USA Cricketer : Cricket

SDSU MBA student to undertake analysis of cricket in U.S.

openingbat — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:41:00 GMT

MBA student to undertake analysis of cricket in USA

By Venu Palaparthi

Professor Gangaram Singh of San Diego State University announced on Tuesday that one of his MBA students, Christian Jensen, had begun working on an applied research paper in cricket. The paper will focus on developing a framework for cricket in USA so that cricket can replicate the successes of other sports leagues.

Christian Jensen, who is pursuing his MBA in Sports Management, has developed an affinity for the T20 format although he has never played the game. Jensen believes that his outsider’s approach is just what cricket needs in America. "Insiders don’t always recognize factors that an outsider can observe. I hope that my analysis will follow a systematic approach, with an objective outcome," Jensen wrote.

Leading by Example - Lacrosse and Rugby

Jensen is right on the money about the three fast growing sports and the lessons to be learned from them. Even though we should want cricket to emulate soccer, soccer is pretty much a mainstream sport in the U.S. today and already enjoys higher per game attendance than ice hockey or basketball.

Lacrosse and rugby are now at the leading edge of emerging sports and offer very realistic benchmarks for cricket. Lacrosse (+41.8%) and rugby (+37.7%) showed highest participant gains over the last four years according to SGMA's 2012 survey of team sports.

In fact, US Lacrosse, lacrosse's governing body formed in 1998, presides over a sport that has the greatest momentum of any sport in the US today with junior lacrosse participants increasing at a rate of 117.6% between 2000 and 2008. US Lacrosse now has registered membership that is over 300,000 and core participants totaling 565,000 last year. Rugby is estimated to have over 98,000 registered participants and over 67,000 high school students play rugby for their schools or clubs. Another 32,000 play college rugby.

The dominant professional leagues for lacrosse and rugby - Major League Lacrosse (MLL) and USA Rugby League (USARL) - are independent leagues and are not sanctioned by their respective national governing bodies. In fact, this is true of most American sports including basketball, baseball and football.

Academia to the Cricket Field

Jensen's and Prof. Gangaram Singh's efforts to analyze cricket in USA is expected to fill a huge void in a sport that generally is lacking in data and metrics.

The last meaningful study of cricket in America was conducted in 2009, when three different groups of MBA students at Columbia University set out under the supervision of Professor Rajiv Kohli to analyze demand for international cricket in United States. The students shared their results with USACA's CEO, Don Lockerbie, who was then working on Destination USA. Prof. Kohli is also the author of a Columbia University case study titled "The launch of the Indian Premier League." Prof. Kohli sits on the advisory board of DreamCricket.com.

Interestingly, Prof. SP Kothari of MIT-Sloan, who like Prof. Kohli is a board member of DreamCricket.com, wrote an opinion piece in October 2007 titled "Let a private cricket league boom" in The Economic Times arguing for a city-based private league months before the IPL was announced. His article was so compelling that when the original IPL Franchise Prospectus was released, his quote accompanied the introduction.

Another keen cricket fan from academia is Prof. Vijay Govindarajan, Earl C. Daum professor of international business and the founding director of Tuck’s Center for Global Leadership.

"We have to ask more fundamental questions about how the world of cricket is changing and how we need to get the right people and the right processes to compete in the future," Prof. Govindarajan once told a newspaper. "Let us selectively forget the stalwarts whose great years are behind them and focus on building a pipeline of young talent," he added noting the dearth of the three most important ingredients of world class organizations - talent, team spirit, and execution discipline.

For the record, he was talking about the Indian debacle in 2007. Prof. Govindarajan might as well be talking about USA cricket.

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: Taylor takes third Man of Match award in win over Vanuatu U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:23:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

USA U-19 has a winning record for the first time during the tournament after completing a win by 42 runs on Duckworth Lewis Method over Vanuatu U-19 at Drummond Cricket Club on Saturday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Derry, Northern Ireland. Steven Taylor was named Man of the Match after top scoring in USA’s chase with 33 not out.

USA won the toss and sent Vanuatu in to bat in a match that was reduced to 32 overs after a four-hour delayed start due to persistent rain. Vanuatu’s innings struggled to get momentum but at the same time USA’s performance in the field lacked a ruthless killer instinct that should have been on display against the weakest opponent in the tournament.

Vanuatu captain Patrick Matautaava was the first to go, bowled by Mital Patel without scoring to make it 5 for 1. Worford Kalworai and Jaxies Samuel combined to put on 27 runs for the second wicket before Kalworai was caught at backward point for 16 off the bowling of Salman Ahmad.

Three more wickets fell in quick succession as Samuel was bowled by Hammad Shahid for 13, Nilin Nipiko caught behind off Shayan Abdulghani for 0 and Callum Blake LBW to Shahid for 1 to make it 54 for 5 in the 17th. Rather than put the hammer down to finish Vanuatu off, USA let them rebuild with a 30-run partnership between Jelany Chilia and Joseph Rasu which came to an end when Chilia tried to slog Pranay Suri out of the ground and got a top edge to Greg Sewdial in the circle for Vanuatu’s top score of 29.

Rasu and Ronald Tari produced a modest 20-run partnership together that was curtailed after Rasu was run out for 19 trying to steal a run off a misfield. Tari and Kendy Kenneth chipped in with another double-digit stand of 24 runs before Kenneth was caught behind on the final ball of the innings off the bowling of Jodhbir Singh and Vanuatu finished 128 for 8 in 32. Shahid returned USA’s best figures with 2 for 16 in seven overs.

Taylor and Cameron Mirza put on a half-century stand for the first wicket before Mirza was caught for 24 driving to mid off to give Blake one of the two wickets to fall. The other was taken by Matautaava when Singh fell for 15 chipping a catch to mid on.

Taylor did have a life on 13 when a straightforward chance was grassed at midwicket but from then on there were no hiccups as he used a very cautious approach to accumulate runs. Sewdial came in and scored a brisk 28 in 18 balls as USA reached 118 in 22 overs when the rains returned to end play still 11 runs short of the original target. According to Duckworth Lewis rules, the par score was 76 at the time play was stopped.

In the day’s other matches, PNG captain Christopher Kent scored 166 not out to upstage the 150 scored by Canada’s Nitish Kumar in the first innings as PNG won by 4 wickets. Nepal beat Ireland by 10 runs on D/L Method as Rahul Vishvakarma took four wickets to go past USA’s Patel for the tournament lead. Afghanistan beat Kenya by 9 wickets in a rain reduced game while Scotland became the first team to clinch a spot at the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia with a 40-run win over Namibia.

Scotland is currently top of the table at 6-1. Ireland and Nepal are both 5-2. USA is level with PNG at 4-3 but USA has a higher net run rate so is sitting at fourth. Namibia, Afghanistan and Canada are 3-4, Kenya is 2-5 while Vanuatu has officially been eliminated from contention for a top-six spot and is sitting at 0-7.

USA is scheduled to play Canada on Sunday at Bready Cricket Club’s second pitch. If USA beats Canada and Afghanistan loses to Vanuatu or Namibia loses to Ireland, USA will clinch a spot in the top six and along with it a berth at the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia. Once again, DreamCricket.com will provide live coverage of USA’s match against Canada, subject to internet availability, beginning at 10:15 a.m. local time, 5:15 a.m. EST. The match is scheduled for a 10:45 a.m. start, but rain is in the forecast throughout Sunday morning and af

Shahid Afridi goes on USA fundraising tour for charity

openingbat — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:56:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

Pakistan's 2011 World Cup captain Shahid Afridi will embark on a three-day, three-city fundraising tour this week for Islamic Relief USA. The first “Building for the Future” dinner will take place tonight May 18 in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Wash., before Afridi moves on to Anaheim, Calif., on Thursday May 19. The final dinner will be held on Friday May 20 in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Texas.

“We wanted to target specifically our Pakistani community and in order to do that there’s various ways,” said Daud Mohmand, Special Events Manager at Islamic Relief USA. “You’ve gotta bring some sort of celebrity and what better celebrity to bring from Pakistan besides the cricket players.” According to Mohmand, this will be the fifth year that a tour of Building for the Future dinners has been organized across the USA involving Pakistani cricketers.

In February 2008, Afridi made a six-city tour – San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Dallas and Secaucus, New Jersey – of “Building for the Future” dinners in the USA which helped raise $1.2 million dollars in aid for relief projects. Much of the money went to help people affected by floods in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.

“When we get into the fundraising aspect, the way we do it at Islamic Relief, we show people the projects that we’re doing and then we ask people to contribute to those projects,” said Mohmand. “People raise their hands, they write a check or fill out a credit card form for us and from that, or they provide pledges, that’s where most of our money is gained. The other item that we do in the end, because we have one of the largest one-to-one sponsorship services, as a donor you can sponsor an orphan. We also do that and then the last item, the fun portion if you will of our event, we have usually that particular athlete’s jersey, a bat or a ball, caps as well for him to sign and we also auction those off.”

Mohmand says that on average, 500 people typically attend the dinners but when Afridi came in 2008, the turnout swelled to between 700 and 800 in Los Angeles and Dallas. Tickets are $35 for the dinner in Bellevue, $40 for the dinner in Texas and $40 if purchased beforehand in Anaheim or else $45 at the door. Also featured to appear with Afridi on the event listing is Pakistani poet Alamgir.

Mohmand says that Afridi has been helpful not just in raising funds in the USA, but also in visiting the areas receiving the aid in Pakistan in order to help projects on site.

Image (right): Shahid Afridi celebrates a wicket against Kenya at the 2011 World Cup. [©AFP - Lakruwan Wanniarachchi]

“He had also helped and assisted us in Pakistan as well,” said Mohmand. “He has visited our field projects. He went to our beneficiary in Pakistan and seen the projects and has even had press conferences about what we do and who we are and kind of given his support to Islamic Relief in the States as well as overseas.”

“What we do is not just the emergency relief, but it’s also for the development work we do. Just because an emergency or a flood or another natural disaster has passed, that doesn’t mean the people still don’t need any help. So we have various projects, ongoing projects, making sure there is redevelopment of those areas. If the schools have been washed away or people are living in tents or they’re displaced, we assist with that as well as providing the basic necessities, meals and shelter.”

Afridi and Younis Khan were also involved in a series of “Building for the Future” dinners across the UK in 2009. The two cricketers embarked on a five-city fundraising tour in August that year that took them to Birmingham, London, Manchester, Cardiff and Leicester.

Aside from projects in Pakistan, Islamic Relief has also aided in numerous other projects recently including earthquake relief in Haiti, humanitarian support in Libya and tornado disaster relief efforts in Alabama.

Ismlamic Relief is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in the UK in 1984 by Dr. Hany El Banna. Currently, there are fundraising offices for Islamic Relief located in 15 countries. Islamic Relief USA was started in 1993 and has offices in New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, California and a headquarters in Alexandria, Va. For more information about the “Building for the Future” fundraising dinners with Shahid Afridi and Alamgir, visit www.islamicreliefusa.org/events or call 818-450-7561.

Cricket one reason why Franklin in NJ ranked 34th best place to live in USA

openingbat — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:59:00 GMT

Money magazine noted that Franklin in Somerset county, one of four NJ cities on the Top 100 list, offers many recreational opportunities, "including cricket fields and skateboard ramps."

"Even though it's only an hour away from New York City, this 46-square mile township contains quite a bit of farmland," the magazine noted.

The township's former mayor, Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, actually played in the New Jersey's leagues many years ago. The 17th district, represented by Mr. Chivukula, includes Franklin and Piscataway - another city that was named among the Top 100 best places to live in USA.

Bathroom woes of Brooklyn cricketers get attention

openingbat — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:21:00 GMT

Finally, the Spring Creek ground gets a bathroom!

Check this article on the NBC website.

"When the developer of the nearby Gateway Mall constructed the cricket field back in 2003, there was one critcal item not included in the plans: a bathroom.

As one player put it, "That's stupid."

So, for seven years, during the five months of the cricket season, the players have been renting a portable toilet for $150.00.

But the manager of one cricket team says, "Sometimes when there's a big game one that one Porta-Potty is not enough, so therefore people have to wait, or whatever."

USA Collegiate Cricket: Cricket club hopes to gain interest at Penn State

openingbat — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:59:00 GMT

James Mauro wrote in The Collegian that Penn State's spring eight-a-side cricket tournament drew 15 teams, with participants from SUNY Buffalo and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The Nittany Warriors, consisting of Penn State students, won the championship. They defeated Chennai Super Kings, 49-48.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to read about the PSU Cricket Club.

Click here if you are an alumnus or if you want to sponsor the club.

Whether big needle or small needle, a pri!ck is a pr!ck!

openingbat — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:18:00 GMT

The story of Mid West cricket can be found here.

http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=9531&ntid=4

The fun part is in the end where a Chicago cricketer calling himself Confushus has enabled folks to laugh at their own plight. Here are some of his pearls of wisdom. They sure don't teach this at Harvard Business School

On who is a worse leader for cricket, X or Y:

"Whether big needle or small needle, a pr!ck is a pr!ck!"

Commenting on inaction:

"Man who has head stuck up behind after some time will start to think it smell like roses."

"Man that sits on his hands ends up smelling like ass!"

Asking friends not to naively believe that a certain person was open to ideas:

"Sh!t no have ears."

"Cannot teach old dog new tricks. Not even dog with Napoleon complex!"