USA Cricketer : Argentina cricket

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

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

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By Peter Della Penna in (on Twitter)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

USA Cricket: USA scratches out 10-run win over Argentina at 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20

openingbat — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:01:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation

The USA Women’s team posted their lowest total of the week, but held on for a 10-run win over Argentina on Wednesday in the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship at JP Powell Oval in George Town, Cayman Islands. USA moves to 3-0 with the win while Argentina was dealt their first loss to fall to 2-1.

After the success they had in fielding first against Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, Argentina sent USA in to bat after winning the toss. USA made one change to their lineup from the previous two matches as Beulah Pidakala made way for Geetha Shawkarla.

Triholder Marshall was promoted to open the batting with Nadia Gruny, but the move failed to pay dividends for USA as Marshall was dismissed without scoring by Lucia Culley in the second over to make it 7 for 1. A day after scoring a half-century, Melissa Sandy also fell for a duck, caught off the bowling of Sharon Seaton to make it 9 for 2 in the third.

USA captain Candacy Atkins joined Gruny and the pair commenced the first of two modest but vital partnerships for USA in the innings. The pair added 29 for the fourth wicket before Atkins was dismissed in the 10th over by Catalina Greloni for 6. Gruny was bowled by Alison Stocks in the 11th for USA’s top score of 27 to make it 44 for 4 before Samantha Ramautar was runout in the 12th for 1 by Seaton to make it 49 for 5.

Karen Bayles and Anahita Arora then worked to get USA to a competitive total by building a 34-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the biggest stand for either side on the day. Mercedes Esperon ended the partnership in the 18th over by dismissing Arora for 13 to make it 83 for 6 before Bayles was runout in the next over for 20 to make it 85 for 7. Claudine Beckford and Sara Farooq finished unbeaten on 5 and 3 respectively to push USA to their 20-over total of 92 for 7. Stocks had the best figures for Argentina with 1 for 9 in two overs.

While the target was not big, Argentina’s slow start to the chase cost them badly in the end. Clara Culley scored just 1 off 8 balls opening the innings before being dismissed by Ramautar while Esperon came in at number three and scored just 2 off 8 before she was bowled by Farooq to make it 23 for 2 in the seventh over. Argentina’s other opener, Dirce Yuli, was runout for 15 off just 33 balls to make it 34 for 3 in the 10th. Argentina started their chase needing just 4.65 runs per over to win, but by the halfway point of the innings the required run rate was approaching six per over and continued to climb for the rest of the innings.

Argentina captain Veronica Vazquez and Sofia Retamales put on 29 runs for the fourth wicket, but the partnership spanned from the 10th to the 17th over at a time when acceleration was needed but never happened. Retamales was finally caught behind for 17 off Ramautar and Vazquez was bowled in the next over for 10 off 28 balls by Sandy, who took off the wicketkeeping pads to bowl.

Argentina entered the final two overs needing 24 runs to win but could not score any boundaries during the final 12 deliveries and only had three in their entire innings. Ramautar trapped Violeta Yuli for 5 to make it 69 for 6 and Georgina Retamales was dismissed by Sandy for 5 in the final over to make it 78 for 7. Seaton scored 4 not out to take Argentina to their final total of 82 for 7. Extras wound up being the top score for Argentina with 23, including 13 wides.

Ramautar once again proved difficult to get away, taking 3 for 8 in four overs. Farooq took 1 for 14 in three overs while Sandy finished with 2 for 10 in two overs.

In the other matches on Wednesday, Canada also maintained their unbeaten record with a 106-run win over the Cayman Islands. Canada won the toss and batted first, posting 191 for 4 in their 20 overs. Joanna White produced the highest score for any player so far in the tournament as she finished 99 not out off 62 balls including 13 boundaries. Cayman Islands finished at 85 for 6 in their chase as Kamna Mirchandani continued her excellent tournament with the ball for Canada, taking 3 for 15.

Cayman Islands remain winless on the week along with Brazil, who lost to Bermuda by seven wickets. Brazil won the toss and batted first but could only scrape together 93 for 4 in 20 overs. Bermuda stuttered at 14 for 2 in the fifth over, but Brittney Marshall entered at number four to steer the chase with 40 not out in 46 deliveries, including five boundaries and a six, to reach the target with nine balls to spare for Bermuda’s first win of the tournament.

All teams have an off day on Thursday before returning to action on Friday. USA will take on Bermuda at JP Powell Oval starting at 3:30 p.m. EST. Brazil and Cayman Islands play each other with both teams still searching for their first win. The loser of that match is in danger of being relegated to ICC Americas Women’s Division Two.

Canada takes on Argentina in the other match on Friday and if both USA and Canada stay true to form by notching wins, it would mean both teams would enter their Saturday showdown with 4-0 records. The winner would not only claim the tournament title but also a spot at the 2013 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier.

USA Cricket: George stifles Argentina with 5 for 9 to keep USA undefeated at 2011 ICC Americas T20

openingbat — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:06:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Official Scorecard I Ball-by-Ball Commentary

Left-arm orthodox spinner Bhim George took 5 for 9 to derail Argentina’s chase of 151 as USA won their third match of the ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament by 66 runs on Wednesday afternoon at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. George picked up Man of the Match honors and now has eight wickets on the week to lead all bowlers at the event. USA moved to 3-0 with the win while Argentina lost their third straight.

“I thought the wicket was a little slower and the ball was keeping low, two paced, so I just wanted to bowl one line and vary the pace also and I get the results,” said George.

USA won the toss for the third day in a row and elected to bat on a brutally hot day. Sushil Nadkarni and Gowkaran Roopnarine put on 38 runs for the first wicket in 5.2 overs before Nadkarni was bowled for 18 to give medium pacer Gary Savage the first of his three wickets. His second came two balls later when USA captain Steve Massiah was given out LBW without scoring for the second day in a row after being struck on the toe by a yorker.

Roopnarine was joined by Aditya Mishra and the pair produced a half-century stand to reestablish control for USA. Roopnarine reached 40 and Mishra top scored with 41 before both men were bowled by medium pacer Alejo Tissera. The 20-year-old disturbed Timroy Allen’s stumps to claim his third, reducing USA to 124 for 5 in the 17th over as Allen walked off for 8.

Quasen Alfred fell in the next over, caught for 11 slogging off-spinner Donald Forrester to Pablo Ryan on the midwicket rope. Orlando Baker was bowled by Ryan’s medium pace for 2 to end the 19th before Akeem Dodson provided a late burst, hitting three boundaries, until he was caught in the deep for 16 on the final ball of the innings off the bowling of Savage as USA finished at 150 for 8.

Usman Shuja set the tone in the field for USA with a stingy opening spell that included the first breakthrough as he trapped Hernan Williams in front of the stumps for 11 to make it 18 for 1 in the 5th over. Things stayed quiet for the next few overs until Bhim George put his stamp on the game.

In George’s second over, he had Ben Precious out LBW for 13 and followed that by bowling Alejandro Ferguson first ball to be on a hat trick. Four balls later he wrapped up the over by bowling opening batsman Pablo Ferguson for 17 to leave Argentina spiraling out of control at 43 for 4 in 11 overs. It was déjà vu to start the 13th as Forrester was bowled for 3 before Tissera was given LBW first ball to complete George’s five-wicket haul while putting him on a hat trick once more.

From there, Savage and Bernardo Irigoyen batted out the rest of the overs to finish not out on 16 and 14 respectively as Argentina finished on 84 for 6 in their 20 overs.

In the morning match, Cayman Islands recorded their first win, defeating Suriname by 7 wickets. Suriname was bowled out for 95 before Zachary McLaughlin led Cayman Islands chase by top scoring with 37 at the top of the order. The target was passed on the last ball of the 19th over. The evening match between Canada and Bermuda was still in progress at the time this article was published.

All teams have an off day on Thursday. USA resumes play on Friday night under the lights against Canada. The match is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. EST start time with live coverage on DreamCricket.com beginning at 5 p.m.

USA Cricket: ICC Americas releases 2011 tournament schedule

openingbat — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:47:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

The slate of international cricket became more crowded for USA in 2011 with the announcement of the ICC Americas schedule of events for the new year. Some of the highlights include an inaugural U-17 tournament for the region as well as another ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament for the men.

The ICC Americas Division One tournament was previously played every two years as a 50-over event. But with the growing presence of Twenty20 cricket on the international calendar, the 2011 edition will be staged in Toronto as a Twenty20 event. It will decide the initial Twenty20 Associate rankings for the region as well as determine a pair of qualification slots for the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai. Two teams will advance to Dubai along with Canada, who automatically qualifies due to their status as an ODI nation. USA will enter the July 17-24 tournament in Toronto as the defending champion having won the first edition of the region’s Twenty20 tournament in Bermuda this past June which was played immediately after the 50-over series.

Although the 2011 event will officially include only Twenty20 matches, ICC Americas Regional Development Manager Martin Vieira said that each country’s administration expressed a desire to continue playing 50-over cricket as well. As a result, Vieira said that ICC Americas is willing to help facilitate the organization of a bilateral 50-over series between any countries who are interested. Those 50-over matches would be staged at a minimal cost to the teams involved and may be organized to take place in Toronto after the conclusion of the Twenty20 event.

The first event on the calendar is the ICC Americas U-19 Division 1 scheduled for February 7-12 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. USA will take on Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and defending champion Canada. The top two teams will advance to the U-19 World Cup Global Qualifier, which will be held in July at a site yet to be announced by the ICC. It is being reported by several web sites that the Global Qualifier will be held in Ireland, which is one of the four countries already qualified along with Scotland, Namibia and Kenya.

The Pepsi ICC Americas Academy will be held for 10 days in March. According to Vieira, each country in the region that is currently involved in the ICC World Cricket League – Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Suriname and USA – will send two players to St. Kitts for a series of training sessions run by the region’s Development Performance Officer, Andy Pick. Each country has already nominated a handful of players to send to the camp. Vieira said that Pick will decide who is included in the list of 14 which is expected to be finalized sometime in January.

The ICC Americas U-17 tournament will be a four team event from July 3-10. Bermuda, Canada and USA will go to Toronto along with a Development XI that will be comprised of players from Argentina, Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Suriname. According to Vieira, the event will include 50-over games as well as other days dedicated to having the teams train with Pick.

The ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division tournament will be played from August 20-26 on artificial wickets at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Canada. The 2009 event was also played on artificial wickets in New York. The format will remain the same as 2009 with Bermuda, Canada and USA playing each other twice in a series of six 40-over games.

No women’s tournament is scheduled for 2011, but Vieira said that ICC Americas is committed to providing whatever help USACA seeks out for the USA women’s team to prepare for the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh next November.

ICC Americas 2011 Tournament Schedule (only events involving USA included below)

Feb. 7-12 – U-19 Division 1 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

July 3-10 – U-17 in Toronto, Canada

July 17-24 – Division 1 Twenty20 in Toronto, Canada

Aug. 20-26 – U-15 Northern Division in Winnipeg, Canada

A full schedule of ICC Americas events is available on the ICC web site.

ICC WCL Division 4 - USA survives early scare to trounce Argentina and clinch spot in Division 3

openingbat — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Bologna, Italy

The Ice Man, Aditya Thyagarajan, teamed up with The Microwave, Rocky Marshall, to form a 205-run unbroken seventh wicket partnership as USA defeated Argentina by 196 runs at Ovale del Pianoro in Bologna, Italy, on the last day of round-robin matches at ICC WCL Division 4. Thyagarajan was named Man of the Match after he came in to bat in the fifth over and carried the team on his back from 17 for 5 to 306 for 6 in USA’s 50 overs, scoring his second century for USA.

“This innings definitely for me is right on top and credit goes to Cush and Marshall,” said Thyagarajan. “I had a partnership with Cush earlier and then with Marshall and I think those two partnerships were the key for us to win the game.”

USA has now qualified for Division 3 in Hong Kong scheduled for January 22-29, 2011. Along with Italy, who also gained promotion, USA will take on Oman, Denmark and Papua New Guinea in addition to the host team.

Image: Aditya Thyagarajan walks off the field drenched in sweat after facing 146 balls for his 102 not out. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna]

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a hot and humid morning in Bologna. For the third match in a row, USA lost their first wicket on the second ball of their innings as Sushil Nadkarni clipped a leg stump half-volley from Gary Savage straight to Pablo Ferguson at square leg. After Steve Massiah came in and took a single straight away, Orlando Baker departed on the final ball of the first over going for a booming drive to a full length delivery and feathered an edge to the keeper to make it 1 for 2.

Agustin Casime duplicated Savage’s start and in the next over claimed another two wickets for Argentina. Massiah got a bouncer that he tried to hook and managed to tickle it down the leg side for another catch by the keeper Alejandro Ferguson. Three balls later, Carl Wright got a bouncer on the stumps and went for a hook that popped up in the air off his gloves and was taken at first slip by Donald Forrester to make it 3 for 4.

It nearly became 3 for 5 when Lennox Cush clipped the first ball he faced from Savage in the air towards the man at midwicket but it just cleared him by about a yard and raced away to the rope. Steven Taylor was new to the crease with him, but only managed to survive six balls before he played all around a full and straight delivery from Savage to have his leg stump knocked out to mark USA’s fourth duck on the scorecard as the match was in a surreal state at 17 for 5 in the fifth.

“In the morning, I think all of us were shocked,” said Thyagarajan. “I think even the opposition was shocked, media was shocked and we were shocked. I think the umpires were surprised too with what happened. It was just one of those days but again shows the character of our team. We have come back in these situations really well and we just have to work hard for Division 3.”

USA vs. Argentina Post Match Interview with Marshall & Thyagarajan from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Thyagarajan came in and did what he does best to dig USA out of a massive hole. While he blunted Argentina’s bowling attack, Cush launched a counterattack, seizing on anything short and pulverizing it to the boundary. He brought up his 50 in 42 balls in the 16^th over with nine fours and a six at that point. On the very next ball, he fired a rocket back to the bowler Diego Lord, who couldn’t hang onto the catch. After his second six was hit four balls later, Cush was dropped on the next delivery again by Lord when he checked a drive and the ball looped up towards the bowler but Lord couldn’t complete a catch diving forward. Finally with the score on 101 in the 22^nd over, Lord dismissed Cush for 58 as he chased a short and wide ball, clobbering it straight to Matias Paterlini at point who held on to a low catch falling forward and Argentina was feeling good about themselves once again in the field.

But Marshall came in and took the game away for USA, notching his maiden century for the Red, White and Blue. With a greater focus than he demonstrated in the previous two matches, Marshall utilized his full talents to pick up where Cush left off, destroying anything loose from Argentina’s bowlers. The bad balls came often and went even faster to the boundary. He came to the crease with Thyagarajan on 27 and eventually caught up to his teammate in the 40^th over during USA’s batting power play. On his 114^th delivery, Thyagarajan started the over bowled by Lord with a single to move to 65. On the next ball, Marshall clocked a four off a full toss to join him on 65 in only 52 balls. Marshall then celebrated the feat by hitting a six and two fours off the next three balls. By this point in time, Argentina was completely sapped in the field.

“The key thing for me today was shot selection,” said Marshall. “Coach spoke to me this morning and said just choose the shots, select the proper ball and be patient and that was the key.”

Thyagarajan overtook Marshall in the 90s and reached his century first with a late cut to third man. His second century for USA was also his second against Argentina and he got there in 143 balls. He was physically spent, batting for over three hours through the heat and humidity with the temperature into the 90s, and he barely had enough energy to raise his bat upon reaching the milestone. It was an innings that won’t be forgotten anytime soon by those who witnessed it.

After nudging his way through the 90s with singles, Marshall reached his century in 76 balls by yanking a short ball over square leg for six. He added two more sixes in the final over, finishing with six in all, to walk off 122 not out while Thyagarajan came off with him 102 not out. Argentina’s dream start had turned into a nightmare by the time that lunch was served.

“All credit to Marshall and Thyagarajan for an excellent partnership, but it was first started by Cush and Thyagarajan,” said Massiah. “In the end, the result was good.”

USA vs. Argentina Post Match Interview with Massiah from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

USA then got down to business in the field and with renewed vigor after the heroics of Thyagarajan and Marshall, they jumped all over Argentina and never let up. Usman Shuja continued his superb tournament with the ball by claiming two in two to put himself on a hat trick in the fourth over. First to go was Pablo Ferguson for 4. He got a bouncer that he tried to sway out of the way from, but couldn’t move fast enough and the ball popped up in the air off his glove to Nadkarni at first slip. Carlos Gibson came in and tried to defend a back of a length ball on the back foot and inside edged the ball onto his stumps to make it 7 for 2. Tomas Francis saw off the hat trick ball, but Shuja was raring once again.

Darlington supported him at the other end by taking care of Matias Paterlini in the next over for 1 to make it 7 for 3. Paterlini got a riser that clipped the shoulder of his bat going back to defend and sailed to Timroy Allen fielding at third slip, on as a substitute for Thyagarajan. Darlington made it 14 for 4 when he squared up Savage on a good length ball and the edge flew low to Nadkarni at first slip for his second catch.

Argentina’s batsmen looked terrified in the face of the short pitched bowling attack from USA’s openers, frequently backing away and taking blind heaves. Forrester was out for 1 doing exactly that to a good length ball from Shuja and the edge ballooned up to Marshall at point to make it 26 for 5. Darlington took his third when Alejandro Ferguson appeared to hit bat on pad going to defend a good length ball, but the appeal went up and Taylor took the catch behind the stumps to dismiss Ferguson for 4, making it 30 for 6.

Lucas Paterlini arrived and put on an entertaining partnership with Francis, freeing his arms to swing at just about everything that came his way. The two added 49 runs for the seventh wicket before Adrian Gordon was gifted a wicket when Paterlini hit a full toss straight to Baker at long on for 27. Argentina captain Esteban MacDermott came in and gave Francis brief support before his stumps were knocked over by a full and straight delivery from Gordon to depart for 9 with the score now 101 for 8. Francis gave Gordon his third trying to scoop a length ball over Baker, who had moved in to mid on, but couldn’t clear him and Baker teamed up with Gordon for the ninth wicket as Francis was finally out for 32 and the score went to 102 for 9.

Massiah took the final wicket for USA with a loopy off-spinner that Casime missed trying to sweep to be bowled for 3 and Argentina was all out for 110 in 27.2 overs. The final score read just how many would have imagined it at the start of the day, but the journey to get there certainly caught just about everyone by surprise.

“I hope USACA organizes some camps where we all get together and we just have to be much better than what we were in this particular tournament to do well in Division 3 and that’s the key,” said Thyagarajan. “We have to go to Division 2. The team has been together for two years now. You saw players like Marshall, always comes down the order, always scores for America at the crucial time at a really fast pace. We need such players and we have it within us to go to Division 2.”

USA finishes round-robin play at the top of the table and will take on Italy in a rematch for the Division 4 championship at the Ovale del Pianoro on Saturday. Italy advanced to Division 3 with USA after defeating Tanzania by 167 runs. Nepal beat Cayman Islands by 7 wickets and will play Tanzania in the third place game while Cayman Islands and Argentina will face off for fifth place.

Match Scorecard

Argentina vs. USA

USA won by 196 runs

USA won the toss and elected to bat

Man of the Match: A Thyagarajan

USA Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

SS Nadkarni 0 2 0 0 ct P Ferguson b Savage

OM Baker 0 3 0 0 ct A Ferguson+ b Savage

SJ Massiah* 1 3 0 0 ct A Ferguson b Casime

LJ Cush 58 54 9 2 ct M Paterlini b Lord

CD Wright 0 3 0 0 ct Forrester b Casime

SR Taylor+ 0 6 0 0 b Savage

A Thyagarajan 102 146 14 0 not out

RA Marshall 122 84 11 6 not out

Total Extras 23 (2 no balls, 7 byes, 2 leg byes, 12 wides)

Team Total 306 for 6 in 50 overs

Did not bat: KU Shuja, A Gordon, KG Darlington

Fall of wicket: 0/1 (Nadkarni), 1/2 (Baker), 3/3 (Massiah), 4/3 (Wright), 17/5 (Taylor), 101/6 (Cush)

Argentina Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

GJ Savage 10-0-61-3

AL Casime 5-0-22-2

LM Paterlini 10-1-62-0

DM Lord 10-0-78-1

EA MacDermott 10-0-51-0

MJ Paterlini 5-0-23-0

Argentina Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

MJ Paterlini 1 12 0 0 ct sub (Allen) b Darlington

P Ferguson 4 10 1 0 ct Nadkarni b Shuja

C Gibson 0 1 0 0 b Shuja

T Francis 32 52 4 0 ct Baker b Gordon

GJ Savage 2 4 0 0 ct Nadkarni b Darlington

D Forrester 1 9 0 0 ct Marshall b Shuja

A Ferguson+ 4 5 0 0 ct Taylor+ b Darlington

LM Paterlini 27 19 5 0 ct Baker b Gordon

EA MacDermott* 9 13 1 0 b Gordon

DM Lord 5 31 0 0 not out

AL Casime 3 9 0 0 b Massiah

Total Extras 22 (1 no ball, 8 byes, 3 leg byes, 10 wides)

Team Total 110 all out in 27.2 overs

Fall of wicket: 7/1 (P Ferguson), 7/2 (Gibson), 7/3 (M Paterlini), 14/4 (Savage), 26/5 (Forrester), 30/6 (A Ferguson), 79/7 (L Paterlini), 101/8 (MacDermott), 102/9 (Francis), 110/10 (Casime)

USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

KG Darlington 6-1-21-3

KU Shuja 6-0-33-3

A Gordon 8-2-25-3

SJ Massiah 7.2-1-20-1

Teams get ready for ICC WCL Division 4 Tournament in Italy

openingbat — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:09:00 GMT

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The International Cricket Council announced the squads for the six nations competing at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 (WCL Div. 4) 2010 that will take place between 14th and 21st of August. The tournament will be played on artificial turf wickets at Pianaro, Medicina and Bologna in Italy.

Peter Della Penna will travel to Italy and cover USA's matches in the tournament exclusively for DreamCricket.com.

While Nepal and USA have earned their promotion from Division 5 and are strong favorites, the remaining teams - Italy, Cayman Islands, Argentina and Tanzania could still spring surprises as they push ultimately towards inclusion in the next ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (CWCQ) which is scheduled for 2013. The top four finishers of the ICC CWCQ 2013 win themselves a place at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be staged in Australia and New Zealand.

For USA, it is a do-or-die battle as they try to meet their own 15-15 goal of becoming a top 15 cricketing nation by 2015. If USA gets a top-two finish in WCL Division 4, they will proceed to WCL Division 3 to be staged in Hong Kong in January 2011.

[Click here for a previous article titled "WCL Division 4 Preview - The long road to Italy."]

Nepal, which is the top team in this tournament, has been working hard under the guidance of Roy Luke Dias, the former Sri Lankan cricketer who has helped transform the Nepal team during his tenure as the coach. Nepal's national team have been playing top-grade cricket for some months now - beginning with the ACC T20 Cup in UAE in November, the Pepsi World Cricket League Division 5 on home ground in February and the Pepsi One Day National Cricket Tournament in June. When the players, who play on natural turf, were a bit low on confidence about their ability to play on the artificial turf wickets of Italy, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) imported an artificial turf surface before rains intervened.

“We are well prepared in terms of fitness, but the rain has been disrupting our practice sessions,” coach Dias told the nation's top cricket website - Cricket Nepal. Nepal and USA have met on four occasions and the record to date is 2 wins for Nepal, 1 win to USA with 1 match abandoned. Nepal's captain Paras Khadka is optimistic about a repeat of their Division 5 performance in the final match. “We are going to Italy to secure a final berth and then to fight for the title. We should not only hope to win but should be determined for it," he told Cricket Nepal.

Nepal Squad: Paras Kadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Shakti Gauchan, Sharad Vesawkar, Mahesh Kumar Chhetri, Anil Kumar Mandal, Amrit Battarai, Basant Regmi, Binod Kumar Das, Sanjam Regmi, Rahul Kumar Vishwakarma, Mahaboob Alam, Manjeet Shrestha, Pradeep Airee.

USA are seeded second in this tournament and Captain Steve Massiah sounded confident when he told ICC that "We have good knowledge of Nepal who we played against in February and also Cayman Islands and Argentina whom we have regularly played, including as recently as May in ICC Americas Division 1 and we beat them on both occasions. The other two teams we don't know so well, but I'm confident we're prepared and ready to continue moving up the World Cricket League ladder."

The Americans have not practiced as a team ahead of the tournament. But with the cricket season currently in progress, nearly all of the team members have been playing league-level cricket and are in good shape. Lennox Cush (pictured above), who is USA's most experienced cricketer at the international level, represented Guyana in the Caribbean T20 competition where he was the top wicket-taker (11 wickets from 4 appearances). He also took his second T20 hat-trick in the tournament.

USA Squad: Steve Massiah (captain), Muhammad Asad Ghous, Steven Taylor, Rashard Marshall, Sushil Nadkarni, Timroy Allen, Orlando Baker, Carl Wright, Aditya Thyagarajan, Adrian Gordon, Lennox Cush, Khawaja Usman Shuja, Kevin Darlington, Nasir Javed.

Tanzania appears to have taken the tournament more seriously than the remaining teams. The TCA arranged for a Nairobi Select team to play a series of one-day matches in Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania cricket team then left for UK on July 29th as part of their final preparations where they are scheduled to play six matches against local teams including Countesthrope, MCC, Hertfordshire and Sussex 2.

Unfortunately for Tanzania, its top order batsman and legspinner, Athumani Kakonzi, who plays first division cricket in Hertfordshire, is out of reckoning as he recovers from surgery. Three other Tanzanian players play first division cricket in UK - fast bowler Khalil Rehemtulla plays for Abbots Langley Cricket Club and Abhik Patwa plays for Countesthope Cricket Club - both in Leicester. Tanzania skipper Hamzi Abdallah also plays for the same club as Kakonzi - Watford Cricket Club in Hertfordshire. The preparation will hopefully firm up Tanzania's position in Division 4 and may even help them earn a well-deserved promotion. The team nearly got jettisoned out in 2008 but survived thanks to a superior NRR in a 3-way tie.

Tanzania Squad: Hamzi Abdallah (captain), Abhik Patwa, Hasnain Damji, Khalil Rehemtulla, Seif Khalifa, Riziki Kiseto, Kassim Nassoro, Issa Kikasi, Enjo Kiongozi, Shaheed Danani, Rashidi Amiri, Benson Mwita, Harsh Ramaiya, Ally Kimote.

Italy is something of a wild card not counting its home-ground advantage. The Italians have defeated Tanzania and Argentina in the past and appear confident of keeping their place in Division 4. "We have played against Nepal, Cayman Islands, Argentina and Tanzania before, all of which are good teams. However, we have never played the USA, and I believe, they can provide tough competition," Italy's coach Joe Scuderi was quoted as saying on the official website of International Cricket Council (ICC). Australia-born Scuderi played first class cricket for South Australia and English county team Lancashire.

"Most of our players [reside] outside Italy, and have not found the time for preparation. Fortunately, a few from our team are participating in the ICC European Division 1 Championship 2010 in Jersey [in July], and we plan to make the most of it," Scuderi told ICC.

Several Italian cricketers either play or have played professional cricket. Andy Northcote has played first-class cricket in South Africa for the Western Province and his brother, Nicholas, who also plays for Italy has also played top-shelf cricket in South Africa. Another Italian player, Peter Petricola, has played for Middlesex Second. In the European Division 1 tournament last month, Italians earned a surprise victory over Scotland A thanks to a massive second-wicket partnership of 134 between Andy Northcote (72) and Damian Fernando (62).

Italy Squad: Alessandro Bonora (captain), Roshendra Suroshan Abewickrama, Din Alaud, Dilan Shameera Fernando Arsakulasuriya, Damien Crowley, Gayashan Ranga de Silva Munasinghe, Thushara Achintha Kurukulasuriya, Damian Muthunamagonnage Fernando, Andrew Northcote, Nicholas Northcote, Hayden Patrizi dell'Agnello, Peter Petricola, Michael Raso, Stanly Hemantha Samaraweera Kankanamge.

For Cayman Islands and Argentina, which were relegated to Division 4 after finishing poorly in Division Three in 2009, the challenge will be to remain in the fourth division. This is particularly tough for Argentina, having lost to Cayman Islands and USA in all its matches since 2008. Cayman Islands' coach Theo Cuffy said, "We're looking forward to the tournament, it will be the first time to Europe for a number of our team and it's going to be a tough tournament with strong teams, but we're confident we can do well."

Cayman Islands Squad: Saheed Mohamed (captain), Pearson Best, Ryan Bovell, Kervin Ebanks, Paul Chin, Marlon Byran, Ricardo Roach, Jaylon Linton, Abali Hoilett, Conroy Wright, Alassandra Morris, Kevin Bazil, Ramon Sealy, Ronald Ebanks.

Argentina Squad: Esteban MacDermott (captain), Grant Dugmore, Agustin Casime, Alejandro Ferguson, Pablo Ferguson, Donald Forrester, Tomas Francis, Carlos Gibson, Diego Lord, Lucas Paterlini, Matias Paterlini, Pablo Ryan, Gary Savage, Martin Siri.

Schedule

14 August - USA v Nepal (Pianoro); Italy v Cayman Islands (Medicina); Tanzania v Argentina (Bologna)

15 August - Italy v Nepal (Pianoro); Argentina v Cayman Islands (Medicina); USA v Tanzania (Bologna)

16 August - Rest/Reserve Day

17 August - Italy v Argentina (Pianoro); Nepal v Tanzania (Medicina); USA v Cayman Islands (Bologna)

18 August - Cayman Islands v Tanzania (Pianoro); Italy v USA (Medicina); Nepal v Argentina (Bologna)

19 August - Rest/Reserve Day

20 August - USA v Argentina (Pianoro); Cayman Islands v Nepal (Medicina); Tanzania v Italy (Bologna)

21 August - Final (Pianoro); third/fourth play-off (Medicina); fifth/sixth play-off (Bologna)

Picture Courtesy: ICC

World Cricket League Division 4 Preview - The long road to Italy

openingbat — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:26:00 GMT

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World Cricket League Division 4 Preview - The long road to Italy

By Venu Palaparthi

Comments

On paper, based on their ICC ODI rankings, the countries of the ICC Division 4 are all at the same level. Cayman Islands - 25, Argentina - 26, Italy - 27, Tanzania - 28, Nepal - 29, USA - 30. Nothing could be further from the truth. How else can you explain that USA, ranked 10th in 2007, is now ranked a lowly 30th?

They are ranked similarly because they are currently in the same Division, their fortunes fluctuating with the vagaries of the WCL system. Their ranks do not reflect their performances outside of WCL. And some of them have never even played each other in the WCL.

Pic (Right): Lennox Cush in a WCL Division 5 match in Nepal.

It will be some more years before the World Cricket League stabilizes and all the countries find their rightful place in the pecking order. Meanwhile, here's an attempt by DreamCricket.com to seed the teams taking part in Pepsi ICC WCL Division 4 in Italy based on a review of their performances in the regional championships and the WCL.

1. NEPAL: Nepal and USA have been unlikely companions in the World Cricket League. Having started out in the same group as USA in Jersey in 2008 ICC WCL Division 5, Nepal did well to win all their matches in the Group Stage (just like USA). While USA was thrashed by the lowly Jersey in its semis in wholly avoidable circumstances, Nepal was thrashed by the mighty Afghans. Having failed to climb out of Division 5, Nepal (just like USA) was forced to wait until 2010 for another chance. In the Division 5 tournament in 2010, both countries led the pack this time and finished first and second overall earning a promotion to Division 4.

Nepal's superior ranking in DreamCricket.com's estimate is based on results in the two Division 5 tournaments. In 2008, in the third place playoff match in Jersey, Nepal gave USA a massive drubbing bowling USA out for 93. USA returned the favor on February 26, 2010 in a match that was cut short owing to crowd trouble - but not before USA reached the revised target of 157 with 12 overs to spare.

However, in the final the very next day, Nepal, perhaps not inclined to give the crowd another opportunity to express their discontent with stones and assorted missiles, dismissed USA for 172 and went on to reach that target with 5 wickets still in hand. Based on this 2-1 record against USA, Nepal are the top seeds in this tournament. Nepal is also planning a tour of Sri Lanka ahead of the tournament in Italy, a positive step that can only help them with their preparation.

2. USA: USA was shortchanged by its administrators' inability to clean house between 2005 and 2008. After being placed in Division 3 when the WCL system was conceived, thanks to its 10th place finish at the 2005 ICC Trophy, USA was suspended for non-cricketing reasons involving the said administrative machinery.

Upon readmission in 2008, USA was invited to join the league at the bottom of the totempole - Division 5. Once there, USA found it difficult to get out, finishing fourth in the 2008 ICC WCL Division 5 tournament in Jersey owing mainly to an uninspired performance against the hosts in a crucial semi-final match.

Afghanistan, which was in a far worse position, managed to shake off its past and proceeded to take the fast lane to ODI status. USA resumed its upward journey in 2010 with a much improved performance in Nepal finishing second - losing only to the hosts.

Ironically, when USA was suspended in 2005, Cayman Islands took USA's spot in the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2005 and Argentina replaced USA in the ICC WCL Division 3, joining Cayman Islands in that group. USA has not lost a single match to Cayman Islands or Argentina in 5 editions of the ICC Americas Championships beginning 2000, and yet finds itself playing these two countries to regain its place in Division 3.

In Division 4, Nepal will be a hard nut to crack for USA - the Nepalese are no pushovers against USA. The one thing going for USA is that Nepalese cricketers are unaccustomed to the astro-turf wickets in Italy. Natural turf is Nepal's preferred surface but USA has no such luxury and regularly plays on astro-turf and assorted other surfaces!

3. CAYMAN ISLANDS: When WCL was first conceived, the twelve participants of the 2005 ICC Trophy were to be bucketed in Divisions 1 thru 3 according to their ranking in that tournament. In addition, Division 3 had room for a leader from each ICC development region. Since USA, Canada and Bermuda had already booked their berths via the ICC Trophy route, Cayman Islands which was ranked behind these countries in the Americas region was the automatic next choice for Division 3.

To its credit, Cayman Islands retained its Division 3 spot at the end of the 2007 ICC WCL Division 3 tournament in Darwin (Australia) after inflicting defeats on lower ranked Tanzania and Hong Kong. But Caymans could not deliver a repeat performance in the 2009 ICC WCL Division 3 tournament held in Buenos Aries, scoring just one win (against the winless Argentina) and finished among the bottom two, which sent it down one notch to Division 4. Although Cayman Islands lost to Argentina in Bermuda last month, its overall record against Argentina affords Cayman Islands a seeding ahead of Argentina.

4. ITALY: Italy, like Cayman Islands, earned a spot in ICC WCL Division 3 in 2007 because it was the leader among the ICC's European associates - Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and Scotland having already qualified via the ICC Trophy route.

However, its only wins in the 2007 tournament were against Argentina (in a last-ball run out) and Fiji, and it was relegated to Division 4. In ICC WCL Division 4 tournament in 2008 held in Tanzania, it won three matches finishing ahead of Tanzania, Jersey and Fiji, thus retaining its Division 4 position. Italy defeated Argentina in 2007 and Tanzania twice in 2008. This should put them ahead of these two countries in DreamCricket.com's rankings.

5. ARGENTINA: Argentina earned an improbable wildcard entry in Division 3 after USA was suspended in 2007 for non-cricketing reasons. This was possible because they were next in line in Americas as winners of ICC Americas Division 2 championship.

To everybody's surprise, the Argenentians grabbed that opportunity by the horns finishing second in Darwin in 2007. Argentina then moved to ICC WCL Division 2 but then lost the plot completely as evidenced by its downward slide post-Darwin. Argentina finished winless in 2007 ICC WCL Division Two tournament in Namibia and was relegated back to Division 3.

In the Division 3 tournament at home in 2009, Argentina once again finished without a single victory - sending it further down to ICC WCL Division 4. A 13-run victory over Caymans and an improbable tie against the Bahamas in Bermuda will hopefully instill confidence in Argentina. Argentina is proof that to truly defy gravity, you have to both improve and win consistently once you get into the higher divisions like the Afghans have done.

6. TANZANIA: Tanzania, as the leader among the remaining African associates, was placed in Division 3 in 2007. Having lost to all teams except Hong Kong in Division 3, it was relegated to Division 4.

In the Division 4 tournament in 2008, Tanzania was soundly beaten by all teams with the exception of Jersey, which somehow managed to lose to Tanzania after having won against better teams in Division 5 previously. In a three way tie for relegation from Division 4, Tanzania was saved by superior NRR and thus remained in Division 4. Tanzania recently toured Kenya, and although they were beaten in nearly all their matches, the experience should serve them well.

ICC Americas Cricket: USA stages remarkable fightback to upend Argentina by two wickets

openingbat — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:43:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

A soul-crushing eighth wicket stand between Timroy Allen and Orlando Baker was the difference as USA defeated Argentina by two wickets on Friday afternoon at Sea Breeze Oval on the first day of 20-over matches at the ICC Americas Division One Tournament in Hamilton, Bermuda. USA was in dire straits at 105 for 7 after 11 overs but managed to chase a target of 184 with 11 balls to spare due in large part to their 67-run partnership.

Pic (Right): Orlando Baker kept his cool to take USA past Argentina [File photo]

USA won the toss and elected to field first as Baker returned to the USA lineup for Bilal Khan. Argentina lost opener Lucas Paterlini with the score on 15 as he was stumped for 7 by Ashhar Mehdi off the bowling of medium-pacer Moazzam Imtiaz. Grant Dugmore then joined Matias Paterlini at the crease and Dugmore dominated the innings for Argentina. The two put on 46 runs in 5.2 overs before the elder Paterlini was bowled by Muhammad Ghous for 21. Dugmore, who is the 43-year-old CEO of the Argentine Cricket Association, bashed 68 runs in 35 balls, with six fours and five sixes before he was finally dismissed by Lennox Cush in the 12th over to make it 97 for 3.

Donald Forrester then joined Tomas Francis at the crease and the two built Argentina’s biggest partnership of the innings, putting on 63 runs in 5.2 overs before Forrester was out for 32 to Ghous at the end of the 17th over to make it 160 for 4. Alec Ferguson was dismissed two balls later for a duck by Steve Massiah while Francis fell for 35 to Massiah as well with three balls to go in the innings. Martin Siri finished 13 not out while Alejo Tissera walked off with 1 off 1 ball as Argentina made 183 for 6 in their 20 overs.

USA started briskly in pursuit of the runs with Sushil Nadkarni and Carl Wright at the crease, but lost wickets at regular intervals. Wright was the first to go for 17 to Gary Savage with the score on 24 in 2.2 overs. Savage then claimed Cush for 15 to make it 40 for 2 in 4.5 overs. Massiah fell for a second-ball duck to Lucas Paterlini six balls later to make it 51 for 3.

Tissera then made serious inroads on the USA batting order to put Argentina in the driver’s seat. The 19-year-old took his first wicket in the ninth over as Nadkarni fell short of another half-century, caught by Savage for 42 in only 23 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Tissera then had a destructive 11th over when he took three wickets to put USA in a perilous position. Mehdi was out for 8, caught by Siri to make it 100 for 5. On the next ball, Aditya Thyagarajan was stumped off a wide ball for 6. Then on the last ball of the over, Rashard Marshall was out for 1 in 2 balls as USA were reduced to 105 for 7.

Despite the fall of wickets, USA still maintained a solid run rate and if they could keep two men at the crease, they would have a good chance to chase the runs which is exactly what happened. Undeterred by Tissera’s previous over, Allen tore into him for a four and a six in the 13th over while Baker also helped himself to a maximum as Tissera finished his spell giving up 54 runs in four overs to go with his four wickets.

Allen and Baker maintained the asking rate and it seemed they would get USA over the line until Allen was given LBW to Lucas Paterlini for 32 on the first ball of the 18th over with USA still needing 12 to win. Imtiaz then came in and coolly struck a set of boundaries. Imtiaz finished 8 not out as Baker hit the winning runs off the first ball of the 19th over, finishing unbeaten on 28 as USA came out on top.

USA will now take on Canada on Saturday morning in their final Group A match. Canada will have two games in one day as they will also face Argentina in the afternoon.

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.

USA to begin defense of ICC Americas Division One title against Argentina

openingbat — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:17:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

The schedule for the ICC Americas Division One Tournament in Bermuda was released on Tuesday with the news that USA will begin its defense of their 2008 championship with a 50-over match against Argentina on May 28. This year’s event introduces a new format with a Twenty20 tournament following the 50-over round-robin competition.

“I thought that’s a great initiative because taking into consideration we played the World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Dubai without any Twenty20 experience, it’s a great initiative,” said USA captain Steve Massiah. “It’s great because the Associate countries, especially countries like us, we don’t play as much cricket as we’d like or that will help us in our progress.”

The 50-over tournament will take place from May 28-June 3. USA will go up against Canada on May 29 before their first rest day on May 30. USA will take on Bahamas, the 2010 ICC Americas Division Two champion, on May 31 before facing off with 2006 champion and host nation Bermuda on June 1.

USA will then get another rest day on June 2 before four days of intense cricket to finish off the tournament, something which will test the fitness of the squad. On June 3, USA finishes off 50-over round-robin play with a match against Cayman Islands.

“I’m very optimistic and I’m very hopeful,” said Massiah about USA’s chances of repeating their 2008 victory. “We hope to defend our crown. The addition of some new players, hopefully they can grab their opportunity with both hands because some of our key players are missing.”

USA will be heading to Bermuda with six uncapped players. Massiah hopes that the matches against Jamaica this weekend will present an opportunity for the newer players to gel and get used to playing with the seasoned veterans.

“I basically do have a good idea of [Jamaica’s] players and they’re one of the top teams in the Caribbean so it does pose a great challenge for us and hopefully we can use this as preparation for our trip to Bermuda. It’s a totally new squad and hopefully we can bond quickly and become a good unit,” said Massiah. “It’s important to develop some chemistry and make guys understand the roles they’re playing. It’s important for them to understand their responsibilities. It’s important for them to understand what it takes mentally at this level.”

One more addition to the USA squad that will take on Jamaica before heading off to Florida is Steven Taylor. According to a USACA official, the 16-year-old who was the youngest player at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand will be available for both Twenty20 fixtures. Fellow Florida resident Timroy Allen said by phone Tuesday night that he would also be available against Jamaica for Saturday and Sunday only and not Friday’s 50-over contest due to work commitments.

As for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 competition, which begins on June 4, the six teams have been split into two groups of three. USA is paired in Group A with Argentina and Canada while Group B includes Bermuda, Bahamas and Cayman Islands.

USA’s first Twenty20 match will be against Argentina on June 4 with a matchup against Canada the following day. The last day of the event on June 6 will see the semifinals and finals staged as well as a 5th/6th place playoff for the bottom team in each group. The teams that make the semifinals are guaranteed to play two games on the final day barring inclement weather because there is a third place game scheduled in addition to the championship match.

ICC Americas Division One Schedule (Courtesy of ICC Web Site)

50-Over Tournament
May 28
Bermuda vs. Bahamas
Argentina vs. USA
Canada vs. Cayman Islands
May 29
Canada vs. USA
Bermuda vs. Argentina
Cayman Islands vs. Bahamas
May 30 – Rest Day
May 31
Bermuda vs. Cayman Islands
Canada vs. Argentina
Bahamas vs. USA
June 1
Bermuda vs. USA
Bahamas vs. Canada
Argentina vs. Cayman Islands
June 2 – Rest Day
June 3
Bermuda vs. Canada
USA vs. Cayman Islands
Argentina vs. Bahamas

Twenty20 Tournament
June 4
Group A – USA vs. Argentina
Group B – Cayman Islands vs. Bahamas
June 5
Group B – Bermuda vs. Cayman Islands
Group A – Canada vs. USA
Group B – Bermuda vs. Bahamas
Group A – Canada vs. Argentina
June 6
5th vs. 6th Playoff (Group A 3rd place vs. Group B 3rd place)
1st Semifinal (Group A 1st place vs. Group B 2nd place)
2nd Semifinal (Group B 1st place vs. Group A 2nd place)
3rd vs. 4th Playoff (Loser of Semifinal 1 vs. Loser of Semifinal 2)
Final (Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2)

Tour Diary: How USA won the Pepsi ICC Americas Championship

openingbat — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:03:00 GMT

Tour Diary - Imran Khan, Team Manager of USA

The Florida town of Lauderhill hosted the Pepsi ICC Americas Division 1 Championship that included six sides. Defending champions and ODI rated side Bermuda were hoping to make it a second straight victory, whilst Canada another ODI side were favorites to take the title.

The Cayman Islands a regular in the Stanford 20/20 were supposed to be the dark horses of the tournament and Argentina ranked higher than the US could not be taken lightly. Only Suriname who made their debut in ICC Americas were ranked lower than the US in the global ICC rankings.

USA Squad: Back Row -left to right: Clayton Lambert (Coach) Akeem Dodson (W/K) Orlando Baker, Rashard Marshall, Timroy Allen, Robert Cresser,
Aditya Thyagarajan, Shaid Munir, Sudesh Dhaniram, Masood Chick (Physio)
Front Row- left to right: Carl Wright (W/K), Nasir Javed, Sushil Nadkarni (V. Capt), Imran Khan (Manager), Steve Massiah (Capt), Imran Awan, Lennox Cush

Thus, it was on the 25th of November 2008 on the artificial pitch situated outside the Lauderhill stadium that the two lowest ranked sides of the tournament battled head to head in the opening match.

Match 1: USA vs Suriname - The Butcher and the Pfeiffer

USA: S. Massiah, S. Nadkarni, C. Wright, R. Marshall, S. Dhaniram, A. Thyagarajan, O. Baker, T. Allen, I. Awan, N. Javed, S. Munir

It was a mismatch of the greatest proportion as the merciless US batsmen hammered the contemptible Suriname bowling attack into complete annihilation. The batting was dominated by possibly one of the most talented batsmen never to play senior international cricket.

Sushil Nadkarni butchered
the hapless Surinamese for 197.
The first of his back to back
centuries.

Sushil Nadkarni epitomizes the archetypical butcher. He will pounce on anything short, drive anything full and wait patiently for his moment like a predator. He has the full repertoire of shots and the temperament to match his skills. His overall total of 197 in only 132 balls although a phenomenal feat proved conversely to be a heartbreaking score, as he would have become the first man to score 200 in a one day match and thus the 3 runs he failed to make was the only real disappointment of the day.

The innings had begun in earnest but Carl 'Kung Kong' Wright got out for 34 by slamming a long hop straight to cover. Rashard Marshall was the next man in but only managed a solitary single before edging Oemraw to the keeper Mohabir. This brought in the captain Steve Massiah who was looking to open his and the team's account with a resounding victory and put the disaster of Jersey behind them.

His stand of 159 with Sushil all but destroyed any hopes that the detractors may have had at the fall of the second wicket and took the score to 270 before getting out to a swinging Yorker from Goekal for a stroke filled 62. Nadkarni continued to plunder the Surinam attack and was supported by the graceful Dhaniram who made a run a ball 20. Nadkarni eventually fell three runs short of a double century when he went hunting for a boundary and only managed to pull a short of a length ball high to Dohkhie at square leg. His innings contained 9 sixes and 22 fours. The final score for the USA was an outstanding 365, the tournaments highest team total. In reply the Surinam batting order offered little, if any, resistance to the raw US pace attack lead by Timroy Allen who took outstanding figures of 5/7.

Timroy Allen returned
excellent figures of
Five for 7

The Suriname grand total was 60 of which 23 were extras! Thus of the bat they scored only 37. It was a clinical performance from a side placed in the 5rh division of the ICC league tables. Sushil Nadkarni was deemed Man of the Match for his 197.

After the conclusion of the match, comments made by observers and officials suggested that the US side may have more to offer than was accredited to them before the onset of the tournament. USA had proven itself to be a ruthless side that took no prisoners and offered no hope to any opponent once they were in a position to dictate the match.

Match 2: USA vs Argentina - Nadkarni does it again

USA: S. Massiah, S. Nadkarni, C. Wright, R. Marshall, S. Dhaniram, A. Thyagarajan, L. Cush, T. Allen, I. Awan, N. Javed, A. Dodson

The second day match against the Argentineans was supposed to be a tricky affair as Argentina was ranked above the US and play in a higher division of the World Cricket League.

The US decided to include Lennox Cush and Akeem Dodson the reserve keeper for this match-up and gave rest to Munir and Baker.

The match was played at the Brian Piccolo Park on a turf wicket. Argentina won the toss and elected to bat first. A decision they soon came to rue as Imran Awan accounted for Ferguson early and wickets fell at regular intervals as all the bowlers cashed in on a feeble Argentinean batting line up. Only the kiwi player coach Hamish Barton stood strong to score an excellent 74. Awan and Javed took 2 wickets apiece and all the bowlers chipped in with wickets as Argentina finished on 200/8 of their 50 Overs.

In reply it was if Nadkarni had scripted the whole play himself. He came out and blasted 109 from only 106 balls with 12 fours and 3 sixes to win the match in only 37 Overs by 7 wickets. He was well supported by his opening partner Wright who scored 24, but for the second successive match lost his concentration and gave his wicket away when he had just got going.

Rashard Marshall again failed to go past the lonely single and was slightly unlucky in being adjudged LBW. Thus the old timers Massiah and Nadkarni joined together to cement a 95 run partnership that effectively all but ended the contest. Massiah needlessly got out towards the end but the writing was on the wall and Dhaniram and Nadkarni ensured a second successive victory for a US side that was increasingly getting sharper and more potent as the tournament progressed.

Nadkarni was named man of the match for his wonderful undefeated hundred.

Match 3: USA vs Bermuda - The Thanksgiving Massacre

USA: S. Massiah, S. Nadkarni, C. Wright, R. Marshall, S. Dhaniram, A. Thyagarajan, O. Baker, L. Cush, I. Awan, N. Javed, S. Munir

This was the first big match of the tournament and according to many experts the US was going to be taught a real lesson and any ideas of grandeur would be extinguished by the ODI rated side and world cup campaigners Bermuda.

The match was once again played at the Brian Piccolo Park and Bermuda won the toss but surprisingly elected to field. An indication that no matter what the pundits felt the Bermudan dressing room was rather apprehensive about this US side and thus took to defensive maneuverings straight from the offset.

The US had brought back Baker and Dodson made way for the swing bowler Munir. The US started well and the first wicket partnership of 44 between Wright and Nadkarni set the stage for a battle. However, Nadkarni departed earlier than anticipated for 16 as he chased a wide half volley and nicked it behind. Lennox Cush who had come in for Baker joined Wright for a partnership of 40 that was slow in its momentum but prevented any more losses up front.

However, within the space of 40 runs Cush (31), Wright (33) and Massiah (17) all got out by trying to up the ante. The scorecard began to reflect a rather meager effort thus far, 116 for 5 from 30 overs bowled. The Bermudans were now on top and their vocal supporters made no effort to hide their glee.

However, what the US team banks on is the depth of their squad and in particular their batting order. For the sixth wicket partnership brought together a contrasting pairing in the rather subdued but methodological Aditya Thyagarajan and the destructive yet explosive Rashard Marshall. However, the formbook was against Marshall as he had only scored 2 runs in two games and Aditya had spent less than an over at the crease. Therefore, the US batting line would now be tested to its fullest extent and the US motto of 'cometh of the hour; cometh of the men' would finally come into fruition.

Aditya Thyagarajan after
completing an amazing
innings turnaround.

Initially Marshall and Thyagarajan played cautiously to rebuild and when the time came to party, boy! did they they let lose. Marshall in particular was severe as he thrashed the Bermudan attack to all parts of the park. He smashed an incredible 6 sixes and 3 fours in his whirlwind knock of 71 from only 59 balls. Thyagarajan who was cool, calculated and calm to the finish dropped anchor and supported Marshall for a fine 42 that was worth double its value. Both batsmen lost their wickets towards the end but the damage had been done and the US had recovered and revived their hopes of victory by posting an unbelievable final total of 260/7 of their allocated 50 overs.

Rashard Marshall's 59
ball 71 changed the
whole tempo of
the match

The shell shocked Bermudans had watched the match slip away in the field and when they came out to bat their fate was instantly made apparent as they were reduced to 26/2. The US utilizing a strategic attack more akin to their military, shocked and awed the Bermudans as Awan was let loose on the top order. He bowled with pace, accuracy and consistency to subdue the batters into avoiding his end and scraping for non-existent singles. Eventually though Cann and Outridge survived the initial burst and put on an 80 run partnership that seemed to offer some form of resistance. However, the most impressive facet of this US side as hammered into their psyche by coach Clayton Lambert is the virtue of patience. Wait, be patient, anticipate the moment and then pounce to finish of your opponents like a hunter.

The score was on a dangerous 109/2 from 30 overs when Cann pulled a short of length ball to the square leg boundary and called Outridge through for what seemed an easy single at the very least.

In a single moment Rashard Marshall summed up what this US team was and is all about! Marshall sprinting to the ball picked up the ball in a solitary motion and threw the ball a good 70 yards flat as a whistle to knock down the single stump that would have been visible in his line of sight! Sheer class, brilliance and the result of a drilled set of skills as drummed into these men by Mr. Lambert.

The Bermudans were stunned and went from 109/2 to 129/5 before being blown away by Awan (3/16) for a paltry 168. The US had secured its third victory on the bounce and the holders had been thrashed beyond doubt. â€¨

It proved to be an ironic encounter as it was held on Thanksgiving Day and thus some of the players dubbed the match 'The Thanksgiving Massacre'.

The tables had turned and the ranking system became a mockery, as reputations were buried in Florida by this rampant US side.

Match 4: USA vs Canada - Oldest Rivalry

USA: S. Massiah, S. Nadkarni, C. Wright, R. Marshall, S. Dhaniram, A. Thyagarajan, O. Baker, L. Cush, I. Awan, N. Javed, S. Munir

On Saturday 29th November the Lauderhill Stadium built for the 2007 world cup played host to the oldest international rivalry in international cricket. The US was finally allocated a match at the stadium against the ODI outfit Canada. Both teams had recently toured Guyana to take part in the WICB Presidents Cup and thus were familiar with each other's form and style.

Both teams were coming into the match on a perfect winning streak but the US held a slight psychological advantage as they had just beaten Bermuda and thus a victory over the Canadians would almost guarantee the championship.

It was a tense affair on a wonderful day for cricket. The better team would no doubt decide the ultimate conclusion of the match on the day but the playing conditions would be a factor. The outfield seemed lush but slightly heavy and the wicket was clearly prepared to deceive more by chance than design.

Steve Massiah won the toss for the US and elected to have a bat first up. Umar Bhatti the Canadian skipper did not seem disappointed as he was the opening bowler for his side and probably fancied the stadium surface early in the morning.

The US innings began with some caution but disaster struck in the third over of the day as the left arm Bhatti bowling at a brisk pace nipped one delivery back into the left handed Nadkarni who had decided to leave the ball and was bowled shouldering arms, 3/1 from three Overs. The worst possible start for the US as the prolific Nadkarni was back in the dresser before any significant play had commenced. One down for the US was the Stanford 20/20 star Lennox Cush. On arriving to the wicket he was greeted by the on-field umpires who wanted to query the legitimacy of his bat.

As deliberation ensued and the matter seemed to have been resolved and Cush geared up to face his first delivery and was instantly rapped on the pads by Bhatti and the Canadian contingents from fine leg, to square cover all went up in unison to ask the question, beg for the decision and demand a result. As Cush stared in disbelief, the umpire's finger rose high and handsome to send him back as quickly as he had come. US were staring down a long barrel, 3/2 from only three overs bowled.

A point was made to myself that a few of the officials from various bodies that represent global cricket and the Americas region were seen to be cheering and sniggering at the possibility of a US defeat. The word used was possible and the opposite of that is impossible.

The US camp felt it impossible to lose no matter what the circumstance as the squad was brimming with outstanding talent right the way through. Clayton Lambert reminded his men that the wicket was a slow low wicket that would not be conducive to large totals and anything in excess of 150 would stand the US in good stead. How sound this advice and analysis was would be proven true as the day unfolded its drama and pursed the lips of those who laughed first.

Carl Wright having only faced a handful of deliveries was joined by his captain and together they attempted a fight back by utilizing the only form of defense they knew, attack. Massiah cut, drove and looked to be edging towards an innings of some substance when a low skidder from Osinde failed to gain any sort of height and hit Massiah low on his pads and the umpire hesitated not to confirm Osinde's appeal and leave the US at a precarious 38/3 from 10 overs. Massiah had looked fairly set and had struck 4 boundaries in his 22 on a difficult track, so his loss was crucial. However, the US batting keeps going and going and Wright was now joined by Dhaniram who stood for 10 overs and prevented the loss any further wickets.

With the score at a paltry 59, Dhaniram was the next victim for 5 and the US looked in dire straits. The Canadians were now ecstatic as they cheered on every ball and looked the ODI team that they were supposed to be. However, the US team is built like a tactical military unit that carries specialists, experts, men for all occasions and situations. Aditya Thyagarajan the hero against Bermuda typifies the US approach and was the ideal candidate to be tasked with the proposition to see out the innings and shut out one end. He strode out to join the lonesome Carl Wright and put on a 27 run partnership.

With the score on 86/5 Wright who had battled for his 40 runs, almost half the team total attempted a flat bat pull only for the ball to keep low and succeeded in dragging the ball onto his stumps. Rashard Marshall was the next man in and lasted only 3 balls when he was adjudged LBW. Marshall's luck had again failed him for the ball seemed to clearly be missing a second set of stumps.

The score was 88/6 and the Canadians had the match in the bag. The strange thing is that for all the noise and smirking remarks by various aficionados the US camp was quietly confident as they knew that walking in at number 8 was Orlando Baker, the regular US opener who had some issues with his form and thus was placed lower down the order. This day would be an ideal time for him to regain his form. The man is a fighter and someone I would select before anyone on any day. He has all the qualities that you require in a complete cricketer.

He possesses an excellent technique, has the experience and the ability to excel in any facet of the game. His 105 run partnership in 19 overs with Aditya Thyagarajan was possibly the best comeback innings played by any pairing this year. Aditya played every ball on merit, kept the scoreboard ticking over with smart singles, hard running and effortless stroke play when required.

As his innings progressed he began to dominate the Canadian attack and finished on a scintillating 84 not out from 99 deliveries faced. While Orlando Baker complimented his partner with a rearguard innings whereby he dropped anchor and rotated the strike to further frustrate the Canadians into opening up spaces all over the field and presenting more opportunities for quick runs. Eventually Baker was out for an excellent 38 in the 49th over and the damage had been complete. Aditya saw the innings out for a final score of 201 that would present a momentous challenge for the Canadians. The wicket was getting slower and lower and cracks had begun to appear.

The opening stand for Canada between Sandeep Jyoti and Asif Mullah was a solid affair as they put on 44 run stand and edged Canada towards the final total. The partnership was just getting troublesome for Americans when Imran Awan who had bowled so magnificently both in Guyana and the Americas championship managed to trap Mullah in front for 18 and the US had the breakthrough that they so badly needed. The US knew that they had the runs on the board and the Canadians would be under pressure if wickets fell regularly. Enter then into the fray Orlando Baker.

Bowling at a slippery pace that batsmen can never get completely comfortable against he began to swing and seam the ball to magnificent effect. The seriousness of this match was reflected in the measures that the Canadians took to prepare for this encounter. They flew in their key player Ashish Bagai who was in London just for this clash but that may have placed added and unnecessary pressure on him as Baker uprooted his stumps and sent him back for a solitary single and the score read 56/2 from 17 overs bowled.

As Baker found his rhythm he was ably assisted by the spinners Cush (0/24), Dhaniram (1/10 from 10 overs) and Javed (1/14) who tied up one end and let Baker blow steam at the other.

Orlando Baker man
of the match for a vital 39
and incredible bowling
spell of 5/31.

Baker ripped through the Canadian top order and accounted for Sandeep, Ali, Dhaniram (Sudesh Dhaniram's brother) and Chonanan in his 10 over stint that effectively blew away any Canadian hope of recovery or serious assault on the target. Baker finished with man of the match figures of 5/31 and proved why he was probably the best all rounder in the world at this level of cricket. With the score at 108/8 the game was effectively over and it was left to Imran Awan to cement victory by tearing apart the tail and claiming fantastic figures of 3/14. The Canadians were 120 all out and the US had won its second successive game against an ODI side by 81 runs.

The US team had it seemed achieved the impossible and won 4 out of 4 to all but claim the Americas for the second time in their history. However, the manner in which they achieved their feat is unprecedented as they smashed all opposition they encountered and proved that this US team was probably the best to ever play in the competition period.

Match 5: USA vs Caymans - Playing for a sweep

With the championship secured the US was playing for a perfect record and a point to prove when they took on the Caymans at Brian Piccolo Park. The other match that was being held at the stadium between Bermuda and Canada was for all intents and purposes was supposed to be the final but that projection had been written well out of the script by Lamberts boys.

The Caymans play in the Stanford 20/20 cup and are thus seasoned campaigners. However, they were up against a runaway train in the US and the inevitable was only delayed due to the prolongations of time and physics.

If anyone felt that this US team may ease off the gas and wallow in their glorious achievements from the night before than they were in for a grand surprise. This team has been built to win and focus on each match as a battle for pride, reputation, glory and the ultimate prize of becoming champions. The eye of the team has been channeled to see only the prize and each run, ball and moment of the match is a step closer to that goal.

Thus, on a blustery rain soaked morning the Caymans won the toss and elected to field. The thinking one can only assume is that they fancied bowling out the US on a damp wet wicket. Sushil Nadkarni and Carl Wright obviously were not privy to the Cayman strategy because they put on a record first wicket partnership of 194. The Caymans attack was simply swept away like a Floridian hurricane. Nadkarni and Wright bludgeoned the Cayman attack into the ground as the beleaguered islanders mopped about in the field one could not help sense that the tour was probably one match too many for them and the sun and comforts of home were taking precedence over any cricket match at this point.

From the US perspective Nadkarni fell 16 short of his third century in 5 matches for 84 but had done enough to secure the tournament, his accolade as the best bat and the MVP award for his consistency and brutality on the hapless attacks that were presented before him.

Carl 'Kung Kong' Wright

Carl 'Kung Kong' Wright more than any other player deserved a century and the final day's play finally rewarded him with the three figures that all the team prayed so hard for him to achieve. Carl is an effervescent character, a one in a million find that one's imagination could not even conjure. He is 100 percent a team man and a soldier for the cause. However, what stands him apart from anyone else in the side is his heart! He is brave, solid and stout. His courage and attitude is one the major factors behind why this team has gelled and performed the way it has.

Carl is more akin to a warrior on the front line who charges into battle on his own initiative and spirit. His mere presence is an inspiration and at time one cannot be faulted for accusing him of getting bored when the challenge is not up to his extremely high standard and danger. His hundred was a fine knock that produced every stroke in the book and the poor Cayman bowling fell victim to a man on a mission. Carl eventually got out for 112 but could have a had a few more tons if he had been challenged mentally.

At the fall of his wicket Massiah, Dhaniram and Marshall ensured that the US posted a reasonably large total of 297 in only 49 overs due to the rain.

The Caymans were always up against it from the start and detailing the innings would be a futile exercise that may bore more than excite. Due to rain, wind and the US bowling attack the Caymans had limped to a meager 65/5 from 25 overs when the match was called off. Everyone thanked the Lord (including the Caymans I think!) for not subjecting us to any more of this tedium in such harsh conditions.

The US had won all 5 matches and were now quite rightly crowned the kings of the Americas!

Capt. Massiah lifts the cup