USA Cricketer : ICC Americas Cricket

USA Cricket: USACA will do well to introspect on its record at its AGM

openingbat — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 03:10:00 GMT

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By Venu Palaparthi

USACA announced that it would hold its Annual General Meeting at the JFK Hilton in Jamaica, New York, on December 15, 2012. Included on the agenda are reports from the board and USACA's four remaining regions.

USACA did not respond to an email asking whether the AGM was open to public. However, in an article that appeared on ESPNCricinfo last week, USACA Treasurer John Thickett said: "All USACA members are welcome to attend the AGM. On voting matters, all members in good standing are eligible to vote."

The last AGM held in Dallas (TX) in April 2010, was not only open to public, it was well attended and well organized (pictured right). The Dallas AGM served as a state of the union and USACA set some important goals for itself at that AGM.

To give credit where it is due, USACA achieved two of those goals with the help of New Zealand Cricket and others.

“I am hopeful that real soon we will reward them [Lauderhill stadium] with cricket at the highest level," USACA President Gladstone Dainty said in his address in 2010. USACA kept that promise with the Pearls Cup series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. In 2012, West Indies played two T20s against New Zealand at Lauderhill.

Also at the 2010 AGM, John Thickett and then CEO Don Lockerbie spoke of the progress of the commercial deal, which was imminent. The agreement was eventually signed in December 2010 and has given USACA access to much needed funds. In the aforementioned ESPNcricinfo article, Dainty is quoted as saying: "We get advances against the rights for the professional league, but we should have been getting revenue from them of about $500k per quarter; we've been getting about half of that."

"In booking that revenue the independent auditors are saying: 'You are owed a massive amount of money by an entity which does not have that money right now… we won't recognise that revenue right now but we are convinced you will get it'," Dainty said.

Although these two accomplishments are definitely historic, they might just be the sum total of the list of USACA's accomplishments since the last AGM that was open to the public. On the other hand, the list of unkept promises continues to grow and USACA will do well to introspect.

Here is a refresher on some of the themes from the 2010 AGM that USACA won't be so proud of:

In his 2010 report, Dainty observed that USACA was communicating better, was becoming more purposeful and was moving rapidly in a positive direction and said that this was possible because he was "empowering more stakeholders.” Some two and half years later, nothing could be further from the truth. From a cricketer's perspective, USACA continues to drift listlessly. A majority of the stakeholders have actually been silenced, not empowered as Dainty asserted in 2010. USACA's communications continue to be sporadic and unreliable. More recently, its social media efforts have provided comic relief to cricket writers around the world.

Pic (Right): A screenshot of USACA's website from July 12th advertises an imaginary "U-15 national tournament" starting July 13th at a location to be determined. No such tournament was held.

Despite Dainty's recent proclamation that "In terms of the noise you are hearing this has not affected a single player," the fact is that the lack of progress has affected cricket. Try explaining to a 15-year who has not had a chance to play in a national U-15 tournament in 2012 that he has not really lost any time or opportunity. Try persuading an U-19 cricketer that he has had a chance to display his skills before next year's ICC Americas U-19 tournament, even if no actual tournaments were held in all of 2012.

Another area that was discussed at the Dallas AGM was sources of funding. Former CEO Lockerbie emphasized that a healthy level of internal funding was a factor whenever external funding bodies were approached. What happened since 2010 was that USACA has continued to rely heavily on two baskets for its eggs - grants from the ICC and advances from CHA. For his part, Thickett listed two initiatives - development of individual membership options and a way for members to use credit cards to pay fees. Two years later, these initiatives remain on the drawing board.

Dainty said in 2010 that supplemental resources from USACA would be available for all noteworthy regional initiatives such as a project to build a turf wicket. This idea was pushed further in town hall meetings called by Thickett. One league president called it as he saw it. Following the town hall, then NCCA President Ganesh Sanap told ESPNcricinfo: "It's election-time talk. USACA has never given any money to anyone so why would it give it now?"

Well, he was both right and wrong. Aside from the offer for administrative grants of $2,000 per league to the 15 'compliant' leagues that voted in the 2012 election, which coincidentally were announced ahead of the election, there is no evidence of USACA actually providing supplemental funding to leagues or regions for wide-ranging infrastructure projects that were strategic in nature.

These are just a few of the promises made in 2010 that were broken. There are many more that were made in the months that followed that remain unfulfilled.

Whether USACA uses the December 15 meeting to check off a box on its to-do list or the board actually reflects on plans and progress, only time will tell. Whatever happens, you will read about it on DreamCricket.com.

USA Cricket: Salman Ahmad added to ICC Americas U-19 Development Squad

openingbat — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:07:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

USA U-19 fast bowler Salman Ahmad has become the sixth USA player named to the ICC Americas U-19 Development Squad. The ICC Americas office in Toronto announced his selection to the now 17-player squad on Wednesday.

Ahmad finished second in wickets taken on the USA U-19 squad at both the 2011 ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament in Florida and the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. Overall, Ahmad was the leading wicket-taker for USA at all levels during 2011, finishing with 30 wickets in 17 matches. He also finished with 17 maidens, tops for any bowler. He took his wickets at an average of 17.37 with a strike rate of 25.20 and an economy rate of 4.13 runs per over.

Since his debut for the USA U-19 squad in Canada in 2009, Ahmad has earned a reputation for being one of the hardest working players at the junior level. In December, he received DreamCricket.com’s New Inning Foundation USA Cricket Award for Bowler of the Year. Born and raised in California, Ahmad is currently a pre-med student at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Image (right) - Salman Ahmad celebrates after taking a wicket against Bermuda at the 2011 ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament in Florida. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Ahmad will join his fellow USA teammates Cameron Mirza, Mital Patel, Gurpreet Sandhu, Hammad Shahid and Steven Taylor on the ICC Americas U-19 Development Squad. The squad also includes six players from Canada, two from Bermuda, two from Cayman Islands and one from the Bahamas.

The ICC Americas U-19 Development Squad will travel to Barbados in August for a week-long training camp run by head coach Andy Pick and assistant Wendell Coppin. At the conclusion of the camp, the squad will be cut from 17 to 14 players before the squad begins its participation in the WICB Regional U-19 Tournament. The ICC Americas U-19 Development Squad will play in the 50-over segment of the event, which runs from August 19-29, but not the three-day match competition.

USA Cricket: Five USA players named to ICC Americas Regional U-19 Development Team

openingbat — Tue, 22 May 2012 23:12:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

Correction: This article has been updated at 5:55 p.m. EST on May 24, 2012, to reflect that the ICC Americas U-19 Development team will be participating in the 50-over segment of the WICB U-19 Regional Tournament. It was earlier reported that they would be participating in a Twenty20 segment of the WICB U-19 Regional Tournament. DreamCricket.com apologizes for the error.

Five USA players have been named to an ICC Americas U-19 Development team which will take part in the West Indies Cricket Board Regional U-19 tournament this August in Barbados. USA’s five players were the second most from any one country for the 16-player squad with Canada taking six spots according to a team list obtained from ICC Americas Regional Development Manager Martin Vieira. Cameron Mirza, Mital Patel, Gurpreet Sandhu, Hammad Shahid and Steven Taylor are the players who have been selected from the USA to participate.

Image (right) USA U-19 batsman Cameron Mirza celebrates after reaching his century against Argentina in February 2011. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

The squad has been formed to participate in the 50-over segment of the WICB Regional U-19 tournament, which runs from August 19-29, but not the three-day cricket segment. The ICC Americas U-19 Development Team 16-player squad will spend a week in Barbados ahead of the tournament for a training camp run by head coach Andy Pick and assistant coach Wendell Coppin. At the conclusion of the camp, the squad will be trimmed to 14 before playing its first match.

The players who have been invited to participate from Canada are Manny Aulakh, Nitish Kumar, Akash Shah, Darren Ramsammy, Nikhil Dutta and Rayankhan Pathan. Cayman Islands will send Sacha de Alwis and Darren Cato. Bermuda’s Josh Gilbert and Kamau Leverock, who were both part of the Bermuda senior team that participated in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai, will be traveling to Barbados. Rudolph Fox of the Bahamas has also been included in the squad.

Mirza was the MVP of the ICC Americas U-19 Tournament in February 2011 when USA went undefeated to win the tournament. He led USA with 193 runs in four innings at an average of 193 and finished second overall in runs. His best score was 118 not out against Argentina. He currently attends Loughborough University in England which is an MCC University.

Mital Patel led USA with 16 wickets at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier and tied for seventh overall. His best performance was a return of 6 for 35 against Afghanistan, which included a hat-trick. That spell earned him the DreamCricket.com New Inning Foundation USA Cricket Award for Individual Performance of the Year. The medium pacer currently attends university in India and also trains with Baroda’s age group teams.

Image (left) - Mital Patel holds the match ball after taking 6 for 35, including a hat-trick, against Afghanistan at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Gurpreet Sandhu tied for the tournament lead at the 2011 ICC Americas tournament with 12 wickets in four innings. The leg-spinner’s best performance was a spell of 5 for 7 against Bermuda, which at the time were the joint-best ever figures recorded for a USA U-19 player until Patel’s performance against Afghanistan.

Hammad Shahid was the most economical pace bowler for the USA U-19 team in 2011. Across two tournaments, he bowled 72.2 overs with an economy rate of 2.89 runs per over. He also took 18 wickets at an average of 11.61. He has been touted as one of USA’s best pace bowling prospects for the last four years and has been invited to multiple selection trials for the USA senior team.

Steven Taylor was USA’s leading run scorer at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier and tied for second overall with 455 runs in nine innings including two centuries. Taylor was the recipient of DreamCricket.com’s New Inning Foundation USA Cricket Awards in 2011 for Batsman of the Year, Junior Cricketer of the Year and Cricketer of the Year.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor raises his bat after completing a century against Papua New Guinea at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In March, Taylor finished second on the USA senior team at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE with 179 runs in nine innings including a best of 40 in USA’s upset win over Scotland.

USA Cricket: Middle order failure dooms USA in 10-run loss to Canada at 2011 ICC Americas T20

openingbat — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 04:52:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Scorecard I Ball-by-Ball Commentary

After surviving an early onslaught from opening batsman Khushroo Wadia, USA bowled Canada out for 131 but a failure to accelerate in the middle overs doomed USA’s chase as they lost by 10 runs to Canada on Friday night inside the Central Broward Regional Park stadium at the 2011 ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament in Lauderhill, Florida. Wadia was named Man of the Match after top scoring on the evening with 56 in 35 balls including eight boundaries and a six.

“Khushroo was batting well throughout the innings and throughout the week,” said Canada captain Jimmy Hansra. “Khushroo’s been having amazing form. He’s helping us out for sure in the top order. Today we had a bit of a collapse in the middle that tells you about the inexperience in the squad, but we fought back hard. It’s low total games here in Florida. Unfortunately the wickets aren’t suitable for T20 cricket, but we battled hard, we fielded well and I think that’s when the young squad comes in handy.”

Canada won the toss and elected to bat first in the late afternoon sun. Wadia and Jason Sandher got Canada off to a brilliant start with a 72-run opening stand that could have potentially been nipped in the bud before a run was put on the board. Sandher slashed the second ball of the innings from fast bowler Usman Shuja high in the air toward Muhammad Ghous on the third man boundary, but Ghous reacted poorly to the ball coming off the bat and it eventually landed a few yards to his right before bouncing over the rope for four. It was a harbinger of things to come as USA’s fielding on the evening remained lackluster with several half-chances left on the table.

In the fifth over, Wadia feasted on Shuja’s bowling for 22 runs, punishing the USA pacer for straying in line by hitting four of the five boundaries in the over on the leg side. Left-arm spinner Bhim George finally broke the stand on the last ball of the ninth over by clean bowling Sandher for 23 with one that kept low. Wickets fell fast and furious for the rest of the innings as the next nine partnerships combined to produce fewer runs in the last 11 overs than Wadia and Sandher did in the first nine.

Image (right) - Khushroo Wadia was named Man of the Match for his 56 in 35 balls, with eight fours and one six. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Wadia crossed 50 in 32 balls during George’s next over, bashing a six over long on but George got revenge three balls later as Wadia chipped a half-tracker straight back to the spinner, who held on to a low return catch. Ghous claimed his first wicket of the tournament bowling Hansra for 9. George took his third when he had Usman Limbada stumped by Akeem Dodson for 1 to make it 99 for 4 and Jonathan Snow holed out to deep midwicket off the bowling of Orlando Baker to make it 107 for 5 in the 15th.

Trevin Bastiampillai and Hamza Tariq tried to reestablish momentum for Canada as their 18-run stand for the sixth wicket was Canada’s second largest of the innings. However, their partnership ended when Bastiampillai was foolishly run out for 22 trying to steal a run off a misfield. Canada could only add six runs for the final four wickets as Baker claimed two more while Steve Massiah took one and then ran out Grant Broadhurst off his own bowling to wrap up the innings four balls early as Canada was bowled out for 131 in 19.2 overs.

USA’s chase got off to a rocky start when Gowkaran Roopnarine was clean bowled without scoring by medium pacer Satsimranjit Singh Dhindsa to make it 3 for 1 in the first over. Sushil Nadkarni was then joined by Aditya Mishra and USA’s two most impressive batsmen this week added 39 for the second wicket in 6.1 overs before Hansra’s off-spin had Mishra out caught for 19 when a massive inside edge ricocheted off Mishra’s pads straight to Grant Broadhurst at short third man.

While Nadkarni played fluently at the other end, Massiah came in and struggled to time the ball, scoring 3 runs off his first 11 deliveries. Nadkarni started to display more aggression to keep the scoring rate healthy, launching leg-spinner Junaid Siddiqui into the stands twice as part of a 16-run 12th over to make it 75 for 2. It was USA’s only double-digit over of the innings while Canada did it four times in their turn at bat.

Nadkarni perished for 40 at the start of the 13th when he edged Broadhurst’s medium pace through to the keeper Tariq. With Quasen Alfred sitting out of the lineup, the rest of the batting order lacked the firepower to reach the ropes, let alone clear them. USA only registered five fours in the entire innings and had none from the time Massiah hit one on the fourth ball of the 11th over by Hansra until the second ball of the final over.

Massiah was caught on the boundary for 17 off the bowling of Siddiqui to make it 81 for 4 and Japen Patel was next to go for 10 to give Dhindsa his second. Dhindsa’s third scalp came when he bowled Timroy Allen for 12 and USA’s chances of winning were rapidly slipping away at 111 for 6 in 18.4 overs. Shuja was run out on the next delivery trying to stretch one into two. George then came in at number nine and took a two off the final ball of the 19th over as USA needed 18 to win with six balls remaining.

The door was left slightly ajar by Canada after a first ball wide from left-arm spinner Zahid Hussain was followed by a single from Dodson and a boundary by George to turn the equation into 12 from four balls. However, Canada slammed the door shut when George was caught by Limbada on the midwicket boundary for 6 before Hussain bowled Dodson on the fourth ball of the over for 7 to leave USA at 120 for 9. Number 11 batsman Ghous needed to hit sixes off the final two balls for USA to win but he could only manage a single on the fifth ball, sealing the game for Canada before Baker defended the last ball as USA finished at 121 for 9, 10 runs short of Canada’s total.

“It was a commendable effort by Team USA to get back into the game after Canada were off to a brilliant start,” said Massiah. “I thought in the middle overs we lost our way a bit but obviously we’ve seen through the tournament that it gets difficult batting second, especially playing the third game today on this track. I wouldn’t take away anything from Canada. I thought they bowled well in the end and the seamers proved to be a little too much for us.”

USA now stands tied for second place with Bermuda at 3-1 while Canada tops the ladder at 4-0. Bermuda won earlier in the day by 10 wickets over Cayman Islands while Suriname scored their first win of the week as they beat Argentina by five wickets to leave their fellow South Americans winless.

Barring a stunning upset by Suriname, Canada is in line to finish first while Cayman Islands needs to beat Argentina to avoid creating a three-way tie at 1-4 for fourth place. USA takes on Bermuda on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. EST in a battle to decide second place. Live coverage on DreamCricket.com begins at 9 a.m.

USA Cricket: Nadkarni brought back into USA squad in favor of Mustafa

openingbat — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:06:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

In a bizarre twist, USACA has apparently made an about face regarding the composition of the 14-man squad for the USA senior team at next week’s ICC Americas T20 tournament in Florida by recalling Sushil Nadkarni in favor of Nauman Mustafa. The information was first obtained by email through a source on Saturday and was confirmed by USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed on Sunday.

“Yes, that’s true,” said Mohamed when asked if the change was official. “That was about two days ago.” When asked why it was made, Mohamed replied, “I don’t know. I was just told that Nauman is off the team and Nadkarni is on the team.” When asked who made the decision, Mohamed replied, “The president gave me that instruction.”

However, neither player says they’ve received an official email or letter stating that they’ve been added or dropped from the squad. Nadkarni was contacted on Sunday night and says he has received no official notice from USACA, nor any email confirming he has been added and no information about travel arrangements to get to Florida.

Image (right) - A file photo of Sushil Nadkarni from ICC WCL Division Five in Nepal. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

An email that was sent on Monday afternoon to the ICC Americas office in Toronto requesting confirmation of the roster switch was still awaiting a response at the time this article was published.

Mustafa was reached by phone on Saturday night and he also said he has not received any official email or letter saying he had been dropped. Mohamed says that he spoke with Mustafa on the phone to inform him of the decision, but Mustafa says he has gotten no official email or letter from USACA.

“I’m just trying to keep myself positive, that’s all I can say,” said Mustafa. “Obviously it’s not an ideal situation to be in. For the last two weeks I’ve been training really hard. I’m just trying to keep positive because there’s nothing I can do nor is it my fault. I did my part and it’s up to USACA and others to do their part. So obviously I’m disappointed, or I’m going to be disappointed if it’s true, but I’m just trying to keep myself positive.”

All of the matches at the ICC Americas T20 will be played at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhil, Florida. The original schedule included one game each day at Boca Raton Cricket Club. According to Mohamed, the outfield at the BRCC ground was supposed to be relaid with new sod, but the work has not been completed in time and so there will be three matches a day squeezed into the stadium with the first match each day beginning at 9:30 a.m.

In USA U-19 news, Kalim Ahmed and four other players have arrived in Fort Lauderdale for what Mohamed says is a training camp for the next week alongside the USA U-19 squad. Ahmed was part of the USA U-19 team that won the ICC Americas U-19 title in February.

“He’s not been added to the squad,” said Mohamed on Monday afternoon. “He’s there to join the training also with a bunch of other kids we’ve got coming in to join the training. Nobody has been added to the squad. The squad is 14 and remains that way. The squad remains the same for now. These guys are just coming in to be a part of the training.”

“We’ve got two kids that came in from Washington D.C., and we have some local kids from right here who will be joining the camp. It’s all part of a camp and training. Offhand, I don’t have their names.” USACA has paid for the players to be in Fort Lauderdale.

“We haven’t decided how long they’re gonna be here yet,” said Mohamed. “As they go through training and get them camp instructions and everything, then we’ll see how that develops. They’ll probably be here until this weekend, at least until the 17th.”

USA Cricket: USA Men's T20 squad and USA U-19 squads released

openingbat — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:28:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USACA has announced the squads that will be competing at the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 Tournament from July 18-23 in Florida and the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland from July 28-August 9.

In a huge shakeup from the team that finished in last place at ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Hong Kong, 10 of the 14 squad members from that tournament have been replaced. The only four holdovers are Steve Massiah, Orlando Baker, Muhammad Ghous and Usman Shuja. The biggest omission was USA’s vice-captain in Hong Kong, Sushil Nadkarni, while five uncapped players have been included.

Timroy Allen returns to the team after recovering from an injury suffered at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy last August while Adrian Gordon, Aditya Mishra, Gowkaran Roopnarine and Akeem Dodson have all been recalled to represent USA. Gordon also last appeared for the team in Italy while Dodson and Roopnarine last played for USA in 2008. Mishra played for USA last year at The Pearls Cup against Jamaica. Atlantic Region opening partners Roopnarine and Mishra were the two standout batsmen at the 2011 USACA Twenty20 Nationals.

The five first time selections in the squad are Bhim George and Japen Patel from the South East, Nauman Mustafa and Samarth Shah from the North West, and Quasen Alfred from New York. The inclusion of Mustafa means that USA has curiously selected three wicketkeeper-batsmen for the team along with Roopnarine and Dodson.

Of the players missing out from Hong Kong besides Nadkarni, Aditya Thyagarajan and Ritesh Kadu are both currently injured while Durale Forrest, Carl Wright, Rashard Marshall and Lennox Cush did not participate in the Twenty20 Nationals. Sources have indicated that Cush has stopped playing cricket to focus on his rentals business in Guyana.

Ryan Corns had a poor Twenty20 Nationals (13 runs in three innings) and was dropped after just one tour with USA. However several of the players who made the squad ahead of him, including George (14 runs in two innings) and Patel (21 runs in two innings), did not fare much better. All three players excelled in their local leagues and in their inter-league tournaments prior to the Twenty20 Nationals. Corns was named MVP of the Central West Twenty20 inter-league tournament while Patel won the MVP of the South East 50-over inter-league tournament and George was named Best Batsman in the same South East tournament.

Nadkarni also scored heavy in the Central West inter-league tournament and turned in 65 runs in New Jersey at the Twenty20 Nationals, good for fourth overall in the event as he captained the Central West to a runner-up finish. Unfortunately, it appears he is paying the price for a subpar performance in Hong Kong in which he failed to score a half-century in his six innings and had a rough time in the field with several drops.

Asif Khan was harshly dropped from the USA lineup after a solid showing on his debut tour in Hong Kong where the left-arm spinner took the second most wickets for the team with six, behind Kevin Darlington with eight. Khan was also a batting hero in the two-wicket win over Oman, scoring 31 not out while hitting the winning runs as part of a 71-run unbeaten ninth wicket partnership with Shuja, and finished the tour with the second highest batting average on the team behind Massiah. At the Twenty20 Nationals, Khan was one of seven bowlers tied for fifth with four wickets. Darlington, who is now 39, was also left out of the USA squad.

In the final 14-player list for the U-19 team, three changes are now confirmed from the squad that won the ICC Americas U-19 tournament in February. New York Region players Greg Sewdial, Prashanth Nair and Amarnauth Persaud have all been named in the squad while Central East batsman Fahad Babar and Atlantic Region bowlers Kalim Ahmed and Waleed Javed Karimullah are the three who have not made the cut this time around.

Sewdial was always expected to be included upon proving his fitness after scoring the most runs for USA at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup. Nair is a very talented left-arm spinner while Persaud presents options with both bat and ball. He is also still young enough to potentially represent USA in the next U-19 World Cup cycle for 2014 along with Steven Taylor.

The captains and team management for both squads have yet to be announced.

USA Men’s squad: Quasen Alfred (New York), Timroy Allen (South East), Orlando Baker (Central West), Akeem Dodson (New York), Bhim George (South East), Muhammad Ghous (Atlantic), Adrian Gordon (New York), Steve Massiah (New York), Aditya Mishra (Atlantic), Nauman Mustafa (North West), Japen Patel (South East), Gowkaran Roopnarine (Atlantic), Samarth Shah (North West), Usman Shuja (Central West).

USA U-19 squad: Salman Ahmad (South West), Shayan Abdulghani (South West), Abhijit Joshi (Central East), Cameron Mirza (New York), Prashanth Nair (New York), Amarnauth Persaud (New York), Mital Patel (Atlantic), Gurpreet Sandhu (South West), Greg Sewdial (New York), Hammad Shahid (South West), Pranay Suri (North West), Jodhbir Singh (North West), Trevor Singh (New York), Steven Taylor (South East).

USA Cricket: Dainty says team was "over prepared" for Hong Kong

openingbat — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:13:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USACA Gladstone Dainty says the USA men’s team is not in danger of suffering another subpar performance due to lack of preparation for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament scheduled to take place July 17-24 in Florida. In a phone call last week, Dainty was questioned as to why nothing had been arranged for the USA senior team since their return from a last place finish at ICC World Cricket League Division Three in January when many, including himself, said in the immediate aftermath that USA’s last place finish at the January tournament was a result of being under prepared.

“That’s a big statement to make that what happened in Hong Kong was a lack of preparation and a lack of activity,” said Dainty in reply. “I think that what happened in Hong Kong, first of all I think it’s disrespectful to the teams who were there who won to believe that they weren’t good. What happened in Hong Kong, we ran into some very good teams playing very well and I really don’t buy into this stuff that we’re more talented than anyone else. People have got individual responsibilities and they’ve got to be ready when called upon.”

“Local competitions have started and in due course we’ll have some practice and some camps, etc., very shortly. We played a lot of cricket last year so what happened in Hong Kong maybe can be attributed more to over preparation rather than under preparation and a lot of other factors. You’ve gotta remember that we did beat Hong Kong didn’t we? So I don’t know that the answer is as simple as lack of preparation. I really don’t believe in excuses. We had very good teams playing and we had to be ready to play every step of the way and we had some bad days. Maybe we had some other factors, but we’ll be ready for the Americas Cup. It’s the same Americas Cup we played last year and we actually went to Bermuda and we did pretty well, didn’t we?”

This stance regarding the team’s preparation contradicts the overall views expressed by the players, manager, coach and even Dainty himself. In an interview conducted at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One in February, Dainty said the blame lay in USACA not doing enough to prepare the team.

Image (right): USACA President Gladstone Dainty addresses the participants of the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament last February in Florida. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna]

“The team to me didn’t do very well in Hong Kong,” said Dainty in February. “I’m not going to be the one that’s blaming the team alone. For all of us, I would say that the team was not a very well prepared team. In terms of they were playing, it was their offseason for most of them. Even during the national championships, I didn’t see the energy.”

“We needed additional funding for them to play some more. From what I was made to understand and from what I observed, conditioning was a factor,” said Dainty. “The conditioning aspect didn’t seem to be there and that is not their fault alone. It’s all of us and as president I’ve gotta accept responsibility that it was not a very well prepared team.”

After USA’s loss to Italy which resulted in relegation to Division Four, USA captain Steve Massiah was quoted as saying, "We didn't prepare for this tournament as well as we have done in other events and our performances here were nothing like what we know we are capable of when we play cricket. Certain things didn't go our way this tournament and we now need to go back to the USA and rethink our strategy and how we are going to bounce back from this and rebuild our team to climb back up the leagues."

Head Coach Clayton Lambert admitted even before the tournament in Hong Kong had started that he was concerned the team did not have ideal preparation. That sentiment was also expressed by Team Manager Imran Khan after a second defeat to Denmark to end the tournament.

“The team itself I think is of a certain quality,” said Khan. “We’ve played opposition that’s of a lot higher standard than the teams here, people like Scotland, UAE, Canada, Bermuda who we’ve beaten regularly. So we’ve proven that we can perform at this level, even higher.”

“However, coming into this specific tournament, we were undercooked. I keep reiterating that point. We were undercooked, we weren’t prepared and that’s not really the fault of the players, or the management or the coaching staff. That is an issue within the administration that they need to look at with the whole development process, how we’re preparing teams, how we’re organizing our schedules and to really get those people involved who are competent enough to do that. Right now, without being too critical or judgmental of people involved, I think there are certain individuals who maybe don’t really understand the way teams function at this level and how the organization should be carried out.”

“So maybe the entire US structure needs to be looked at again to see whether we can produce a more efficient structure that can actually help the team grow. We should start now with the Under-19s, prepare them, start organizing tours for them and really start giving them the experience so that we can push these players forward. If we don’t do that, we keep repeating the same old tactics. Then you’ll eventually see the same results like this tournament.”

In regards to Dainty’s February quote about the team needing additional funding, Dainty hopes that funding will arrive soon from the Cricket Holdings America deal. USACA reportedly was due to receive $5 million in the first year of the deal, but Dainty hinted that USACA has not received anywhere close to the full amount near the halfway point of 2011. Dainty is still in negotiations with Robin Singh about an expanded role in US cricket beyond coaching the Under-19 team, but this and many other goals for US cricket can’t be achieved until funding comes in. He also called for more play within the region between the Associates.

“There are no secrets out there about our financial position or hopeful financial positions. I’m hoping that once we dot the i’s and cross the t’s with our commercial deal that some of what we do will be to beef up our infrastructure,” said Dainty.

“Everybody, the cricket committee, the board, we are committed to giving as much resources as we can give, but then we have to deal with the affordability factor. There’s no question that everybody would like to give all and every resource available so if we can afford it and that’s what’s necessary… but like I say, the cricket committee as good as they’ve been and as functional as they’ve been, we’ve reached a stage where because of the quantity and quality of the cricket which we must play now, we’re talking about youth, women and men, we need to have full-time people working at these programs, working with our players because it’s close to a semi-pro situation we’re getting involved in right now. It’s a situation where we’ve gotta be ready.”

“The Americas as a whole have gotta look at what we’re doing at home, maybe playing each other more often, maybe playing the Caribbean more often, maybe having more tours, etc., because our Associate level of play in the Americas once upon a time we were the top tier. I see not only the United States, but the Americas as a whole, I see some slippage. I don’t know about you, but I see slippage in the Americas as a whole.”

USA Cricket: Division restructuring could take place for ICC Americas in 2012

openingbat — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:53:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

ICC Americas is strongly considering a plan to restructure the top division in men’s and U-19 cricket to correct a competitive imbalance. The plan was discussed last weekend at the ICC Americas Regional Development Forum in Costa Rica and could be pushed through as early as 2012 according to USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed.

“There’s a new division alignment that’s coming up that was discussed. It needs to be confirmed but they’re gonna change the alignment,” said Mohamed. “Instead of six teams in Division One, it would be four. The winner of Division Two would go into Division One.”

“Division One for the Region would be USA, Canada, Bermuda and one team from Division Two. They would play T20 along with 50 overs. So it’s gonna be a combination of both formats in the Division One tournament.” The realignment would not apply to women’s cricket or any junior cricket below the U-19 level within the region.

The move would address what some in the region feel is a lack of competitiveness outside the traditional top three. This was particularly evident at this February’s ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament where USA, Canada and Bermuda routinely demolished the bottom three finishers, Cayman Islands, Bahamas and Argentina. The lone exception was a tight match between Bermuda and Cayman Islands which Bermuda won by four runs but lopsided contests sometimes finished in less than three hours and many administrators questioned how much either side benefitted from such contests.

Mohamed also said that the qualification process for the ICC U-19 World Cup would be undergoing changes. The process would be similar to how teams qualified prior to the creation of the global qualifier event in 2009.

“ICC have changed the qualification from 2014 for the U-19 World Cup,” said Mohamed. “There will be 16 teams. It will be the 10 Full Members and one team from each of the regionals. We usually have from the regionals two people would qualify to go to the global qualifier. There would not be that global qualifier anymore. The regional winner would automatically qualify. So you’ve got the 10 Full members, each of the regional winners, that would be 15, plus the host team and that would be from 2014.”

According to an ESPN Media Zone press release in March, the UAE will be hosting the 2014 ICC U-19 World Cup. UAE finished fifth in the 10-team Asian Cricket Council U-19 Elite Cup this past February, failing to reach the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. However, Dubai does have some of the best facilities on offer since the opening of the ICC Global Cricket Academy in October of last year.

ICC Global Development Manager Tim Anderson and West Indies Cricket Board Vice President David Cameron were in attendance at the meetings in Costa Rica and Mohamed said that there is a proposal to form a regional Associate team at both the U-19 and U-15 level that would compete in West Indies domestic tournaments beginning in 2012. Not only would it be a more competitive squad than accepting an individual Associate team, but Mohamed says that from a financial standpoint, it could potentially alleviate costs from the individual Associate boards. If a combined team of Associate players played as an Americas regional team, Mohamed says that ICC Americas might cover any costs rather than the respective national boards for each player representing an Americas regional team.

Another piece of news from Mohamed is that the USA is being considered to host the ICC World Cricket League Division Four tournament due to take place in the summer of 2012. Mohamed feels that USA has a good chance of hosting the event, either in Fort Lauderdale or Los Angeles.

“It would be good to get a tournament like that,” said Mohamed. USA, Denmark, Nepal and Tanzania will be joined in Division Four by the top two finishers from Division Five, due to be held in Singapore next February.

The chances of Nepal being awarded the tournament are slim after riots marred USA’s group stage match against Nepal at Division Five in Kathmandu last year. In the wake of an ICC inquiry, Cricket Association of Nepal accepted an ICC directive to not host further international cricket at the Tribhuvan University Stadium until remedial measures were carried out.

Denmark only has one turf pitch in the country while Tanzania hosted Division Four in 2008 and no team except Singapore has been given the chance to host a WCL event more than once since the WCL was started in 2007. Singapore hosted Division Six in 2009 and the decision to make them the host of next year’s Division Five was viewed by some as a move to right a sense of injustice done to Singapore at Division Five in 2010.

Riots by the home crowd in the USA vs. Nepal game forced a lengthy delay to that match. The reduction of overs and revised target upon resumption of play helped Nepal finish above Singapore by a .004 margin on net run rate to qualify for WCL Division Four in Italy last August. Singapore had hoped to replace Nepal in 2010 ICC WCL Division Four but that plea was rejected by the ICC.

Gordon and Ghous go to Nottingham - This is Nottingham

openingbat — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:46:00 GMT

This is Nottingham (thisisnottingham.co.uk) noted the arrival of USA cricketers - Adrian Gordon and Muhammad Ghous, with moderate curiosity and great enthusiasm.

About Gordon, the website noted: "The other bowlers race in with the fluid, textbook action of young men who have had coaching, and plenty of it, since they were young boys. Adrian steams in like a man who's just overheard the batsman saying something untoward about his mother. His action is less about honed fluidity, more about barely contained aggression."

Muhammad Ghous is quoted as saying: "This is a place we wanted to be," Muhammad said. "[The US] should send more junior guys." That, plus more full-time coaching and a developmental framework, should make a difference.

Here is the full link:

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/American-cricketers-come-Notts-train/article-3483305-detail/article.html

ICC Executive Board to reconsider 2015 World Cup format

openingbat — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:28:00 GMT

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The composition of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be reconsidered by the Executive Board during the ICC Annual Conference in Hong Kong in June 2011. ICC's decision on April 4, 2011, to allow only Full Members to participate in the 2015 World Cup was met with full-throated protests from the associates and affiliates and the latest announcement by ICC gives hope to countries such as Ireland and Afghanistan.

Today's announcement by ICC confirms recent media reports suggesting that ICC was under pressure to review the decision. On April 9, 2011, PTI, quoting a confidential source, reported that the format for the 2015 World Cup 'could still be debated and discussed at future ICC meetings.'

According to the ICC media release, ICC President Mr Sharad Pawar has decided to request the Board to revisit the issue. Mr Pawar is quoted as saying: "I have given this matter further serious thought and will request the Board to consider this topic once more. I can understand the views of the Associates and Affiliates and ICC will seek to deal with this issue in the best way possible."

The April 4 decision by ICC was seen by analysts as a way to protect the weaker full member teams. Recent media reports have suggested that Bangladesh and Zimbabwe were in favor of a 10 team format as they were not comfortable with a situation where they would be forced to compete with associate teams.

An expanded format might help usher in a meritocracy creating a healthy competition among those countries that are viewed as strong contenders for the top 12 slots. USA's chances for qualification during 2015 are slim and the team's next chance of improving on their present ranking of 26 is not until 2012.

US Youth Cricket Association named Best Junior Participation Initiative by ICC Americas

openingbat — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:42:00 GMT

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An outstanding 167 nominations were received in the Americas Region for the eight award categories of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme Annual Awards 2010. Not only were the number of nominations notable this year, the quality of the nominations were quite impressive, and a lot of tough competition came from around the region in every category for the selection panel to choose between.

In the end, Bermuda lead the way this year receiving two awards while Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Suriname and the USA each captured one.

"The “Best Junior Participation Initiative” was awarded to USACA for its partnership with the United States of America Youth Cricket Association Schools Program. This program donates cricket sets and provides instructional sessions for students and Physical Education Instructors to schools and school districts across the country. This program has lead to thousands of children that are now being introduced to and learning to play cricket at school in the USA."

"All ICC Americas Development Programme Award winners will now be nominated for the Global Award in their respective category. The ICC judging panel will then select a global winner from the 5 regions in each of the categories. The Global winners will be announced on February 28, 2011."

Pic (Right): Kits awaiting distribution to Prince George's County Schools in Maryland. In all, 75 cricket kits were donated by DreamCricket.com during 2010 in support of the USYCA program.

USYCA President Jamie Harrison passed along the gratitude of the youth association, along with a commitment. "The USYCA is obviously thrilled and delighted to have its Schools Program be so richly honored in its first year," said Harrison. "We wish to pass along our sincere thanks to ICC Americas and our partners at USACA, with whom we anticipate a close working relationship in the coming years. Knowing that the ICC applauds our mission and our results, this recognition will cause us to redouble our efforts to bring cricket to American children everywhere."

Separately, USYCA announced that Michael Young, fielding coach for the Australian national cricket team, and one of the few Americans to be employed at the top levels of international cricket, has announced his enthusiastic support for USYCA. The announcement was made on 14 January in Melbourne, where the Aussies were preparing to take on England in a Twenty20 contest.

Young, a former baseball player and minor league coach in the United States, came to Australia in 1981, leading Queensland to their first-ever Claxton Shield Title, and became the State Director of Coaching for baseball. His success with coaching Australia’s baseball team in the Olympics led him to be named International Baseball Coach of the Year on multiple occasions before he accepted a position with Cricket Australia in 2000.

Hailed by skipper Adam Gilchrist as the “secret weapon” in Australia’s 2003 World Cup win, Young has consistently demonstrated the relationship between fundamental skills in the two sports, which is key if Americans are to be easily drawn toward the playing of cricket. “Baseball is similar to cricket in many ways,” Young said. “What works in one you implement in the other.” In expressing his support for USYCA, Young noted the critical importance of introducing American children to cricket at an early age.

“Children playing any sport are always a fantastic endeavor and the USYCA is doing a terrific job at expanding on that philosophy,” Young said. “The beauty of cricket also is that it can be played by all ages and both genders. It's an international sport which undoubtedly will one day be an Olympic Sport to go along with it's already star status of being one of the most prolific professional sports in the world.”

In the past three months, USYCA has initiated cricket programs in 75 American schools, representing over 15,000 children. Young believes that the USYCA approach has a high probability of success, and wants to see it expanded and adopted throughout the States.

“The long-term viability with all sports, no matter where they're played, is the involvement of the youth,” Young said. “Without a good fundamental base and highly planned and organised junior development, then any sport has a dim future.”

Young also believes that, because of the tremendous potential of the American cricket market, international players, coaches and cricket bodies should rally to the mission of USYCA, as he has.

“It's the USA,” Young said. “Why wouldn't world cricket based sporting bodies want the USA to be strong? It's a no brainer. People can say whatever they want, but truth be known, if you have the USA involved in any sport, that sport’s standing will improve on numerous levels.”

Jamie Harrison, President of USYCA, is grateful to have the endorsement of such a prominent figure in international cricket.

“I’m pleased and honored to have Mike Young stand with USYCA as it brings cricket to American children,” Harrison said. “As the lone American in international cricket, and as someone with a background in baseball, Mike has a unique perspective on the possibilities for our great sport in the United States. The fact that he believes so strongly in what we’re doing is a great encouragement to us, and we look forward to working with him.”

Source - USYCA and ICC Americas / Pictures - DreamCricket.com

USA Cricket: Batting collapse dooms USA in 30-run loss to Denmark

allrounder — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:34:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Hongkong

Match Scorecard | Live Updates

Denmark captain Michael Pedersen made the most of three let offs in the field by USA to top score with 78 not out as he lead Denmark to a 30-run win over the United States at Mission Road on Sunday at ICC WCL Division Three in Hong Kong. Pedersen was named Man of the Match after he followed up his batting effort with 4 for 35 bowling gentle off-spin that gave USA more problems than they could handle.

Pic (Right): Orlando Baker high fives Steve Massiah after bowling Freddie Klokker. Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“Hopefully we’re gonna regroup,” said USA head coach Clayton Lambert. “We always seem to have one bad game and second day of the tournament seems to be when we do it. We still fancy ourselves. We think we can go with any of the teams pound for pound. We’ve made it hard but we’re gonna be playing. We want to get to Division Two.”

USA won the toss and elected to field first. Denmark’s openers Freddie Klokker and Yasir Iqbal did a good job seeing off the new ball, putting on 50 runs for the first wicket. The partnership was broken when Orlando Baker entered the attack and with only his second delivery beat Klokker’s attempted drive to bowl him for 24. Iqbal left 25 runs later for 31 when he slogged Asif Khan against the spin to Rashard Marshall at deep midwicket giving Khan his first wicket in a USA uniform.

Lennox Cush came on and in his second over claimed Rizwan Mahmood for 3 with a bad ball that was yanked flat and hard straight to deep fine leg where Khan took a sharp catch to make it 82 for 3 in the 24^th. Khan should have had Pedersen out for 23 in the 27^th with the score at 90 for 3. The batsman top edged an attempted pull out toward the midwicket boundary. Sushil Nadkarni ran a long way to his left and reached forward getting two hands to the ball but was off balance and somersaulted while spilling the chance.

Khan continued to probe away until he got Carsten Pedersen LBW for 12 after the batsman was late on a paddle sweep to make it 114 for 4 in the 35^th over. Michael Pedersen’s next let off came when he was on 46 at 138 for 4 when he chipped a full length ball to deep midwicket again where substitute fielder Durale Forrest circled around it and dove late to get two hands to it but was unable to hang on. Forrest and Ryan Corns were on the field because Aditya Thyagarajan went off with a sprained left ankle at the end of the 11^th over while Nadkarni also needed treatment after falling awkwardly during his earlier dropped catch off Pedersen.

Pedersen ran out his partner Naveed Mughal for 5 to make it 143 for 5 on the last ball of the 41^st. Pedersen guided a good length ball from Baker behind point in the territory of Marshall. There was never a run, but Mughal responded to Pedersen’s call and with one stump to aim at Marshall connected with a direct hit to send Mughal packing.

Jacob Larsen was bowled for 2 going for a big heave off Kevin Darlington to make it 149 for 6. Pedersen continued into the final over where he was dropped for a third time on 70. Darlington bowled a thigh high full toss outside off that Pedersen top edged while going to pull. Steve Massiah backpedaled from cover in the circle and appeared to be comfortably under it but spilled the chance while tumbling backward to the ground. Pedersen wound up taking eight runs off the bat and 11 total in the final over to finish unbeaten on 78. Denmark finished their 50 overs 193 for 6. Khan was USA’s standout bowler with 2 for 31.

Pic (Left): Kevin Darlington bowls Jacob Larsen. Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“I thought we bowled well enough to bowl this team out for 160,” said Lambert. “We dropped a number of important catches and that eventually led to them making 190. But 190 on this field, short straight boundary, very fast outfield, I would back us to make it every day of the week.”

USA received an early setback in the chase when Baker prodded forward to a good length ball from Aftab Ahmed and gave a healthy edge to Iqbal at first slip. Baker was out for 6 to make it 9 for 1 on the last ball of the fourth over. Massiah joined Carl Wright and the two effortlessly breezed their way towards the target by adding 54 runs for the second wicket. Wright in particular pulverized anything short and was scoring at a run a ball when he reached 42.

Massiah then fell for 15 to medium pacer Larsen on the first of several questionable LBW decisions. Larsen bowled a good length ball that Massiah stretched well forward to defend and was hit halfway up the front pad. A strong appeal was belted out and upheld, much to the chagrin of Massiah to make it 63 for 2 in the 13^th over.

Lennox Cush came in next and after cracking two sixes and a four, faced up to the seemingly innocuous flighted off-spin of Michael Pedersen. After defending three balls in a row, Cush tried to use his long reach for an ill-advised heave toward the long on boundary. He failed to get to the pitch of the ball and skied a chance to mid on. Ahmed ran in about 25 yards from the long on rope to take the catch on the run making it 84 for 3.

That wicket was the turning point for the collapse that ensued. After Wright got to 42 in 42 balls, he spent a very long time at the non-striker’s end as Massiah, Cush and then Nadkarni were unable to turn over the strike to keep Wright’s momentum going forward. When he finally got to face a few deliveries again, it was clear he had gone cold and it showed when he mistimed an attempted pull off Pedersen, playing over the top of a ball that was fractionally short to be hit dead in front and he left for 43.

USA was reduced to 85 for 4 and from that point forward, USA’s batsmen went into a shell. Anything short and wide that had previously been punished to the boundary was now being gently tapped to a fielder in the circle. It was clear the momentum had shifted Denmark’s way.

Leg-spinner Bobby Chawla came on for Pedersen to start the 22^nd over and on his very first delivery, he removed Nadkarni for 2. Chawla bowled a good length ball that Nadkarni went on the back foot to cut and got a toe edge to the keeper Klokker to make it 111 for 5.

Aditya Thyagarajan entered without the aid of a runner and looked fine running between the wickets with Rashard Marshall. He had scored 8 when he was foxed by Chawla with a googly to be bowled through the gate and USA fell further to 122 for 6. After his drive missed, Thyagarajan fell back clutching his right leg. He remained on the field for several minutes before he was carried off by his teammates. According to USA Physio Akhtar Masood Syed, Thyagarajan most likely had a ruptured tendon in his knee but no official diagnosis had been made. Thyagarajan was taken to a hospital for further information and will be out for the rest of the tournament.

Pic (Right): Aditya Thyagarajan goes down in pain after being bowled by Bobby Chawla. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

“We will have to look at whom we’re gonna bring in,” said Lambert. “All three of the guys can come in. It depends on if we feel we need an extra bowler or if it’s just a batsman. If it’s a batsman, then Kadu is probably the most solid of the three guys.”

“We lose Aditya. We will just have to pick up the slack. It’s unfortunate but the guys will have to be more responsible.”

Marshall was joined by Shuja and the two looked capable of still carrying USA over the line with 72 needed to win and 24 overs to get there. But USA’s second bad LBW decision happened when Shuja fell for 6. Chawla bowled a good length ball on the legs that looked to be missing leg comfortably. Chawla went up in appeal without much support from the keeper, but after a very lengthy deliberation, umpire Kevin Bishop gave him out leaving Shuja stunned and USA sunk to 136 for 7.

Marshall fell in the next over when his front foot defense was beaten by Pedersen to knock back the stumps. With Marshall gone for 31, USA’s hopes were officially dashed. Asif Khan played a valiant knock coming in at nine to finish with 17 not out, playing both spinners with ease where his teammates struggled badly. Ghous gave a simple edge behind to Pedersen before the match ended when Kevin Darlington suffered another poor LBW decision from umpire Bishop that had the USA bench fuming. Camera footage allegedly showed Darlington was hit on the gloves coming forward to defend, with the ball looking to be missing leg regardless. Once again, only Chawla went up for an LBW appeal but after another long delay, Darlington was given out to end the match. Denmark erupted on the field to celebrate a victory that seemed unlikely at the innings break.

“That’s how cricket goes, sometimes the team can crumble,” said Lambert. “I’m hoping that we think about it and tomorrow maybe get some nets. All I ask for is a professional effort from the guys and time and again they’ve shown me that they will rise up.”

In the day’s other matches, Oman beat Hong Kong by three wickets while Papua New Guinea topped Italy by 32 runs. PNG is 2-0 and will play USA on Tuesday at Hong Kong CC. Live coverage begins on DreamCricket Monday night at 7:45 p.m.

USA Cricket: USACA invites 21 players to USA U-19 selection camp in Florida

openingbat — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:11:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

The preparation for USA’s U-19 team is gearing up after a list of 21 players was finalized for a selection camp to take place in Florida on January 22 and 23. At the conclusion of the camp, 14 players will be selected to represent USA in the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament next month in Fort Lauderdale. Five players were invited from New York, the most for any region, while no one from North East made the cut.

As expected, four players – Salman Ahmad, Abhijit Joshi, Hammad Shahid and Steven Taylor –who represented USA at the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand were invited to the camp. Pranay Suri, who took eight wickets in two games at trial matches played last week in Los Angeles including 5 for 28 against South East, was also included. He was joined by three of his North West teammates – Krish Goel, Akash Jagannathan and Jodhbir Singh. Jagannathan was invited to a 20-man selection camp in December of 2009 but did not make the final 15-man squad that went to New Zealand.

Image right: Akash Jagannathan is has a chance to make his first USA U-19 team later this month. [Copyright - DreamCricket.com]

In addition to Ahmad and Shahid, spin bowlers Shayan Abdulghani and Gurpreet Sandhu have also been invited from the South West. A notable omission is off-spinner Viraj Sehgal, who took 6 for 39 against the Central West team at the U-19 Western Conference in August for South West.

USA national selector Sunny Khan said that it was tough deciding who to invite to the camp because none of the three selectors attended either the U-19 Eastern Conference or U-19 Western Conference tournaments in August to be able to evaluate players and instead relied on scorecards and feedback from coaches. When asked why the selectors did not attend, Khan said it was because they were not invited to the tournaments.

Opening batsman Fahad Babar and fast bowler Sohaib Choudhry received invites from the Central East along with Joshi. Babar has represented the Central East senior team as an opening batsman for the last two seasons and is considered a very strong candidate to make the USA U-19 team. Central East fast bowler Kishen Patel did not receive an invitation to the camp after taking the most wickets for his team at the U-19 Western Conference, including 5 for 42 against Central West.

Image left: Shayan Abdulghani has a chance to join his brother Hammad Shahid on the USA U-19 team. [Copyright - DreamCricket.com]

The lone representative from Central West is Parth Bhakta, a left-arm spinner who stood out by taking 3 for 24 against North West and 5 for 44 against Central East at the U-19 Western Conference. He is one of three left-arm spinners invited to the camp along with Abdulghani and Prashanth Nair, one of the five New York players.

Joining Nair from New York are Foisal Muhammad, Amarnauth Persaud, Trevor Singh and Cameron Mirza. Left off the invite list is the highly impressive Zahib Tariq, who excelled both at the U-15 National Tournament and the U-19 Eastern Conference this year, taking 4 for 16 and top-scoring with 48 vs. the U-19 Atlantic team as New York defended a total of 127 to win by 7 runs.

The South East and Atlantic regions both have two representatives. Taylor and Ryan Ramnarine have been invited from Florida. It is believed that both players will be healthy enough to participate after being involved in a serious car accident last week in Fort Lauderdale when they were driving back home after their flight to Junior Nationals was canceled. Waleed Javed Karimullah and Kalim Ahmed are the two Atlantic representatives.

Players invited to USA U-19 selection camp by region

Atlantic: Kalim Ahmed, Waleed Javed Karimullah

Central East: Fahad Babar, Sohaib Choudhry, Abhijit Joshi

Central West: Parth Bhakta

New York: Cameron Mirza, Foisal Muhammad, Prashanth Nair, Amarnauth Persaud, Trevor Singh

North West: Krish Goel, Akash Jagannathan (wk), Jodhbir Singh, Pranay Suri

South East: Ryan Ramnarine, Steven Taylor (wk)

South West: Shayan Abdulghani, Salman Ahmad, Gurpreet Sandhu, Hammad Shahid

ICC proposal gives hope to USA in T20 and Multi-day cricket formats

openingbat — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 17:12:00 GMT

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In a media release issued today, ICC announced that the ICC Intercontinental Cup (I Cup) will henceforth be a biennial eight-team, first-class tournament giving USA a chance to qualify for the next edition of the cup. Scheduled to run from May 2011 until December 2012, the I Cup features six nations with ODI status - Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland.

In addition, two places will be determined by the ICC Development Committee from the top four teams of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div. 2), leaving the doors slightly ajar for USA to qualify.

For USA to actually make the short-list, it must achieve a top-two finish in WCL Division 3, to be played in Hong Kong between January 22-29, 2011. Top two finishers will join Bermuda, Namibia, UAE and Uganda in the WCL Div 2 event, which is scheduled for April 2011 in Dubai. The I Cup will begin in May 2011 on a round-robin basis with the top two teams progressing towards the final.

Once it joins this rarefied group, the biggest hurdle for USA will be to find players who can devote more of their time to cricket than their current jobs permit, which boils down to providing a contract to the players.

ICC Global Development Manager Matthew Kennedy said: "In making this decision, consideration was given to the international cricket opportunities now provided to all 95 Associate and Affiliate Members across all three formats of the game.

"With balancing these formats in mind, it is important to offer the best non-Test-playing nations the opportunity to compete in meaningful multi-day cricket. And as a result of this expanded I Cup, the second division that was the ICC Intercontinental Shield is no longer required," he added.

It has also been decided that the first 16-team ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, which will determine the six teams to join the ten Full Members at the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, will be staged in the UAE in the early part of 2012.

The Development Committee has confirmed that the regional Twenty20 qualification systems through 2011 will provide the 10 teams that will join the six ODI nations in the WT20 Qualifier. The teams would be drawn from Asia (3), Europe (2), Africa (2), Americas (2) and East Asia Pacific (1), making USA's participation in the Qualifier a near certainty.

Source: ICC Release

ICC WCL Division 4 - USA hammers Italy by 8 wickets to claim tournament title

openingbat — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 01:34:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Bologna, Italy

An electric bowling spell from Adrian Gordon wrecked Italy’s middle order and restricted them to 185 before a Lennox Cush century took USA to victory by 8 wickets to be crowned ICC WCL Division 4 Champions on Saturday at Ovale del Pianoro in Bologna, Italy. Cush was named Man of the Match for his 101 off 57 balls, carving up Italy’s bowling attack for 14 fours and four sixes.

“Judging from when we fielded, I think the wicket was good for batting,” said Cush. “Yesterday we played on the same track too and the ball was coming on well so I know once I get myself in and my feet moving properly, I can just bat.”

Image: USA poses for a victory photo with the tournament trophy after winning ICC WCL Division 3 in Bologna, Italy. [Courtesy: ICC]

Italy won the toss and elected to bat on another warm and sunny day in Bologna. They reached 16 when Kevin Darlington and Carl Wright teamed up for a double strike in the fifth over. The first to go was Thushara Kurukulasuriya caught behind for 9 before Nic Northcote fell in the same manner for a second-ball duck.

Peter Petricola came in to put the innings back on course with the captain Alessandro Bonora. After seeing off the opening spell of Usman Shuja, the two men carried Italy to 55/2 at the first drinks break. But on the very first ball after resumption, the left-handed Petricola flicked a ball from Orlando Baker behind square and was called through for a run by Bonora. But Muhammad Ghous was alert at short fine leg and circled round to field before firing a direct hit at the keeper’s end with Bonora a yard short to have the captain run out for 11.

Damian Crowley came in and forged a decent partnership with Petricola to add 27 runs for the fourth wicket. It was stopped when Gordon unleashed himself on the Italian middle order.

“I just did the job that the captain told me to do,” said Gordon. “I put my head into it and went straight for the target.”

USA vs. Italy WCL D4 Final Post Match Interview with Cush & Gordon from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Petricola hit two fours in Gordon’s first five balls, but on the final ball of his first over, he pulled a short ball straight to Ghous at midwicket in the circle to fall for 42. Crowley then survived a few shouts for lbw and several plays and misses before he finally edged a drive to Rocky Marshall at backward point for 15 to make it 87 for 5. Gordon took his third when he squared up Hayden Patrizi with a gem that took the edge and popped up to Marshall who took the catch running in from point to make it 90 for 6. In one 25-ball stretch during his initial six-over spell, Gordon took 3 wickets for 2 runs, with one of those runs coming off a misfield.

“I think what’s the key ingredient with young Gordon is his willingness and his eagerness to learn,” said Massiah. “I think that will take him a very far way. Especially today I thought he bowled an exceptional spell. His first spell, it’s one of the better old ball spells that I’ve seen in a very long time. I thought he was pacy, he was very accurate and he was rewarded with three wickets initially and then he came back to take the fourth wicket which I thought was deserved.”

Cush took a wicket on his second ball when Michael Raso tried to sweep a full ball that produced a top edge. Sushil Nadkarni sprinted from his position at slip and covered a lot of ground to take a wonderful catch on the run at fine leg and Raso walked off for 9 to make it 105 for 7. Shuja came back after Gordon’s first spell and dismissed Hemantha Jayasena LBW for 16 with a full delivery into the pads that the batsman was late on trying to whip through midwicket and Italy was reduced to 116 for 8 in the 37^th over.

Image: Usman Shuja's successful appeal for LBW against Hemantha Jayasena gave him his team leading 11th wicket for the tournament. [Courtesy: ICC]

Teenager Roshendra Abeywickrama came in and along with 23-year-old Gayashan Munasinghe produced a terrific stand to repel the USA bowling attack. The two added 51 runs together in 12.2 overs to give Italy a fighting chance. Munasinghe finally fell on the last ball of the 49^th over when he checked his drive to a good length ball from Gordon and chipped a catch to Shuja coming in from mid off to leave for 24. Dilan Fernando Arsakulasuriya came in and plundered Cush in the final over for two fours and a six to give Italy a final push to 185 for 9 in their 50 overs.

USA finally got over their second ball jinx and then some as Cush opened the chase with Baker to take USA to 102 in 11 overs. They showed no mercy to each of Italy’s bowlers, making the same attack that had dominated USA only three days earlier look absolutely toothless on Saturday. USA was cruising so easily that they elected to take their batting power play at the start of the 11^th over in order to keep the field in when Italy opted not to take their bowling power play.

In USA’s first meeting against Italy, Cush had been out for 1 driving to mid off. In the rematch, he gave a chance while on 1 on his second delivery when he slammed a full ball from Arsakulasuriya straight back to the bowler who put down the stinging chance at waist height. Cush cashed in big time, making Italy pay for an extra hundred runs as a result.

Baker finally fell for 40 pulling a short ball to Raso at midwicket in the circle. Cush then added another 64 runs for the second wicket with Massiah. He went to 99 when he drove Petricola back over his head for six before pushing a single past Petricola to bring up his ton in only 55 balls. He fell two balls later, trying to hit Abeywickrama for six and picked out Petricola at deep square leg.

Wright came in to team with Massiah to get the 20 runs they needed for the championship. Wright hit the winning runs with a four lofted over mid on to finish 9 not out while the captain ended on 28. It was a satisfying victory for Massiah to get revenge on Italy and establish a mental advantage over them heading into Division 3.

USA vs. Italy WCL D4 Final Post Match Interview with Massiah from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

“I thought it was a wake up call after we lost against Italy,” said Massiah. “We came in against Italy not knowing them. But after having a look at them, like I had said yesterday, we had a pretty good game plan and today I thought we executed it brilliantly and we were clinical in our performance. After going down against them and having to face them again in the Division 3 tournament, we think it was important for us to take the psychological edge.”

Nadkarni was named Player of the Tournament after scoring three half-centuries on his way to being USA’s leading run-scorer during the week with 216 runs at 108.00, collecting a Man of the Match award for each game in which he passed 50, including 64 not out in a crucial win over Nepal. Shuja was USA’s leading wicket-taker with 11 in 6 games at 13.27.

Image: Sushil Nadkarni receives his Player of the Tournament medal from ICC Elite Panel umpire Ian Gould. [Courtesy: ICC]

Nepal finished in third after walking all over Tanzania to win by 10 wickets, passing the first innings score of 73 in 12.3 overs. Tanzania beat Nepal by 9 runs defending 117 earlier in the week, but there were no such heroics in the field on this occasion. Cayman Islands defeated Argentina by 7 wickets in the fifth place game to ensure that Argentina finished the tournament winless.

With the Division 4 title, USA moves up in the ICC Global Rankings to 25^th in the world and will take on Italy, Denmark, Oman, Papua New Guinea and hosts Hong Kong at ICC WCL Division 3 from January 22-29, 2011.

Match Scorecard

Italy vs. USA

USA won by 8 wickets

Italy won the toss and elected to bat

Man of the Match: LJ Cush

Italy Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

TA Kurukulasuriya 9 17 1 0 ct Wright+ b Darlington

A Bonora* 11 51 1 0 runout (Ghous)

NM Northcote+ 0 2 0 0 ct Wright+ b Darlington

PA Petricola 42 56 4 0 ct Ghous b Gordon

DG Crowley 15 21 2 0 ct Marshall b Gordon

HP Patrizi 4 17 0 0 ct Marshall b Gordon

MG Raso 9 23 1 0 ct Nadkarni b Cush

HS Jayasena 16 20 3 0 LBW Shuja

GRD Munasinghe 24 32 2 1 ct Shuja b Gordon

RS Abeywickrama 24 37 2 0 not out

DF Arsakulasuriya 15 5 2 1 not out

Total Extras 16 (1 no ball, 0 byes, 9 leg byes, 6 wides)

Team Total 185 for 9 in 50 overs

Fall of wicket: 16/1 (Kurukulasuriya), 16/2 (Northcote), 55/3 (Bonora), 82/4 (Petricola), 87/5 (Crowley), 90/6 (Patrizi), 105/7 (Raso), 116/8 (Jayasena), 167/9 (Munasinghe)

USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

KG Darlington 10-2-27-2

KU Shuja 9-2-29-1

OM Baker 5-0-21-0

MA Ghous 10-0-27-0

A Gordon 10-0-35-4

LJ Cush 7-0-37-1

USA Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

OM Baker 40 34 6 1 ct Patrizi b Petricola

LJ Cush 101 57 14 4 ct Petricola b Abeywickrama

SJ Massiah* 28 26 4 0 not out

CD Wright+ 9 12 1 0 not out

Total Extras 10 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 4 leg byes, 6 wides)

Team Total 188 for 2 in 21.4 overs

Did not bat: SS Nadkarni, A Thyagarajan, RA Marshall, KU Shuja, MA Ghous, A Gordon, KG Darlington

Fall of wicket: 102/1 (Baker), 166/2 (Cush)

Italy Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

GRD Munasinghe 7-0-64-0

DF Arsakulasuriya 3-0-26-0

HS Jayasena 4-0-37-0

PA Petricola 4-0-35-1

RS Abeywickrama 3.4-0-22-0