USA Cricketer : Cricket in America

Cricket finally comes to USA via cable TV

openingbat — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:09:00 GMT

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Neo Broadcast America has entered into an agreement with Comcast, USA's largest cable operator, to launch Neo Cricket in several metropolitan markets. With this agreement, USA finally gets a 24/7 cricket channel on cable.

Speaking of Neo Cricket's launch, Comcast's VP for Content Acquisition, David Jensen, said: "Comcast is the first cable provider to bring a 24-7 cricket offering to US cricket fans. Comcast is committed to working with diverse and independent program providers, like Neo Cricket, to deliver multicultural offerings that reflect the wide-ranging interests of our customers.”

Separately, Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN) announced that the channel has been launched on Rogers Cable (channel 844). Canadian residents can also preview the channel for a limited time.

Speaking on the occasion, Prasana Krishnan, COO of Neo Sports Broadcast said, "We are bringing Neo Cricket to cricket fans around the world and this agreement marks the first step in our efforts to reach the US market."

"We have built strong brand equity with the Indian consumers by bringing to them the best cricketing action. Now we extend the same to cricket fans in North America," Mr. Krishnan said.

With this launch, Neo have made good on recent statements to the press in which they discussed a roadmap for USA, Canada and Caribbean markets. Vikram Das, SVP for International and Syndication at Nimbus, told SportCal on September 30 that he expects North America to account for around $25 million of Neo Cricket’s annual revenue next year, "of which 90 per cent will be distribution related and 10 per cent advertising."

"We have estimated an immediate potential target audience of 5 million homes. This is a great opportunity. Never before has there been a 24/7 cricket channel in North America."

Neo Cricket owns broadcasting rights for international and domestic cricket in India for the period from April 2010 to March 2014 and Asia Cup until 2014. The channel also features a lineup of high quality programming including Dial C for Cricket, Sportzone, Baat and Bowl, Jaye He, Ballebaaz, Tour Diary, Run and Chase, Cricket Tarka Maarke, Encounter and Once More.

Cricket in the US media: How Cricket and Baseball Connect

openingbat — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:33:00 GMT

Two time Pulitzer winner John Burns of The New York Times reported yesterday that the exhibition “Swinging Away: How Cricket and Baseball Connect," will move from Lord's to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The article explores the historical connect between Cricket and Baseball and makes for a wonderful read. Click here for Full Article.

"The story traced by the exhibit, like the arc of the two games as they are played today, is as much about baseball’s influence on cricket as the other way around. In recent years, as test match crowds have dwindled, the most popular forms of cricket have been the new, shorter varieties of the game, played within a single day, or, with an even more rambunctious following, the Twenty20 form that is played faster than many baseball games.

Cricket talk is now sprinkled with baseball terms — “batter” (in place of batsman), “catcher,” “pinch hitter,” “outfield,” “switch-hitter,” “strike,” “curveball” and “home run derby,” to cite examples overheard during a recent test match at Lord’s. Some of the best cricket teams — Australia’s, for one — have hired baseball coaches to improve throwing skills, one area where baseball has long had an edge.

“These days, in the shorter forms of cricket, it’s all attack, attack, attack, there’s no real time to defend, and that’s something we’ve taken from baseball,” said David Lloyd, one of the game’s most popular television commentators.

He added: “In the end, the games have a lot in common, starting with what’s basic: You go at the other team head to head, and you tell them, ‘O.K., we’ll both have a go, and when it’s over we’ll have scored one more run than you.’ Simple, really.”

Cricket documentary to be screened at All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival

openingbat — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:25:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

While American sports fans often get to see their fair share of baseball, basketball and football themed movies, it’s not often that cricket hits the silver screen in this country. However, people in Southern California will get an opportunity this weekend when Rohit Kulkarni’s “Pitch of Dreams: Cricket in America” will be shown in the Pickford Theater at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood on Sunday July 11 at the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival.

“It’s really funny that apart from the cricket playing community, a lot of people don’t know about the happenings of cricket and it would be a good opportunity for people in Los Angeles, especially sports lovers, to know more about the game of cricket, the history of this game and also the current situation of this game,” said Kulkarni, who filmed portions of the 40-minute documentary at Woodley Cricket Ground in the Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys.

Kulkarni says that his film has appeared in three other festivals so far this year, including the East Carolina Film Festival in April. The students at ECU gave Kulkarni a very positive response and he hopes that plenty of students from USC and UCLA, as well as the rest of the local community, will have the same reaction if they come out to watch the film. “Pitch of Dreams: Cricket in America” is scheduled to be screened on Sunday at 12:25 pm along with three other short films packaged together to form Short Series G on the event schedule. Tickets are $10.

“The biggest selling point is obviously its association with mainstream America in the sense that the historical association that America has with cricket which is fairly unknown, even the baseball fanatics here don’t know that before baseball it was cricket and the guy who wrote the first rules of baseball was a cricket player,” said Kulkarni. “So there are certain interesting elements about the history.”

One of Kulkarni’s reasons for making the film was to help bridge the gap in terms of American sports fans’ knowledge about cricket by giving them something concrete to watch and absorb.

“They have heard it, but they haven’t really seen. The one thing that was consistent throughout a lot of people that I met, everyone mentioned that they don’t understand the game,” said Kulkarni. “They just know it’s closer to baseball and every time they’ve visited England or other countries they have seen it on TV. But no one I think ever attempted first to make this connection and show the excitement related to cricket and I think that’s one of the main factors of this documentary, to show America that this game is very exciting and a lot of people are playing it, whether it’s the immigrant population or whether it’s the first, second generation of American kids.”

A total of 67 films will be shown from July 10-11 at the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival with a mixture of fiction and non-fiction entries, shorts and feature length movies. The sports that will be on view besides cricket include popular ones like baseball, basketball, football and soccer while other films delve into the worlds of rugby, boxing, cycling, surfing, judo, horse racing, marathon running, Aussie Rules football, kite running, lacrosse, badminton, roller derby, wrestling and hula hooping.

Kulkarni plans to enter his film into several more competitions this year, including the South Asian Film Festival in New York. DVD copies of the film are also available to purchase. For more information about “Pitch of Dreams: Cricket in America” write to citylightsfilms@gmail.com.

For more information about the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival, visit www.allsportslafilmfest.com. You can also watch a trailer by clicking here.

Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

openingbat — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:51:00 GMT

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By Jamie Harrison

Cricket, as a game, has everything required to make it attractive to Americans, especially now that the Twenty20 format has been adopted. All arguments made to the contrary are based on ignorance or, in some cases, a misplaced parochialism. How do I know this? I have witnessed it firsthand in my association with the Cardinal Gibbons cricketers, who were smitten by the sport from they instant they played it. My experiences with those students, when juxtaposed with the rest of non-cricketing America, also provided a roadmap to making cricket more than just a niche sport.

1. Get Kids Playing Cricket.

This, I believe, is the key element in any discussion about growing cricket in America. Typically, adults are resistant to adopting new sports; the sports one enjoyed as a child are almost always the sports one follows as an adult. This is why time and treasure invested in an attempt to introduce American adults to cricket are likely to be time and treasure wasted. Yes, there are rare exceptions, such as myself, but we represent the statistical outliers, and should not be used as examples to be emulated.

The true blueprint for success can be seen in the American soccer market, which is, itself, still developing. For decades, soccer was a sport played only by adult immigrants and ignored by everyone else in the United States. It was only when soccer began to be played in schools and recreation leagues that it moved into the American mainstream. Why? Because parents follow their children. If Billy wants to play soccer, Mom or Dad must take him to practices and games, where they will learn the sport by watching, and will develop a passion by cheering for their child’s team. (I have been through this process with my daughter, Sarah.)

As Billy learns the sport, he will become interested in its teams and players, and he will want to own things that reflect his newfound interest. This will require that Mom or Dad join him on this voyage of discovery, as they will be the ones responsible for acquiring the correct paraphernalia (apparel, posters, bedding, memorabilia, etc.). Billy will also wish to attend professional or college games, which will require an adult escort, and the escorting adult will, of course, cheer loudly for Billy’s player and team, which continues the indoctrination process.

So how do we make Billy a cricketer? Billy probably won’t choose to play a game he’s never heard of, or join a league where he has no friends. This is why it’s critical that we start by introducing him to the sport at school, where it can be taught as a part of his curriculum, and he and his friends can learn it together. (Cricket is a perfect sport for physical education classes, but I’ll leave that for another time.) My experience has been that often this is all that will be required to spark a passion for cricket. Once Billy and his friends begin to enjoy cricket at school, they’ll want to play at home, and it’ll be up to us to make sure they have the opportunity.
This brings us to the major hurdle we face in this regard: Right now, there is no coordinated national effort to introduce cricket at the elementary or middle school levels in the United States. As a matter of fact, I’ve never even heard of an organized local effort. This vacuum of leadership in the area of youth cricket creates an obstacle that will frustrate all of our desires to promote cricket, if it is not addressed. This is why USACA, as the sport’s officially sanctioned governing body, must appoint a board-level National Youth Cricket Coordinator without delay. This individual will be responsible for articulating USACA’s vision for youth sports, and developing local leaders, sponsors and programs that will effectively implement that vision. Until this is done, our hopes for youth cricket will founder and drift as a series of disconnected, directionless dreams.

Until we see children playing cricket at American beaches, in American parks and in American gym classes, little of lasting substance can be accomplished.

2. Cricket Equipment and Sets Must Be Readily Available For Purchase In Stores

Even if, in the beginning, it’s only toy cricket sets on the shelves at Walmart, having something to give Billy for his 8th birthday that will foster his love for the game is critical. Soon after, we’ll need to have real equipment on the shelves at places like Modell’s & Sports Authority. Right now, there are precious few places in America where cricket gear of any kind sits on a store shelf, and while dedicated cricketers may be willing to order online, those that are merely curious about the game (our target market) must have somewhere convenient to go to satisfy that curiosity. Also, if we want to see children playing cricket, we need to make it easy for their parents to acquire their equipment. That is not the case today.

To change this, a major push will have to be made both by the manufacturers of cricket products and by the game’s American supporters. Retailers will want to know that SKUs can be obtained easily, at a cost that will enable them to make a profit. They will also need to know that a market exists for these products. Someone at a national level will have to coordinate this joint effort if we want to see immediate results.

3. We Need To Have More Places To Play

From my experience in the Baltimore/Washington area, I can tell you that there simply aren’t enough pitches for the teams that exist already, and there are no indoor facilities closer than New Jersey. This is unacceptable if we wish to develop the game. Players need facilities at which to practice (especially in the offseason), and teams need places to play. Changing this will require both public and private funding, and the patience to wait for the market to grow to the point of full usage of the facilities.

4. Cricket Highlights Need To Be Seen On Television

One impediment to the adoption of cricket in the United States is that most Americans have never seen it played. As a result, they reject it as alien, and assume it to be unwatchable. Regular highlight clips, played on networks that are available as part of the basic cable package, are important in both introducing the sport and dispelling the stereotypes. It may seem strange, but psychologically, as the sports fan sees cricket alongside other “accepted” sports, it will seem more normal for him to have an interest in it, and his mind will be opened. (I’ve actually seen IPL highlights on ESPN Sportscenter’s Top Ten before, but there needs to be more than that, and it needs to be more than just the IPL.)

5. T20/IPL-style Leagues Must Be Used To Promote The Game

All of the buzz seems to indicate that we are very close to seeing an American professional T20 league established. If this becomes a reality, it presents a wonderful opportunity for the teams, players and coaches to get out into their local communities and promote the game. This can be accomplished through youth clinics, demonstration games, ticket donations and so forth. It would truly be a lost opportunity if the league came and went without ever leaving the cricket grounds. The individuals involved have a duty to be goodwill ambassadors for the sport, and it is my hope that they won’t fumble this golden chance.

Our success will eventually be measured not by the number of trophies won, but by the number of children playing our sport.

As you can see, when I think about growing cricket in America, my focus is squarely on developing the youth market. If we fail to do this properly, no advances made anywhere else will make a difference, including winning international matches. On the other hand, soccer has expanded vastly in the United States, despite the fact that the American men’s national team has never gotten within sniffing distance of a World Cup. This points out the fact that creating and maintaining a fan base is not dependent on world-class victories as much as it is dependent upon the adoption of the game by kids.

[The author coached the only American high school cricket team outside of New York City. The Cardinal Gibbons Cricket Club was created by a group of American kids who, without ever having played a hardball game, had fallen in love with the sport. ]

DreamCricket.com invites you to share your views with us on how cricket can be made more attractive to Americans. Please leave your comments by clicking on the Reader's Comments link. If you would like to write an Op-Ed column on this subject, please write to us at content@dreamcricket.com.

Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - Ben Miron

dccssuper — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:00:00 GMT

by Ben Miron

The sport of cricket has now been part of my life for just under three years, and like many cricket fans, I am completely obsessed with the game. I play cricket year round in the Houston Cricket League and watch as much international cricket as possible. I know there is a large foreign born population who are as equally obsessed with cricket as I am. However, I am now just finding out that there are other white, American born cricketers like myself. To me this is very refreshing, not only to justify that I am not crazy for spending every weekend at the cricket field, but it also shows that there is hope in expanding the game among other Americans.

I enjoyed reading Peter Della Penna’s article and believe that I can add to his insight with my own five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans.

1. Show cricket highlights on television

As a football, basketball and baseball-loving boy from the American South, I watched ESPN SportsCenter religiously. Of course I tuned in hoping to see highlights from my beloved Texas Longhorns or Atlanta Braves, but I always love seeing outstanding plays from other teams and sports. I believe that injecting some cricket highlights into shows such as SportsCenter would do wonders for introducing the American sports loving public to the sport of cricket.

Showing both international highlights as well as US cricket highlights would be very effective in making cricket attractive to Americans. International highlights showing an amazing catch from Paul Collingwood, a tenacious bouncer from Mitchell Johnson, or a huge six from Yuvraj Singh would spark interest in cricket by Americans. Additionally, if the occasional highlights from domestic leagues and tournaments were shown, it would help Americans realize there are other sports being played on their home soil, besides the standard football, basketball, and baseball.

2. Give Americans an opportunity to play cricket

After seeing cricket on TV while vacationing in London, I came back to the US and realized there was a large South Asian population at the University of Texas who played taped tennis ball cricket. After playing a couple of pick-up taped tennis ball games, I was hooked. I eventually began playing in a seasoned ball league in Austin and then in Houston where I moved a year later. Had I not had an opportunity to play cricket, I believe that my interest would have fizzled, and cricket would have just been that sport I saw on TV.

Through my experience, I realize that getting the opportunity to play cricket is a must in making cricket attractive to Americans. I think the workshop that Peter Della Penna discussed in his article is a great idea and needs to be expanded. By introducing cricket to children at schools, kids will see that it is a fun game and may be something they would like to continue to play and watch. Ultimately, with enough interest, cricket could be established as an interscholastic sport, similar to the PSAL cricket program in New York.

In addition to introducing cricket to kids through the schools, American adults should be given an opportunity to play cricket. Clubs and leagues have to do a better job in recruiting Americans, not just restricting the game to ethnic players who have played cricket all of their lives. Local cricket leagues could have an open house type event at the beginning of each season, which would allow Americans to try bowling or batting and possibly become interested in playing for one of the league’s clubs. Encouraging Caucasian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans to play cricket would help Americans realize that cricket can be mixed into the US sports landscape.

3. Make cricket equipment more readily available

Playing cricket in the US is difficult for an American born cricketer. Not only have I been faced with the challenge of not having years of proper training on batting and bowling technique, but it is also very difficult for me to obtain cricket equipment. Essentially, all cricket shopping must be done online, which might discourage a casual cricketer. It is also usually more expensive because most of the cricket equipment must be imported from overseas and those costs are passed on to the consumer. If economical bats, balls, and pads could be purchased at local sporting goods stores, Americans would be much more likely to play cricket, both in their backyard with friends and recreationally and competitively in a local cricket league.

4. Show cricket on television

If cricket was currently shown on US television stations it would get a smattering of viewers; however the majority would be expatriates or immigrants from cricket playing nations. But after seeing highlights on TV and playing cricket in gym class or a local cricket league open house, Americans would be much more likely to begin watching cricket on television. I saw bits and pieces of various cricket matches during my trip to London, but it wasn’t until I had actually played cricket that I was willing to sit through a full cricket match.

Although it will be difficult for Test and ODI cricket matches to be successful on US television, Twenty20s certainly could be instantly popular. The shorter version of the game is tailor-made as a televised sport, and this would translate to Americans as well. Even though I had only been playing cricket for about four months, throughout the month of September 2007 I was glued to the computer at all hours of the night to watch the World Twenty20. I could only wish that these exciting matches were being shown on TV, rather than watching it on pay-per-view internet streaming sites. Today, I also enjoy watching ODIs and Tests, but still streaming on the internet. Twenty20s are a great way to get initial interest in cricket, and eventually once the American sports watching public has gotten used to watching cricket matches, there can be a market for longer forms of the game as well.

5. $$$

Of course, here in America, the almighty dollar drives everything. For people to want to play cricket it must be economical. Gym coaches are not going to spend their yearly budget on cricket bats and balls when they can buy much cheaper basketballs and dodge balls. Schools are not going to start cricket teams that drain the athletic departments’ budgets. The cricket loving public in the US must be willing to spend time and money in helping introduce their sport to fellow Americans. USACA has to receive more funding and designate it for youth programs. The ICC needs to help jump start cricket in America.

As evident in county cricket and international cricket, as well as tournaments such as the IPL, cricket can provide some very lucrative television contracts and other sponsorship opportunities. American cricket will not see these financial windfalls right away, but eventually it could be a reality. Cricket in America should be seen as an investment. Cricket is never going to replace football or baseball, or even soccer in this country, but there is an opportunity for cricket to make huge strides. It is going to take lots of time, effort, and money, but eventually there can be a market for cricket in America.

These are my five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans. I am sure there are 25 other ways to popularize cricket in America, but from my experience, these five ways would be very effective. My biggest regret in my short cricketing career is that I did not discover the sport until my senior year in college. I dream that cricket one day will become part of US sports culture and Americans can have a chance to see why cricket is one of the world’s most popular sports.

DreamCricket.com invites you to share your views with us on how cricket can be made more attractive to Americans. Please leave your comments by clicking on the Reader's Comments link. If you would like to write an Op-Ed column on this subject, please write to us at content@dreamcricket.com.

Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - Peter Della Penna

dccssuper — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:30:00 GMT

by Peter Della Penna

It’s been a little over four years since cricket hijacked my life. The stick and ball sport holds my thoughts hostage 24/7. A large part of these thoughts revolve around the fact that there are not a vast amount of white American-born people like myself who take pleasure in cricket the way they freely do in other sports like college football. Millions of people across the country were glued to their televisions on the night of Saturday, Dec. 12, to see who would win the Heisman Trophy. Unfortunately, the number giving their attention to the Test match between New Zealand and Pakistan was a fraction of that.

Cricket has the capacity to produce a prolific amount of dedication and fervor in Americans. We are a sports playing and watching society. Bobsledding and speed skating have a much fainter blip on the American sports radar than cricket, but two months from now in Vancouver, those will be two sports that everyone in this country will have a very keen knowledge of when the Winter Olympics are in full swing. If those sports can grab people’s attention, so can cricket.

What needs to happen is to make the sport more desirable. Cricket doesn’t need to be “Americanized” to get Americans to like it. However, there are five things that aficionados and administrators can do to help Americans get more involved by appealing to the things they already like about other sports.

1. Stop referring to it as “A Gentleman’s Game”

… unless you’re being facetious. At a recent workshop in Atlanta conducted by Cricket Academy of USA aimed at getting gym teachers to learn about cricket, footage of Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad from the 2007 World Twenty20 was shown on an overhead projector to an audience of about 40 physical education instructors.

After the third six, one teacher bolted out of his chair to the back of the room where I was standing so he could ask me a question. “Can you hit him?” he wanted to know. This man was curious why Broad was getting smoked out of the park without trying to take Singh’s head off with a bouncer in retaliation. “Well…” I thought about it, considering it was a loaded question in which a proper answer would have to include explanations on Bodyline, one bouncer per over in one-dayers, no full tosses above waist height, etc. Yawn. He’ll get confused and lose interest. So I decided to keep it simple. “Yes, as long as you bounce it into the ground first, aiming for his body is well within the rules.” The teacher excitedly went back to his seat and relayed the word to colleagues on his left and right.

A similar conversation took place between myself and two guys I knew from college who I managed to run into a few weeks ago. They had never watched a cricket match before in their lives, but while watching the first day of the third Test between New Zealand and Pakistan alongside me, they got very excited seeing Umar Gul bowl. Tim McIntosh had just hooked him for four and Gul decided to follow up with two more bouncers. All of a sudden, they had their complete attention on the match. McIntosh was ducking out of the way in an attempt at self-preservation and these two guys loved every minute of it.

The stark brutality of cricket is not something that should cause cricket fans to hang their heads in shame. It should be celebrated. Cricket has long been stereotyped in America as “not really a sport because it’s played by men wearing sweaters.” An efficient way to combat this is by celebrating the likes of Mitchell Johnson. Not only is he an exciting talent for his wicket-taking ability, but also for the amount of times in the past 12 months he has sent someone off the field retired hurt. People don’t watch NASCAR for the left turns all day long. They want to see who crashes and who escapes the wrecks. Just as exciting as seeing the stumps rattled in cricket is seeing the ball whizz by a batsman’s head… or into it.

Which Mitchell Johnson spell against South Africa was more entertaining: Perth’s 8 for 61 or Durban’s 3 for 37? At first glance, most cricket folk would take the statistically impressive 8 for 61. However, for my American spirit, I’ll take Durban any day of the week because it included KO’ing Graeme Smith for the second time in three Tests with a broken hand and forcing Jacques Kallis off the field to get stitches after striking him in the helmet with a bouncer. Sit Americans down in front of that and their whole opinion towards cricket changes.

2. Merchandising

This point is two-fold. Americans love buying clothes if they just plain look cool. Last year during a segment on ESPNews, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was being interviewed by one of the studio anchors. At one point, the anchor made mention of a New Jersey Devils hat that Jackson was wearing and asked if he was a big fan of Martin Brodeur. Jackson chuckled and said, “Nah, I don’t watch hockey. I’m just wearing it because I like the way it looks.”

The IPL has introduced a fantastic opportunity for people to buy nifty designed hats and jerseys to get them interested in cricket. While speaking with Amar Shah, author of the award winning ESPN.com 2005 E-Ticket feature “A Wicket Wedding”, Shah recounted a story of a party he was at in Los Angeles in which he wore a Kolkata Knight Riders jersey. The people he was mingling with had no clue who KKR was or that they were the laughing stock of the IPL. They just saw the black shirt with gold trim and a shiny NOKIA logo in the middle and wanted to know where they could get one.

American fans also love buying trendy clothes that represent success in some way. While soccer’s current popularity in America can be mainly attributed to having Pele and other stars come in during the NASL years as well as getting the USA to host the World Cup in 1994, another significant event has also contributed greatly to the appeal and awareness of the game.

In February of 2001, Manchester United and the New York Yankees, two of the most successful sports franchises in the world, teamed up for a joint marketing venture. According to a news article from the BBC, the partnership’s aims were for the clubs to “share market information, develop sponsorship and joint promotional programs and sell each other's licensed goods.” At the time, Man U had a certain midfielder whose reputation was on the rise. For the men in this country, and even more for the women, David Beckham was someone who helped people follow United and got them even more interested in soccer and the English Premier League. Before the end of the decade, he became a full-fledged international icon, got a fat contract to come play in the MLS and his former club Man U is now one of 20 English Premier League teams regularly featured on ESPN networks as part of a new television contract.

On a recent visit to a Sports Authority, I could find Brazil soccer team merchandise as well as items with New Zealand All Blacks rugby logos. If those things can make it in there, it shouldn’t be long before vibrant colored cricket team apparel makes it onto the racks.

3. It’s a stick and ball game

That’s all anyone needs to know. Don’t bother trying to explain the LBW law, or any other law about cricket, within the first five minutes of introducing them to the game. All that is required is sticking a bat in their hand and telling them to hit a ball. The rest of it they can learn at the rate their curiosity allows.

While visiting the Philadelphia Cricket Club in October, I was awestruck at the fact that they had white American-born playing members at their club, most of whom had only picked up the game in their 40s and 50s. When I asked one member how long it took him to learn how to play with proper technique, he replied, “six weeks.” His method was simple. To him, it was just another see the ball, hit the ball game. He’d spent most of his life playing sports and this one was not too far different from the others he’d played. The only difference for him was the fact that he needed to form a defense to pair it with attacking shots in cricket. In most other stick and ball sports, attack is all that’s required. Once he got his defense down, he thought cricket was completely normal.

He was clear that he didn’t understand the rules immediately and that it took him some time to learn. However, he was also clear on one other thing. To him, playing cricket required seeing a ball and hitting it. That’s it. Hitting the ball gave him pleasure. It’s what got him coming back on the weekends with the rest of his American friends.

4. Duration is a plus, not a minus

Newsflash: Americans love long sporting events, contrary to popular belief. In fact, the longer they go, the better and more memorable they become.

For Mets fans, two of the most legendary games in the team’s history were two of the longest. In 1999, the Mets beat the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS on Robin Ventura’s “Grand Slam Single” in a 15-inning classic that went five hours and 46 minutes, which at the time was the longest game in MLB Postseason history. It was eclipsed in 2005 when the Astros beat the Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS in an 18-inning epic that went four minutes longer. An even more famous victory for the Mets came in the 1986 NLCS, on their way to the World Series, when they defeated the Astros 7-6 in 16 innings in what is considered one of the greatest playoff games of all time. I don’t know anyone who talks about these three games and complains that they were too long.

In college basketball, last year’s Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden saw Syracuse and UConn play in one of the most tense and dramatic games of all time, one that went a whopping six overtime periods. The game started at 9:37 p.m. and didn’t get over until 1:22 a.m., not that anyone was complaining. The game was the longest in Big East history and second longest in Division I basketball history.

The same is true for sudden death overtime in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Eleven of the 20 longest games in NHL history have taken place since 1990. Yet, there hasn’t been any hue or cry to eliminate sudden death in the playoffs. The same things that are appealing about sudden death in hockey are what make batting in cricket so alluring. As players head into a second, third, fourth, even fifth 20-minute overtime period, everyone is glued to the television waiting and wondering who will make the heroic breakthrough, or the fatal error. In cricket, a batsman can be at the crease for three, four, five hours, but one lapse in judgment and the bowler has his man.

The endurance element is not limited to just these traditionally American sports. The 2008 Men’s Wimbledon Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal started at 2:35 p.m., but because of an incredible number of long rallies, weather delays and a stunning fifth set without a tiebreak, the match ended at 9:16 p.m. local time. It was nearly pitch black outside, but the flashbulbs were bursting on the court to capture the end to the greatest, and longest, championship match in Wimbledon history. ESPN Classic made it a habit to run the match on a loop and whenever there is a rain delay during a major tournament on ESPN, they don’t hesitate to unleash the footage from that eventful day.

Then there is golf. 2008 US Open Playoff. Four days was not enough. Unlike just about every other golf tournament, the US Open does not use a one-hole or four-hole sudden death playoff. So Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods played another 18 holes on Monday, except that they were still tied. They went one more playoff hole before Woods prevailed.

Reflecting on the way things unfolded, John Maginnes of PGATour.com wrote, “This Monday finish may go down as the most exciting day of golf all year. Considering the way things played out -- with only five of the 18 holes in the playoff being tied -- it was a tournament that deserved a fitting conclusion. Had there been a sudden death playoff or even a four-hole playoff, we would have been cheated out of the most compelling theater golf has to offer.”

Five days to decide a winner. Compelling theater. It sounds an awful lot like Test cricket to me. The length of a cricket match should be embraced, not defaced.

5. Betting

The Super Bowl consistently remains one of the highest rated American television programs of the year despite the fact that fans from 30 of the 32 NFL teams will not be seeing their team playing in the game. What then is the most exciting part of the game: the on-field action, the commercials, or the halftime show? None of the above.

The correct answer is the coin toss. Billions of dollars will change hands depending on which side it will land. The average man tunes in ten minutes before kickoff to scream, “TAILS! TAILS! TAILS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!” so that he can turn $50 into $100. After the coin toss, it’s exciting to see whether or not the player who scores the first touchdown has an odd or even numbered jersey, how many coaches challenges there will be, if the ball is ever spotted on exactly the 50 yard line and other incredibly banal elements of the game that all of a sudden become heart-pounding when you know you’ve got some money riding on it.

This is not exclusively an American phenomenon. Betting has long been a part of cricket. Unfortunately, it is usually seen in a negative light with match-fixing scandals in the game’s past. However, a positive step has been taken by Cricket Australia to make betting a welcome part of the game. They now routinely show the latest Betfair odds over the course of the match during coverage on Channel Nine.

When I went to my first Test match four years ago, I wanted to see Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne bowl as well as Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist bat. When those things weren’t happening, the things that kept me interested were what was going to be the method of dismissal for the first wicket of the match (caught fieldsman, bowled, LBW, runout, stumped, or the very long odds for hit wicket), whether or not darkhorse Shane Watson would take the most first innings wickets, which team would wind up with a first innings lead and would Michael Clarke get out between 50 and 74 runs. A single Test match offers just as many wild and crazy options as the betting lines on Super Bowl Sunday, and man are they fun.

As Masaood Yunus of the Minnesota Cricket Association said in a radio interview promoting the USACA Western Conference Tournament this year, “We get bored sometimes too.” An excellent way to make sure a person stays interested in any new sport is if they have a healthy wager on proceedings. It makes them eager to learn the rules and the structure, who the stars are, what history shows and what the latest trends are. Cricket is no different. The most important city in America for getting people to follow cricket isn’t Fort Lauderdale. It won’t be Indianapolis, New York or Los Angeles either. It’s Las Vegas. Once cricket carves out a niche in the casino sportsbooks, interest will skyrocket.

So there it is, five ways to make cricket appealing and desirable to Americans. Sure the old clichés like grassroots development and domestic cable television exposure will help. But these five simple yet effective concepts will play their part too.

If you would like to contact this writer, he can be contacted via Twitter @DPMilGaya or via peter@dreamcricket.com

Tour Report: Team USA U19 lays foundation to reach New Zealand

openingbat — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:12:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

Last week’s strong second place showing at the ICC Americas U-19 Regional Qualifier in Toronto was a huge step for Team USA. They are now only one step away from making the U-19 World Cup next February in New Zealand for the first time since 2006. Team USA finished 4-1 at the Regional Qualifier with their only loss coming to tournament champion Canada.

Despite not participating in the 2008 U-19 World Cup, Team USA has big expectations heading into the Global Qualifier that will take place in Toronto from September 1-13. Team USA only needs to finish in the top six of 10 teams to qualify for the U-19 World Cup, but that isn’t enough for Coach Sew Shivnaraine.

“My goal is to win it and I guarantee that we are gonna win it,” said Shivnaraine. “I think the boys are aware of what’s wrong, why we lost against Canada. The Canadian players were getting into these guys minds…. Now they realize that when they go back in September, they’re not gonna play with their heads any more.” The coach isn’t the only one brimming with confidence. His players are backing him up as well.

“I think if you look at the talent on the team, we should have come in first actually,” said Henry Wardley who finished as the second highest run scorer in the event behind the tournament MVP, Canada’s Hiral Patel. “We were more talented than Canada. It’s just we choked on the day and their tactics beat us.”

Team USA U-19 captain Shiva Vashishat echoed the sentiments of Coach Shivnaraine, that there was a silver lining from the defeat to Canada. “The loss against Canada helped us a lot because it was the first time we faced pressure,” said Vashishat. “Overall, we all played together. We’re gonna be a better team for the next time we come around for the next tournament.”

The team arrived in Canada on Wednesday July 1, five days before the start of the tournament to get some crucial practice on turf wickets. With the lack of turf wicket facilities available in the United States, most club matches are played on matting or artificial wickets. As a result, many of the players were going to be playing on turf for the first time and the adjustment was going to be a key factor in the success or failure of the team in the tournament. Team USA’s top order batting was excellent, particularly the contributions from Wardley, Azurdeen “Andy” Mohammed, Ryan Corns, Vashishat and Gregory Sewdial. However, the middle and lower order struggled, particularly against spin bowling. While Team USA overall performed admirably on the wickets at Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario, Coach Shivnaraine feels there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“I think they should have a lot of batting practice,” said Shivnaraine. “I’ve noticed with spin bowling, they were having problems playing spin bowling. Remember they’re not used to the turf. That’s one of the reasons the batting didn’t explode as usual. If you play on the mat, you’ll have a lot of guys make a lot of runs.”

The bowling however was superb, particularly the spin bowling. Yash Shah led the way for Team USA with 8 wickets in four games and finished as the third highest wicket taker in the tournament behind two other spinners. Chris Douglas of Bermuda finished with 14 in five games and was named the tournament’s Best Bowler. Orlando Stuart of the Bahamas had 11 in five matches as well. According to the Tournament Director Martin Vieira, the ICC Americas Regional Development Manager, the weather was a factor in why spin bowling dominated the event.

“The weather was probably the biggest concern, not only during the tournament but leading up to the tournament because it’s been a very wet summer in Toronto,” said Vieira. “The groundspeople had a very difficult job in getting the wickets prepared. If there was one negative thing about it, it might be the wickets were probably on the slow side. But overall I think the tournament went well.”

Shah’s performance was all the more impressive considering he wasn’t even in the original 14 man squad. He was called in as a last minute replacement for Saqib Saleem.

“I found out on Monday evening and my ticket was on Thursday,” said Shah who had to join the team a day later than the rest of the squad.

“I had Yash in the team, but when the team selection committee only had to select 14, then he was the odd man out,” said Shivnaraine. “But I realized that in the 14, if one of the guys wasn’t going, Yash was the next man in line because he really bowled well in the trials. Getting him [to Toronto] was a godsend because his performance was so good. It was unbelievable how he bowled for a little man.”

Shah was very well supported by Corns, Muhammad Asad Ghous, Mohammed and Vashishat in the spin department, while the pacemen Naseer Jamali and Salman Ahmad were solid if unspectacular with the new ball.

“Our batting is our strength,” said Shah. “We have batsmen to number nine. Our bowling, especially the spin bowling also has been doing very good and pacers are doing extremely well in the beginning overs as well. Overall it’s a great team we have.”

The fielding was noteworthy as well. Wardley and vice-captain Sewdial each had four catches. Sewdial was given the award for the tournament’s Best Fielder. In the match against Bermuda, Sewdial pulled off three stunning catches to help turn the tide in Team USA’s favor.

The team was led very well by captain Vashishat. While most of the players were playing under him for the first time, the performance of the team showed how fast he picked up on how to get the best out of his men.

“I knew he was a very talented captain,” said Wardley. “Whenever we needed someone to perform, he would pretty much perform. Under pressure situations, like in the field against Bermuda and against Canada, he always made the right decisions.”

“Heading into the tournament, my main goal was to get to know everyone, get to know their strengths, weaknesses and play together as a team,” said Vashishat. Coach Shivnaraine was pleased with the way Vashishat accomplished this goal.

“He’s a fantastic guy,” said Shivnaraine. “He listens. We make plans before the game and he always listens to our plans and he works with that. I don’t have to tell him from outside what to do. That’s the good thing about Shiva. Shiva has a lot of experience captaining teams.”

One other thing that Coach Shivnaraine has spoken to the team about is sportsmanship. Overall, Team USA demonstrated exemplary behavior on and off the field. However, there were two incidents that the coach was not happy with. In one match, a Team USA bowler attempted to run out the batsman at the non-striker’s end after he had entered his delivery stride. In a separate incident, a Team USA batsman openly questioned an umpire’s decision by gesturing that he had hit the ball into the ground before finally walking off the field.

“I discussed it at a meeting,” said Shivnaraine. “This is a gentleman’s game. They shouldn’t do that…. They understand though. They apologized which is good. They apologized to the manager, to the coach and to the umpires.”

Away from all the action, the players had an awesome experience getting to interact and make friends with the other teams at the hotel.

“It was a good experience, especially chatting with some Argentinean guys and Bahaman guys and also Canadian guys, off the field we were all happy,” said Shah. “I even gave my floppy hat to one of the Argentinean guys. They really are nice kids. They are eager to learn that’s what they are. They are eager to learn this game and I’m happy to see that.”

Many of the players on Team USA’s U-19 squad will be competing in senior level USACA tournaments over the next few weeks. Ghous and Shah have been selected to represent the Atlantic Region at the Eastern Conference tournament in Washington, D.C. taking place from July 17-19. Corns, who finished as the fourth highest run scorer in Toronto and had two half-centuries in four matches before getting hurt, was recently selected to represent the Central West Region for the Western Conference tournament in Minneapolis, Minn., from July 31-August 2. The experience against higher level competition will only help them in their quest to advance to New Zealand in the U-19 World Cup.

“To be honest it would be a dream to appear in the World Cup,” said Shah.

From L-R bottom row: Team Physio Akhtar Masood "Chik" Syed, Abhijit Joshi, Muhammad Asad Ghous, Henry Wardley, Shiva Vashishat, Regis Burton, Yash Shah. From L-R top row standing: Coach Sew Shivnaraine, Azurdeen "Andy" Mohammed, Naseer Jamali, Salman Ahmad, Ryan Corns, Talha Zamir, Saami Siddiqui, Gregory Sewdial, Steven Taylor, Manager Wesley King.

1895 Cricket match between Mrs. Hazen's School and Rosemary Hall - A Historic First For Interscholastic Girls Sports

openingbat — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:11:00 GMT

By Venu Palaparthi

In 1895, the girls from Rosemary Hall, a girls preparatory school founded by Mrs. Caroline Ruutz-Rees of England defeated girls from Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls (popularly known as Pelham Hall) in a cricket match played at Wallingford, Connecticut.

There is no official record of this first ever match but New York Times referred to the victory of Rosemary Hall in the 1895 girls cricket match when the Rosemary girls visited Pelham Hall a year later.

This contest where the winner took home a "light blue banner," became an annual tradition, and is the oldest known interscholastic sporting event for girls in USA for any sport.

Indeed, girls played sports before 1895, but these were intramurals. A basketball match was played between girls of Montclair High and Horace Mann of New York City in 1897. But the Pelham Hall versus Rosemary Hall cricket match preceded both this basketball match and the Girls Interscholastic Athletic League, which was formed in 1900.

In fact, a photo is said to exist in the Pelham Library in a book titled The Pelham Manor Story 1891 - 1991 written by James B. Saunders, who wrote "Young ladies of Mrs. Hazen's School (Pelham Hall) dropped their bat and ball long enough to pose for the photographer before engaging the girls of Rosemary Hall in a serious contest of cricket." Mr. Saunders also wrote, "Results of the game are lost in history."

Mr. Saunders need not have despaired. Thanks to New York Times, there is a more detailed record of the Pelham Hall versus Rosemary Hall inter-school match for 1896, which DreamCricket.com has tracked down.

In a story filed on November 14, 1896, Times noted: The Esplanade lawn at "Prospect Hill was the scene here today of a winter contest of a most unusual kind." The writer was quite taken by the novelty of it all and went on to describe the occasion vividly. "Bareheaded and wearing sweaters and short skirts, daughters of some of the most prominent men in the country defied the cold, wintry wind. With enthusiasm and skill the twenty-two bowled, batted, and fielded. A large crowd, chiefly composed of Pelham's most fashionable folk, witnessed the game. Excitement ran high, for last year the Pelham Hall girls journeyed to Wallingford and were defeated by the Rosemary cricketers. Today the losers on that occasion struggled successfully to win back the light-blue banner they lost in Connecticut."

"The weather, the waving of ribbons and banners, and the college cries would have done justice to a Yale-Harvard football match," the reporter wrote. Rosemary Hall won the toss and put Pelham to bat. With 15 in the first innings and 21 in the second innings, Annie King, captain of Pelham, was the highest scorer on the day. Miss King, the daughter of John King Jr, the Vice President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, also took 7 wickets with the ball. Pelham Hall scored 81 in the first innings and 51 in the second. Rosemary Hall was dismissed for just 26 in the first innings and were defeated by a 69 run margin after they collapsed for 37 in the second innings.

Shouts of "Hurrah, hear us call; Hazen, Hazen, Pelham Hall," were heard around the ground and the blue ribbon was won back by the girls of Pelham Manor.

The contest between the girls of Pelham Hall and Rosemary Hall continued for several years. In 1898, Rosemary Hall hired a women's cricket coach - her name was Mrs. Hulseberg and she was perhaps the first women's cricket coach in USA.

The Pelham Hall, founded by Mrs. Emily John Cunningham Hazen, closed in 1915. Rosemary Hall continues to this day as Choate-Rosemary Hall after its merger with Choate. One way to celebrate their historical achievement by restarting the tradition there.

Rosemary Hall

Pic Courtesy: Choate Rosemary Hall

Mrs. Hazen's School (Pelham Hall)

Picture Courtesy: Blake Bell

Experimenting with de facto turf pitches in NY

openingbat — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:14:00 GMT

Experimenting with de facto turf pitches in NY

Peter Simunovich

NY is experimenting with turf wickets

Turf pitches - well, sort of - have been put down in two fields in Brooklyn and Queens in New York, and will be used in games as an experiment as soon as this summer.

The turf wickets have been placed on either side of matting pitches in Canarsie, Brooklyn, and Rosedale, Queens, said John Aaron, the United States Cricket Association Executive Secretary.

He said the wickets were not made up of the soil and ingredients that make up the regular turf pitches, but if the tracks advanced enough over the next couple of months they would probably be used in matches this summer.

This is a breakthrough for the USACA, which has been keen for years to have turf wickets in New York so players can get the experience of playing on them as part of the preparation when they play in other states that have turf tracks or in international matches outside of the US.

Philip Abramson, a spokesperson for Parks and Recreation said: "The turf wicket ingredients are a mixture of clay and sand (mostly clay). Â The type of clay is a harder kind than standard ball field clay. Â We expect them to be playable by summer."

Aaron said: "We will see how advanced the pitches are when the season begins and we may be able to play on them. It will help players to experience the turf wicket conditions they will encounter overseas.

"We'll just wait and see how it works."

US cricket coach Clayton Lambert, who played in Seven Tests with the West Indies and has played in England, Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh, the Caribbean and the UAE, welcomed the experiment. He said: "There should be turf wickets all over the US. It will help players when they compete in international matches.

"The batsmen can benefit from turf pitches and bowlers have to be more consistent and work harder on turf wickets. To get help from the turf wickets you have to be a better bowler and work harder."

USACA officials have been involved in talks with the local government administrators about laying turf wickets for cricket. The cost of the turf pitches has been picked up by the City of New York.

"We have been encouraging them to have uncovered pitches next to the matting pitches," said Aaron who added there were about 15 turf pitches in Florida, California and Texas.

US captain Steve Massiah endorsed the turf pitches: "This is a great idea and they should test to see how they go. Matting is artificial. The younger players will learn from playing on a turf wicket. They have trouble adjusting from playing on matting then moving on to a turf pitch."

Leagues in New York have for many years tried to get turf wickets on fields where cricket is played, but with little success because of lack of money, the severe winters and seasons lasting just 10 to 12 weeks.

And New York leagues have tried to have a field solely for cricket with locker rooms for players and restrooms and small stands or bleachers for fans.

Aaron said the fields in Queens and Brooklyn where the turf tracks had been laid had been upgraded with bathrooms, concrete walkways, bleachers seating and a manual scoreboard. Before they had been open fields.

This was also a major plus for cricket in New York - for players and fans.

There are legendary stories in New York over the years how players would dress before a game in cars or behind trees and spectators did not have the use of restrooms. After a game, players did not have the use of a locker room to shower or facilities to bathe to freshen up.

On one occasion there was a tree in the middle of a field where a game was being played and some spectators climbed and sat in the tree to watch the game.

There have been games where cricketers have had to share the same field with a baseball game. And once, dirt bike riders rode through the middle of the playing area while a cricket match was being played.

Aaron said that as a national organization, the USACA was not in a position to establish its own field in New York because member leagues would then ask why there were no fields in their regions of the country.

"But I know that the USACA would not discourage corporations, investors and local governments to help get a field," he said.

Is the current USA team the best ever?

openingbat — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:01:00 GMT

Is the current USA team the best ever?

Ricardo Inniss

Playing their best cricket in years, the USA defeated Suriname by 208 runs, Argentina by 7 wickets, Bermuda by 86 runs, Canada by 81 runs and the Cayman Islands by 87 runs in November of 2008 making a clean sweep to be crowned ICC Americas Cricket Cup Division 1 Champions.

The team's excellent performance, prompted several folks to say that this is one of the best, if not THE best, team ever. There are some others who disagreed as they walked down the memory lane.

Captain Steve Massiah, for his part, acknowledged the accolades: "I am very honored to have captained one of the best USA teams that ever walked on a cricket field."

Rizwan Mohammed, currently the president of the Florida Southeast Cricket League (FSCL), who was born in India, endorsed that view: "I believe the current USA team that won the Americas Cup, should be ranked as one of the best ever to take the field.

"The team had a good mix of youth and experience. The selectors and management did a fantastic job, after the debacle in Jersey earlier. Hats off to Steve Massiah who marshaled his resources very well. Kudos to Sushil Nadkarni who dominated the bowling and scored at will throughout the tournament. From an FSCL standpoint, Nasir Javed delivered as usual with his experience, guile, and wily spin. My congrats and best wishes to the team for 2009."

While not wanting to get drawn into making any comparisons, USA team manager and selector Imran Khan said "The team that played in ICC Americas was physically fit, mentally focused and spiritually at ease with itself. A perfect combination for a championship squad! Players like Aditya Thyagarajan, Orlando Baker, Steve Massiah, Carl Wright and Sushil Nadkarni just to mention a few are simply class acts and we need to appreciate their abilities."

While agreeing that the current team is very very special,some who had seen the action in the 70s and 80s, felt it necessary to gently remind USA about some really strong teams in the not too distant past!

Fast bowler Melford Roach, who hails from Montserrat, and made a tremendous impression on Australia's captain Ritchie Benaud, while representing the Leeward Islands in 1965, and was thought at that time, to be a very good West Indies fast bowling prospect.

After migrating to the USA in 1966, Roach went on to play for the USA and represented Paterson in the New York & Metropolitan League. He said, "I don't mean to belittle the present team." He felt that things were harder in his day as there were fewer opportunities.

"The present crop of players play more often, go to exciting places, and are more motivated as a result. Former players like Milton Wisdom, Carlyle Miller, Albert Thomas, Hume Parris, Ivan Atherley, Crichlow, Taylor, Dyer and Edwards, who were all very good players, and who already had a taste of first class cricket in their homelands (with the exception of Thomas), could have been much better had they had the same conveniences (and opportunities) as the present crop of players."

David Small an all-rounder who hails from Barbados, was an elegant right-hand batsman and medium pace bowler. Small, represented Jamaica AC and Paterson in the New York & Metropolitan League, before going on to represent the USA in Canada in 1981. Small recalls playing with and against, outstanding players the likes of Ken Williams, Sew Shivnarine, Gus Logie, Ramnarace, Grantley Riley, Stockie Blackman, Compton Adams and Mickey Lashley. Sew Shivnarine (a former USA captain) and Logie played for the West Indies.

Small thinks the teams before, like in the seventies and the early eighties, were better because the opposition at that time was much better. "Today the opposition is much weaker," he says. USA played against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh - teams that attained test status in the years to follow.

Brian Edun who hails from Guyana agreed with Small. "The opposition one plays against plays a big part in victories. The US played well at the ICC Americas, and had a good team, but was certainly not the best," he said.

Ivor Henry, also a former SFCA vice president, was born in Nevis said, "It is never easy to name an all time best team based on any one performance, but I will give it my best shot."

In his view - "2004 was a very good year for the USA team, and in my humble opinion the following players made up the best team ever: Richard Staple (captain), Nasir Javed (v. captain), Mark Johnson, Steve Massiah, Howard Johnson, Charles Reid, Rohan Alexander, Donovan Blake, Zamin Amin, Jagnash Desie, Clayton Lambert, Ejav Ali, Amir Affaludin and Rahul Kulkreti.

"In March 2008, they won the 6 Nation championship in Sharjah. In May they played a 3 day game against Canada at Brian Piccolo Park, Florida. In July they participated in the Americas Cup in Bermuda, where they also played a first class 3 day game. Later in September, they visited England and played against the likes of Australia.

"In summation, to be honest, I only know a few of the current players, and they are: Steve Messiah, Carl Wright, Lenox Cush, Steve Pitter, Nasir Javed and Masood Mohamed. While I congratulate the team for winning the recent competition played in South Florida, however, I will not rate them as the best ever with one good performance."

All of this debate is really a compliment for the current team. There is now once again a buzz surrounding the team and they should be proud to bring about this kind of chatter and excitement. And if someone thinks this team is not the best, that should only serve to inspire the team to aim higher and destroy all kinds of opposition. The proof - as they say - will be in the pudding. For Team USA, that means winning even more matches.