USA Cricketer : Greg Sewdial

Everest ACS are Eastern American Cricket Association Power 40 Division A champions

openingbat — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:26:00 GMT

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By Sam Sooppersaud

The Everest ACS cricket organization added yet another piece of hardware to their trophy cabinet when they crushed the Atlantis Cricket Organization in the 2012 Eastern American Cricket Association Power 40 Division "A" Final on Sunday, September 2. The match was played at the Baisely Park Cricket Field, Foch Boulevard and Long Street, Jamaica, New York.

After Everest ACS batted and posted a mammoth score in their inning the Atlantis batsmen were literally caged as the bowlers exercised total domination. Nobody was able to suggest a plausible reason for the failure of the Atlantis batting machine which included several centurions as well as a double-centurion.

Pic (Right): Everest ACS skipper Karan Ganesh led from the front with a blistering 88 which included 7 fours and 6 sixes. He then followed up with a bowling tally of 2 for 17. [Picture appears courtesy of Shiek Mohamed of NewYorkCricket.com]

On paper the Atlantis club fielded a better side than their rival, double centurion Nicholas Standford, the hard-hitting Henderson Blades, Alex Amsterdam, who once played for the Guyana National (Rest) Eleven; the destructive Kavishwar Bridgepaul; the wily left arm spinner, skipper Prasant Nair; the menacing pacer, Dwayne Hurley, just to name a few of the Atlantis stars.

Everest ACS combined older and younger players. Senior players like the former USA captain, Zamin Amin, Terry Hastoo, Saeed Amin, Trevor Walke, playing alongside youngsters like Greg Sewdial, a USA Under-19 player, Skipper Karan Ganesh, Shafeek Shaw. Player for player Altantis appeared to have the edge, but a cricket game is won on the field and not on potential. In this game, Atlantis did not perform.

Speaking after the game, Atlantis CC executive John Aaaron, when asked to sum up the game, said: " Everest ACS deserved to win. They batted and bowled well. We just didn't perform".

An unusually large crowd was on hand to witness the clash of the two most notable and well-organized clubs in the EACA. Both clubs have been around for decades and have won their share of championships during those years. Among the fans were EACA's long reigning president, Rudy Persaud, the workhorse of the EACA, Kris Persaud, the Regional Representative to USACA; NY Regional Director, Lester Hooper, who is an executive with the Atlantis club.

Milton Pydanna, a former West Indies ODI batsman/wicketkeeper took in the game while having a spirited conversation with several fans sitting within his proximity. Of course, the unofficial cook of the Everest ACS, 'Blair' Amin, the father of Zamin and Saeed Amin, as usual, was there giving loud vocal support to the members of his favorite team. John Aaron, the distinguished former Executive Secretary of USACA, was there. Players from numerous clubs in the EACA turned out in large numbers along with their club supporters. All came out to watch the "Clash of the Titans".

Everest ACS took first knock. Steve Nowrangilall and Shafeek Shaw opened the account for their team. By the end of the fifth over both were back in the showers, courtesy of medium pacer, Nicholas Sandford. With the score reading 29 for 2, Sewdial and Tamesh Balwant solidified the innings with a third wicket partnership that was worth 99 runs.

Balwant played the supporting role relegating the main role to the destructively hard-hitiing Sewdial. How destructive he was! Judge for yourselves. In his first 35 runs Sewdial hit 6 fours and a 6 while facing only 15 balls. Balwant (34) was then caught attempting a needless slog to long on with the score reading 128 for 3.

Skipper Karan Ganesh walked out to the crease. He had some anxious moments initially. In fact he should have been out before he had scored in the double figures. A misjudged skier dropped harmlessly to the turf. Gregory Sewdial and Karan Ganesh appeared to turn up their assault on the hapless bowlers a few notches. Greg was hitting fours while his skipper preferred to hit the ball over the fence for sixes.

With the fall of Sewdial's wicket the score read 168 for 4. Sewdial's contribution was a crushing 91 runs, hitting 15 fours and a lone six. Karan Ganesh continued to plunder the bowling attack; his favorite shot, hitting the ball over the fence. Zamin Amin "added salt to the wound" by hitting 22 runs in 19 balls. Ganesh finally was caught attempting yet another big hit. His 88 runs included seven fours and six sixes. The Everest ACS innings closed at 281 for 8.

At one stage of the Everest ACS innings it appeared that the Atlentis players were experiencing some frustration judging from their body language. The batsmen were toying with their bowlers while their fielders were grassing possible catches and mishandling grounders. Bowling for Atlantis Alex Amsterdam bagged 5 wickets for 58 runs in his 8 overs. Nick Standford ( 2 for 53) and Prasant Nair ( 1 for 51) accounted for the other wickets to have fallen.

Having to score 282 runs for victory in 40 overs (a run rate of over 7 runs per over) is indeed a daunting task considering the slow outfield. But Atlantis started on a positive note. The first ball Henderson Blades faced from medium pacer Trevor Walke was dispatched over the longon boudary for a massive six. The ball had to be retrieved from nearly a block away from the boundary fence.

Then in the third over Mason was caught playing a tentative stroke. He appeared to have changed his mind mid way through the shot and offered a diving catch to Greg Sewdial on the long-on boundary.

Wickets continued to fall at regular interval at one end while Nick Stanford offered a beligerent resistant. He clubbed three massive sixes and one four during his time in the crease scoring 33 runs. Henderson Blades made 23 runs while while number eight batsman, Sukhdeo hit 22. The Atlantis innings closed at 128 in 24.2 overs as they were outplayed by Everest ACS who for the second straight year took home the Eastern American Cricket Association championship.

The bowling honors for Everest ACS were shared by Zamin Amin (4 for 20 in 4.2 overs), Saeed Amin (2 for 49 in 8 overs), Trevor Walke (2 for 42 in 8 overs). Skipper Karan Ganesh (2 for 17 in 4 overs) while scoring 88 runs surely deserved the Man of the Match award.

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

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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: Sewdial's 68 powers USA U-19 past Kenya U-19 by 130 runs at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:03:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial recorded his highest score in a USA U-19 uniform to lead his side to a 130-run win over Kenya U-19 at Bready CC on Friday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Magheramason, Northern Ireland. Sewdial scored 68 in 104 balls with seven boundaries to be named Man of the Match.

“The entire team came out mentally prepared for this match and the results showed,” said Sewdial. “I just thought it was about people digging deep down in their soul and knowing that we’re here for a purpose and it was about time we got our act together and I thought we did that.”

Kenya won the toss and sent USA in to bat in cold conditions on a slightly slow wicket. Steven Taylor got out cheaply to Kenyan all-rounder Duncan Allan for 17, caught driving to cover to make it 29 for 1 in the sixth. Cameron Mirza was dismissed LBW for the third time in this event when left-arm spinner Raj Savala pinned him on the crease with his second delivery to send the USA opener off for 13 at 46 for 1 in the ninth.

Abhijit Joshi was then joined by Sewdial and the two began building up another solid partnership just as they had in the match against Scotland. Rather than get carried away going for sixes and throwing their wickets away, the two learned from the mistakes they made on Wednesday to produce a 106-run partnership. It was the second century stand in the tournament for USA and only the seventh overall by any team in the event. USA has also been on the receiving end of two against PNG and Scotland.

The stand was finally broken when Joshi edged behind to the keeper off the bowling of Emmanuel Ringera for 41. It was Joshi’s highest score in a USA U-19 uniform. Sewdial also eclipsed his previous best, 57 against Bahamas U-19 two years ago in Canada before being run out in cruel circumstances when Amarnauth Persaud failed to respond to a second run on a ball hit between long off and the cover sweeper and the score went to 159 for 4 in the 38th over.

Jodhbir Singh was the next to go, bowled by Savala for 12 to make it 180 for 5 in the 43rd. Persaud was also dismissed for 12, caught on the boundary off Ringera to make it 189 for 6. Salman Ahmad reached 12 as well before being caught on the boundary to give Ringera his third at 216 for 7 and Hammad Shahid was gone without scoring, also caught in the deep off Allan.

Pranay Suri provided a late surge to USA’s innings as wickets were falling around him. Suri hit 28 in 18 balls with two fours and a six, making the most out of USA’s batting power play at the death. He was also caught on the boundary for Ringera’s fourth scalp. Mital Patel and Shayan Abdulghani added on 5 not out and 7 not out respectively as USA finished 238 for 9 in their 50 overs.

Kenya’s chase never got going as wickets tumbled regularly beginning in the sixth over when Shahid came on at first change at teamed up with Sewdial to have Irfan Karim caught at second slip for 2. Fellow opener Rushabh Patel joined Karim in the pavilion when he too edged Shahid to Sewdial in the slips for 10 to make it 25 for 2 in the 10th.

Allan came in at number three and tried to provide some stability to Kenya’s innings, but got virtually no support as USA’s bowlers continued to tear through his partners at the other end. Ahmad took the next three wickets for USA as he bowled out his 10 overs right from the start of the chase to finish with 3 for 14 including three maidens. His first victim was Joseph Ochieng, given LBW for 0. Ringera could only manage 2 before he was caught by Taylor standing up to the stumps. Kenya U-19 captain Kennedy Ochieng then fell without scoring after being stumped off a leg side wide to make it 35 for 5 in the 15th over.

Singh made his presence felt in the field when he had Rahul Vishram caught behind for 8 before Abdulghani nabbed Raj Shikotra for a duck and Harrison Angila for 12, caught at point by Mirza, to make it 99 for 8 in the 30th. Angila’s partnership of 42 with Allan was Kenya’s highest on the day. Suri took his first wicket in the 31st when he had Martin Ndandason stumped off another leg side wide for 0 before he ended the match by bowling Allan for 46 and Kenya was all out for 108 in 34.1 overs.

In the day’s other matches, Ireland’s Graeme McCarter took 5 for 8, including the second hat trick of the tournament to help bowl Canada out for 37 before winning by 5 wickets. Nepal defeated Namibia by 8 runs despite Merwe Erasmus’ fourth half-century of the tournament and 6 for 41 by medium pacer Christopher Coombe. Scotland defeated Afghanistan by 33 runs while Papua New Guinea disposed of Vanuatu by 118 runs.

Scotland and Ireland are tied at the top of the list with 5-1 records. Nepal is the lone 4-2 team and is in third place. USA, Canda, Namibia and PNG all have 3-3 records with USA in fifth place on net run rate. Afghanistan and Kenya are 2-4 and Vanuatu is 0-6.

USA’s tournament continues on Saturday from Drummond Cricket Club where they will take on Vanuatu. Due to internet connectivity issues, full ball-by-ball coverage may not be possible but DreamCricket.com will do it’s best to provide as many live updates as possible throughout the match. First ball is set to be bowled at 10:45 a.m.

USA Cricket: Another middle order collapse dooms USA U-19 in 8-wicket loss to Scotland U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:42:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

Scotland U-19 off-spinner Kyle Smith capitalized on USA U-19’s reckless batting to help bowl them out for 124 before his side coasted to an eight-wicket win at Eglinton Cricket Club on Wednesday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Eglinton, Northern Ireland. Smith was named Man of the Match after finishing with figures of 4 for 21 in 8.3 overs with two maidens. USA dropped to 2-3 with the loss while Scotland improved their record to 4-1 at the tournament.

“The pace off the ball in the middle part of the innings is a key part of our game plan in terms of just trying to bowl dot balls and trying to build some pressure on the opposition,” said Scotland U-19 head coach Craig Wright. “The US batsmen didn’t really have an answer in terms of the straight lines that our bowlers bowled and didn’t really seem to have any idea about how to go and score against that, which worked to our advantage obviously because they tried to play big shots and then we took their wicket.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a clear and cool morning in Northern Ireland with temperatures in the range of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Steven Taylor once again got off to a fast start, reaching 24 in 22 balls with four boundaries and a six, but could not convert it into a big score as he was clean bowled by left arm seamer Aman Bailwal in the sixth over to make it 28 for 1. Amarnauth Persaud came in at three and fended a good length ball from right arm medium pacer Patrick Sadler to Smith at second slip for 2 to make it 31 for 2. Cameron Mirza once again struggled before fending a short of a length ball from Sadler through to the keeper Mathew Cross for 8 to make it 37 for 3 in the ninth.

Greg Sewdial was joined by Abhijit Joshi and the two constructed a sensible partnership, patiently defending the good balls and hitting the odd boundary to push the score along. They added 65 for the fourth wicket and after 23 overs, the score was 101 for 3. After Joshi took a single off the second ball of the 24th bowled by Smith, USA’s rapid collapse was set in motion when Sewdial lofted a full delivery straight to long on where Bailwal jogged in from the boundary to take a catch, sending the captain back to the pavilion for USA’s top score of 31. Joshi crossed while the ball was in the air and wound up on strike for the next delivery. He then repeated Sewdial’s mistake by lofting another full ball straight to Bailwal who this time took a sliding catch coming in from long on and Joshi had to go for 23 to make it 102 for 5.

Two overs later, Smith took his third in five balls when Jodhbir Singh played inside the line of a good length ball and was clean bowled for a duck to make it 104 for 6. Fellow off-spin bowler Ross McLean got into the act in the 29th over when Salman Ahmad went to cut a short ball on the stumps and was cramped for room, giving a thin edge to the keeper for 2 to make it 107 for 7.

McLean struck twice more in the 31st to make it 111 for 9 as USA continued to exhibit completely irresponsible shot selection. On the third ball of the over, Hammad Shahid tried to clear mid off but spooned a simple catch to Peter Legget for 1. Three balls later, Mital Patel played a carbon copy shot and was caught by Sam Page at mid off for a duck. Smith rapped up the innings by bowling Shayan Abdulghani for 8 and USA was all out for 124 in 35.3 overs.

"Unfortunately after my wicket, the team sort of had the domino effect and wickets just started falling one after the other," said Sewdial. "A few poor shots were very costly to us. I would say most of all it was a lack of concentration, not just by myself but the team in general. Wickets just started to fall one after the other, but hats off to the Scottish team. I thought they did well to keep the pressure on us and unfortunately we were on the losing end today."

USA’s inability to turn over the strike and place the ball into gaps in the field cost them dearly once again. There were only 55 scoring shots off the bat in USA’s innings compared to 158 dot balls. That does not include the 87 deliveries that went unused as a result of being bowled out. In all, USA failed to score off the bat for 245 of the 300 legal deliveries that were available to them at the start of the match.

Patel provided brief hope in the field for USA when he claimed both of Scotland’s openers, Cross caught behind by Taylor for 3 and McLean LBW for 3 after missing a yorker to make it 13 for 2 in the sixth over. However, Freddie Coleman quickly thwarted any momentum USA hoped to build in the field when he unloaded on Patel for five boundaries and a six in a 27-run eighth over and Scotland never looked back.

Lunch was taken with the score at 78 for 2 in 17 overs and after play resumed, Coleman and Peter Ross knocked off the final 47 runs in clinical fashion. Coleman finished 60 not out with Ross unbeaten on 40. Despite having the leading scorer – Taylor with 343 – and the leading wicket taker – Patel with 15 – in the tournament, USA is currently in eighth place after five matches.

In Wednesday’s other matches, Ireland defeated Vanuatu by 165 runs as Andy McBrine scored 107 not out for the host team in their total of 313 for 9, the highest innings score in the tournament for any side. Canada held on to beat Nepal by three wickets in their chase of 107 as number four batsman Kyle Edghill scored 52 not out for Canada. Afghanistan recovered from a position of 104 for 6 in the 29th over, identical to USA’s position vs. Scotland at the fall of the sixth wicket, and managed to fight to the end before winning by one wicket with a ball to spare chasing 209 against Namibia as Nasir Ahmadzai scored 64 not out coming in at number seven for the Afghanis. Papua New Guinea also recovered from a dire position of 106 for 8 in 31 overs to make 204 for 9 in 50 overs as number nine batsman Toua Tom scored 82 not out in a 66-run win over Kenya.

Scotland and Ireland are currently at the top of the table with 4-1 records. Nepal, Namibia and Canada are next at 3-2. Afghanistan, Kenya, USA and PNG are stuck together at 2-3. Meanwhile Vanuatu remains in last place with an 0-5 record.

Thursday is an off day for all teams before embarking on a grueling schedule of three matches in three days over the weekend. USA plays Kenya at Bready Cricket Club, quite possibly the best club facility at this tournament, in their next match on Friday. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, resumes Friday at 10 a.m. in Northern Ireland, 5 a.m. EST in America with first ball scheduled for 10:45 a.m.

USA Cricket: Ireland U-19 prevails in nailbiter by 1 wicket over USA U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:04:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

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

Number eight batsman Adam Coughlin rescued Ireland U-19 from being 86 for 6 in the 25th over to score 49 runs in a one-wicket win for Ireland U-19 over USA U-19 at Clontarf CC on Thursday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Dublin, Ireland. Coughlin was named Man of the Match after top scoring in the game. He was part of two vital stands, 46 runs for the seventh wicket and 40 runs for the eighth, to help Ireland get over the line.

“First of all I want to say hats off to the Irish team,” said USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial. “I thought they played well. I thought they came back and their batsmen did their job. Unfortunately a few dropped catches proved to be costly for us.”

Image (right) - Adam Coughlin receives Man of the Match award from Cricket Ireland President Richard Johnson. [Courtesy: ICC/Rob O'Connor]

Ireland won the toss and elected to field first as the match got underway after a 50-minute delay due to morning rain. The initial breakthrough was made by Gloucestershire contracted fast bowler Graeme McCarter when he removed Cameron Mirza without scoring to make it 6 for 1 in the third over. Steven Taylor was joined by Amarnauth Persaud and the two added 63 runs for the second wicket, the highest partnership in the match. Taylor finally departed when edged an attempted drive to give wicketkeeper Niall Hodgins his second catch and medium pacer Barry McCarthy his first wicket.

McCarthy then claimed his second when Sewdial left for 4 after edging a full delivery to Jason van der Merwe at first slip to make the score 77 for 3 in the 23rd over. Ireland U-19 captain George Dockrell then entered the mix when he bowled Abhijit Joshi for 1 to make it 82 for 4 before McCarthy and Hodgins teamed up again to get rid of Persaud for 24 and USA was in trouble at 83 for 5 in the 25th over.

Pranay Suri tried his best to keep the Irish bowlers at bay, but finally got out for 8 when he came down the track and was beaten in flight to be bowled by off-spinner Andy McBrine to make the score 106 for 6 in the 38th over. Salman Ahmad joined Jodhbir Singh at the crease and the two put on 32 runs for the seventh wicket, doing their best to accelerate the scoring rate. Singh made the most of a second chance after he was dropped on 4 off a simple skied chance at mid on. He went on to score 36, tops in the USA innings, before he was stumped by Hodgins off McBrine to make it 138 for 7 in the 42nd over.

Ahmad and Shayan Abdulghani put on 36 for the eighth wicket as Abdulghani also benefitted off a dropped chance at cover when he was on 6. The two took USA into the final over before Ahmad was caught for 21 on the boundary off the bowling of medium pacer Josh Hall before Abdulghani was run out on the final ball of the innings for 20. USA finished their 50 overs at 177 for 9. Extras finished as the second best score for USA as Ireland gave away 35 of them, including 25 wides.

“Our first thoughts were I thought we were about 20 runs short,” said Sewdial. “Obviously in the end it proved to be short.”

Ireland’s chase was a struggle the entire way as the USA bowling attack bowled marvelously to keep the pressure on the hosts. Ahmad took the first of his three wickets when he had Hugh MacDonnell caught by Abdulghani at backward point for 7 to make it 8 for 1 in the third over. Mital Patel struck in the next over when he had Ireland’s other opener Ryan Hunter caught behind by Taylor for 4. Ahmad struck again in the fifth, as van der Merwe edged to Joshi at first slip for 4 and Ireland was behind the 8-ball at 16 for 3.

USA had a chance to create even more pressure when Adam Berry was fresh at the crease with Dockrell. Berry was on 1 with the score at 22 for 3 in the seventh over when he edged an Ahmad delivery to second slip where Sewdial put down a difficult chance diving to his left. As a result, the two batsmen produced a 53-run stand for the fourth wicket which was extended a second time when Gurpreet Sandhu dropped a skied chance at midwicket off Singh’s medium pace when Berry was on 17 and the score at 55 in the 17th over.

Berry’s stay finally came to an end when a thick edge off a drive went to Abdulghani at backward point to give Singh his first wicket. Two balls later, Singh trapped McBrine LBW to make it 69 for 5. Singh’s spell of medium pace got even better when he removed Dockrell for 29 to make it 86 for 6 in the 25th over when the captain drove Singh to Sewdial at cover.

“Defensively, I thought we played outstanding,” said Sewdial. “Our bowlers hit their areas. We had a long team meeting last night. Our bowlers did their job, did what they were supposed to do.”

At that stage USA looked ready to keep pressing on for victory, but Coughlan and McCarter focused on survival before delicately rebuilding the innings. Abdulghani and Suri tried to keep the pressure on bowling spin in tandem as Adbulghani’s second spell only conceded 18 runs in seven overs while Suri finished with figures of 10-1-37-0. The run rate steadily started to rise as Ireland inched toward the target.

McCarter finally perished when Abdulghani beat him in flight coming down the pitch to be stumped for 35 as the match swung back USA’s way at 132 for 7 in the 41st over. Just as soon as things were looking bright for the visitors, the hosts clawed their way back into control with Coughlan and McCarthy’s 40-run eighth wicket partnership. USA had a chance to stop the partnership for 17 at 149 in the 44th over when Coughlan was on 37 as he slogged Suri to deep midwicket, but Persaud couldn’t come up with a chance diving forward and the two batsmen moved on. That 44th over, Suri’s 10th, wound up being the first double-digit over of the innings for Ireland as they scored 11 runs in the frame to get their nose in front at 155 for 8.

They scored 10 more in the 47th to get within five runs of victory, but Ahmad had McCarthy caught down the leg side by Taylor for 17 and USA once again had the door open with a chance of winning. The door was pushed wide open when Patel struck on the second ball of the 48th over as Coughlan fell one short of his half-century, pinned on the crease by a full delivery and given LBW to make it 175 for 9 with 16 balls remaining and three runs needed to win.

Patel and Ahmad bowled eight consecutives dot balls between them after the fall of the wicket until a single off Ahmad’s final ball in the 49th over left Ireland needing two to win with the numbers 10 and 11, Hall and Hodgins, at the crease.

Image (right) - Mital Patel screams in delight after claiming Adam Coughlan's wicket to set up the thrilling finish. [Courtesy: ICC/Rob O'Connor]

Patel bowled four straight dot balls to start the final over, giving USA confidence with each delivery. But Hall decided to risk everything on the fifth ball and scooped a full delivery just out of the reach of Mirza’s diving effort at mid on as Ireland’s bench erupted in celebration while Coughlan breathed a sigh of relief.

For USA, it was a missed opportunity to score a massive upset against the hosts and now they have to regroup quickly before getting back into action on Friday morning against Papua New Guinea, who lost by 89 runs to Namibia in their first game. In the other three matches, a Nitish Kumar unbeaten century was the difference for Canada as they held on for a 6-run win over Scotland. Nepal defeated Afghanistan by 42 runs and Kenya had the widest margin of victory on day one with a 133-run win over Vanuatu.

DreamCricket.com’s live coverage of USA’s next contest against Papua New Guinea , made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, will start Friday morning at 10 a.m. local time with first ball due to be bowled at 10:45 a.m. in Dublin, 5:45 a.m. EST in the USA.

USA Cricket: USA U-19 eager to start campaign at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:40:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

Less than 24 hours before the start of tournament play, all 10 captains addressed the media Wednesday afternoon at a kickoff press conference for the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Dublin. The top six teams will advance to the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup which will take place in August of next year in Queensland, Australia, according to the ICC’s official tournament guide. USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial says that head coach Robin Singh has been doing his best to prepare the team for a top-six finish.

“We’re here to take each opponent as an equal,” said Sewdial during the media conference. “We’re here to play hard every game. We’re not here to generalize and just say we’re gonna beat this specific team. We’re gonna go hard every game and play our best.”

The USA U-19 team got a big confidence boost when they claimed a comfortable victory over a Strabane CC Select XI in the North West in a tournament warm-up match prior to arriving in Dublin where they’ll play Ireland on Thursday. Pranay Suri top scored with 69 not out and also took 1 for 22 in the field. Jodhbir Singh, who was playing for Strabane in the match, scored 57 against his USA U-19 teammates.

Sewdial says the players have done a decent job so far of adjusting to Irish conditions after playing their four-match series against the West Indies earlier this month in blistering south Florida heat.

“Obviously in comparison to conditions we’re completely different,” said Sewdial. “In Florida it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit every day compared to here which is about 60 to 55 and the ball seams around a bit. I think since then the team has done well to adjust from just looking at us in the nets and in practice. We’re looking to put our best foot forward for this tournament.”

After being one of the youngest faces in the team during his opportunities with the Ireland senior side, left-arm spinner George Dockrell is looking forward to taking on a leadership role as the captain of the Ireland U-19 squad.

“It’s definitely nice and I enjoy it,” said Dockrell. “It’s quite a change but I enjoy the responsibility with this team and leading them as captain. I have a bit more responsibility with the ball and the bat.” Dockrell took a five-for against Scotland U-19 in a warm-up match earlier in the week and generally bats in the middle order while playing for the Ireland U-19 team. He’s looking forward to the opportunity to play against the different styles showcased by each team in the event.

Image (above) - The 10 team captains pose with the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier Trophy. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

“I think this tournament, you’re playing all different teams who you’re not used to playing who play slightly different styles of cricket than you’re used to,” said Dockrell. “So the thing is kind of being open, being quite versatile as a team and being able to adapt to different cricketers and how they play the game, being able to adapt quickly.”

All 10 teams were welcomed at the famous Croke Park Stadium on Wednesday evening for the tournament opening ceremony where they received welcome speeches from Dublin’s Lord Mayor Andrew Montague, Mayor of Fingal County Council Gerry McGuire, Cricket Ireland President Richard Johnson and ICC Tournament Director Eddie Fitzgibbon.

DreamCricket.com will provide live coverage for all of USA’s matches beginning with Thursday’s opening encounter at Clontarf CC against Ireland, the defending champions of this tournament. Coverage will begin at 5 a.m. EST in the USA with matches starting at 10:45 a.m. local time, 5:45 a.m. EST in the USA.

USA Cricket: Campbell brings up third ton in 8-wicket win over USA U-19

openingbat — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:51:00 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, Florida

Ball-by-Ball Commentary

West Indies U-19 vice-captain John Campbell continued his sensational form with yet another century as his team defeated USA U-19 by 8 wickets Thursday afternoon at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Campbell scored 100 not out in 69 balls with nine fours and six sixes as West Indies passed the target of 134 in just 18.3 overs.

“It turned out really wonderful, it’s what we set out to do,” said West Indies U-19 head coach Roddy Estwick about the series sweep. “We weren’t too concerned with the opposition. We knew what we wanted to do and we were able to execute it.”

USA batted first for the only time in the series after winning the toss on a bright sunny morning. Steven Taylor played in his more natural aggressive manner, stroking his way to 17 in 28 balls until he was needlessly runout on the 5th ball of the 7th over from left-arm spinner Kavem Hodge. Cameron Mirza was on strike and pushed a full delivery to mid off. Both men hesitated before committing to a run while Justin Greaves fielded and threw a direct hit to the striker’s end to send Taylor on his way with the score on 26.

The initial setback was followed by two more quick wickets as Mirza ran himself out for 3 in Hodge’s next over. The opener drove a ball back to the bowler that deflected off his hands and settled in between the feet of Abhijit Joshi at the non-striker’s end. Mirza apparently lost sight of the ball and set off believing it had gone past Joshi, but looked on in horror as Hodge picked it up and threw to the keeper Ramon Senior to complete the dismissal. Joshi then drove Greaves to Jerome Jones at mid off in the 12th over to make it 36 for 3.

Amarnauth Persaud joined Greg Sewdial at the crease and the two produced USA’s biggest partnership of the series. The pair showed resilience against Hodge and leg-spinner Donovan Nelson, doing their best to stay at the crease, but they also failed to turn over the strike regularly as the dot balls piled up for USA. The team failed to score a run off the bat for 228 of the 298 balls in the innings, more than 75% of the deliveries. The partnership finally came to an end on 74 off the first ball of the 30th over when Persaud spooned a simple return catch to Nelson for 24, USA’s third highest individual score in the series.

Two more wickets fell in quick succession as Jodha Singh was clean bowled by leg-spinner Amir Khan for 1 after missing a pull shot while Trevor Singh was gone LBW for a 12-ball duck to Khan when he missed a leg side flick after walking across his stumps.

Sewdial built another decent partnership with Pranay Suri, adding 36 runs for the 7th wicket, but his long stay finally came to an end when he tried to hit the off-spin of Campbell for six and was caught on the cover boundary by Jones for 33.

Suri was then joined at the crease by Christopher van Tull, a player not included in USA’s 14-man squad for Ireland who mysteriously showed up on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale to train with the team and was now getting a chance to bat ahead of other players who are going to the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. Suri was when he was caught for 14 by Khan at midwicket to make it 121 for 8 in the 46th over.

After surviving two missed stumping chances, van Tull finally got out to Khan for 5, slogging against the turn to sky a top edge to Greaves running in at mid off. The innings wrapped up three balls into the 50th over when Hammad Shahid holed out to Joseph at long on for 7 to give Campbell his third as USA was bowled out for 133.

Campbell then walked out to open with Joseph but their opening stand was cut short when Joseph was run out for 1. Steven Katwaroo walked out at number three and added 66 for the second wicket with Campbell before he was caught at mid on by Mirza off Taylor for 13.

Image (right) - John Campbell finished the series with 419 runs at an average of 139.66. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Meanwhile at the other end, the Campbell juggernaut continued to steamroll the USA bowling attack, punishing anything short and feasting on width. His fifty came up in 34 balls and he reached his century with a single on the penultimate ball of the chase. Greaves capped off the week in style on the next delivery, slamming a six straight down the ground to bring an end to the series. Estwick says that despite his team’s dominant performance, they were not even close to performing to 100% of their capabilities and expects them to sharpen things before their next competition.

“We were nowhere near 100% because even when we got 330 odd, there were still 128 dot balls so that’s an area of concern to me because once the standard gets a little bit higher and you go to bigger competition, you can’t really allow so many dot balls so that’s something that we’ve got to work on,” said Estwick. “We’ve got to minimize those dot balls. If we can bring those dot balls in between 40 and 50, then I’ll think that we’ll be near 100%. We’re still dropping catches as well and we’re still bowling the extras that have top scored in two of the games so we’re nowhere near 100%.”

Official Scorecard
USA U-19 vs. West Indies U-19
West Indies U-19 won by 8 wickets
USA U-19 won the toss and elected to bat
Man of the Match: John Campbell
Man of the Series: John Campbell

USA U-19 Innings
Batsman               Dismissal                           Runs Balls Fours Sixes
S Taylor                runout (Greaves) 17      28     2        0
C Mirza                 runout (Hodge/Senior+)    3        18     0      0
A Joshi                 c Jones b Greaves             6        16     0        0
G Sewdial*           c Jones b Campbell           33      83     3        0
A Persaud            c & b Nelson                      24       60     1        0
J Singh                 b Khan                               1         8       0        0
T Singh                 LBW Khan                         0        12      0        0
P Suri                   c Khan b Campbell            14       36     2        0
C van Tull+           c Greaves b Khan              5        27     0        0
H Shahid              c Joseph b Campbell          7        9       0        0
S Abdulghani        not out                                0        1       0        0
Total Extras 23 (0 no balls, 2 byes, 5 leg byes, 16 wides)
Team Total   133 all out in 49.3 overs)

Did not bat: M Patel, P Nair

Fall of wicket: 26/1 (Taylor, 6.5 over), 28/2 (Mirza, 8.2 over), 36/3 (Joshi, 11.4 over), 74/4 (Persaud, 29.1 over), 75/5 (J Singh, 30.3 over), 77/6 (T Singh, 33.4 over), 113/7 (Sewdial, 41.6 over), 121/8 (Suri, 45.4 over), 130/9 (van Tull, 48.3 over), 133/10 (Shahid, 49.3 over).

West Indies U-19 Bowling     O-M-R-W
R Beaton    5-0-22-0
J Jones    5-1-18-0
K Hodge                                10-3-19-0
J Greaves                              5-1-9-1
D Nelson                               10-2-26-1
A Khan                                  10-4-13-3
J Campbell                            4.3-1-18-3

West Indies U-19 Innings
Batsman        Dismissal                                              Runs Balls Fours Sixes
J Campbell    not out                                                   100   69     9        6
K Joseph       runout (T Singh/Patel/Taylor/van Tull+) 1       4       0    0
S Katwaroo    c Mirza b Taylor                                    13     20      2        0
J Greaves      not out                                                   17     18     1        1
Total Extras   4 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 1 leg bye, 3 wides)
Team Total    135 for 2 in 18.3 overs

Did not bat: K Brathwaite*, R Senior+, S Ambris, R Beaton, K Hodge, A Khan, D Nelson, J Jones

Fall of wicket: 14/1 (Joseph, 2.4 over), 80/2 (Katwaroo, 11.6 over).

USA U-19 Bowling   O-M-R-W
M Patel                     3-0-24-0
S Abdulghani            4-0-23-0
H Shahid                 2-0-22-0
P Suri                        6.3-1-28-0
P Nair                        1-0-17-0
S Taylor                     2-0-20-1

USA Cricket: Centuries by Mayers and Campbell lead West Indies U-19 to 220-run win over USA U-19

openingbat — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:30:00 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, Florida

Official Scorecard I Ball-by-Ball Commentary

West Indies U-19 opener John Campbell crossed 150 for the second time in as many games while Kyle Mayers notched the fourth century of the series for his side as they defeated USA U-19 by 220 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method on Tuesday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida.

USA won the toss and elected to field on another warm sunny day in south Florida. Kalim Ahmed, who flew down to Florida on Sunday night for what USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed said was a training camp, was inserted into the starting XI along with Jodha Singh and Hammad Shahid in place of Trevor Singh, Shayan Abdulghani and Amarnauth Persaud from the lineup that played in Sunday’s game. West Indies also made three changes with Donovan Nelson, Justin Greaves and Sunil Ambris sitting out in place of Amir Khan and Kieron Joseph and Jerome Jones.

West Indies produced another century stand for the first wicket as captain Kraigg Brathwaite turned over the strike as often as possible to Campbell, who was swinging at virtually every ball he faced and connecting for runs at a brisk rate. He crossed 50 in only 22 balls, putting the USA bowling attack under immense pressure.

During the big opening stand, Campbell hit a Prashanth Nair delivery in the 12th over high in the air between Singh at long on and Ahmed at long off. The ball landed between them before the two players collided. Both men stayed down on the field for about five minutes before walking off under their own power and were taken to a local hospital where Ahmed received stitches in his lip and Singh got treatment for a facial injury before both players were released and came back to the stadium. Amarnauth Persaud and Trevor Singh then came on as substitute fielders.

In Nair’s next over, he managed to dismiss Brathwaite for 18 after the batsman pulled a full toss to Greg Sewdial at midwicket. At the fall of the wicket, some confusion arose as USA brought on Christopher van Tull, a player not in the 14-man squad, and had him put on the wicketkeeping gear in place of Steven Taylor who started the game in the designated position. After some discussions between the on field umpires and members of both management staffs, van Tull was allowed to keep wicket for USA for the duration of the innings. van Tull is registered as a player with the Guyanese-West Indian Association CC in the Garden State Cricket League (New Jersey).

Four overs later, Nair took his second wicket when Ramon Senior was caught for 3 slogging a full length delivery to Shahid on the midwicket boundary to make it 116 for 2. A short time later, Campbell pulled a short ball through midwicket to bring up his ton in 62 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes while having only 17 dot balls in his innings to that point. Kavem Hodge was the next to go, run out for 16 by Taylor in the covers, who made an excellent stop before firing to van Tull behind the stumps as Hodge was just short trying to make his ground.

From there, Campbell and Kyle Mayers produced a century stand, but one that could have been nipped in the bud much earlier. In the 29th over bowled by Shahid, Campbell was on 115 when he tapped a delivery toward Taylor in the covers and set off for a tight run. Taylor attacked the ball, collected it from close range and then fired it past the stumps with Campbell a yard short of the crease. Two balls later, Mayers was on 19 when he mishit a drive that floated straight to Nair fielding at midwicket in the circle, but the left-arm spinner put down a simple chance and the two batsmen continued to take West Indies to another insurmountable total.

A short time later, lightning was detected and the players were taken off the field for the first of two weather delays with the score at 230 for 3 in 33.4 overs at which time the umpires called for the lunch break with Campbell on 134 and Mayers on 45. The two added another 32 runs to their stand after play resumed before Campbell holed out to Shahid at long on to give Salman Ahmad his first wicket in the match. Campbell finished with 152 in only 96 balls with 13 fours and five sixes. He only had 24 dot balls in his innings.

Mayers reached his century in 83 balls before getting out to Nair, caught by Mital Patel who made a great sliding catch coming in from long off for 107 with 11 fours and two sixes. Nair got his fourth four balls later when Joseph took a full delivery and hit it to another sub fielder not in the 14-man squad, Stephon Singh. Singh is registered with Windies CC in the Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board league.

Image (right) - Kyle Mayers takes off his hat and points his bat to the West Indies bench after reaching his century. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Nair completed his five-wicket haul by getting Derone Davis to drive another catch to Patel to make it 351 for 7 in the 49th over. West Indies finished their innings at 368 for 7 in 50 overs. Nair finished with 5 for 57 in 10 overs, one of the few highlights for USA in this series.

In reply, USA’s opening partnership of 29 runs between Taylor and Cameron Mirza was the biggest partnership of the series for the team, another sign of gradual improvement. The stand ended when Taylor chipped an easy catch back to left-arm spinner Davis for 9. Persaud came out to bat next as the match turned into a field XI, bat XI contest on USA’s side.

A short time later in the 16th over with the score 30 for 1, the second weather delay took place when more lightning was detected near the stadium despite no rain and the players had to leave the field. When the match was restarted, eight overs were reduced and the target score went from 369 to 322. Persaud then became Davis’ second wicket when he spooned a catch to Ronsford Beaton at mid on for 7.

USA U-19 captain Sewdial joined Mirza and produced a dogged stand, fighting off the Windies spinners for as long as possible. Davis and leg-spinner Amir Khan bowled in tandem with an immaculate line and length as the batsmen became bogged down and had trouble rotating the strike. After Khan and Davis finished their spells, more spin came in the form of Brathwaite and Campbell.

Mirza’s long vigil at the crease ended in the 34th over for 34 runs when he tried to cut Brathwaite and sent a thick edge to Campbell at slip. Sewdial fell for 15 in similar fashion as Campbell pulled off a stunning catch to give Brathwaite two scalps. Pranay Suri was bowled behind his legs by Campbell for 9 with one over remaining. Abhijit Joshi played a few nice shots off the back foot to make his way to 17 not out as USA ended at 101 for 5 in 42 overs.

USA U-19 and West Indies U-19 will play their final match on Thursday at 11 a.m. EST. Live coverage on DreamCricket.com begins at 10:30 a.m.

USA Cricket: Brathwaite scores unbeaten century as West Indies U-19 routs USA U-19 by 215 runs

openingbat — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 02:52:00 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, Florida

Official Scorecard I Ball-by-ball commentary

West Indies U-19 captain Kraigg Brathwaite made the most of three reprieves to score 122 not out as his side defeated USA U-19 by 215 runs Saturday afternoon at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. Braithwaite was dropped on 1 and 51 and survived a missed stumping on 117, three of six genuine chances that USA failed to convert in the field.

The match started 64 minutes late as the teams waited for morning thundershowers to clear. When they finally did, West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first, sending Brathwaite and John Campbell to open. On the first ball of the fifth over with the score 17 for 0, USA committed the first of five drops as Brathwaite chased a short and wide delivery from Salman Ahmad and sliced it straight to gully where Hammad Shahid spilled a straightforward chance. Brathwaite continued to bide his time, reaching 1 off 24 balls before he started to get comfortable.

Image (right) - West Indiest U-19 captain Kraigg Brathwaite and USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial shake hands at the coin toss before the first match of their four-match series in Florida. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

“At first as an opening batsman I had to assess the pitch because I’ve never played here before,” said Brathwaite. “The ball wasn’t really bouncing and the fellas were bowling a good line. The ball that I got dropped off, it was fairly wide. So I decided just to try to get through this period. It was tough, but it would get easier. As I bat longer it would get easier so I decided just to fight through it despite the drop.”

USA made their first breakthrough six balls later when Shahid had Campbell caught driving to Mital Patel at mid on for 13. The next wicket fell at 65 in the 15th over when Shayan Abdulghani had Kieron Joseph stumped for 17.

However, USA’s energy in the field was drained by the 20th over on a humid 90 degree day. After seeing off solid new ball spells from Shahid and Ahmad, Brathwaite and Sunil Ambris ground USA into submission with a 121-run third wicket stand.

“It wasn’t swinging a lot, but it was swinging just a tad, just a little, but the wicket wasn’t really bouncing,” said Brathwaite. “The outfield wasn’t that fast. Not a lot of boundaries were being scored so you really had to push for the singles.” Brathwaite only had two fours and a six in his knock. He brought up his 50 in 83 balls and just one run later with the score on 128, he was dropped for the second time as Cameron Mirza’s leaping effort at long on wound up knocking the ball over for a maximum.

Ambris was put down on 50 with the score at 159 as Pranay Suri couldn’t hold on to a low diving effort at cover. He hung around until he had reached 67 before he was bowled by a yorker in Ahmad’s second spell. It sparked a mini collapse for the Windies as three more wickets fell in the space of 24 runs to set the team back to 219 for 6 in the 42nd over.

Brathwaite was still going strong though and brought up his 100 in 130 balls with a two on the first ball of the 44th over, showing no visible signs of wearing down in the heat. A few more wickets fell late, but not before two more drops and a missed stumping took place. For the second time on the day, a drop turned into a six as number 10 batsman Steven Katwaroo hit Shahid to long on where Amarnauth Persaud misjudged the ball before letting it go through both hands over his head and over the rope with five balls to go in the innings.

Image (right) - Kraigg Brathwaite walks off the field after batting through all 50 overs to finish on 122*. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

The final miscue was a microcosm of USA’s sloppy fielding throughout the day in which they cost themselves, by a conservative estimate, 35 runs in dropped catches and misfields. As a result, West Indies finished at 278 for 8 in their 50 overs.

“As far as our fielding, we dropped six catches today which was obviously vital. Hopefully next game we can bounce back, take our catches and make some more runs,” said USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial. “We definitely don’t go out there to drop catches and misfield. We try to give our best, 100%, all of the players out there. As far as the dropped catches, as the saying goes, catches win matches.”

USA’s chase never got going. Their highest partnership was 13 runs and extras wound up being the top score with 15. First change left-arm spin bowler Derone Davis entered the attack in the 11th over and suffocated USA by bowling four maidens in a row. At the other end, Kyle Mayers was the chief destroyer for the Windies, taking 5 for 17 in his six overs which wiped out USA’s middle order. After leg-spinner Donovan Nelson claimed two wickets, Davis finished off the match with his first scalp to end with figures of 10-6-14-1. USA was bowled out for 63 in 29 overs. Only Sewdial and Shahid crossed double digits with the bat.

“This four day tournament was meant for us to gradually improve as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” said Sewdial. “Today we didn’t give our best effort in the field. It could have been from lack of physical fitness. It could have been from lack of concentration. It could have been from anything but our job is to come back tomorrow, discuss the things that went wrong today and some of the things that went right, try to correct those mistakes and come back tomorrow strong.”

USA U-19 returns to the field on Sunday for match number two against the West Indies U-19 team at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill. Play is schedule to begin at 10 a.m. EST. Live coverage on DreamCricket.com starts at 9:30 a.m.

USA Cricket: Schedule released for 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:20:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

The International Cricket Council officially released the schedule on Monday for the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier beginning July 28 in Dublin, Ireland. According to the ICC media release, Greg Sewdial will captain the USA U-19 squad in Ireland.

USA will have their hands full immediately when they take on the hosts on day one of the tournament. Ireland is captained by left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who has garnered respect worldwide for his performances at the senior level.

The following day, USA takes on a Papua New Guinea team featuring seam bowler Raymond Haoda, the leading wicket-taker at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand with 15 scalps. They are captained by Christopher Kent, who played with the senior team against the USA men at ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Hong Kong last January. PNG was the first place finisher in the ICC East Asia-Pacific Region Qualifier in February.

After a rest day on July 30, USA must play the first place teams from Africa and Asia on back to back days. First up is Namibia on July 30 before they square off against Afghanistan on August 1 on the team’s final day in Dublin. August 2 is a travel day for all teams as the tournament shifts northwest to Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

USA plays Scotland on August 3, the top qualifier out of Europe. Another rest day follows on August 4 before USA commences a grueling slate of three games in three days against Kenya, Vanuatu and Canada. Nitish Kumar returns to the Canadian squad after missing out on the ICC Americas Qualifier in February to travel with the men’s team to India for the 2011 ICC World Cup.

A final rest day follows on August 8 before USA finishes up the tournament against Nepal on August 9. The second place finisher out of Asia features left-arm spinner Rahul Vishvakarma, who took 7 for 15 against the USA men’s team at ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Nepal last year.

All matches for the tournament are scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. local time, 5:45 a.m. EST in the US. Conditions permitting, DreamCricket.com will provide live coverage for all of the USA U-19 team’s matches at the tournament.

Prior to leaving for Ireland, the USA U-19 squad will be playing four matches against West Indies U-19 in Florida beginning on Friday July 8 at the Central Broward Regional Park. West Indies U-19 will be captained by Kraigg Brathwaite who was the second highest scorer at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand with 335 runs. He scored 168 not out in April against Australia U-19 in a three-day youth Test before making his Test debut for the West Indies against Pakistan in May. He made his first-class debut at age 16 for Barbados and has two first-class centuries to his name.

DreamCricket.com will also provide live coverage for every match between USA U-19 and West Indies U-19 in Lauderhill on July 8, 10, 12 and 14. Matches are expected to begin at 10 a.m. EST.

USA Cricket: Sewdial ready to challenge for an invite to Ireland at USA U-19 trials

openingbat — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 12:24:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna

Former USA U-19 vice-captain Greg Sewdial made a return to organized cricket last month after more than 15 months on the sidelines. This weekend at the USA U-19 trials in New York, he is eager for the opportunity to show selectors that he is worthy of a spot in the 14-man squad that will go to Ireland next month for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier.

“I definitely think I have something to prove and I’ll always have that chip on my shoulder,” said Sewdial on Thursday. “People are always gonna write you off and say what they want to say. I basically disappeared from the cricketing world of New York and USA for over a year so I just want to come back strong and let people know what they missed.”

Sewdial was USA’s leading scorer at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. However, he has been out of action since the end of that tournament due to a serious ankle injury. The 19-year-old first sustained the injury to his left ankle in May 2009 just a few days before the start of the 2009 U-19 National Tournament in New York. He decided to play through the injury during both of USA’s qualifying tournaments in Canada as well as at the World Cup, which exacerbated the damage to his ankle ligaments.

After returning from New Zealand last January, Sewdial waited until the end of his spring semester at Hofstra University before having surgery in May. The hope was that he would be back to normal after six months of rehab. Instead, he got the crushing news that a second surgery was needed.

Image (right) - Greg Sewdial file photo. [Courtesy: ICC/Bryan Vandenburgh]

“I was heartbroken,” said Sewdial. “I thought that one surgery, one shot, it was gonna be over with. I come to find out six months later when I went for a second opinion when my ankle was giving me some more issues, the doctor told me I may need some screws in here. A week later I took an MRI. The MRI turned out positive. I had the surgery two weeks later.”

The second surgery, performed in December, was deemed a success by Sewdial’s doctors but three more months of rehab meant he had to miss out on a chance to be a part of the ICC Americas title-winning USA U-19 squad in February. That left him itching to get back on the field.

“The hardest part was seeing all the scores online when the Under-19 team was playing and not being able to play,” said Sewdial. “I just want to leave whatever’s in the past in the past and just move forward.”

“I’m just hungry. I just want to go out there. Over a year of missed cricket feels like forever for me. With two operations, it was really something I’ve never experienced before. It could set you back or it could motivate you and I’m just trying my best to keep on the right path and let it motivate me to be even better than I was.”

Sewdial says that he needs to lose some weight he gained while being away from the field, but that the greater obstacle to being fit again is getting enough time out in the middle. He’s played four matches in the last month for Seven Star CC in New York’s Commonwealth League, making a couple of starts but no major scores.

“I’m definitely not 100% yet, but I’ll slowly be there. I’ve been going to the gym very often, like four or five days a week, just trying to rehab it as soon as possible. The main thing is I just need some batting practice and some real cricket practice to really find some form at least before any major tournament I play in. I just want to have that reassurance in myself that when the real time comes I can provide for the team.”

At this weekend’s trials, Sewdial hopes he can do enough to convince selectors that he’s “a leader, that I’m capable, I’m dependable” and that those attributes, along with his batting, make him a desirable player to have in the USA U-19 squad going to Ireland that will be attempting to qualify for a second straight ICC U-19 World Cup.

“I think the side that we have now will do good with an extra batsman in the middle order anyways,” said Sewdial. “I think if I were to go to Ireland, that would show some stability on paper at least. I think overall I’m just ready to go out there and make up for a year of lost cricket on my part.”

The USA U-19 trials are scheduled to take place June 11-12 at Idlewild Park in Queens, just around the corner from JFK Airport. The New York metro area received heavy rain overnight and more rain is in the forecast throughout Saturday and Sunday so it remains to be seen how much work the players will get to do outside.

An 18-man preliminary squad has to be sent from USACA to the ICC by Monday June 13 before the final list of 14 is submitted to the ICC on June 28. Cricket Association of Nepal released their country’s 18-man squad on June 1 for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier. Among the players selected was Rahul Vishwakarma, who took 7 for 15 in a match against the USA senior team at ICC WCL Division Five in Nepal in February 2010. Vishwakarma was also a member of Nepal’s squad at the 2008 ICC U-19 World Cup in Malaysia where he played in all six of his country’s matches, taking 10 wickets as a 15-year-old in the event as Nepal lost to the West Indies in the final of the Plate Championship.

USA Cricket: 10 players for the future from U-19 trial matches at Woodley Park

openingbat — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:16:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Although the USACA 2010 Junior Nationals were officially canceled, three matches were still played at Woodley Park last week in order to give players a chance to be evaluated by selectors. Players were competing not only for their respective regions, but for a chance to be selected to play for the United States in the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament in February, the first step in 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup qualification for USA.

There were several players who performed incredibly well, but are too old to participate for USA during any qualification tournaments in the leadup to the 2012 U-19 World Cup. Zain Ali Syed, Haramandeep Kumar and Zulkifl Nana displayed a high level of skill at Woodley Park in last week’s trial matches. Syed has already played for the South East Region senior team and if Kumar and Nana keep developing, they will be promising prospects for future selection in the North West senior squad as well.

Image (left) - South West U-19 vice-captain and USA 2010 U-19 World Cup squad member Salman Ahmad. [Copyright: DreamCricket.com]

It is widely expected that four of the players from the 2010 U-19 World Cup squad – Salman Ahmad, Abhijit Joshi, Hammad Shahid and Steven Taylor – will be picked in the 14-man USA squad for next month’s U-19 tournament in Florida. A fifth player, Greg Sewdial, is eligible but is currently out until at least April after recently undergoing his second ankle surgery in seven months.

Image (right) - South West U-19 captain and USA 2010 U-19 World Cup squad member Hammad Shahid. [Copyright: DreamCricket.com]

Sewdial had ankle surgery in May to correct a ligament injury he sustained before the 2009 U-19 National Championship and just had a second surgery on December 28 after the first surgery failed to correct the problem. He currently faces three months of rehab after the most recent surgery, but if USA produces a top-two finish in Florida next month, Sewdial hopes he will be fit enough to rejoin USA’s U-19 team for the Global Qualifier in July.

Therefore, it is expected that 10 spots are still up for grabs for USA’s roster that will take on Argentina, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada and Cayman Islands in February. Here are the top five age-eligible players from the trial matches at Woodley Park who could be first time selections to USA’s U-19 team.

(According to ICC rules, players eligible to compete for Associate countries in the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup must be born on or after September 1, 1991. In addition to this, ICC rules state that all U-19 Qualifiers must be played by teams/players who are eligible to play in the U-19 World Cup the qualifier is for – i.e. for the 2012 U-19 World Cup, the Regional Qualifier played in 2010-11 must be played by players eligible to play in the 2012 U-19 World Cup.)

1. Pranay Suri, North West (left) – The North West captain showed tremendous skill in running through both the South West and South East batting lineups to take eight wickets in two days. Perhaps the most impressive part of the off-spinner’s 5-wicket haul against South East was that it was done on a very cold and windy day with a temperature in the high 40s, making it difficult for bowlers to grip the ball. If USA makes it to the Global Qualifier in Ireland, the ability to adjust to varying conditions will be key because it’s very possible USA will encounter similar weather there.

2. Shayan Ahmed, South West (right) – Left-arm orthodox spin played a vital role in USA’s success at both qualification rounds in Canada in 2009 and Ahmed would fill that role for very nicely for USA in its attempt to qualify during 2011. He is physically gifted and has a smooth action with perfect flight and drift. He took four wickets in two games last week to lead his team and also scored the most runs for them in the trial matches. Ahmed could make a big impact for USA if selected.

3. Jodhbir Singh, North West (left) – Got out second ball to Shahid in the first match, but came back on Thursday to notch 50 against South East. He scored a century against South West in August. Equally adept against pace or spin, he should be a shoe-in for USA’s 14-man squad for Florida.

4. Sunil Deopersaud, South East – The leg-spinner from Florida quietly took three wickets on the weekend, but bowled better than his figures showed. It would have been interesting to see how many more runs would have been saved, and wickets taken, had he been bowling with eleven men in the field instead of nine.

5. Kwiese Edmondson, South East – He’s still very young and was a part of USA’s U-15 squad in 2009, but Edmondson exudes plenty of confidence at the crease and looks capable of stepping into international cricket at the U-19 level. Being a left-handed batsman is a plus and he demonstrated an excellent technique at the crease but twice got out to soft dismissals when he looked set for a big score. With increased discipline and maturity, Edmondson could be a menace to bowlers and might be worth a selection gamble.

Here are five talented players who might find it difficult to squeeze into this year’s team, but are still young enough to be eligible to make major contributions in USA’s U-19 team for a qualifying run to the 2014 U-19 World Cup. At the very least, these five players have a good chance of being invited to the 24-man selection camp that USACA is organizing to take place in Florida in the middle of this month before the final 14 players are picked.

1. Krish Goel, North West (right) – A talented allrounder, Goel scored 79 not out against Central East in August but in his two chances in December he didn’t do as much as he could have. He needs to knuckle down and show more hunger for runs. His spin bowling is effective and his fielding is top-notch just like most of his North West teammates. Of the five players in this list, he may have the best chance of making it to USA’s squad due to the need for batsmen.

2. Roshan Varadarajan, North West (left) – North West’s U-15 captain the past few years, he may turn into an excellent off-spinner, but shouldn’t give up on his batting. He also has a reputation as a top fielder. Varadarajan has an outside chance to get picked for this year’s team, but at the moment there is a surplus of bowlers and not enough good batsmen so he may have to wait his turn.

3. Shakeel Ahmad, South West (right) – Salman’s younger brother could eventually develop into the better Ahmad. He is technically solid as a batsman, but still has some growing left to do. In two years, he will be bigger, stronger and able to dispatch balls to the boundary with ease.

4. Arsh Buch, North West (left) – Just like Shakeel Ahmad, Buch does all the right things from a technical point of view, but isn’t physically imposing. In two more years, he should be bigger and 100% ready to dominate at the U-19 level.

5. Faraz Jaferi, South East – This left-arm orthodox spinner has very nice flight, but batsmen have time to play him off the back foot. With a little more experience, he’ll find it easier to find the outside edge and get more wickets.

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