broad,” said Ghous. “I had a net session with him twice. I was bowling to him. It was a good experience. I bowled good to him. He actually was injured so he couldn’t bowl. He had a rib injury so he was just practicing batting.”

The one thing that stood out to Ghous that he felt set the county players apart from those he’s played with and against in the USA is their fitness.

“Every time we practiced, the first 15-20 minutes, the physio will take us and do some fitness training. If we don’t have a practice, we would just go to the gym, do some cardio and lift some weights,” said Ghous. “Once you’re fully fit, you can compete with these players too. These guys are all fit.”

Ghous realizes it’s a major challenge to achieve the same fitness standards in the USA and the success that it can lead to for the national team without a professional structure in place. Until then, players will continue to struggle for consistency heading into tours.

“I don’t think it’s the players fault. We don’t have enough time. Before the tournaments, everyone is busy with their work. If we don’t have contracts like these other players… these other players have contracts. All they do is practice and fitness. That’s all they do rather than work.”

“With us, we have to go to school. We have to go to work. In our own time, we have to go to the gym which is really hard to stay on track. If you’re not gonna make money, you cannot run your family… unless the board is paying you good money, and in that case, you can practice every day. You can go to the gym every day and you don’t have to worry about working and you can support your family too.”

While in the UK, Ghous played as a club pro for a pair of matches in the Durham area for Evenwood Cricket Club. He also played one match in Doncaster and two matches for the Notts Academy side. Ghous says the only grounds that are better than the ones he played club cricket at in the UK are the ones he played on in New Zealand during the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.

“The grounds are so nice,” said Ghous. “Everything is properly organized so you want to come there early to do your warmups, throwdowns, a little bit of bowling practice. You want to play cricket. Everybody is an hour early.”

Outside of the cricket, the players were taken by Nottinghamshire batting coach Paul Johnson to a Nottingham Forest soccer match on one of their first nights in the city. Ghous was grateful for the hospitality provided by everyone in Nottingham, but especially the generosity shown by Pick and Johnson.

Ghous was eager to apply the things he learned in the UK to his club cricket in New Jersey and in his first match playing for Prince Cricket Club in New Jersey’s 40-over Millennium Cricket League, Ghous scored 77 and took three wickets on May 7 in a win for Prince.

Gordon and Ghous go to Nottingham - This is Nottingham

openingbat — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:46:00 GMT

This is Nottingham (thisisnottingham.co.uk) noted the arrival of USA cricketers - Adrian Gordon and Muhammad Ghous, with moderate curiosity and great enthusiasm.

About Gordon, the website noted: "The other bowlers race in with the fluid, textbook action of young men who have had coaching, and plenty of it, since they were young boys. Adrian steams in like a man who's just overheard the batsman saying something untoward about his mother. His action is less about honed fluidity, more about barely contained aggression."

Muhammad Ghous is quoted as saying: "This is a place we wanted to be," Muhammad said. "[The US] should send more junior guys." That, plus more full-time coaching and a developmental framework, should make a difference.

Here is the full link:

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/American-cricketers-come-Notts-train/article-3483305-detail/article.html

USA Cricket: Ghous & Gordon train with 2010 County champions Nottinghamshire

openingbat — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:11:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Muhammad Ghous and Adrian Gordon, both of whom made their debuts for USA’s senior team in 2010, arrived in the UK on April 6 to spend one month training with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, the reigning champions of the English County four-day competition. The opportunity was arranged by ICC Americas Performance Officer Andy Pick, who wanted to provide a chance for players within the Americas region to enhance their skills in a professional atmosphere.

“Knowing County Cricket, I know this time of year when the season’s starting, you can never have enough bowlers for your net practice,” said Pick, who played 15 seasons of County Cricket with Nottinghamshire, taking 495 first class wickets and 242 List A wickets. He also previously served as Bowling Coach for Nottinghamshire before working in his current role with ICC Americas and still has strong ties with his former county.

“The head coach at Notts is a good friend of mine, a guy I grew up with and played with. I just asked him at Christmas if I could get some talented bowlers who were good enough, would he be able to give them an opportunity at Notts to join in with the preseason and practice with the professionals and be part of the setup for a month or so to immerse themselves in cricket and learn as much as they could.”

Notts head coach Mick Newell agreed to the proposal. Pick then scanned the player options in the USA before deciding on Ghous and Gordon.

“I selected Ghous and Adrian Gordon, based mainly on what I’d seen in Italy last year with Adrian especially and knowing Ghous is obviously is one of the better young spinners,” said Pick.

Image (right) - Muhammad Ghous in action at the 2010 U-19 World Cup in Australia. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

USACA then agreed to help out funding the initiative by covering the players’ flights and accommodation, easing the burden for the pair of college students.

“I’m really pleased USA Cricket has come up and found the money and they’ve invested in two of their young players to give them this opportunity to develop,” said Pick.

Notts has a host of players with international experience currently on their roster, including captain Chris Read, New Zealander Andre Adams, Australian Adam Voges, Samit Patel, Darren Pattinson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. Notts County also has a Test venue, Trent Bridge, as their home facility. Pick is hoping Ghous and Gordon will soak up as much as possible from the resources at their disposal.

“I went in [April 8] and they were practicing on the actual square at Trent Bridge and having a bat and a bowl at Trent Bridge and I know that they practiced with the first team on a couple of occasions,” said Pick. “Hopefully they’re picking the brains of these top quality players, some international Test players and people like that, being around them, mixing with them and just seeing their professional approach to cricket whether it’s fielding, fitness, net practice, whatever it might be. It’s just an opportunity for them to pick up information and to use it to their advantage as they develop as players.”

Pick used an off day that Notts had to take Ghous and Gordon on a 45-minute drive south to have a training session with Leicestershire and says that both players have helped to improve the reputation of cricket in the USA with the skills they’ve demonstrated in front of both county squads.

Image (left) - Adrian Gordon in action at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy. Pick said the performances he witnessed of Gordon in Italy influenced his decision to select the fast bowler for a chance to train with Nottinghamshire. [Courtesy: ICC]

“I know the coaching staff there pretty well as well and Notts didn’t have a practice on that particular day so I arranged to take them across to Leicester so we went across to Leicestershire and they practiced at Grace Road,” said Pick. “It’s been good. I think both sets of coaching staff have been impressed with what they’ve seen. In England, you talk about cricket in the USA and people have a perception of it. Nobody really knows what the standard of cricket is like certainly in the Americas. I think these two guys have given people a little bit of a surprise with their abilities.”

Pick is trying to organize similar opportunities for other players in the Americas, including players from Canada and Bermuda, and hopes that this endeavor will become a regular occurrence.

“It’s an opportunity I’d like to see some of the best young bowlers in the region make use of,” said Pick. “It’s a regional project. It’s a regional opportunity. If the bowlers are of a standard that they’re going to be able to contribute when they go over there, I’d like to see it be an ongoing thing.”

USA Cricket: 18 players invited to selection camp in Florida

openingbat — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:35:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

A selection camp is being organized by USACA to take place from December 18-19 in Florida in order to select a final squad to go to Hong Kong for ICC WCL Division 3 in January.

Pic (Right): Former West Indies cricketer Neil McGarrell was short-listed for the selection camp [File photo]

Multiple sources have confirmed that 18 players have been invited to the camp. According to USACA Cricket Committee chairman Krish Prasad, the camp will be held at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill or Brian Piccolo Park in Cooper City.

Seven players who have never played for USA at the senior level have been invited to the selection camp, meaning that there will be at least three new players touring with USA for the first time. They are Ryan Corns, Durale Forest, Hussain Haidar, Elmore Hutchinson, Ritesh Kadu, Asif Mehmood Khan and Neil McGarrell.

Three players who were part of USA’s WCL Division 4 winning squad in Italy have not been invited to the camp. Nasir “Charlie” Javed, Steven Taylor and Adrian Gordon did not make the list. In regards to Gordon’s omission, head coach Clayton Lambert hinted at the possibility of it at the conclusion of Senior Nationals.

“We are anticipating that the wickets are going to be turners, kind of Asian-style wickets,” said Lambert. “Instead of overloading on the fast bowling side, we were looking to keep the senior fast bowlers and try to bring in more allrounders and include a few spinners in there.” One source indicated that Gordon’s exclusion is also related to eligibility constraints for the entire squad.

It is understood that Gordon is currently qualified to play for USA as a “deemed national,” a player who has lived in the USA for more than 183 days in each of the previous four years but less than seven years. According to ICC rules, only two players under this classification are allowed to be in any Associate or Affiliate member starting XI. Players such as McGarrell and Kadu also fall under the same classification. In order to make room for them should they be picked for the final 14, someone needed to make way.

McGarrell is a favorite for selection after his strong performances in USACA tournaments this year. The team is seeking to add a left arm spinner and he will be competing with Khan to claim that position. Kadu is also a potential pick as a reserve gloveman. First-choice wicketkeeper Carl Wright struggled with the bat this year, averaging 17.62 in 18 50-over matches for USA in 2010 with only one half-century against Jersey at WCL Division 5 in Nepal last February.

Off-spinner Abhemanyu Rajp, who claimed two Best Bowler awards in USACA tournaments this year, was not invited to the camp. The squad is currently overloaded with off-spin options including Muhammad Ghous, Lennox Cush, Timroy Allen and captain Steve Massiah. While South East off-spinner Haidar has been invited, Rajp is left on the outside looking in.

It is also notable that not a single player from the 2010 National Champion North West Region squad was invited to the camp. North West vice-captain Saurabh Verma represented USA on their February tour to the UAE and Nepal, but has not played for USA since.

Players invited to the USA selection camp from December 18-19 in Florida: Steve Massiah (captain, New York), Sushil Nadkarni (vice-captain, Central West), Timroy Allen (South East), Orlando Baker (Central West), Ryan Corns (Central West), Lennox Cush (New York), Kevin Darlington (New York), Durale Forest (Atlantic), Muhammad Ghous (Atlantic), Hussain Haidar (South East), Elmore Hutchinson (South West), Ritesh Kadu (South West), Asif Mehmood Khan (Central East), Rashard Marshall (New York), Neil McGarrell (Atlantic), Usman Shuja (Central West), Aditya Thyagarajan (South West), Carl Wright (New York).

Intrasquad match provides preparation for New York Region junior and senior players

openingbat — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:56:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

The New York Region’s preparation for next month’s USACA National Tournaments got into full swing on Sunday with an intrasquad match at Idlewild Park in Queens, New York. It was part of a fundraising doubleheader as the New York U-15 team took on an U-15 side from Indoor Cricket USA (NJ) in a T20 match earlier in the day before U-19 and senior team members played in the afternoon.

“I always like to see them play on a regulation ground because a lot of the games we practice are on smaller grounds so it’s good to get them to feel the size of the regulation ground,” said Patrick Sutherland, the New York Region U-19 team manager. “They can get acclimatized to what would be happening in the championship.”

The friendly format of the match allowed U-19 players to play both alongside and against senior players from the region that are likely to represent the region in Florida as each side looks to win a national championship.

“I thought it was a great idea because it would have been pretty much lopsided if the senior team were to take on the U-19s, but in all I didn’t think today was about winning or losing,” said Steve Massiah, captain of the New York Region senior team. “It was just about giving everyone an opportunity because the next couple of weeks pretty much we wouldn’t have an opportunity to do much before we go off to Florida because of the weather. I thought it was important that we played collectively.”

The U-19 captain, Andy Mohammed, led a squad of mixed players against one captained by Massiah. Mohammed won the toss and elected to bat first on a chilly and windy day at one of the top cricket grounds on the east coast.

Dennis Evans and Cameron Mirza opened the batting for the Mohammed XI, but Mirza didn’t last long, run out without scoring when he pushed to mid off and chanced the arm of Adrian Gordon, who fired a direct hit with Mirza a yard short to make it 11 for 1. Mohammed arrived at the crease and built a steady partnership with Evans, adding 40 for the second wicket before Mohammed shouldered arms to the first ball he faced from left arm spinner Barrington Bartley to be clean bowled for 9.

Trevis Ross came on and continued to make inroads for the Massiah XI, getting Trevor Singh for 1 and Regis Burton for a duck as both men played across and were struck in front to make it 53 for 4. Bartley claimed Evans for 32, caught on the long off boundary by Gordon to make it 55 for 5 before Ross had Keon Lake stumped for 14 to make it 70 for 6. Glen Hall was clean bowled for 13 trying to pull a good length ball from Gordon to make it 100 for 7.

The score was 123 for 7 after 20 overs, but in an effort to make the chase more competitive for the Massiah XI, the first innings was extended to 25 overs. Teenagers Amarnauth Persaud and Rocky Kowchai provided some lower order resistance for the Mohammed XI as each player added 27 runs. They combined for their side’s biggest partnership of the innings, 45 runs for the eighth wicket, before Kowchai was bowled off an inside edge at the start of the 24^th over to make it 145 for 8.

Cameron Mirza reappeared for a second batting stint coming in at number 10 and could have been run out again after a dreadful mixup on his first delivery, but the magnanimous Massiah fielding at cover recognized the need for everyone to get adequate practice and he graciously opted to hold onto the ball after collecting it with Mirza stranded. Persaud was bowled in the final over by left arm spinner Trinson Carmichael before last man Casper Davis Jr. was run out for 1 on the last ball of the innings as the Mohammed XI finished with 154.

“Overall, the youngsters the way they applied themselves and the way they approached their innings was good to see but I just think they need to work a little bit more on the fundamentals,” said Massiah. “They need to apply the basics a little more, whether it’s in the field or running between the wickets and to tighten up their technique because certainly as you go on to the next level, your technique will be tested.”

The Massiah XI started their innings in fading light, a product of a delayed start to their match while waiting for the U-15 game to end as well as the extension of the Mohammed XI’s first innings. Carl Wright and Akeem Dodson opened the chase, but Wright departed on the third ball of the innings for 2, going for a big hit off Davis only to sky a chance to Mirza coming in from the cover boundary.

Massiah came in and teamed up with Dodson for a breezy 37-run partnership. Massiah then tried to get creative and walked down the track to Kowchai but drove a fullish ball straight to Singh at mid off to go for 21. Bartley joined Dodson, but their partnership only produced 14 before Dodson sliced a good length ball from Persaud high to Evans at third man, who settled under the ball to take the catch and Dodson was gone for 21 to make it 53 for 3 after 8 overs.

Teenage left arm spinner Saumil Gandhi then struck twice to halt the Massiah XI’s progress even further. First, he dismissed new man Ileo Freeman, who played inside the line of a good length delivery and was clean bowled for 2. Next, he got rid of Bartley for 7 when the batsman played onto his stumps going for a drive to a full and wide delivery to make it 60 for 5 in the 11^th over. Gordon joined Kavishwar Bridgepaul at the crease and after 11 overs the score was 64 for 5.

At this point, the light had been deteriorating at a steady rate, but play continued until the first ball of the 12^th over. Persaud was bowling to Bridgepaul when the batsman flat batted a good length ball back to the bowler at head height. Persaud was late reacting and the ball struck him in the throat. He fell to the ground while Bridgepaul, Gordon, wicketkeeper Mohammed and the rest of the fielders sprinted in to check if Persaud was okay. The match was then called off by the umpires.

Image: Former USA U-15 player and current New York Region U-19 player Amarnauth Persaud. [Courtesy: Ricky Kissoon]

“I thought the benefit of everyone involved was to get a run out pretty much,” said Massiah. “We haven’t played collectively since the last tournament we would have played in Atlanta. So it was good that a couple of the guys came out today. We were able to get some meaningful practice but it’s pretty sad that it ended in the way which it did.”

After several minutes, Persaud was able to get on his feet. According to players who were on the field, Persaud was breathing okay. He was eventually escorted into an ambulance. New York U-19 coach Ricky Kissoon said that Persaud was being taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure. It was the U-19 team’s second casualty of the day after Prashanth Nair sustained a hand injury in the first innings trying to catch a ball off the bat of Evans. Nair was fielding on the boundary in the third over and jumped high to try to prevent a six, hurting himself in the process. He was unable to take any further part in the game.

New York Region Exhibition T20 Match

Massiah XI vs. Mohammed XI

No result – match suspended after 11.1 overs in second innings were completed

Mohammed XI won the toss and elected to bat

Mohammed XI Innings

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

D Evans 32 23 3 1 ct Gordon b Bartley

C Mirza 0 6 0 0 runout (Gordon)

A Mohammed*+ 9 11 1 0 b Bartley

T Singh 1 4 0 0 LBW Ross

R Burton 0 3 0 0 LBW Ross

K Lake 14 6 0 2 st Dodson b Ross

G Hall 13 29 0 0 b Gordon

A Persaud 27 40 1 0 b Carmichael

R Kowchai 27 26 1 1 b Powell

C Mirza 6 5 0 0 not out

C Davis Jr. 1 2 0 0 runout (Tariq/Dodson+)

Extras 24 (5 no balls, 1 bye, 6 leg byes, 12 wides)

Team Total 154 all out in 25 overs

Did not bat: K Darlington, S Gandhi.

Fall of Wicket: 11/1 (Mirza), 51/2 (Mohammed), 53/3 (Singh), 53/4 (Burton), 55/5 (Evans), 70/6 (Lake), 100/7 (Hall), 145/8 (Kowchai), 153/9 (Persaud), 154/10 (Davis Jr.).

Massiah XI Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

A Gordon 2-0-17-1

K Bridgepaul 2-0-15-0

R James 2-0-20-0

B Bartley 3-0-23-2

T Ross 3-0-7-3

T Carmichael 4-0-14-1

M Powell 3-0-15-1

Z Tariq 2-0-8-0

S Massiah 2-0-16-0

C Wright 2-0-12-0

Massiah XI Innings

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

C Wright 2 3 0 0 ct Mirza b Davis Jr.

A Dodson+ 18 18 2 0 ct Evans b Persaud

S Massiah* 21 17 2 1 ct Singh b Kowchai

B Bartley 7 15 0 0 b Gandhi

I Freeman 2 3 0 0 b Gandhi

K Bridgepaul 6 9 0 0 not out

A Gordon 1 2 0 0 not out

Total Extras 7 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 5 leg byes, 2 wides)

Team Total 64 for 5 in 11.1 overs

Did not bat: Z Tariq, T Ross, T Carmichael, M Powell, R James, P Nair.

Fall of wicket: 2/1 (Wright), 39/2 (Massiah), 53/3 (Dodson), 55/4 (Freeman), 60/5 (Bartley).

Mohammed XI Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

C Davis Jr. 4-0-23-1

R Kowchai 3-0-22-1

A Persaud 2.1-0-8-1

S Gandhi 2-0-6-2

USA Cricket 2010 Eastern & Western Conference - Top Performers and All-Tournament XI

openingbat — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:47:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

The USACA 2010 Eastern and Western Conference Tournaments that took place in Los Angeles, Calif., and Atlanta, Ga., from September 17-19 gave an opportunity for many players around the country to present their case for inclusion in USA’s squad for ICC World Cricket League Division 3 in Hong Kong. The best performers are being recognized by this writer in an All-Tournament Team.

The All-Tournament Team is a combined list of players from the Eastern and Western Conference Tournaments. The list has been compiled based on three days of cricket witnessed by the author in Atlanta as well as information obtained from multiple sources about performances that took place in Los Angeles.

Pic (Right): South West were Western Conference champions by a mile. [Courtesy: Theo Mavro]

When compiling the list, several factors were taken into consideration. First and foremost are the statistical achievements of the players involved since they are the most tangible proof of a player’s contributions to their team. As such, there will be players left off the team who may be viewed as more talented than players who made the team, but just did not perform that well over the three days.

Second, when choices between players with similar stats became close, more weight was given to performances against better opponents. For example, a player who scored runs or took wickets in a match against New York or South West, who finished in first place in their respective conference, was deemed to have turned in a more impressive performance compared to runs or wickets against the last place team in their conference.

Third, these two factors are combined with what I saw with my own eyes and from information obtained from sources in matches where I was not present. This was not just the runs or wickets they took, but how they did it. It includes match situations and technique exhibited, as well as the talent they had surrounding them which could have affected how they performed.

Finally, I tried to select a balanced team. If the five highest wicket takers in the tournament turned out to be spinners, not all five would stand a chance of making the team as there needs to be pace bowlers to support them. Likewise, if the four highest scorers in the tournament were opening batsmen, only two of them can be slotted into a role on an All-Tournament Team as an opener.

1. Nauman Mustafa (wicketkeeper), North West – The classy right-hander, Nauman (pictured right) stood head and shoulders above a competitive field of wicketkeeper-batsmen by notching 102 against the defending Western Conference champion Central East team. He finished first among all wicketkeepers and was tied for fifth overall in runs for the weekend.

2. Glen Hall, New York – Hall was the MVP of the Eastern Conference for being the catalyst to New York’s success. New York won the toss and batted first in each game with Hall providing the platform to achieve victory on all three days. He finished as the top run scorer in Atlanta.

3. Ryan Corns, Central West – The 20-year-old brought up the highest score of the weekend in style, scoring 119 in only 77 balls against North West. The pressure was on to perform heading into the final day and Corns (pictured left) delivered in emphatic fashion. He also took 3 for 81 in 27.5 overs of left arm orthodox-spin.

4. James Crosthwaite, North West – No bowling attack was spared from the batting brilliance of Crosthwaite, who arrived in the USA this year from Australia and plays his club cricket for Microsoft CC in Seattle. Crosthwaite scored a half-century in each game and finished as the leading run scorer on the weekend with 247 runs. He won’t be eligible to play for America for another few years, but could be a prolific performer for USA if he sticks around long enough to qualify.

5. Aditya Thyagarajan, South West – The linchpin of any middle order he plays in, Thyagarajan scored 84 runs in two innings without being dismissed on his home turf in Los Angeles. True to form, he took his team out of trouble against Central West to seal a 4-wicket win. South West was 76 for 5 chasing 167, but Thyagarajan scored 62 not out at number five to take his team across the line.

6. Durale Forest, Atlantic – A solid all-rounder, Forest was Man of the Match in his team’s victory over South East with 46 not out and nearly took Atlantic to a win over New York with 62 when he was last man out in a 17-run loss. He also took two wickets bowling tidy fast-medium pace. He tied for fifth in runs on the weekend and could have scored many more were it not for his appalling level of fitness.

7. Neil McGarrell (vice-captain), Atlantic – The cagey left arm spinner (pictured at right) showed off his vast experience during the weekend with a very economical display, taking 7 wickets at under 10 runs per wicket with an economy under three runs per over to receive the Best Bowler award in Atlanta. He also contributed 49 runs in two innings down the order.

8. Mehul Dave (captain), South West – The Tournament MVP in Los Angeles (pictured left) put the clamps on the opposition in the middle overs with his medium pace and was a big reason why South West allowed the fewest runs in Los Angeles. North West’s 170, which included 73 from Crosthwaite, was the highest total scored against South West. Dave turned in figures of 5 for 51 in 22.2 overs during the weekend.

9. Adrian Gordon, New York – Gordon edges out North East’s Srinath Rajagopalan to take one of the fast bowling slots in the starting XI. Each player had an identical average and economy rate, but Gordon was able to bowl his team to victory with a golden five-wicket haul, taking four of the last five wickets to fall in a dramatic 17-run win over Atlantic. He finished with six wickets on the weekend for the Eastern Conference champions.

10. Abhemanyu Rajp, South West – The former 2006 U-19 World Cup vice-captain for USA (pictured right) turned in a record setting performance against Central East, taking 7 for 35 with his off-spinners. He finished with the most wickets on the weekend, claiming nine scalps for the Western Conference champions. Despite his talent, it’ll be difficult for him to break into the USA squad at the moment with a glut of off-spinners currently in the team.

11. Kevin Darlington, New York – The ever reliable Darlington looked nearly untouchable in the two games he played. He imposed himself on South East with 5 for 14, ending their chase before it had a chance to get started. His average of 5.83 runs per wicket is by far the best of any bowler in the top 10 for wicket takers on the weekend, as is his 2.33 economy rate. He is the total package for a limited overs pace bowler.

12^th Man: Srinath Rajagopalan, North East – One of the few bright spots on the only winless team at either tournament, Rajagopalan nearly took his team to victory with 4 for 21 against Atlantic. He finished with eight wickets on the weekend, the most for any pace bowler, but also gave up the most runs of anyone in the top 10 for wicket takers and was tied for the worst economy rate.

13^th Man: Asif Mehmood Khan, Central East – When batsmen from the other three teams in the Western Conference were surveyed for the most impressive and difficult bowler they faced, without hesitation the answer every time was Mehmood. In a 3-run win over Central West, he bowled 10 overs, including 4 maidens, on his way to taking 3 for 12 as Central West defended 172. In that game, he claimed the key wicket of Corns and then the high run scorer Rahul Kukreti to spark Central West’s collapse. In all, he took five wickets in three games at an economy of 2.90 runs per over.

14^th Man: Hussain Haidar, South East – This mystery spinner has a leg-spinner’s action but bowls off-spin. Batsmen have an extremely difficult time reading him and it results in plenty of wickets. He took seven in three games to tie for third on the weekend. However, his fitness needs to be addressed before he can seriously be considered for higher honors.

Eastern Conference U-19 Player for the Future: Zain Ali Syed, South East – The MVP of last month’s U-19 Eastern Conference Tournament in Connecticut, Syed only played one match in Atlanta, but made a huge impression by top scoring for his team with 34 runs against tournament champion New York. He showed no fear in the face of the best pace attack in the tournament and comfortably stroked the ball around the ground right from his first delivery. After the match, USA captain Steve Massiah spent several minutes talking to him to give him some more tips.

Western Conference U-19 Player for the Future: Abbas Jafri, Central West – Jafri turned in the highest score at the U-19 Western Conference in Los Angeles last month with 139 against South West. He had a shaky start in the senior tournament this past weekend with a duck against Central East, but against the tournament champion South West squad, he scored 40 and earned high praise from several members of the opposition.

Top 5 Players in Contention for Selection to USA Senior Team

1. Ryan Corns – The future is now. Corns didn’t bang down the selection door this weekend, he took a flamethrower to it when he torched North West’s bowling attack on Sunday.

2. Asif Mehmood Khan – For the second year in a row, he has had a very solid showing in the Western Conference and has emerged as a top candidate to fill a left arm spinner’s role that the team is desperately seeking.

3. Nauman Mustafa – USA could use an experienced keeper-batsman as insurance in case Carl Wright’s dip in form continues.

4. Neil McGarrell – The former Guyana captain with Test match experience playing for the West Indies has age counting against him, but could be considered as a left arm spinner if Mehmood is not up to scratch.

5. Glen Hall – He toured with USA in February, but only made it onto the field as a substitute fielder. However, his solid form could see him getting another opportunity.

Most Wickets

1. A. Rajp, South West, RA off-spin – 9 for 96 in 27 overs with 4 maidens

2. S. Rajagopalan, North East, RA medium – 8 for 131 in 26.2 overs with 1 maiden

T3. N. McGarrell, Atlantic, LA orthodox-spin – 7 for 60 in 22.5 overs with 2 maidens

T3. H. Haidar, South East, RA off-spin – 7 for 90 in 28 overs with 3 maidens

T3. T. Patel, South West, RA leg-spin – 7 for 119 in 29 overs with 2 maidens

T6. K. Darlington, New York, RA fast-medium – 6 for 35 in 15 overs with 3 maidens

T6. D. Thomas, New York, RA fast-medium – 6 for 76 in 24 overs with 5 maidens

T6. N. Javed, South East, RA leg-spin – 6 for 94 in 28 overs with 1 maiden

T6. A. Gordon, New York, RA fast – 6 for 107 in 21.3 overs with no maidens

T6. S. Verma, North West, RA leg-spin – 6 for 122 in 30 overs with 3 maidens

Five-Wicket Hauls

A. Rajp, South West – 7 for 35 vs. Central East

K. Darlington, New York – 5 for 14 vs. South East

A. Gordon, New York – 5 for 43 vs. Atlantic

Most Runs

1. J. Crosthwaite, North West – 247 runs in three innings, 82.33 AVG, three 50s

2. G. Hall, New York – 171 runs in three innings, 57.00 AVG, two 50s

3. R. Corns, Central West – 152 runs in three innings, 50.67 AVG, one 100

4. F. Ullah, South East – 127 runs in three innings, 42.33 AVG, one 50

T5. N. Mustafa, North West – 126 runs in three innings, 42.00 AVG, one 100

T5. D. Forest, Atlantic – 126 runs in three innings, 63.00 AVG, one 50

7. J. Desai, Central West – 104 in three innings, 52.00 AVG, one 50

8. R. Singh, South West – 92 runs in two innings, 92.00 AVG, one 50

T9. A. Mehdi, Central East – 89 runs in three innings, 29.67 AVG, zero 50s

T9. A. Mishra, Atlantic – 89 runs in three innings, 29.67 AVG, zero 50s

Centuries

R. Corns, Central West – 119 vs. North West

N. Mustafa, North West – 102 vs. Central East

Half-centuries

J. Crosthwaite, North West – 87 vs. Central East; 87 vs. Central West; 73 vs. South West

F. Ullah, South East – 80 vs. North East

R. Singh, South West – 79 not out vs. Central East

S. Malik, Central East – 71 not out vs. Central West

G. Hall, New York – 68 vs. Atlantic; 54 vs. South East

R. Bhardwaj, North West – 66 vs. Central West

J. Patel, South East – 64 vs. Atlantic

Aditya Thyagarajan, South West – 62 not out vs. Central West

D. Forest, Atlantic – 62 vs. New York

J. Desai, Central West – 60 vs. South West

Arjun Thyagarajan, North West – 58 not out vs. Central East

R. Kukreti, Central West – 54 vs. Central East

J. Singh, North East – 54 vs. Atlantic

S. Rajagopalan, North East – 52 not out vs. South East

[Views expressed in the article are those of the author. These are not the official views of views of USACA or its selectors. If you have differing views or your own Tournament XI, you can comment here or send us your comments via email to content@dreamcricket.com]

USA Cricket 2010 National Tournament Day 2: NY and South West remain undefeated, SER and NWR score first wins

openingbat — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:47:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Atlanta (with additional reporting by Sandra Ibarra in Los Angeles)

A five-wicket haul from Adrian Gordon bowled New York to a thrilling 17-run win over Atlantic on Saturday in the USACA Eastern Conference Tournament at Creel Park in College Park, Ga. Gordon was named Man of the Match after taking 5 for 43. Atlantic was 126 for 5 needing 206 to win, but Gordon took four of the final five wickets to wipe out Atlantic for 188. New York moved to 2-0 at the weekend event while Atlantic dropped to 1-1.

“I just wanted to bowl,” said Gordon (picture at right). “I kinda believed that hey, I could have went out there and got some wickets and that’s what I took for the day. It’s just having a little confidence in yourself. From the start I didn’t, but at the end, I wanted to bowl.”

New York won the toss and batted first on a hot day in Atlanta with the temperature climbing into the low 90s for the second day in a row. Atlantic struck the first blow when Imran Awan had Akeem Dodson out for a duck to make it 3 for 1 in the third over. Hall then constructed two solid partnerships, first with Steve Massiah for 42 runs and then Andy Mohammed for 87 runs.

Massiah got out to a gem from Awan as a good length ball got some extra bounce and took the glove on the way through to the keeper to dismiss the New York captain for 21. Mohammed was dropped twice on his way to 37 before being given LBW to left arm spinner Muhammad Nisar. Mohammed appeared to be hit outside the line of the stumps and it was the first of several poor decisions that New York received following on from five top order LBW decisions they suffered on Friday.

NY vs. Atlantic Post Match Interview with Adrian Gordon from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Muhammad Ghous then entered the attack and hastened the collapse with three wickets. Hall fell next for 68 when he pulled a short ball straight to substitute fielder Charan Singh on the square leg fence and the score became 150 for 4. Stuart Mills lasted only three balls before he edged Ghous to Aditya Mishra at slip to depart for 2. Nisar claimed Barrington Bartley next for 15 when he sliced a full ball to point where Durale Forest pulled off a spectacular diving catch to his left and New York fell to 154 for 6.

Ghous claimed his third when Denison Thomas was given out LBW for 6 to a ball that appeared to be clearing the stumps comfortably. Adam Sanford was given LBW for 5 to Nisar, making it 167 for 8 on a ball that looked to be missing leg stump. Adrian Gordon fell next when he was given out caught behind off Neil McGarrell for 8 to make it 185 for 9 in 39 overs.

“It’s just been unfortunate, the last two days we’ve been on the receiving end of some very poor umpiring decisions,” said Massiah. “That does not augur well for the future of cricket, especially a tournament like this where it is expected that the umpire should be of a certain standard because these guys are obviously vying for places on the national team. So to me personally, it’s disappointing that that has happened and I hope come tomorrow we’ll have some good officiating and we should be able to see the best of the New York batting, which in this tournament I don’t think we’ve seen as yet.”

NY vs. Atlantic Post Match Interview with Steve Massiah from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Dwayne Smith was then joined by Kevin Darlington and they fought to bat out all 50 overs for New York. Smith was dropped with the score on 190 by wicketkeeper Sean Stanislaus off the bowling of Awan. However, Stanislaus made amends and Awan finally got his third wicket when Darlington was given out caught behind for 6 to end the innings as New York was bowled out for 205 in 43.5 overs.

Atlantic got away with numerous drops against South East to still win their match on Friday. However, with four drops against New York, including Hall before he had reached double digits, their second straight poor fielding performance was too much to overcome.

New York’s opening tandem of Sanford and Darlington bowled with great intensity to set the tone in the field and Darlington was immediately rewarded with the wicket of Mishra for 4 in the second over to make it 8 for 1. Sanford continued to pepper Siddharth Mehta with bouncers as the batsman ducked and swayed out of the way.

“I thought 205 was a defendable total, taking into consideration the experience of our attack with the likes of Kevin Darlington, Adam Sanford and the fast improving Adrian Gordon and young Smith has bowled brilliantly in the last two games,” said Massiah. “I thought it was a total we could have defended but it would have required us taking early wickets, which we did.”

Mehta was joined by Stanislaus and the two saw off the opening bowling attack, but there was no respite once the first change pair of Thomas and Gordon entered the fray. Thomas took a wicket on his fourth ball, getting Mehta to drive a full length ball to Mohammed at cover as Mehta departed for 20 to make it 52 for 2. Three deliveries later, Gordon struck on his first ball as Stanislaus was given out caught behind for 21 and the score became 52 for 3 in the 13^th.

Durale Forest joined Clain Williams as the two took their time to get settled. Williams managed to get his eye in on 15, but threw his wicket away holing out to long off where Sanford held on to a simple catch to give Thomas his second and the score became 79 for 4. At the other end, Smith replaced Gordon and was on the mark from ball one, building pressure with accurate and attacking leg spin. Ghous buckled under the pressure and was out for 1, as his attempted drive was edged to Dodson at slip and Atlantic was in trouble at 82 for 5.

McGarrell came in to rebuild with Forest, who was extremely cautious in building his innings. At one point, Forest was on 11 off 51 balls. But with McGarrell there for support, he started to come out of his shell. However, the longer Forest stayed at the crease, the more medical attention he required as he needed to have the trainer/coach come out on at least three separate occasions to treat him for muscle cramps.

By the second drinks break, the two batsmen added 40 runs and had taken the score to 122 for 5. The match was evenly balanced, but Gordon returned for a second spell to turn the match New York’s way. He struck with the score on 126 when McGarrell tried to slap a short and wide ball through the off side, but sent a straightforward catch to Massiah at cover. Twelve runs later, Junaid Rasheed tried to hook Gordon and sent a top edge that spiraled in the air above the keeper Mills before it came down into his gloves and the score became 138 for 7 in the 39^th over.

Atlantic elected to take the batting power play at the start of the 40^th and Gordon came off in favor of Thomas and Sanford. George Adams teamed up with Forest to produce a freewheeling partnership and it appeared that Atlantic might come back to take the match. The two added 40 runs for the eighth wicket before Adams went to clear the fence, but only managed to send an easy catch to Mohammed at long on five yards in from the boundary to make it 178 for 8 with Adams out for 13, giving Gordon his fourth.

Panic set in for the new man Awan two overs later when Darlington was bowling to Forest. The batsman drove a full length ball straight to Massiah at cover, but Awan took off immediately, thinking that it would beat the fielder. Awan and Forest wound up at the same end as Massiah tossed the ball to Darlington, who easily flicked off the bails for the ninth wicket at 185 in the 45^th over.

Nisar joined Forest, who was on 60 at the time but physically spent. A few singles later, he took a full delivery from Gordon and with a tired effort drove the ball in the air straight to Massiah at cover, who took the catch over his head to end the match sparking wild celebrations on the field from New York.

In the game played at McNair Middle School, South East defeated North East by 80 runs to go to 1-1 while North East dropped to 0-2. Farhat Ullah top-scored with 80 for South East in their total of 284 in 49.2 overs as several other players got starts but couldn’t go on to make a big innings.

North East finished 204 for 8 in 50 overs. The biggest contribution was 52 not out from Srinath Rajagopalan coming in at number nine. Off-spinner Hussain Haidar took 4 for 31 in 10 overs with two maidens to keep North East in check.

Out in Los Angeles, North West captain Nauman Mustafa (picture at right) raised the first century of the weekend in his team’s victory over Central East, moving each team to 1-1 in the tournament. Mustafa scored 102 out of his team’s total of 330 for 4 in 50 overs. He was well supported by James Crosthwaite, who followed up his 71 against South West with 87 against Central East on Saturday. In reply, Central East was bowled out for 164 in 39 overs. Ashhar Mehdi finished with 42 for Central East while Saurabh Verma took 3 for 40.

South West kept up their good form on their home ground with a 4-wicket win over Central West to move to 2-0. Central West batted first and were bowled out for 166 in the 47^th over. Abbas Jafri scored 40 and Jignesh Desai 60, but only two other players crossed double-digits. Timil Patel took 4 for 39 for South West. In reply, Aditya Thyagarajan carried his team to victory after they stumbled to 82 for 5. Thyagarajan finished 62 not out.

On the final day, New York will play South East and Atlantic plays North East in Atlanta while Central East plays South West and North West plays Central West in Los Angeles. Here are the scenarios for qualification to the national championships to be held later in the year.

Eastern Conference

New York: Advances with win OR Atlantic loss. If New York loses and Atlantic wins, New York, South East and Atlantic will have a three-way tie at 2-1 and first through third will be determined on net run rate.

South East: Advances with win AND Atlantic loss. If Atlantic wins, South East must win to force a three-way tie with New York and Atlantic. First through third would be determined on net run rate. If South East loses, Atlantic must lose to force a three-way tie for second place with Atlantic and North East. Second place would be decided on net run rate.

Atlantic: Advances with win AND New York win. If South East wins, Atlantic must win to force a three-way tie for first with South East and New York with first through third place decided on net run rate. If Atlantic loses, South East must lose and a three-way tie for second place with South East and North East would be decided by net run rate.

North East: Must win and New York must win for North East to have any hope of advancing. A North East win and a New York win would create a three-way tie for second place with net run rate being the tiebreaker. North East is automatically eliminated with a loss.

Western Conference

South West: Advances with win OR North West loss. If South West loses and North West wins, a three-way tie for first place with Central East and North West would happen with the final places determined by net run rate.

North West: Advances with a win over Central West AND Central East loss. If Central East wins, North West must win to force a three-way tie with Central East and South West for first place with the final places determined by net run rate. If North West loses, Central East must lose to force a three-way tie for second place with Central East and Central West. Second place would be decided by net run rate.

Central East: Advances with a win over South West AND a North West loss. If North West wins, Central East must win to force a three-way tie for first place with North West and South West with first through third place decided by net run rate. If North West loses, Central East must lose to force a three-way tie for second place with Central East and Central West. Second place will decided by net run rate.

Central West: Must win and South West must win for Central West to have any hope of advancing. If South West wins and Central West wins, a three-way tie with Central East and North West will happen with second place decided by net run rate. Central West is automatically eliminated with a loss.

Match Scorecard

Atlantic vs. New York

New York won by 17 runs

New York won the toss and elected to bat

Man of the Match: Adrian Gordon

New York Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

G Hall 68 103 7 2 ct sub (Singh) b Ghous

A Dodson 0 6 0 0 b Awan

S Massiah* 21 14 3 1 ct Stanislaus+ Awan

A Mohammed 37 43 6 0 LBW Nisar

B Bartley 15 15 1 1 ct Forest b Nisar

S Mills+ 2 3 0 0 ct Mishra b Ghous

D Thomas 6 13 0 0 LBW Ghous

D Smith 24 25 2 0 not out

A Sanford 5 7 1 0 LBW Nisar

A Gordon 8 13 1 0 ct Stanislaus+ b McGarrell

K Darlington 6 22 0 0 ct Stanislaus+ b Awan

Total Extras 13 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 2 leg byes, 11 wides)

Team Total 205 all out in 43.5 overs

Fall of Wicket: 3/1 (Dodson), 45/2 (Massiah), 132/3 (Mohammed), 150/4 (Hall), 152/5 (Mills), 154/6 (Bartley), 162/7 (Thomas), 167/8 (Sanford), 185/9 (Gordon), 205/10 (Darlington).

Atlantic Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

I Awan 7.5-0-48-3

G Adams 5-0-38-0

D Forest 7-0-24-0

N McGarrell 7-0-17-1

M Nisar 9-0-50-3

M Ghous 8-0-26-3

Atlantic Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

S Mehta 20 36 4 0 ct Mohammed b Thomas

A Mishra 4 5 1 0 ct Mills+ b Darlington

S Stanislaus+ 21 30 3 0 ct Mills+ Gordon

C Williams 15 20 2 0 ct Sanford b Thomas

D Forest 62 119 3 1 ct Massiah b Gordon

M Ghous 1 10 0 0 ct Dodson b Smith

N McGarrell* 20 36 0 1 ct Massiah b Gordon

J Rasheed 5 8 1 0 ct Mills+ b Gordon

G Adams 13 12 1 0 ct Mohammed b Gordon

I Awan 5 2 1 0 runout (Massiah/Darlington)

M Nisar 1 1 0 0 not out

Total Extras 21 (6 no balls, 2 byes, 2 leg byes, 11 wides)

Team Total 188 all out in 45.3 overs

Fall of Wicket: 8/1 (Mishra), 52/2 (Mehta), 52/3 (Stanislaus), 79/4 (Williams), 82/5 (Ghous), 126/6 (McGarrell), 138/7 (Rasheed), 178/8 (Adams), 185/9 (Awan), 188/10 (Forest).

New York Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

A Sanford 8-0-53-0

K Darlington 8-2-21-1

D Thomas 10-2-25-2

A Gordon 7.3-0-43-5

D Smith 10-1-31-1

B Bartley 2-0-11-0

Radiant Info T20 Cricket 2010: All-Stars set to dazzle with on-field pyrotechnics

openingbat — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:55:00 GMT

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The Atlantic All-Stars are not only the youngest team in the tournament, they are the most lethal. At the team's core are five players from the super-talented South Gujarat Cricket Club. When you take that already strong foundation and add to it players with bios that include playing for the nation or for their region, you end up with a formidable outfit.

The team's manager Sri Garimella told DreamCricket.com that the All-Stars have all the ingredients to destroy their opposition. He said: "what we have in our team is precisely what T20 needs - a strong infusion of extra-talent, extra-effort and extra-energy. We need cricketers who can fire almost on-demand and can adjust to match situation fast."

"The SGCC players in our team are known for their match-winning attributes - it is not a coincidence that they are consistently among the best performers in this region. From that base, we have attempted to add players who are game-changers. In terms of sheer excitement, our team will be hard to match," Garimella added.

The All-Stars are -

Adrian Gordon (23) - At the ICC WCL Division IV tournament in Italy, USA fast bowler Adrian Gordon (picture at right) finished tied for second on the team with 10 wickets and had the best average at 11.80 runs per wicket and stepped up in a big way when Timroy Allen went down with an injury.

Seven of those wickets came from the final two games - including a scorching 4 for 35 that was chiefly responsible for wrecking Italy in the championship match.

Speaking about that spell, his captain Steve Massiah said: "I think what’s the key ingredient with young Gordon is his willingness and his eagerness to learn,” said Massiah. “I think that will take him a very far way. Especially today I thought he bowled an exceptional spell. His first spell, it’s one of the better old ball spells that I’ve seen in a very long time. I thought he was pacy, he was very accurate.”

A student of NYU-Poly, Adrian represented Antigua at U-15 and U-19 levels and was coached by Andy Roberts and Adam Stanford in his youth. After joining the Atlantic Region squad in 2009, Adrian's elevation to USA was rapid - he represented USA in three tournaments this year. He recently trained with fast-bowling coach Ian Pont at DreamCricket Academy where Pont reserved special praise for Adrian's speed and focus. Pont's advice to Gordon was simple: "stun the batsmen with pace, then rip those stumps up."

Rushi Amin (25) - Rushi Amin is an extremely capable left-handed batsman and swing bowler. His all-round prowess and consistent performances earned him a spot on the Atlantic Region team in 2009 where he awaits his big moment. Meanwhile, he continues to excel within the region. This season, Rushi has provided the bedrock for the rebuilding of the Sayreville Gladiators outfit in both the Garden State and Millennium Cricket Leagues.

His contributions of 222 runs (including two 50s) with the bat and 12 wickets (at an average of 18.83) with the ball have played a role in Gladiators' progress to the semi-final of GSCL. In MCL, he has 254 runs from 9 innings and 17 wickets at an average of 11.94.

Srinivasa Santhanam (26) - Flying in from Portland, OR, especially for this tournament, Srinivasa has been part of the North West regional squad for three years, where he opens both batting and bowling. A right handed batsman and a medium pace bowler, Srinivasa represented Tamil Nadu at the U-13, U-16 and U-19 levels.

Srinivasa represented Santhome at the school level and between 2001 and 2005, he played for and captained the BITS Pilani university team..

Srinviasa is a recipient of the prestigious Sriraman and Somasundaram endowments from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Playing for the RBI in TNCA Div II as a high-school student, Srinivasa's scored a double century in a 3-day match and took 4 wickets for 16 with his bowling.

Regis Burton (19) - After he was born in the Bronx, Burton’s parents took him and his brother back to their native Antigua when he was only a few months old. He grew up in the tiny village of Lightfoot where initially he enjoyed soccer and tennis before his passion for cricket took over.

At the end of the three-day Digicel Cricket Coaching Clinic in August 2007 at Falmouth Cricket Ground in St. John’s, Antigua, Burton was given the clinic’s Most Outstanding Batsman award. According to a press release from the WICB, the award was decided by Kenny Benjamin, Keith Arthurton, Lance Gibbs, Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul, who all coached the clinic and observed the youngsters during training sessions on the first two days and matches on the final day. In 2008, Burton was named captain of the Antigua U-19 side in the 2008 Sir Garfield Sobers International Schools Cricket Tournament held in July in Barbados.

When Burton finally returned to USA, he got involved in the New York cricket scene after being put into contact with Ricky Kissoon, the captain of Rising Stars CC in the Eastern American Cricket Association. In the ICC U19 World Cup Qualifier in Canada, Burton scored 126 runs at 21.00 in seven matches, including a high score of 52 against Papua New Guinea. With the ball, he took four wickets and had an impressive 4.12 economy rate, tying up one end while opening the bowling for Team USA. He also enhanced his reputation as one of the best fielders on the team with three catches, including the superlative effort against Afghanistan.

Priyesh Shah - Priyesh Shah, who plays for SGCC in the Cricket League of NJ, is a right-handed opening batsman. Priyesh played for Maharashtra at the U-16 level. In CLNJ, he is the top batsman this season with 568 runs including a highest of 153. His average for the season is 51.64.

SGCC has 4 other players in the All-Stars team including former Atlantic Region player - Hiten Patel, left arm spinner Harshit Patel, leg-spinner and middle-order batsman Jaimin Goswami, and Vishal Patel.

Also on the Atlantic All-Stars squad is the USA U-19 Second All-American cricketer and 2008 Best US Cricketer at the Radiant Info T20 -Cameron Mirza who is returning from a stint with Brentwood CC in England. The Atlantic Region U-19 speedster Jasdeep Singh is also part of the squad. A more complete roster will be uploaded to RadiantInfoT20.com in the coming days.

[Adrian Gordon and Regis Burton pics - courtesy of ICC]

USA Cricket - WCL Division 4 Report Card

openingbat — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:47:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Team Grades

Bowling – A-: The bowling attack functioned well not just as individuals but as a unit. The fast bowlers were outstanding together at the start of a match. The highest first wicket partnership for any opponent was 23 by Cayman Islands, a tribute to the job done by the opening combination of Usman Shuja and Kevin Darlington. There were only three 50+ partnerships by the opposition and one 100+ partnership allowed and that came as a result of a series of drops in the loss to Italy.

Batting – B+: The only three players who scored centuries in the tournament belonged to USA. The team also racked up seven ducks and only one of those happened to a tail ender. Alarmingly, they lost a wicket on the second ball of an innings on three occasions. However, no one could match USA’s batting depth, which saw USA to safety on several occasions. Most notably against Argentina, the numbers seven and eight reached triple figures.

Fielding – C+: There was not a single catch dropped in the slips during the tournament, although one chance was missed when Lennox Cush bizarrely dove backwards with the ball landing in front of him. The outfield catching was hot and cold with several very good catches while at other times there were some very simple chances missed. Some were because of drops while other chances never went to hand because fielders reacted slowly or were not alert. The ground fielding could also use some improvement.

Fitness – B+: When it came down to playing five games in five days in 85 to 90 degree heat, USA’s players held up remarkably well. Kudos to the players for taking on the individual responsibility to come ready to play. Most impressive was the fitness of Shuja and Darlington, who shared the new ball five days in a row and never showed any signs of being worn out.

Individual Grades

Sushil Nadkarni – A-: The heartbeat of the batting order, he set the tone for USA’s success or struggles. His first two half-centuries were accomplished with brute force, while his third against Nepal involved a tremendous amount of skill and patience to guide the team to a winning total. Getting out for a duck to Italy in their first matchup portended the gloom that followed and against Argentina his nought was the first phase of a dramatic top order collapse. As for his fielding, one would never know he is 12 months removed from a torn Achilles tendon. For a man built like a tank, he was extremely nimble in the field and took four catches with only one drop.

Orlando Baker – B: He started off the tournament with a half-century against Tanzania, but never crossed 50 again and could have done much better than he did in the batting department. With his bowling, he had an uncanny knack to come on and be a partnership breaker, hurrying the batsmen with his nippy medium pace. Four times he took a wicket in the first over of a spell. He was very reliable in the field and took three catches.

Steve Massiah – B: Scored one half-century against Cayman Islands, but like Baker, did not reach the level he should have with the bat, especially considering that Massiah was the leading run-scorer at Division 5 in Nepal against much better competition. He demonstrated some very good captaincy though and almost always managed to push the right buttons with his bowling changes. He also leads by example with his fielding. He has perhaps the surest hands on the team and held every chance that came his way.

Lennox Cush – B+: He had a somewhat quiet start to the tournament, but stamped his authority on it at the end with a half-century to initiate a revival against Argentina and a thumping century against Italy in the final to be named Man of the Match. With the ball, he was decent in taking five wickets, but was relied upon less than in other recent tournaments due to the success of Ghous. His fielding was solid in the slips and decent elsewhere.

Carl Wright – C+: Only scored 47 runs in four innings at 15.66, well below his standards. He looked set for a big score against Italy until he was unfortunately run out by Aditya Thyagarajan. Wright kept very well behind the stumps to have seven catches and three stumpings and just missed one or two other sharp chances. He gets docked credit for drawing a reprimand from the match referee for his misconduct in the match against Argentina.

Aditya Thyagarajan – B+: Saved USA’s bacon in the match against Argentina with his second century for USA. His half-century in the first game against Italy was tarnished due to the role he played in running out Wright which sealed his team’s fate in that game. He took two catches, one of them an outstanding diving effort against Cayman Islands, but had multiple drops and needs to get a little sharper with his ground fielding.

Rashard Marshall – B+: Rocky scored a long overdue maiden century for USA, picking the perfect time to do it against Argentina. He could have scored many more runs, but got himself out in his two other times at the crease with a pair of soft dismissals. He is right up there with Massiah in the fielding and catching department. He took four catches and teamed up with Wright for a runout.

Usman Shuja – A: USA’s standout bowler and their leading wicket-taker. He was the catalyst for USA’s dominance in the field, bowling with great ferocity and intimidation. Just as he did in a do or die showdown vs. Nepal on their home turf, he turned in a clutch display in the same situation in Bologna against Nepal to setup victory. His batting technique is good enough to be a number seven or even a six, but once he gets his eye in, he gets overexcited and plays one too many shots to lose his wicket. Concentration at the crease is just about the only thing he needs to adjust to get better.

Muhammad Ghous – A-: The 20-year-old has taken to playing with the national team at the senior level like a duck to water. It’s hard to find fault with anything Ghous did in the tournament. He got hit for a few late against Cayman Islands, but in the big games, he showed himself to be a big game player. With a spot in Division 3 at stake against Nepal, he was given the ball at the midway point of Nepal’s chase in a pressure situation and showed nerves of steel, eventually finishing 3 for 31 to help seal the match.

Adrian Gordon – A: Only played four games, but finished tied for second on the team with 10 wickets and had the best average at 11.80 runs per wicket and stepped up in a big way when Timroy Allen went down with an injury. He sometimes took an over to get his line right and get settled, but once everything with him was in tune, he was marvelous. He was unlucky not to take any wickets during an outstanding spell against Nepal, but reaped just rewards to claim seven wickets in the team’s final two games.

Kevin Darlington – A-: Darlington took 10 wickets in six games and was solid at building pressure, turning in a team high seven maidens. Had an off game against Cayman Islands but after that was solid. The 38-year-old is one of the fittest players on the team as well and tied with Ghous to bowl the most overs on tour with 50.

Nasir “Charlie” Javed – D: Javed looked good against Cayman Islands to take 3 for 29, but then followed that up with a disastrous performance against Italy. He was standing at mid off when Italy’s Peter Petricola drove a chance in his direction while on 3, but Javed’s reaction time was so poor that he never even got a hand to what should have been a catch. Petricola went on to score 85 to be Man of the Match in a win for the hosts. Javed was picked as a specialist bowler, but only bowled three ineffective overs in that match before he was taken off and then got out for a duck to cap off his day. To underscore how bad that error was on Petricola’s chance, Allen was used as a substitute fielder ahead of Javed in USA’s final three matches. Allen fielded for Sushil Nadkarni for the duration of USA’s innings in the field against Nepal, despite the fact that he could not raise his right arm above his head, let alone throw anything in, due to a torn muscle in his upper back sustained while fielding against Tanzania. Javed’s mistake against Italy was so costly and his fielding deemed to be so sub standard that a person who could not use his arm to throw a ball in was preferred as a substitute fielder ahead of him.

Timroy Allen – Incomplete: Allen only bowled six overs in the tournament because of an injury he picked up in the field against Tanzania. However, he showed tremendous heart by coming on as a sub fielder against Nepal to take two catches only a day after his arm was in a sling. He also took another catch as a sub fielder against Argentina.

Steven Taylor – Incomplete: Taylor played one game and got out for a six-ball duck against Argentina. Behind the stumps, he was sloppy in conceding eight byes and had numerous other fumbled takes. Physically, he is capable of holding his own, but on the mental side of the game, he has yet to demonstrate the level of focus and concentration required to play at the senior level.

What the team needs heading into Division 3 – A left-arm spinner: Or at least that’s what Massiah said when posed with this question after the team qualified to play in Hong Kong. “It would be great for us to have the addition of a left-arm spinner in our attack which gives us a little more variety. Over the course of this tournament and the previous tournaments and in world cricket, we see how effective a left-arm spinner can be. So obviously that’s an area in which we’ll have our eyes wide open and the search is on for a good quality left-arm spinner.” This is also another way of saying that the team needs a good spin bowler who can turn the ball away from right-handers, which spells doom for Javed’s spot on the team. Massiah shot down Barrington Bartley and Samarth Shah when asked if they would be suitable to step into the squad.

Ryan Corns is probably still chomping at the bit to get into the senior team after being named Player of the Tournament at the ICC U-19 World Cup Global Qualifier last year and his left-arm spin troubled the senior players during the Twenty20 trial matches played at USACA Nationals last November. It would be a positive step to include him in a 14-man squad for Division 3.

[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 defeats Argentina by 120 runs

openingbat — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:18:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

A towering 213-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Man of the Match Aditya Thyagarajan and Orlando Baker put USA on the path to victory as they beat Argentina by 120 runs on Friday at St. Georges Cricket Club in Bermuda on day one of the ICC Americas Division One Tournament.

Pic (Right): File photo of Aditya Thyagarajan taken during the ICC Division 5 match versus Jersey. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia]

Coming in at number six with the score at 91 for 4, Thyagarajan finished with 159, his highest score for USA, which included 21 boundaries and three sixes. Baker notched a century of his own, scoring 113 opening the innings after USA was sent in to bat.

“I went into bat when we were in a spot of bother,” said Thyagarajan afterwards. “Baker and I began to do the repair work. The key for me was that I kept playing my natural game and continued to play my strength shots. Batting with Baker is always great and we have had many partnerships for USA. I feel in great touch and hope to continue to work hard and win games for USA.”

Sushil Nadkarni and Baker opened the match for USA and put on 49 runs before Nadkarni was the first man dismissed for 23. Captain Steve Massiah was caught behind for a fifth ball duck four runs later off the bowling of Lucas Paterlini. Carl Wright could only manage 9 runs before he was sent back by the Argentine captain Esteban MacDermott. Lennox Cush became the second batsman out for a duck when he fell on his fifth ball to Diego Lord in the 20th over to make it 91 for 4.

It was here that Thyagarajan entered the fray and true to his reputation in a USA uniform, staged a classic fightback with Baker to bring up his first century as a member of the national team. Both men looked in solid form during their 50-over encounter one week earlier against Jamaica and carried it over into the first match of this tournament. Baker had already reached 50 when Thyagarajan came to the crease, but it was Thyagarajan who brought up his century first, scoring the lion’s share of the runs in their partnership. Thyagarajan accounted for 75% of the runs in their fifth wicket stand, while he also took most of the strike as he faced 119 balls during the 28 overs he was at the crease. He was finally dismissed in the 48th over by Gary Savage while Baker fell in the final over of the innings to Paterlini. Rashard Marshall played another one of his microwave innings, heating up quickly to blast 29 runs in only 8 balls with two fours and three sixes to take USA to 347 for 6 in their 50 overs. Savage finished with 2 for 90 in his 10 overs while Paterlini had 2 for 47 in 9.

Adrian Gordon opened up the pace attack for USA and claimed both openers, Matias and Lucas Paterlini, to set Argentina back at 23 for 2. After Timroy Allen had Pablo Ferguson caught behind to make it 58 for 3, Grant Dugmore and Savage tried to replicate USA’s innings by staging a fightback of their own. The two put on 75 runs before Dugmore was out LBW to the off-spin of Massiah for 64. Savage then put on another half-century stand with Donald Forrester before Savage was runout for 35 by Allen to make it 187 for 5 in the 42nd. Bilal Khan then came on late after opening the bowling with Gordon to pick up three quick wickets. Khan claimed the scalps of Alejandro Ferguson and Bernardo Irigoyen while Carl Wright bowled Martin Siri. Khan then got Forrester for 38, but USA couldn’t claim all 10 wickets and Argentina finished on 227 for 9 in 50 overs.

USA will take on Canada on Saturday at 10:30 am local time in Bermuda. Canada defeated Cayman Islands by 8 wickets on Friday while Bermuda disposed of Bahamas by 7 wickets in the day’s other match.

Six new players selected to USA team for ICC Americas tournament in Bermuda

openingbat — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:49:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

Several surprises are in a 14-man squad selected for USA as they attempt to become repeat champions of the ICC Americas Division One Tournament at the end of the month in Bermuda. Six new players will be in the squad, including two players from USA’s 2010 U-19 World Cup squad in New Zealand. The squad will be coached by Clayton Lambert and managed by Imran Khan with Akhtar Masood “Chik” Syed going along as the team physio.

Pic (Right): Andy Mohammed hooks on his way to a heroic 70 in the match against Australia [Picture Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia]

Andy Mohammed, Muhammad Ghous, Ashhar Mehdi, Bilal Khan, Adrian Gordon and Moazzam Imtiaz are the fresh faces who will be representing USA from May 29-June 7 in Bermuda to play a series of 50-over matches followed by a two-day Twenty20 tournament against Canada, Argentina, Cayman Islands, Bahamas and the host team. Several of the matches will be telecast live on Fresh TV (www.Fresh.bm).

The group of 14 will also be playing two matches against Jamaica in Florida on May 21 and 22 prior to departing for Bermuda. Glen Hall, Clain Williams, Saurabh Verma, Usman Shuja, Kevin Darlington, Sudesh Dhaniram and Imran Awan are the members from February’s touring squad that will not be traveling to Bermuda.

Ghous and Mohammed will be the youngest players in the new look squad. Ghous turned 20 on the first day of the trials that took place in New York on April 24-25 while Mohammed is still a teenager at 19. Ghous had an impressive 3.77 economy rate bowling off-spin in New Zealand while Mohammed produced USA’s highest individual batting performances at the U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto as well as the main event, scoring 90 against Afghanistan in September and 70 against Australia in January. The addition of Mohammed also gives the team another sorely needed left-handed batsman as Sushil Nadkarni was the only one in USA’s touring squad to the UAE and Nepal.

Ghous will be relied upon to fill the role of containing off-spinner formerly occupied by 43-year-old Dhaniram, who is still recovering after a broken finger sustained while diving for a catch vs. Singapore at the World Cricket League Division Five. The leg-spinner Verma suffered a back injury playing against the MCC in California in March and more recently broke a finger playing in a North West Cricket League match so was unavailable for selection. Mohammed comes in for Hall, who has a nagging leg injury, and Williams.

Ashhar Mehdi has been included as a wicketkeeper. The 34-year old from the Central East Region had the highest score at USACA Nationals in November with 80 in a losing cause versus New York in the championship match. He will provide relief behind the stumps for Carl Wright, who battled with a hand injury in Nepal, and for Orlando Baker who will be able to focus more on bowling and batting after having to keep wicket in Nepal due to Wright’s injury.

Bilal Khan makes the cut along with Adrian Gordon in a new look fast bowling attack. The 28-year-old Khan was never far from selectors thoughts after impressing with 9 wickets in three matches bowling right-arm fast-medium for the North West Region at the Western Conference Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn., last year. Gordon, a 22-year-old international student at NYU-Poly, took three wickets against the South East Region in the Eastern Conference Tournament in Washington, D.C., last July and is currently one of the fastest bowlers in the country. Darlington is unavailable due to work and Shuja because of graduation from Kellogg.

Awan’s non-selection is believed to be a result of his poor performances in February. Of the nine bowlers USA used in Nepal, Awan had the most wides bowled (15) in his 13 overs. His fielding was erratic and he dropped numerous chances which frustrated his teammates.

The most curious selection is that of Moazzam Imtiaz, especially ahead of players such as Ravi Timbawala and Akeem Dodson. The non-selection of Timbawala and Dodson, members of USA’s 2006 U-19 World Cup squad, means that there are still no American-born players in the squad.

Pic (Left): Muhammad Asad Ghous [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia]

Imtiaz only played one of three matches for South East at the Eastern Conference Tournament in 2009 and was not in the November 40-man list of probables for selection to represent USA on the tour of the UAE and Nepal. He played for the South East versus the MCC in March, coming in at number 10 in the Twenty20 match to score 1 run and did not bowl.

In the 50-over game, he was the seventh bowler used, bowling three overs of medium pace for 14 runs without taking a wicket and scored 11 not out coming in at number eight. Imtiaz is currently ranked 31st in the top run scorers column for the Florida Southeast Cricket League (FSCL) with 171 runs and a high score of 51 to go along with 5 wickets in eight matches.

Imtiaz plays for Coconut Creek Vikings in his league, a team that is captained by FSCL president Rizwan Mohammed and vice-captained by former USA player and South East Region USACA Board member Nasir “Charlie” Javed.

USA squad: Steve Massiah (captain, NY), Ashhar Mehdi (wk, Central East), Carl Wright (wk, NY), Timroy Allen (South East), Orlando Baker (Central West), Lennox Cush (NY), Muhammad Ghous (Atlantic), Adrian Gordon (Atlantic), Moazzam Imtiaz (South East), Bilal Khan (North West), Rashard Marshall (New York), Andy Mohammed (North East), Sushil Nadkarni (Central West), Aditya Thyagarajan (South West).

Manager: Imran Khan

Coach: Clayton Lambert

Physio: Akhtar “Chik” Masood Syed

National Team Selectors: Abrar Ahmad (Western Region), Mohammad Sunny Khan (Central East Region), Sew Shivnarine (New York Region).