USA Cricket: 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division begins on Sunday in Winnipeg

openingbat — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:10:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USA’s U-15 squad will attempt to bring some much needed positive on-field results for the country beginning on Sunday as they take on Bermuda in the first match of the 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division Tournament at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. USA finished second at the 2009 event held in Brooklyn, N.Y. Defending champions and host side Canada begin the event with a day off before squaring off against USA on Monday.

USA’s squad is captained by Dave Parikh, a veteran of the North West Region U-15 team for several years. Parikh captained this year’s North West U-15 squad to the region’s fourth straight national championship and is one of six players from that squad who will be playing for USA in Canada.

He’ll be joined by Vibhav Altekar, who scored a double-hundred in Connecticut and was named Tournament MVP at the 2011 USACA U-15 National Tournament, along with pace bowler Rutjiv Bhise, who was the hero in the final against New York, Mihir Athavale, Neil Tagare, and Anirudha Srinivas.

Two players from North East will be on the team, the first junior players representing America from the region since Andy Mohammed was selected to play for the USA U-19 squad after playing for the North East U-19 team in the 2009 USACA U-19 National Tournament. Karanjit Singh and Jason Gobin formed a successful opening combination in Connecticut with Singh scoring one century and Gobin notching a pair of half-centuries in July to earn spots in USA’s U-15 squad for this tournament.

Similarly from the Central East, their opening tandem of Rohit Mogalayapalli and Gordon Makin strengthen the batting depth. Both players impressed in the 2010 USACA U-15 National Tournament in New Jersey and followed it up this year with more solid displays as Mogalayapalli registered a century while Makin had two 50s and will most likely be slotted into the wicketkeeper role for USA’s U-15 team.

Three players made it from the national runner-up New York team. Randall Wilson, who was the top run getter in Connecticut with two centuries and a 50 will most likely play a pivotal role in the middle order for USA and could open the bowling as well. Brandon Dat and Ryan Persaud were also selected from New York while Vivek Narayan made it from the Atlantic Region.

The team is being coached by former West Indies international Milton Pydanna, who had an 18-year first class career for Guyana and now lives in New York. North West regional representative Ajay Athavale is the Team Manager while Akhtar Masood Syed is the Team Physio.

DreamCricket.com will attempt to provide live coverage for every match at the tournament dependent upon internet availability.

Tournament Schedule
August 21 – USA vs. Bermuda
August 22 – USA vs. Canada
August 23 – Canada vs. Bermuda
August 24 – USA vs. Bermuda
August 25 – USA vs. Canada
August 26 – Canada vs. Bermuda

USA squad: Dave Parikh (captain, North West), Vibhav Altekar (North West), Mihir Athavale (North West), Rutvij Bhise (North West), Brandon Dat (New York), Jason Gobin (North East), Gordon Makin (Central East), Rohit Mogalayapalli (Central East), Vivek Narayan (Atlantic), Ryan Persaud (New York), Karanjit Singh (North East), Anirudha Srinivas (North West), Neil Tagare (North West), Randall Wilson (New York).

Head Coach – Milton Pydanna
Manager – Ajay Athavale
Physio – Akhtar Masood Syed

USA Cricketer : Jason Gobin, Winnipeg

USA Cricket: 2011 ICC Americas U-15 Northern Division begins on Sunday in Winnipeg