USA Cricketer : Canada

Another opportunity missed for USA as the Netherlands enters 2012 Caribbean T20

openingbat — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:38:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

Along the news wire this morning were articles announcing that both Canada and the Netherlands were invited and accepted the opportunity to participate in January’s Caribbean T20 tournament to be held in Trinidad and Barbados. Another way to interpret the story is that two Associate members will be participating in the Caribbean T20 tournament but the USA is not one of them, despite belonging to the same ICC Region where the tournament is being conducted.

This will be the third time Canada is participating in the tournament while it’s the first time for the Netherlands. USA was passed over for the July 2010 event In favor of Canada, which took place only a month and a half after USA had beaten Canada to claim the inaugural ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in Bermuda. In the next Caribbean T20 which took place the following January, Canada was once again invited ahead of the USA. Last November, USACA President Gladstone Dainty was asked why Canada was getting these opportunities while the USA was not.

“I speak with the President of the West Indies board very frequently and the CEO of the West Indies board, a great man,” said Dainty. “That thing with Canada and the T20 or whatever, once again we were preparing to go to Italy at the same time so it made the West Indies board easier, made the decision easier to invite Canada rather than the United States. At the time, we were contacted and we didn’t necessarily decline, but they knew that it would present a financial hardship because you gotta remember the players we have, they’ve got jobs.” The excuse for not getting involved in the tournament last January was that the dates conflicted with USA’s involvement in ICC World Cricket League Division Three, a perfectly legitimate excuse. What is the reason USA hasn’t gotten involved this time around?

It’s doubtful that USA actually received an invite for next January’s event. Why would the West Indies want to sully the reputation of their tournament and lower the overall playing standard by inviting a team that was demoted to Division Four of the World Cricket League this year instead of inviting two teams that are in Division One and participated this year in the ICC World Cup? Not only did USA sink from Division Three to Division Four on the WCL ladder, they entered the most recent ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 as the defending champs on home soil but could only muster a second place finish to a second-string Canada side.

Those less than desirable results are a byproduct of the absence of a clearly defined mission from USACA for USA’s teams and more importantly, a pathway toward achieving such a mission. When Canada participated in the first Caribbean T20, the squad they sent was far from a first choice unit, but they utilized the event as an opportunity to give some of their younger players valuable experience against good opposition. The experience players obtain in events like this and the Intercontinental Cup has gone a long way toward providing Canada a solid pool of players they can call on to fill in and perform without a dip in the overall quality of the team. This was clear from their dominance in Fort Lauderdale over the summer.

KNCB (Netherlands Cricket Board) CEO Richard Cox said that, “Undoubtedly this is another significant move in our preparation for the international playing program,” in regard to the Netherlands getting a chance to participate in January’s Caribbean T20. What is USACA doing in preparation for its international program? They will be playing in the same ICC World T20 Qualifier in March that Canada and the Netherlands are in, but they will be doing it without the same level of preparation.

Some people may argue that there is a plan in place for USA, one which consists of having local players improve their skills by participating alongside and against elite level international players in a New Zealand Cricket backed Twenty20 league that is planned to kickoff next summer. Money acquired from TV rights and sponsorships of the league will then help fund grassroots and infrastructure development to make USA national teams better. There is a problem with part of that plan though. USA’s players are currently incapable of competing in such a league without severely embarrassing themselves. Very few companies will be eager to sponsor a sports league where the source of entertainment winds up being unintentional slapstick comedy when the actual aim was to demonstrate athletic brilliance.

At the tournament awards banquet for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 in July, Dainty got up in front of the six teams present and reminded everyone that USACA had big plans to start a Twenty20 league with the first match getting underway in the summer of 2012. According to Dainty’s calculations, there would be six teams with about 16 players on each roster. The intention was that half of them would be Test level standard players from overseas and the other half would potentially be Associate players from the Americas region. However, he bluntly stated that he did not feel there were anywhere near 48 players from the region capable of participating in the league without severely bringing down the standard of play and told those present that they needed to step up their games if they wanted to be a professional player with a contract in the league.

So what is USACA doing for its own players to help bridge that gap? What has USACA done since July to help develop players to get them ready to play in this league? What opportunities is USACA creating for its national team to make people confident that they can not only make a serious run in Dubai to qualify for next year’s ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, but also reverse course in the World Cricket League to get USA going in the right direction back toward Division One?

After winning the ICC Americas U-19 championship in February, USACA sat on their hands for months before throwing the USA U-19 team to the wolves against the West Indies U-19, setting the team up for disaster weeks later at the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. Do they have a similar plan in mind to prepare players for participation in a Twenty20 league? Play club cricket once a week on substandard fields against out of shape men in their 40s right before facing up against Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor? How is a promising talent like Hammad Shahid supposed to do anything but come up short in a potential showdown with Brendon McCullum when he’s spending a good chunk of his time helping out at his family’s car dealership?

These things never get addressed because USACA’s administrative tussles continue to get in the way. Instead of using their time to focus on preparing players for success and arranging opportunities for talent to improve, USACA administrators choose to squabble like a group of kindergartners moaning to their teacher because Jimmy won’t share his set of Legos for everyone else to play with. Fans do not show up at grounds to see administrators. They show up to see the players.

USA’s players and fans do not strive to be embarrassed on the field, but it’s happened a few times in 2011 because of the kamikaze approach of the administration and it’s in danger of happening again with teams at every level, first and foremost with the way the women's team is being treated ahead of the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier next month. There’s also the possibility that USA won’t even get the chance to do good or bad on the field next year if the ICC decides they’ve had enough of the board room shenanigans and lay down another suspension. Either way, USA will continue to go in the wrong direction until administrators put players first and develop a plan that gives teams a clearly defined vision with an achievable target to aim for. The Netherlands, Canada and so many other Associate countries appear to have that. There’s no reason the USA shouldn’t either.

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

USA Cricket: Bermuda beats Canada; USA takes 1st place on tiebreaker at 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division

openingbat — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:12:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation

Alex Dore’s 51 at the top of the Bermuda innings helped his side post a comfortable target to defend in a 20-run win over Canada on Friday in the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dore was named Man of the Match for his knock which included eight boundaries. The win created a three-way tie between Bermuda, Canada and USA at 2-2. USA was named tournament champions based on a superior net run rate with Canada finishing second and Bermuda third.

Bermuda won the toss and elected to bat first on a sunny and windy morning in Winnipeg. Dore and Keishun Smith put Bermuda on the path to victory by producing the best opening partnership of the tournament, 53 runs in 7.5 overs. They were aided in large part by a costly first over bowled by Canada U-15 captain Prushoth Senathirajah, who conceded 15 extras and 22 runs by the time six legitimate balls were bowled. Smith finally left for 11 when he chased a wide delivery from Abrash Khan and edged behind to wicketkeeper Sarbjot Singh.

Dore built another half-century stand with Delray Rawlins for the second wicket and in the process reached his half-century off 66 balls, but he departed one ball later after trying to cut off-spinner Gayan Ferdinands and gave a simple edge to Singh. The keeper took his third catch and brought Ferdinands his second wicket when Rawlins tried to play the same shot to a quicker delivery to go for 17 and the score became 121 for 3 after 20.

Bermuda had looked set to post a score well in excess of 200, but went through a rapid decline thanks to the continued efforts of Canada’s spin attack. Leg-spinner Manula Adihetly got into the act in the next over when he bowled Bermuda U-15 captain Antonio Darrell through the gate for a duck to make it 124 for 4. Ferdinands then took his third when he had Joshua Commissiong caught at point for 16. Two balls later, Adihetly had Janhoi Bean-Wilson caught for 6 at long on as Bermuda started to crumble at 138 for 6. Ferdinands made it 139 for 7 in the next over when Detre Bell left without scoring as he tried to punch off the back foot to another quicker ball and gave Singh his fourth catch.

For the second time in the week, a controversy involving Bermuda sprung up when Micah Perozzi was given out obstructing the field on the second ball of the 28th over to make it 147 for 8. Perozzi defended a full delivery from Ferdinands toward silly point. While the ball was still bouncing, Singh came out from behind the stumps to pick it up, but as he leaned down to field Perozzi kicked the ball away from him. The ball was not bouncing toward the stumps so the action taken by Perozzi was not done in defense of his wicket. Singh then asked the umpires, “Howzat?” Both umpires entered into a discussion and asked Senathirajah if he wanted to withdraw Canada’s appeal. Singh then appealed again and with no objection coming from Senathirajah, Perozzi was given out. Perozzi began gesturing at both umpires while a member of the Bermuda management ran out onto the field to protest but the umpires stayed with the decision.

Joshua Gibbons-Wade was the ninth wicket to fall with the score on 155 when he edged Adihetly to Senathirajah at slip for 10. The last wicket pair of Khalif Williams and Joshua Liyanage added 19, the most outside of the first two partnerships, before Williams was caught slogging at deep midwicket for 14 off the bowling of left-arm spinner Kurt Ramdath and Bermuda was bowled out for 174 in 33.5 overs.

Bermuda came out to field with very aggressive body language and didn’t hold back from sledging. Tensions were on the rise after the Perozzi dismissal and on the first ball of the chase, Gibbons-Wade delivered a neck high full toss at Harsh Thakar. In the next over, the keeper Bean-Wilson gave a shoulder barge into Thakar while fielding a throw. The umpires once again drew the ire of the Bermuda management staff off the field when they approached Darrell to have a word about controlling his players increasingly poor behavior, which was evident all week long.

The opening stand ended at 31 when Ramdath was caught for 13 slogging the left-arm spin of Rawlins to Perozzi at long on. Things got even uglier after Perozzi completed the catch when he started a celebration which involved him turning to the Canada bench to start shooting an imaginary machine gun while yelling out, “Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!” The Bermuda team then went to the boundary edge to welcome the new batsman Bradley Dickson, with all 11 fielders surrounding him and chatting to him all the way to the crease which prompted one of the Canada management members to yell out, “Stay away from my batsman!”

Canada’s chase failed to regain momentum as Bermuda took wickets at regular intervals from there. Dickson was caught down the leg side for 9 trying to guide a short delivery from Rawlins past the keeper to make it 49 for 2. Four balls later, Senathirajah was out for a duck when he hit a full toss from Rawlins to Darrell at mid off. Williams came on and removed Thakar for 17 when he drove the off-spinner low to Dore at short cover to make it 57 for 4.

In a week that saw one batsman timed out and another dismissed obstructing the field, it was only fitting that Ferdinands was out hit wicket for 8 when he swung too hard at a leg side wide from Perozzi only to miss the ball and have his bat hit the stumps on the follow through to make it 72 for 5. Khan made 18 to overtake USA’s Vibhav Altekar as the tournament’s leading scorer, but fell to Perozzi when he hit a full toss to midwicket as Canada’s best partnership came to an end at 33 to make it 105 for 6 in the 26th.

Amrinder Atwal was the next to go for 1 when he tried to flick Williams through midwicket but instead sent a leading edge back to the bowler to make it 106 for 7. Miraj Patel fought valiantly with Adihetly to produce a 30-run stand for the eighth wicket as the two gave Canada a glimmer of hope at winning the match and taking the tournament title. Patel top scored for Canada with 41 and finished as their second highest scorer on the week behind Khan, but after hitting seven boundaries he was finally bowled by a slower ball from Gibbons-Wade after going through with a pull shot too early.

Canada still needed 39 runs to win with only two wickets left in hand. Darrell brought himself on and had Adihetly caught behind swishing at a good length ball for 11 to make it 152 for 9 in the 36th as Canada needed 23 to win in 26 balls. The USA team was now present at the field in advance of the tournament awards presentation and cheering for Bermuda to win, which would produce a three-way tie and give USA the tourney title on the net run rate tiebreaker. Perozzi obliged by removing Neil Ramdath for 3, caught behind for Bean-Wilson’s third catch to end the match as Canada was bowled out for 154 in 36.4 overs.

Image (above) - The tournament champion USA U-15 squad. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

At the tournament awards presentation, Canada took home three of the awards and USA one while Bermuda’s players received none of the individual honors. Sarbjot Singh was named Best Wicketkeeper after completing 11 dismissals behind the stumps, five more than the next best keeper. Abrash Khan was named Best Batsman after scoring 142 runs in four innings including a top score of 77 vs. Bermuda. Gayan Ferdinands was named Best Bowler after taking 12 wickets on the week at an average of 9.67. His best performance was 5 for 36 against USA and he also had a 3.63 economy rate.

USA U-15 captain Dave Parikh was named Tournament MVP. Parikh scored the second most runs for USA with 108, tied for fourth overall in the tournament with Bermuda’s Alex Dore, and also took seven wickets to lead USA in the category and tied with three other bowlers for second overall. Parikh also had the best economy rate of all bowlers in the tournament with 2.63 runs per over. Parikh’s performance of 67 not out and 4 for 6 in eight overs against Canada played a major part in boosting USA’s net run rate way ahead of Bermuda and Canada to ensure they won the tournament tiebreaker.

USA Cricket: Makin's 65 not enough as USA falls to Bermuda by 24 runs at 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division

openingbat — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:11:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation

Medium pacer Christion Gibbons-Wade dashed USA’s hopes of chasing the biggest total of the tournament with 5 for 35 as Bermuda defeated USA by 24 runs on Wednesday in the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Gibbons-Wade was named Man of the Match for his crucial spell in the field along with an efficient innings of 23 not out in 11 balls. USA suffered their first loss to go to 2-1 while Bermuda registered their first win to go to 1-2, now tied for second with Canada.

Bermuda won the toss and elected to bat first on a warm and very windy day. Rutvij Bhise made the first breakthrough for USA when Keishun Smith was hit on the toe by a yorker and given LBW for 1 to make it 8 for 1 in the third over. All-rounder Delray Rawlins joined Joshua Commissiong at the crease and the two built an attritional 74-run partnership for the second wicket. Commissiong went through stretches of 12 and 14 deliveries without scoring while Rawlins was even more defensive, enduring a period of 20 straight dot balls early in his innings as extras were the only way to keep the scoreboard ticking for Bermuda. After 16 overs, the score was 36 for 1.

However, the scoring rate began to surge dramatically beginning in the 17th over when Rawlins attacked Vibhav Altekar with a boundary and a six hooked behind square as part of an 18-run over. Another 12 were taken off the following over bowled by leg-spinner Mihir Athavale as the Bermuda batsmen gained confidence. Both men looked set for a long stay at the crease until Commissiong ran himself out for 17 when he smacked a delivery from left-arm spinner Brandon Dat straight to Athavale at cover and set off for a run. Rawlins rightly stayed put and the throw from Athavale to Gordon Makin over the stumps was there in plenty of time to make it 82 for 2 in the 20th.

Rawlins departed six balls later for 39 when he slogged leg-spinner Vivek Narayan to deep midwicket where Altekar held on to a simple catch. Bermuda U-15 captain Antonio Darrell was out for a duck in the 21st over to make it 84 for 4 when he played across a flighted delivery from Dat and was hit on the back leg to be given LBW.

Just when it appeared that USA was back in control, Alex Dore and Janhoi Bean-Wilson produced another solid partnership for Bermuda, 59 runs for the fifth wicket. The two batsmen cruised along with ones and twos before targeting Narayan and Dat for 10 runs each in the 28th and 29th over to hit them out of the USA attack. Dore was unlucky to be given LBW for 24 to make it 143 for 5 on the first ball of the 35th when he appeared to be hit on the thigh while playing back to a good length ball from Athavale. Bean-Wilson was run out five balls later for 30 when he tried to steal a run off a misfield but Rohit Mogalayapalli recovered in time to fire a throw to Makin over the stumps as Bermuda fell to 147 for 6 after 35.

It appeared that USA was on the verge of bowling Bermuda out, but Detre Bell and Gibbons-Wade unleashed a stunning counterattack in the next four overs. The pair added 64 runs from the 36th to the 39th as they punished the USA attack for continuously bowling a leg-stump line. Momentum swung dramatically when Bell pulled Mogalayapalli for four straight boundaries behind square on the first four balls of the 36th over.

Bhise only conceded 10 runs off his first five overs, but gave up 20 after coming back on for a second spell in the 38th. The over ended in controversy when Bell was awarded a boundary while USA’s fielders claimed he had been bowled. Due to the high winds throughout the innings, the bails kept on falling off the stumps and after a certain point in time the umpires elected to play on without the bails. Bell walked across his stumps to flick a good length ball from Bhise and the delivery appeared to shave leg stump before traveling to the fine leg boundary. After a discussion between the two on-field umpires, the original signal of four was upheld.

Bhise got his revenge on the first ball of the 40th when Bell pulled a full toss to Mogalayapalli at deep midwicket for 37. Two byes were stolen during the over but no more runs came off the bat as Bermuda finished on 213 for 7 in 40 overs. Extras top scored in the innings with 42 including 30 wides as USA’s bowlers never fully adjusted to the gusty conditions.

Compared to Bermuda’s start, USA batted positively to stay in line with the asking rate throughout the chase. Unlike Bermuda though, they failed to build enough quality partnerships to keep the fielding side under pressure. Karanjit Singh was bowled by Joshua Liyanage for 6 to make it 22 for 1 in the seventh when the batsman failed to connect with an expansive drive to a good length ball.

Controversy returned to the match in the 12th over when fellow opener Jason Gobin was given out for 22 to make it 56 for 2. Gibbons-Wade was in his first over when he bowled a short and wide ball that Gobin attempted to cut. There was a definite edge and the keeper Bean-Wilson claimed a catch diving forward but the ball did not appear to carry. Initially the umpire gave the decision as not out on the basis that there was no edge, but the Bermuda U-15 captain Darrell approached the umpire for a few words which resulted in the leg umpire being consulted for his opinion. After a brief deliberation, Gobin was given out leaving the USA bench fuming.

Things went from bad to worse for USA when number three batsman Neil Tagare was out for 13, edging behind an attempted drive off Gibbons-Wade to make it 65 for 3. USA U-15 captain Dave Parikh was out LBW for 5 when he missed a knee high full toss from Gibbons-Wade to make it 76 for 4.

Gordon Makin was given a promotion to number six and made the most of it by constructing a 59-run stand with Vibhav Altekar. Makin took very little time to get his eye in and peppered the leg side boundary with a series of pulls and hooks while nudging into the off side to rotate the strike with Altekar. At the start of the 26th over, USA needed 90 to win at a run a ball and it seemed victory was achievable until Altekar was struck on the pads playing back to a good length ball from Liyanage and given LBW for 26 to make it 135 for 5.

Image (above) - Gordon Makin swipes through midwicket on his way to 65 for USA. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Mogalayapalli arrived for a scratchy stay at the crease, doing his best to give Makin support. Makin brought up his 50 in 46 balls with seven boundaries as USA entered the final 10 overs needing 54 to win. But on the first ball of the 31st bowled by Rawlins, Makin drove a ball straight to cover and Mogalayapalli took off in a panic when there was no run to be had. Dore fielded and calmly threw to Rawlins to dismiss Mogalayapalli for 5 and it didn’t take long for USA’s chase to spiral out of control from there.

With no more recognized batsmen left to come, Makin began to swing for the fences on virtually every ball. He was dropped at point on 59 in the 32nd over and then got a second life on 62 off the last ball of the 33rd when Rawlins was let down by his fielders for the second day in a row after a simple chance was spilled at deep midwicket. After an initial spell of seven overs, Gibbons-Wade returned to bowl his final six balls in the 35th and the move worked to tremendous effect. Brandon Dat was claimed for 2 when he top edged a bouncer to the keeper to make it 179 for 7. Two balls later, Makin went for a slog to midwicket and was bowled for 65 as USA fell to 180 for 8. Gibbons-Wade’s fifth wicket sealed USA’s fate with only the tail remaining despite just 34 runs in 32 balls needed to win.

Bhise was bowled by a Darrell yorker for 2 to end the 36th and two balls later, Narayan was run out without facing a ball after responding slowly to Athavale’s call for a run. USA was bowled out for 189 in 36.2 overs. Extras were second top score behind Makin with 37.

Despite the loss, USA can still clinch the tournament title with a win over Canada on Thursday at Assiniboine Park. A loss would put them at 2-2 and move Canada to 2-1. USA would then need Canada to lose to Bermuda in the final round-robin match on Friday at which point all three teams would be deadlocked at 2-2 with net run rate deciding the winner. Entering Thursday’s match, USA has a +1.075 net run rate, Canada is at -0.475 while Bermuda is in the worst position of the three at -0.759. Thursday’s match is scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. start.

USA Cricket: Tariq spanks USA bowling attack in 72-run win for Canada

openingbat — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:37:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation

Canada wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq scored 61 not out in 27 balls as the host side posted a resounding 72-run win over USA on Thursday afternoon at Maple Leaf CC in King City, Ontario. Tariq was named Man of the Match for his bruising knock which included three boundaries and six sixes.

Canada won the toss and elected to bat first as USA took wickets at regular intervals in the early going. Medium pacer Anand Tummala struck twice on debut, getting opening batsman Ruvindu Gunasekera out for 9 and Canada captain Jimmy Hansra out for 1. Sandwiched between those two dismissals was the run out of Tyson Gordon for nought and Canada was 21 for 3 in the fourth over.

Hiral Patel was joined by the big hitting Rizwan Cheema, who clubbed two sixes off Hussain Haidar’s only over. Cheema’s fiery stay was short lived though as left-arm spinner Samarth Shah had him caught for 20 to make it 60 for 4. Shah also dislodged Patel from the crease for 39 and after 12 overs, Canada was 76 for 5.

However, the tail didn’t make an appearance on the day because Tariq and Usman Limbada, two members of Canada’s 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup squad, weathered the storm before launching a vicious assault on Muhammad Ghous, Jignesh Desai and Japen Patel in the final three overs of the innings. Tariq and Limbada managed just 22 runs in the first five overs of their partnership, but hit 13 in the 18th bowled by Ghous and another 15 in the 19th bowled by Desai to bring up the 50 partnership. Not satisfied to stop there, they blitzed Patel for 32 runs in the 20th to boost Canada’s total to 158 for 5. Tariq started the 18th over on 17, but in his final 12 deliveries he more than tripled his score to finish on 61 not out.

Despite getting rocked in the final over, Patel’s figures were not the worst on the day for USA. That distinction belonged to Muhammad Ghous as the youngster continues to drift in the wrong direction. Ghous returned no wickets for 39 runs in four overs.

USA’s chase never got any momentum as Akeem Dodson continuously flailed and missed at Canada’s opening pacers. Japen Patel opened with him but only lasted five balls before getting out for 3 to Khurram Chohan. Quasen Alfred was the next to go, caught by Limbada off Harvir Baidwan for 1. Dodson’s long stay at the crease produced only 22 runs before Cheema got rid of him to make the score 32 for 3 in nine overs. Stuart Mills was out for a duck on debut for USA two overs later as Cheema took his second.

Parth Desai chipped in with two wickets in the middle overs as Tummala gave him a return catch for a second-ball duck before he pinned George Adams LBW two overs later for 2 to make it 45 for 6 in 14. Jignesh Desai arrived in the fourth over at number four for USA and knocked the ball around to top score in the innings with 34 off 48 deliveries, but never threatened to bring USA back into the match. He was finally dismissed in the 19th over by Chohan to make it 73 for 3. Andy Mohammed came in at number eight and scored 21 not out in 15 balls with three boundaries to push USA up to 86 for 7 in their 20 overs.

USA plays Trinidad & Tobago at 3 p.m. EST on Friday in the second day of the Etihad Summer Cricket Festival. T & T lost to Afghanistan by 35 runs in the early match on Thursday. All matches during the tournament are being webcast for free at www.sorkkam.com/live.

USA Cricket: Aulakh rips through USA U-19 with 6 for 32 in 5-wicket win for Canada U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 CWC Qualifier

openingbat — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:01:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

Scorecard powered by New Inning Foundation I Ball-by-Ball Commentary

Canada U-19 medium pacer Manny Aulakh took 6 for 32 as his side bowled out USA U-19 for 101 before completing a 5-wicket win at Bready Cricket Club on Sunday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Magheramason, Northern Ireland. Aulakh was named Man of the Match for his performance which keeps Canada’s hopes of a top-six spot alive while placing USA’s chances of 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup qualification in serious jeopardy.

“Seeing the way the pitch played, I think if I had the toss again I think we would have definitely bowled first,” said USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial. “It looked a bit dry so we opted to bat but we’re not here to make excuses. I thought that we played a few rash shots that cost us our top order. I also thought Canada did well to keep pressure on us and just take control over the game.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a sunny morning but a day which had plenty of rain in the forecast. Within the first five overs, Aulakh had made his mark on the game by removing both USA openers. Steven Taylor was the first to go, top edging a short delivery to cover for 10, and Cameron Mirza was bowled for 8 to make it 21 for 2.

“We had a plan that if we won the toss we were gonna bowl first because those first few overs there’s always dew in the wicket and we always get help from the pitch,” said Aulakh.

Jobanjot Singh Sidhu kept the pressure on from the opposite end by taking the wicket of Abhijit Joshi when the batsman went for a loose drive and was caught at second slip for 1. Aulakh took the next three to wreck USA’s middle order as Amarnauth Persaud spooned a catch to cover for 7 before Sewdial was given LBW for 2. Five balls later, Jodha Singh was cleaned up by a yorker for a duck to give Aulakh his five-wicket haul and USA was in pieces at 35 for 6 after 11 overs.

“I just think it’s all about us being mentally prepared and I don’t think for this game we were but hopefully for the next game we will be against Nepal, our final game,” said Sewdial. “Having won four games, we need five to definitely qualify.”

It was around this time that rain started falling steadily on the ground. The umpires elected to play through it and as a result, batting became increasingly difficult as more and more moisture went into the pitch. Pranay Suri and Salman Ahmad fought for 13.2 overs to put on 27 runs together for the seventh wicket before Ahmad was caught behind for 13 off the bowling of medium pacer Rayyan Pathan.

Suri batted for 71 balls but his time finally came to an end when he couldn’t get out of the way of a Sidhu bouncer. The ball went off his gloves before popping up to Kyle Edghill in the slips and Suri had to go for 14 to make it 69 for 8 in 30 overs.

Aulakh returned for his final two overs and had Shayan Abdulghani caught at cover for 11 before medium pacer Akash Shah wrapped up the innings when Mital Patel was caught behind for 6 going for a big drive and USA was all out for 101 in 40.3 overs. Hammad Shahid top scored at number nine with 15 not out in 45 balls while extras also contributed 14 to the total.

Image (right) - Manny Aulakh receives his Man of the Match award after taking 6 for 32, the best statistical bowling performance at the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Canada’s chase got off to a fiery start with Pathan at the crease as he punished Ahmad and Patel with a series of prodigious blasts over the ropes. The only hiccup happened when he ran out his partner Shah for 2. Nitish Kumar came in next and a day after making 150 against Papua New Guinea was out stumped off the bowling of Abdulghani without scoring to make it 48 for 2 in the eighth over.

At the other end, Pathan had slammed two fours and five sixes to race to 42 but he tried to play a cute flick over fine leg in the circle to a short delivery from the off-spin of Suri and mistimed the shot to Mirza at square leg. From there, Canada’s chase crawled along with few runs coming off the bat. However, they were aided by 17 extras conceded by USA’s bowlers including 13 wides.

It wasn’t until the 23rd over that Shahid came on for a second spell where he routinely caused problems with uneven bounce for deliveries pitching on a good length. He had Nikhil Dutta caught at midwicket two overs later for 19 to make it 83 for 4. Kesavan Juvarajan joined Edghill at the crease and the two went through a challenging period as the pitch become more treacherous. Juvarajan was hit on the gloves numerous times in his 29-ball stay at the crease before he finally had a short delivery go off his gloves and onto the stumps to be out for 7 with the scores level on 101 after 33 overs. Edghill hit the winning single through midwicket three balls later.

In the day’s other matches, Nepal defeated PNG by 29 runs to become the second team after Scotland to clinch a berth at the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia. Afghanistan trounced Vanuatu by 9 wickets and Scotland defeated Kenya by 15 runs while Ireland’s match with Namibia was washed out after only 8.1 overs had been bowled. The match between Ireland and Namibia will be replayed on Monday.

After eight matches, Scotland remains in first place with a 7-1 record. Nepal is second at 6-2 while Ireland is third at 5-2. Afghanistan, USA, PNG and Canada are all at 4-4 with USA in fifth place on net run rate. Namibia is in eighth place at 3-4 but has a solid net run rate and a win over Ireland on the reserve day would most likely move them ahead of USA. Kenya is in ninth at 2-6 and is no longer in contention for a top six spot while Vanuatu is in last at 0-8.

On Tuesday’s final day of play, USA takes on Nepal, a team which has conceded the second fewest runs in the tournament behind Ireland, who has played one fewer game. Ireland takes on Papua New Guinea while Namibia takes on Kenya and Scotland plays Vanuatu. Afghanistan plays Canada in a match with major implications for USA. A win by Afghanistan would most likely prevent Canada from qualifying in the top six, but if Canada wins it’s still conceivable that Afghanistan could qualify due to their solid net run rate. If USA wins, they are most likely assured of finishing fifth or sixth. However, if they lose, they would need Namibia or Papua New Guinea to lose, regardless of the Canada vs. Afghanistan result, in order to have a chance at qualifying and even then it would come down to net run rate. If PNG and Namibia both win and USA loses, regardless of the Afghanistan vs. Canada result, USA would most likely finish out of the top six.

DreamCricket.com’s live tournament coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, will continue based on internet availability on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. local time, 5:15 a.m. EST, with USA’s final match of the tournament against Nepal. First ball is scheduled for 10:45 a.m.

USA Cricket: Ahmad and Singh lift USA past Canada by 23 runs to win ICC Americas U-19 championship

openingbat — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:33:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale

Salman Ahmad and Jodhbir Singh took two wickets each to spark a dramatic collapse by Canada as USA defended 143 to win by 23 runs at the Central Broward Regional Park stadium on Saturday at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One in Lauderhill, Fla. Ahmad was named Man of the Match after taking 2 for 20 as USA finished undefeated to win the tournament title.

“I think definitely my two wickets today were a lot better than the wickets that came before them, especially coming in such an important match,” said Ahmad. “I had kind of a rough start to today’s game so it just felt good to come back and help the team out and I’d like to thank my teammates for supporting me.”

After morning showers caused a two-hour delay and reduced the match from 50 to 36 overs per side, USA won the toss and batted first. The opening combination of Steven Taylor and Cameron Mirza got USA off to another solid start, putting on 37 runs for the first wicket.

The pair looked like they were set for a long stay after Taylor flayed Manny Aulakh behind point for his fourth boundary, but on the very next ball, Taylor chased a wide one and sent an edge through to the keeper Darren Ramsammy to go for 21.

First change bowler Rayyankhan Pathan proceeded to rip through USA’s lineup to turn the match upside down. Abhijit Joshi was struck in front to be LBW for 5 and three balls later Fahad Babar was clean bowled to make it 50 for 3. Singh was run out for 5 in a mix up with Mirza when Singh tried to push a Pathan delivery into midwicket and set off for a run, but both Singh and Mirza were hesitant and Tristan Ali’s throw beat Singh trying to get back in his crease and the score became 66 for 4 in the 16th.

Pathan struck again in the 18th when he removed the well set Mirza for 29 by taking a simple return catch in his follow through to make it 77 for 5. The medium pacer got his fourth when he snagged his second caught and bowled to dismiss Gurpreet Sandhu for 4 to make it 83 for 6 in the 20th. In the 22nd, Pathan just missed his five-wicket haul when Pranay Suri sent a chance back to Pathan. The bowler couldn’t complete a one-handed catch, but the ball went off his hand and cannoned into the non-striker’s stumps with Ahmad just out of his crease and USA was 7 down for 93. Pathan finished with 4 for 30 in addition to the two run outs that came off his bowling.

USA had looked set for 180, but with the rapid fall of wickets, Suri and Hammad Shahid consolidated and produced a vital 28-run stand for the 8th wicket. Towards the end of the stand, Suri stepped out to launch two big sixes off Canadian spinners Kesavan Juvarajan and Nikhil Dutta. He was finally caught on the long off boundary going for a third against Juvarajan, but Suri’s 34 was USA’s high score on the day and a key contribution coming in at number six. Shahid and Mital Patel added another 22 in the final 5.2 overs to boost USA’s total as they finished on 143 for 8.

Akash Shah and Dutta provided a steady start for Canada, staging 32 for the first wicket in nine overs before Patel had Shah caught by Shayan Abdulghani at mid on for 17. Dutta was then run out for 12 in a big mix up with Tristan Ali and Shahid fired to Taylor, who flicked off the bails to make it 41 for 2 after 11.

Kyle Edghill came in and teamed up with Ali to put on 50 runs for the third wicket. During the partnership, it looked like Edghill was going to lead Canada across the line. Abdulghani and Sandhu had come on to choke the scoring rate, but couldn’t make the breakthrough to end the stand.

Image (above) - USA's U-19 squad celebrates after finishing the tournament undefeated. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Ahmad returned for his second spell and seemingly out of nowhere managed to bowl Edghill for 33 after the batsman tried backing away to play through the off side but inside edged a good length delivery onto his stumps on the first ball of the 26th over. That was the catalyst that turned things around for USA in the field. With Edghill at the crease, Canada needed 53 to win in 11 overs with eight wickets in hand, but 29 runs later, they were all out.

“At the drinks break, they were 69 for 2 and it looked like they were really taking the game away from us,” said Ahmad. “But we stood back, we looked at the score and we realized that they weren’t going at the run rate they needed to be going at. They were still going around three and a half, four, they needed just around four an over. So we decided that we had five, six tight overs, we’d be able to bring them back and it does feel good winning against Canada after losing to them twice [in 2009].”

Singh came on from the other end to bowl medium pace and in his second over, had Ramsammy caught by Patel at midwicket off a full toss for a duck. Ahmad struck again in the 30th to get rid of the captain Juvarajan who went for a big heave and was clean bowled for 5. Four balls later, Ali’s long and torturous stay at the crease finally ended for 14 when he drove Singh to Patel coming in from long on to make it 99 for 6.

With the tight bowling from the spinners in the middle overs, the run rate climbed dramatically and now Canada had to go for everything, but just about nothing came off with any success. Pathan was run out by a direct hit from Babar at square leg for 2 after Aulakh clipped a full delivery and set off for a run that wasn’t there.

Aulakh tried to clear the fences against the leg spin of Sandhu in the 34th, but only managed to find Singh at midwicket inside the circle for 8. Three balls later, Sandhu clean bowled Sudeepta Aurka for 2 to make it 116 for 9. Jobanjot Sidhu was run out two balls later by the teamwork of Shahid and Taylor once more to set off wild celebrations on the field as USA’s players went about grabbing souvenir stumps to commemorate bowling out Canada for 120, finishing the week with a perfect 5-0 record.

Canada finished the week in second place at 4-1 while Bermuda finished at third with a 3-2 record after beating Argentina by 10 wickets on Saturday. Meanwhile, there was a three-way tie for fourth after Bahamas beat Cayman Islands by 3 wickets as both teams joined Argentina at 1-4 on the week.

At the tournament awards ceremony, Sacha DeAlwis of the Cayman Islands was named Best Batsman while Canada’s Aulakh was named the Best Bowler. Ramsammy from Canada was named Best Wicketkeeper while USA’s Mirza was named Tournament MVP.

CORRECTION – In yesterday’s article, it was written that Gurpreet Sandhu was the first bowler to take five wickets for USA U-19 since Saqib Saleem took 5 for 38 against Ireland at the 2009 U-19 World Cup Qualifier. The last bowler to take a five-wicket haul prior to Sandhu for USA U-19 was actually Muhammad Ghous, who took 5 for 46 against Afghanistan at the 2009 U-19 World Cup Qualifier.

USA Cricket: Sandhu takes five as USA marches past Bermuda by 10 wickets to punch a ticket for Ireland

openingbat — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:14:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale

Salman Ahmad claimed three wickets before leg-spinner Gurpreet Sandhu wiped out the lower order as USA bowled out Bermuda for 50 in 17.2 overs before winning by 10 wickets at Brian Piccolo Park on Friday at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One in Cooper City, Fla. Sandhu was named Man of the Match after finishing with 5 for 7. It’s the first five-wicket haul for a USA U-19 player since Saqib Saleem took 5 for 38 against Ireland at the 2009 U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto. With the win, USA has clinched a berth at the 2011 U-19 World Cup Qualifier scheduled for July 28-August 9 in Ireland.

“The thing is that when we get early breakthroughs, we tend to not relax and that’s what we’ve been focusing on the whole tournament, is not relaxing,” said Sandhu. “When you’re on top is to really choke the opposition down, make sure that you don’t let them go and that’s what we’ve been focusing on. We’ve been focusing on keeping the energy up in the field and that’s I think what really won us the game.”

USA won the toss and sent Bermuda in to bat first on a grassy wicket. On the second ball of the match, Ahmad clean bowled Christian Burgess for none. Four overs later, Ahmad bowled danger man Kamau Leverock for 9 and followed it up by removing William White for 9 by bowling him behind his legs to make it 26 for 3.

“We wanted to make sure that we get the opposition out as soon as we can,” said USA U-19 coach Robin Singh about the decision to field first on a day where storms were predicted. There was some rain during the match, but never enough to take the teams off the field. “It was nothing to do with the wicket. I think if it wasn’t a problem with the weather, we would have batted first.”

With the top three gone, there was little resistance provided down the order. Mital Patel took two in four balls to make it 27 for 5 in the eighth over. With the tail exposed, Sandhu was brought on and struck with his sixth ball to remove Tre Manders for 3 on the last ball of the 12th over to make it 42 for 6. Sandhu struck twice more in the 14th and 16th before taking two in the 18th to finish off the innings with figures of 5 for 7.

Image (right) - USA U-19 bowler Salman Ahmad gets a high five from captain Abhijut Joshi (10) after the bowling Bermuda's Christian Burgess. Ahmad took three wickets in all and it wasn't long before Bermuda was all out for 50. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

“Once you get rid of the top batsmen, it’s easier to get the tailenders out if you keep focused and keep doing what you’re doing,” said Sandhu. “Once we got the top order batsmen out as the lower order comes around, those batsmen aren’t as good as the top order batsmen so we keep focused and we go all the way and that’s what the difference has been.”

Steven Taylor and Cameron Mirza walked out to open for USA and despite the threat of rain, confidently went about knocking off the runs. Taylor did offer one chance at mid off on 15 with the score on 35 in the 9th over, but it was put down and he continued with Mirza until the target was reached. Taylor finished 21 not out and Mirza unbeaten on 17. Mirza leads the team with 164 runs in the tournament and has yet to be dismissed.

Former West Indies Test spinner Lance Gibbs was on hand to watch USA play on Friday and spoke to the team after the match, as did USACA President Gladstone Dainty. Each man encouraged the team to keep performing as they have all week and finish off the tournament undefeated with a win over Canada.

“We’ve really not seen Canada much,” said Singh. “I think as a team we are quite confident. We’re pretty much well prepared for them and I think obviously they are one of the better teams in the competition so hopefully we can play good cricket tomorrow and maintain our standards.”

USA will play Canada on Saturday inside the stadium at Central Broward Regional Park for the tournament title. Both teams have qualified for Ireland, along with the host team, Scotland, Kenya, Namibia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. DreamCricket will have live coverage of USA’s match against Canada beginning at 9:30 a.m.

USA Cricket: Quest for 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup begins at 2011 ICC Americas U-19 Division One in Florida

openingbat — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:49:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

While most of the country is under a blanket of snow and wintry weather, the 14 players chosen to represent USA’s U-19 team will be enjoying 80 degrees of sunshine this week in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They’ll be joined by teams representing Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada and Cayman Islands who are all competing at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament.

Two spots are up for grabs this week for the ICC U-19 World Cup Global Qualifier, expected to be held in Ireland this summer. USA and Canada were the two teams to advance from the Americas in 2009 and while fans are hopeful that USA will advance playing on home soil, the competition will be intense at the top.

At the 2009 ICC Americas U-19 event in Toronto, USA had an easy time against Bahamas, Argentina and Cayman Islands. They defeated each opponent by 249 runs, 9 wickets and 161 runs respectively. Not much is expected to change in terms of the outcome of those matches this time around either.

Image (right): Hammad Shahid is one of four returning players that participated for USA at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

So it’s very likely that USA will be jockeying with defending champion Canada and 2007 champion Bermuda for the top two positions.

Canada only returns one of their 15-man squad that went to last year’s U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. That player is Manny Aulakh, who took five wickets at the ICC Americas U-19 in 2009 including two opening the bowling against USA. Crucially, 16-year-old batting phenom Nitish Kumar is not in the squad for this tournament because he is part of Canada’s squad at the 2011 World Cup.

However, they do have other promising youngsters in the ranks. Among those are Nikhil Dutta, Trevor Manoosingh and Axay Patel. Canada also has the advantage of having gone through a training camp with warm-up matches in Trinidad prior to traveling to Florida for the start of this tournament.

Bermuda is looking to overcome the loss of Deunte Darrell, who was the MVP of the island’s annual two-day Cup Match between Somerset and St. George’s but was suspended for breaching the board’s code of conduct on a tour to Barbados. Kamau Leverock, the nephew of former Bermuda national team player Dwayne Leverock, is an exciting young batsman hoping to fill the void left by Darrell. Leverock recently traveled with the senior team to Dubai for their two-week tour in preparation for the ICC WCL Division Two tournament this April.

The team is captained by 17-year-old off-spinner Joshua Gilbert, who already has first-class experience on his resume having played against the UAE in an Intercontinental Shield match last year in which he had the team’s best figures, taking 3 for 85 in the first innings. Other players returning from the squad that played in Canada at the ICC Americas U-19 in 2009 are Kevon Fubler, Greg Maybury, Tre Manders and Lateef Trott. Christian Burgess, who was named Best Wicketkeeper at the 2009 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament in New York, is also in the squad.

USA returns four players from their 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup squad. Vice-captain Steven Taylor and captain Abhijit Joshi could form a potent left-right hand combination at the top of the order. However, the overall batting strength is a little thin compared to the previous squad. Just like in 2009, this year’s crop has plenty of experience as openers but it remains to be seen how well some of them adjust to being shifted down the order. Jodhbir Singh is perhaps the most talented of the newcomers and scored a century at the U-19 Western Conference in August.

Image (right): Jodhbir Singh is a bright newcomer to USA's U-19 squad. [Courtesy Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

As for the bowling unit, the four players from southern California all bring something different to the table and will fill key roles for USA. Hammad Shahid and Salman Ahmad are likely to open the bowling while Shayan Abdulghani is a talented left-arm spinner and Gurpreet Sandhu is the specialist leg-spinner in the team. North West off-spinner Pranay Suri has a strong chance to make a big impact as well.

USA’s tournament gets underway against Argentina on the artificial turf satellite field at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. DreamCricket will have live coverage for all of USA’s matches during the week.