USA Cricketer : Salman Ahmad

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 changes made to selection camp list, U-17 & Women's Tourneys in doubt

openingbat — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:41:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USACA’s list of players invited to a men’s selection camp from January 19-22 in Fort Lauderdale has changed shape again over the weekend with two new players added to the list while three others have been removed. As it stands now, 28 players will be participating in a camp to select a squad of 14 players to go to the UAE for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier from March 13-24.

The updated list on the USACA web site includes Andy Mohammed and Charan Singh, who both represented USA in August in a series of Twenty20 matches at the Etihad Summer Cricket Festival in Toronto. The three names trimmed from the list were Salman Ahmad, Ravi Timbawala and Carl Wright.

“Ravi and Salman wouldn’t be able to go to Dubai because of college classes,” said USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed when contacted by phone on Sunday morning. “They wouldn’t be able to get the time off in March to come.”

As for Wright, Mohamed said that USACA wasn’t able to get into contact with him despite announcing that he had been invited to the camp. As a result, USACA is not arranging for him to come to the camp. “We haven’t been able to communicate with him,” said Mohamed. “We don’t know where he is.”

In other news, a decision regarding the hosting sites for the USACA U-17 Tournament and USACA Women’s Tournament was expected to be taken during a meeting of the USACA Cricket Committee on Monday, January 9. However, Mohamed said that he was still awaiting confirmation regarding both the dates and sites of each tournament. He would not confirm whether either tournament would be held as originally scheduled.

On December 9, USACA published its events calendar for 2012, but already the USACA Twenty20 Nationals which were slated for next weekend have been postponed. The probability of the U-17 and Women’s Tournaments happening on their originally scheduled dates is increasingly doubtful. The USACA U-17 Tournament is currently scheduled for February 17-20 while the Women’s Tournament is scheduled for March 9-11.

List of players (as of January 15) receiving invites to USACA selection camp January 19-22 in Florida

Quasen Alfred (New York), Imran Awan (Atlantic), Orlando Baker (Central West), Adil Bhatti (Atlantic), Ryan Corns (Central West), Akeem Dodson (New York), Bhim George (South East), Muhammad Ghous (Atlantic), Adrian Gordon (New York), Elmore Hutchinson (South West), Naseer Jamali (North West), Asif Khan (Central East), Ashhar Mehdi (Central East), Aditya Mishra (North West), Andy Mohammed (New York), Nauman Mustafa (North West), Sushil Nadkarni (Central West), Japen Patel (South East), Mital Patel (Atlantic), Abhimanyu Rajp (South West), Gowkaran Roopnarine (Atlantic), Saqib Saleem (North West), Samarth Shah (North West), Hammad Shahid (South West), Usman Shuja (Central West), Charan Singh (Atlantic), Timothy Surujbally (South East) Steven Taylor (South East)

List of players by Region

Atlantic: Imran Awan, Adil Bhatti, Muhammad Ghous, Mital Patel, Gowkaran Roopnarine (wk), Charan Singh

Central East: Asif Khan, Ashhar Mehdi (wk)

Central West: Orlando Baker, Ryan Corns, Sushil Nadkarni, Usman Shuja

New York: Quasen Alfred, Akeem Dodson (wk), Adrian Gordon, Andy Mohammed

North East: None

North West: Naseer Jamali, Aditya Mishra, Nauman Mustafa (wk), Saqib Saleem, Samarth Shah

South East: Bhim George, Japen Patel, Timothy Surujbally, Steven Taylor (wk)

South West: Elmore Hutchinson, Abhimanyu Rajp, Hammad Shahid

USA Cricket: Invitations sent out to regions for men's selection camp from January 20-22

openingbat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:22:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USACA has notified the regions of players who have been invited to participate in a selection camp to pick the final 14-man roster for the USA squad to go to the UAE for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier from March 13-24. Sources have confirmed that at least 24 players have been invited to participate in the camp from January 20-22 in Florida, pending their availability. The camp is being held in place of the 2012 USACA Twenty20 Nationals, which were scheduled to be held on that weekend but were postponed on December 28.

USACA’s new selection panel was involved in narrowing down the list of players receiving invitations. The panel was announced through email last week by USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed. Abrar Ahmad has been retained while former chairman Sew Shivnarine has been replaced by former USACA Treasurer Selwyn Caesar. Sunny Khan has also been removed from the panel while three other new members were named: Barney Jones, Daoud Ahmed and Kuldeep Patel.

Two players who were a part of USA’s squad at the 2011 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in Florida have not received invitations to the camp according to sources. They are South East batsman Japen Patel and USA captain Steve Massiah, who is currently facing 20 years in prison in a federal mortgage fraud case. Massiah was arrested on November 22 and is accused of defrauding banks and mortgage companies by allegedly falsifying mortgage loan applications to make borrowers appear more creditworthy to financial institutions. He is free on $150,000 bail.

Five players each have been invited from the North West, South West and Atlantic Regions. Four players have been invited from the Central West while three have been invited from New York, traditionally a major stronghold of USA representatives, and three from the South East. Sources have indicated that no one has been invited from the Central East and North East Regions.

Two of the players from the South East are Bhim George and Steven Taylor while the third player is unknown. Timroy Allen is a player from the South East who represented USA at the ICC Americas Twenty20 Division One in July, but it is unclear if he is the third player from the region receiving an invite. Other sources have indicated the player may be Nasir “Charlie” Javed, the 45-year-old South East Region representative on the USACA board of directors.

Aditya Thyagarajan, who was injured in Hong Kong at ICC WCL Division Three last January and unable to participate at the ICC Americas tournament in July, has received an invite and will travel to the camp as he battles to regain full fitness and force his way back into the USA squad. Thyagarajan was USA’s leading scorer in 2010 and turned in USA’s highest score at the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE with 72 not out against Ireland.

Two players who participated in USA’s U-19 squad at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland have received invites. They are fast bowler Salman Ahmad and wicketkeeper-batsman Taylor. The 18-year-old Taylor has already played for the senior team, making his debut at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy.

List of players receiving invites to USACA selection camp to be held in Florida from January 20-22

Salman Ahmad (South West), Quasen Alfred (New York), Imran Awan (Atlantic), Orlando Baker (Central West), Adil Bhatti (Atlantic), Ryan Corns (Central West), Akeem Dodson (New York), Bhim George (South East), Muhammad Ghous (Atlantic), Adrian Gordon (New York), Elmore Hutchinson (South West), Naseer Jamali (North West), Neil McGarrell (Atlantic), Aditya Mishra (North West), Nauman Mustafa (North West), Sushil Nadkarni (Central West), Abhimanyu Rajp (South West), Gowkaran Roopnarine (Atlantic), Saqib Saleem (North West), Samarth Shah (North West), Usman Shuja (Central West), Steven Taylor (South East), Aditya Thyagarajan (South West), Ravi Timbawala (South West)

List of players by Region

Atlantic: Imran Awan, Adil Bhatti, Muhammad Ghous, Neil McGarrell, Gowkaran Roopnarine (wk)

Central East: None

Central West: Orlando Baker, Ryan Corns, Sushil Nadkarni, Usman Shuja

New York: Quasen Alfred, Akeem Dodson (wk), Adrian Gordon

North East: None

North West: Naseer Jamali, Aditya Mishra, Nauman Mustafa (wk), Saqib Saleem, Samarth Shah

South East: Bhim George, Steven Taylor (wk), one unknown

South West: Salman Ahmad, Elmore Hutchinson, Abhimanyu Rajp, Aditya Thyagarajan, Ravi Timbawala

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: Second Taylor ton takes USA U-19 to 46-run win over Namibia U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:38:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

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

Steven Taylor cracked his second century in as many games to lead USA to a 46-run win over Namibia U-19 at North County CC on Sunday at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Dublin, Ireland. Taylor was named Man of the Match for his 102 in 74 balls which included 14 fours and four sixes.

USA U-19 won the toss and elected to bat first on a day which featured persistent drizzly rain and overcast conditions. Taylor was not deterred however and put on a 122-run opening stand with Cameron Mirza in which the wicketkeeper-batsman scored 87 of the runs. He brought up his 50 in 33 balls with eight fours and two sixes, the first of which was lost in the brush beyond the midwicket boundary in the fifth over of the match. The stand ended when Mirza played back to a full delivery from medium pacer Christopher Coombe and was given LBW for 14.

Taylor motored along, bruising the boundary boards with his heavy hitting at the small ground. He brought up his century in 68 balls with a single on the last ball of the 18th over. He was caught a short time later in the 20th over driving the off-spin of Justin Baard straight to his brother, Namibia U-19 captain Stephen Baard, at cover to make it 151 for 2.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor acknowledges his teammates cheering from the North County CC pavilion balcony after reaching his second century of the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Wickets started falling quickly afterward as it appeared USA was heading for another middle order free fall. USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial was caught at mid on for 24 off Stephen Baard’s medium pace in the 25th over to make it 173 for 3. Abhijit Joshi played over the top of a full delivery from Justin Baard to be LBW for 6 and Jodhbir Singh lofted Justin Baard straight to long on for 2 as USA fell to 188 for 5 after 28 overs.

Number five batsman Amarnauth Persaud was then joined by all-rounder Pranay Suri and the two stabilized USA’s innings with a 68-run stand for the sixth wicket. The two did a much better job of placing the ball into gaps for singles than USA had done as a whole during their first two matches. Persaud finally got out for 40 when he flicked a full toss on his legs straight to Stephen Baard in the circle at midwicket off the bowling of medium pacer Zhivago Groenewald.

Suri carried on for the last eight overs with Salman Ahmad and in the batting power play from the 44th to the 48th over the pair added 32 runs. Another 22 were added in the last 12 balls as USA finished on 312 for 6 in 50 overs. Suri brought up his half-century with a four in the final over and finished 55 not out in 70 balls with five fours and a six. Ahmad remained unbeaten on 21 off 20 balls. Justin Baard bowled a clever eight-over spell varying his flight and pace to finish with 3 for 28 in eight overs.

After a maiden by Ahmad started Namibia’s chase, the opening pair of Wian van Vuuren and Justin Baard showed positive intent by blitzing Ahmad and Mital Patel for 31 off the next three overs. Baard fell in the fifth when he was caught off the bowling of Ahmad at mid off by Hammad Shahid for 13. Pelham Myburgh joined van Vuuren and the two continued to pressure the USA bowling attack. Leg-spinner Gurpreet Sandhu was brought on in the 12th and conceded 17 runs but was able to dislodge van Vuuren for a run-a-ball 43 on the final delivery of the over as an LBW appeal was upheld after hitting the batsman halfway up the pads defending on the front foot to make it 82 for 2.

Three overs later, the rain at the ground intensified enough for the players to be forced off the field with the score at 92 for 2 in 15. An hour delay ensued and when play finally resumed, USA took control of the match with three quick wickets. Myburgh was bowled by a Shahid yorker for 18 in the 17th over before Justin Davidson chipped Suri’s off-spin to Persaud at midwicket for 2. Shahid followed that up by knocking back Stephen Baard’s off stump with a gem for 19 to make it 107 for 5 in the 21st.

Namibia refused to give up though as Gert Lotter and Merwe Erasmus built a 90-run sixth wicket partnership to keep their team’s hopes alive. It was only when Suri returned for his final two overs that Erasmus was pried from the crease when he drove a full delivery straight to Sewdial at cover for 55.

Lotter continued to fight on with Groenewald as they produced a 54-run stand but Lotter finally perished in the batting power play, trying to slog Ahmad down the ground but was caught by Shahid at long on for 67 to make it 251 for 7. Ahmad took his third wicket two balls later when Groenewald was caught by sub fielder Prashanth Nair at point for 25 and it was only a matter of time before Namibia was bowled out.

Patel dismissed Coombe for the ninth wicket and Ahmad finished off the match when Andre Engelbrecht top edged a pull to Taylor behind the stumps and Namibia was bowled out for 266 in 46.4 overs. Ahmad had the best return for USA with 4 for 60 while Suri bowled a crucial spell in miserable conditions to finish with 2 for 37 in 10.

In the day’s other matches, Canada defeated Vanuatu by nine wickets, Nepal cruised past Kenya by six wickets, Scotland beat Ireland by two wickets on Duckworth Lewis Method in another rain-affected match and Afghanistan defeated Papua New Guinea by six wickets. After three days, Namibia, Canada, Nepal, Scotland, Kenya and Ireland are all 2-1. USA is tied for seventh with Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea at 1-2 but ahead of both on net run rate. Vanuatu is the only winless team having lost all three of their games.

USA U-19 returns to action in what is sure to be an emotionally charged contest against Afghanistan U-19 on Monday morning at The Hills CC north of Dublin. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, will begin at 10 a.m. in Dublin, 5 a.m. EST in the USA with first ball scheduled to be bowled at 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: U-19 squad surpasses expectations to go undefeated in Florida, next stop Ireland

openingbat — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:52:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Heading into last week’s ICC Americas U-19 tournament in Florida, the overriding opinion from coaches, administrators and observers was that this U-19 team was not as talented as the squad that made it to the 2010 U-19 World Cup. That team featured some special players, including five who have played at the senior level for USA either before or after going to New Zealand.

As such, it was believed that this group might have a harder time than their predecessors getting past both Canada and Bermuda to reach the U-19 World Cup Qualifier later this summer in Ireland. That was proved wrong in emphatic fashion with a first place undefeated 5-0 record for USA’s U-19 team.

The biggest improvement in the team compared to the previous squad came in the pace bowling department. USA’s U-19 squad struggled for early breakthroughs in each of the three international tournaments they played in 2009 and 2010. Generally speaking, the team used 10 overs of pace at the top of the innings and then five overs at the end when the opposition took the batting power play. The rest of the overs were eaten up by spinners. There just wasn’t a reliable third pace bowling option.

Almost the exact opposite turned out to be the case in Fort Lauderdale. Salman Ahmad took a total of 8 wickets over three tournaments with the 2009-10 USA U-19 team, but the South West Region product has shown remarkable improvement over the last 18 months. Not many players have worked harder at developing their game than Ahmad and it showed as he became the undisputed spearhead of the USA U-19 attack in Florida, finishing with 11 wickets at an average of 5.55 and an economy rate of 2.18 in a team high 28 overs.

Image (right) - Salman Ahmad (right) gets a high five from captain Abhijit Joshi after removing Bermuda's Christian Burgess. Ahmad finished second on the team with 11 wickets. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Ahmad teamed up with Hammad Shahid and Mital Patel to form a very incisive pace trio. At the same event in 2009 in Toronto, USA’s pace bowlers took just 12 wickets as opposed to 33 by the spinners. In Fort Lauderdale, USA’s fast men claimed 27 wickets while 17 were collected by the spinners. At the ICC Americas U-19 in 2009, the opposition had opening stands of 1, 12, 66, 62 and 14 runs. In 2011, USA’s opponents produced 0, 6, 6, 0 and 32 runs for the first wicket.

Not that USA’s spin bowlers were slouches in Florida. It’s just that they had less work to do. Leg-spinner Gurpreet Sandhu still managed to tie for the tournament lead with 12 wickets at an average of 3.67 despite bowling just 18 overs. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Shayan Abdulghani took five wickets in 20 overs but had a remarkable 1.58 economy during the week. Arguably his best effort was one in which he went wicketless, finishing with 0 for 15 in 7.2 overs against Canada. The team also has highly regarded off-spinner Pranay Suri waiting in the wings, ready to make a contribution with the ball down the road after getting only one over in Florida.

A large part of the precision and focus was passed down to the team by new head coach Robin Singh. While 10 of the players were playing for USA for the first time, they all looked like well drilled veterans by the end of the week. After each of the first four games, Singh took the players back out onto the field for one to two hours to engage in a series of demanding practice sessions, utilizing all of the time he had available with the team. During matches, he would take the three players not in the starting XI, make them run sprints and do other training activities instead of allowing them to sit on their hands for three hours. It paid off with the end result.

The only area of concern appears to be the batting unit. Cameron Mirza was the tournament MVP and formed a potent opening combination with Steven Taylor, but what followed after them is a cause for worry. While the middle order only got two chances to bat, they collectively failed both times against Argentina and Canada. The only noteworthy contributions were Ahmad’s scorching 62 at number seven against Argentina and a fighting 34 made by Suri at number six against Canada.

Image (left) - Cameron Mirza receives his Tournament MVP award from former West Indies Test spinner Lance Gibbs. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

If Greg Sewdial returns to 100% fitness this spring following a second ankle surgery in December, he figures to be a shoe-in for the squad going to Ireland. The team needs someone with plenty of experience to strengthen the lineup. He had a subpar tournament at the U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto in 2009, but finished as USA’s leading scorer at the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand and that was with a damaged ankle that became progressively worse with every match he participated in.

He originally injured it prior to the 2009 USACA U-19 National Tournament. Now that the problem has hopefully been corrected, Sewdial can focus on getting fit and back to his best form. With him in the squad, USA’s chances of advancing to the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup are greatly enhanced.

USA will be joined by Canada from the Americas for the 10-team ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier. They’ll be taking on Kenya and Namibia from Africa, Afghanistan and Nepal from Asia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu from East Asia-Pacific, as well as Scotland and hosts Ireland from Europe. USA will play nine matches in the round-robin format event that will take place from July 28-August 9.

Should USA finish in the top six in Ireland, it appears that Australia will be the final destination for the 2012 U-19 World Cup. It was reported on January 6 in a Sa’adi Thawfeeq article on ESPNcricinfo that Australia will be hosting the event. Several other sources have indicated the same. However, no official confirmation or announcement has been made by the ICC.

USA Cricket: Ahmad and Singh lift USA past Canada by 23 runs to win ICC Americas U-19 championship

openingbat — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:33:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Fort Lauderdale

Salman Ahmad and Jodhbir Singh took two wickets each to spark a dramatic collapse by Canada as USA defended 143 to win by 23 runs at the Central Broward Regional Park stadium on Saturday at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One in Lauderhill, Fla. Ahmad was named Man of the Match after taking 2 for 20 as USA finished undefeated to win the tournament title.

“I think definitely my two wickets today were a lot better than the wickets that came before them, especially coming in such an important match,” said Ahmad. “I had kind of a rough start to today’s game so it just felt good to come back and help the team out and I’d like to thank my teammates for supporting me.”

After morning showers caused a two-hour delay and reduced the match from 50 to 36 overs per side, USA won the toss and batted first. The opening combination of Steven Taylor and Cameron Mirza got USA off to another solid start, putting on 37 runs for the first wicket.

The pair looked like they were set for a long stay after Taylor flayed Manny Aulakh behind point for his fourth boundary, but on the very next ball, Taylor chased a wide one and sent an edge through to the keeper Darren Ramsammy to go for 21.

First change bowler Rayyankhan Pathan proceeded to rip through USA’s lineup to turn the match upside down. Abhijit Joshi was struck in front to be LBW for 5 and three balls later Fahad Babar was clean bowled to make it 50 for 3. Singh was run out for 5 in a mix up with Mirza when Singh tried to push a Pathan delivery into midwicket and set off for a run, but both Singh and Mirza were hesitant and Tristan Ali’s throw beat Singh trying to get back in his crease and the score became 66 for 4 in the 16th.

Pathan struck again in the 18th when he removed the well set Mirza for 29 by taking a simple return catch in his follow through to make it 77 for 5. The medium pacer got his fourth when he snagged his second caught and bowled to dismiss Gurpreet Sandhu for 4 to make it 83 for 6 in the 20th. In the 22nd, Pathan just missed his five-wicket haul when Pranay Suri sent a chance back to Pathan. The bowler couldn’t complete a one-handed catch, but the ball went off his hand and cannoned into the non-striker’s stumps with Ahmad just out of his crease and USA was 7 down for 93. Pathan finished with 4 for 30 in addition to the two run outs that came off his bowling.

USA had looked set for 180, but with the rapid fall of wickets, Suri and Hammad Shahid consolidated and produced a vital 28-run stand for the 8th wicket. Towards the end of the stand, Suri stepped out to launch two big sixes off Canadian spinners Kesavan Juvarajan and Nikhil Dutta. He was finally caught on the long off boundary going for a third against Juvarajan, but Suri’s 34 was USA’s high score on the day and a key contribution coming in at number six. Shahid and Mital Patel added another 22 in the final 5.2 overs to boost USA’s total as they finished on 143 for 8.

Akash Shah and Dutta provided a steady start for Canada, staging 32 for the first wicket in nine overs before Patel had Shah caught by Shayan Abdulghani at mid on for 17. Dutta was then run out for 12 in a big mix up with Tristan Ali and Shahid fired to Taylor, who flicked off the bails to make it 41 for 2 after 11.

Kyle Edghill came in and teamed up with Ali to put on 50 runs for the third wicket. During the partnership, it looked like Edghill was going to lead Canada across the line. Abdulghani and Sandhu had come on to choke the scoring rate, but couldn’t make the breakthrough to end the stand.

Image (above) - USA's U-19 squad celebrates after finishing the tournament undefeated. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Ahmad returned for his second spell and seemingly out of nowhere managed to bowl Edghill for 33 after the batsman tried backing away to play through the off side but inside edged a good length delivery onto his stumps on the first ball of the 26th over. That was the catalyst that turned things around for USA in the field. With Edghill at the crease, Canada needed 53 to win in 11 overs with eight wickets in hand, but 29 runs later, they were all out.

“At the drinks break, they were 69 for 2 and it looked like they were really taking the game away from us,” said Ahmad. “But we stood back, we looked at the score and we realized that they weren’t going at the run rate they needed to be going at. They were still going around three and a half, four, they needed just around four an over. So we decided that we had five, six tight overs, we’d be able to bring them back and it does feel good winning against Canada after losing to them twice [in 2009].”

Singh came on from the other end to bowl medium pace and in his second over, had Ramsammy caught by Patel at midwicket off a full toss for a duck. Ahmad struck again in the 30th to get rid of the captain Juvarajan who went for a big heave and was clean bowled for 5. Four balls later, Ali’s long and torturous stay at the crease finally ended for 14 when he drove Singh to Patel coming in from long on to make it 99 for 6.

With the tight bowling from the spinners in the middle overs, the run rate climbed dramatically and now Canada had to go for everything, but just about nothing came off with any success. Pathan was run out by a direct hit from Babar at square leg for 2 after Aulakh clipped a full delivery and set off for a run that wasn’t there.

Aulakh tried to clear the fences against the leg spin of Sandhu in the 34th, but only managed to find Singh at midwicket inside the circle for 8. Three balls later, Sandhu clean bowled Sudeepta Aurka for 2 to make it 116 for 9. Jobanjot Sidhu was run out two balls later by the teamwork of Shahid and Taylor once more to set off wild celebrations on the field as USA’s players went about grabbing souvenir stumps to commemorate bowling out Canada for 120, finishing the week with a perfect 5-0 record.

Canada finished the week in second place at 4-1 while Bermuda finished at third with a 3-2 record after beating Argentina by 10 wickets on Saturday. Meanwhile, there was a three-way tie for fourth after Bahamas beat Cayman Islands by 3 wickets as both teams joined Argentina at 1-4 on the week.

At the tournament awards ceremony, Sacha DeAlwis of the Cayman Islands was named Best Batsman while Canada’s Aulakh was named the Best Bowler. Ramsammy from Canada was named Best Wicketkeeper while USA’s Mirza was named Tournament MVP.

CORRECTION – In yesterday’s article, it was written that Gurpreet Sandhu was the first bowler to take five wickets for USA U-19 since Saqib Saleem took 5 for 38 against Ireland at the 2009 U-19 World Cup Qualifier. The last bowler to take a five-wicket haul prior to Sandhu for USA U-19 was actually Muhammad Ghous, who took 5 for 46 against Afghanistan at the 2009 U-19 World Cup Qualifier.

USA Cricket: Mirza's unbeaten century leads USA to 285-run rout over Argentina

openingbat — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 01:31:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Opening batsman Cameron Mirza scored a sparkling 118 not out to propel USA to 319 for 5 before Argentina was bowled out for 34 in a 285-run win for USA at the satellite field outside Central Broward Regional Park on Monday at the ICC Americas U-19 Division One in Lauderhill, Fla. Mirza was named Man of the Match after setting a USA U-19 record for an individual score while the 285-run margin is USA’s biggest victory by runs in international competition at the U-19 level.

“I was a little bit nervous when Abhi won the toss and coach told us to pad up,” said Mirza. “I was a little bit nervous padding up and cracked a few nervous jokes and walking out I was nervous, but once I middled the first ball, I felt good.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a warm sunny morning and got off to a ferocious start behind Mirza and vice-captain Steven Taylor. The left-handed Taylor punished Argentina’s attack to bring up his half-century in only 31 balls, which wasn’t even close to being the fastest half-century of the day. Taylor was especially strong on his legs, flicking loose deliveries over square leg and pulling over midwicket with ease. He finally perished on the first ball after drinks when he chipped a full ball from leg-spinner Lautaro Musiani straight to Agustin Husain at short midwicket to make it 116 for 1 in the 19th over. Taylor wound up with 83 in 59 balls that included eight boundaries and four sixes.

Musiani struck again with back-to-back return catches to get rid of captain Abhijit Joshi for 7 and Fahad Babar for a duck in the 23rd over to make it 142 for 3. Joshi sent a leading edge to Musiani who took a great one-handed catch over his head while Babar drove loosely to give a much simpler catch back to the leg-spinner five balls later.

Image (right) - Cameron Mirza pulls early in his innings. [Courtesy Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

Mirza then started to assert himself. After starting cautiously with Taylor and Joshi, he accelerated the scoring in his partnership with Trevor Singh, putting on 73 for the fourth wicket. Mirza reached his 50 in 75 balls with six boundaries. He was particularly effective against the spinners, using his feet to pick off runs and loft a series of boundaries over mid on.

Singh fell when he missed a pull to off-spinner Ezequiel Gonzalez Sutil to be bowled for 28, making it 215 for 4 in the 39th. Jodhbir Singh was caught on the midwicket rope off Sutil for 2 two overs later to make it 219 for 5.

Salman Ahmad joined Mirza as the opener from New Jersey got closer to his century. He picked off ones and twos through the 80s and 90s before reaching his century with a single behind point. Mirza celebrated with a leap and a roar to score the second ever century by a USA U-19 player. He reached his 100 in 125 balls with 10 boundaries.

Image (left) - Mirza leaps for joy and waves his bat after completing the single to reach his 100. [Courtesy Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

“It was just relief,” said Mirza about his feelings upon reaching 100. “It was one of the best feelings I’ve had playing cricket.”

At the other end, Ahmed struggled to get the ball away initially, scoring six singles in his first 10 balls, but went on to produce a dramatic onslaught to reach a half-century in only 24 balls. He hit four fours and four sixes in a span of nine balls to demoralize Argentina’s attack. Ahmad finished 62 not out in 32 balls.

But it was Mirza’s day and he finished the innings with a two off the last ball to end on 118 off 137 balls with 12 boundaries. The previous record score for a USA U-19 player was 111 not out by Amer Afzaluddin in a loss to Argentina at the 2001 ICC Americas U-19 tournament in Bermuda. Mirza and Ahmad put on 100 runs unbeaten for the sixth wicket in 8.5 overs as USA finished 319 for 5 in 50 overs.

“I think he fits the bill,” said USA U-19 coach Robin Singh about his decision to slot Mirza in as an opener despite the many options available. “He’s somebody who takes his time and in 50 overs you have a lot of time to play and he fits that role pretty well.”

Image (right) - Salman Ahmad and Cameron Mirza walk off after an unbeaten 100-run sixth wicket stand to end the USA innings. [Courtesy Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]

USA took the field and only two balls into the chase had Argentina in the hole when Hammad Shahid clean bowled Pedro Arrighi. Six runs later, fellow opener Ramiro Escobar drove Shahid to Shayan Abdulghani at short extra cover to make it 6 for 2. Ahmad then got into the act by taking the next four wickets reducing Argentina to 11 for 6. He was on a hat trick at one point and finished with 4 for 10 in six overs.

Mital Patel came on first change and was also on a hat trick in his first over, taking two in two to make it 27 for 8 in the 13th. Argentina put up another seven runs before Martin Rost was run out and with Felipe Nogues unable to bat after injuring himself wicketkeeping in the first innings, Argentina ended at 34 for 9 in 17.4 overs.

“I think this was probably the weakest team in the tournament so I think there’s a lot of areas to improve,” said Singh. “Probably we could have put maybe 75 runs more. We have a pretty good variety. We have a few good spinners and unfortunately they didn’t get an opportunity to bowl today, a few good medium pacers as well as some pretty good batters in the middle so it’s a fairly well-balanced team.”

In the day’s other games, Canada defeated Bahamas by 9 wickets at Brian Piccolo Park. Akash Shah took a hat trick and finished with six wickets for Canada as they bowled Bahamas out for 65 in 29.1 overs before chasing the runs in 17.5 overs. Bermuda won by 4 runs over Cayman Islands in a game reduced to 41 overs. Cayman Islands put a serious fight up, bowling out Bermuda for 181 in 29.4 overs and looked set for a big upset with Sacha DeAlwis at the crease. DeAlwis was bowled for 93 with 15 needed to win in the 39th over and six wickets still left in hand, but the remaining batsman just couldn’t reach the boundary and with four needed to tie on the last ball, a leg side delivery was missed and a run out resulted on an attempted bye.

The USA U-19 team continues their tournament play with a game against Bahamas on Tuesday at the artificial satellite pitch outside CBRP at 10 a.m. Live coverage on DreamCricket begins at 9:30 a.m.

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect that Mirza was the second player to score a century playing for a USA U-19 team. The first was Amer Afzaluddin, whose record of 111 not out in 2001 was broken by Mirza.

USA announces U-19 squad, appoints Robin Singh as coach.

openingbat — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 04:22:00 GMT

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Comments

The USA Cricket Association yesterday announced the squad that will represent the USA at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Americas Region Division 1 Under-19 tournament scheduled for February 6 to 13, 2011 at Brian Piccolo and Central Broward Regional Parks, in Lauderhill, FL. The winner and runner-up teams from the ICC Americas tournament will qualify to participate in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifier Tournament, scheduled for Ireland, in July 2011.

The team was selected from among the boys invited to a selection camp that took place in Florida on January 22 and 23. 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 are part of the squad.

Pranay Suri, who took eight wickets in two games at trial matches played in Los Angeles last month including 5 for 28 against South East was also an easy choice. So was Jodhbir Singh, his teammate from North West. Spin bowlers Shayan Abdulghani and Gurpreet Sandhu from South West have both been picked.

Opening batsman Fahad Babar was picked from the Central East along with captain Abhijit Joshi. Also selected were Trevor Singh and Cameron Mirza from New York. From Atlantic, allrounders Kalim Ahmed and Waleed J Karimullah made the team. Atlantic allrounder Mital Patel, who was not among the original list of invitees to the Florida camp is also in the squad.

Mital Patel's name was among those suggested by his region for invitation to the Florida camp. However, his name was not in the original list issued by USACA. According to a USACA board member reached by DreamCricket.com, Mital Patel was scouted by coach Sew Shivnarine during a practice session held at a New York indoor facility. Upon Shivnarine's request, USACA made a decision to accommodate Mital in the Florida camp. Once in Florida, Mital impressed the selectors and was unanimously selected, the board member said.

According to one source, the Florida camp was expanded from the original list published on January 8th and Mital was not the only one to be accommodated. However, the USACA General Manager did not respond to an email regarding additional invitees.

Separately, USACA announced that Mumbai Indians coach Robin Singh (right) has been tapped as a national USA coach replacing Sew Shivnarain. Robin Singh, born in Trinidad and Tobago, spent most of his cricketing career in India, playing in 1 Test and 136 ODIs for that country.

In a media release, USACA noted that Robin Singh's role may eventually be expanded to include coaching USA national teams in other upcoming ICC sanctioned tournaments. Robin Singh coached Deccan Chargers in the inaugural IPL tournament and has helped the India national team as a specialist fielding coach. Singh is not a stranger to cricket in USA, having played for New Jersey Fire team in the inaugural edition of the Pro Cricket League.

USA U-19 Squad:

Salman Ahmad, Abhijit Joshi (Captain), Hammad Shahid, Steven Taylor (Vice-Captain, Wkpr), Pranay Suri, Gurpreet Sandhu, Shayan Abdul Ghani, Fahad Babar, Trevor Singh, Cameron Mirza, Kalim Ahmed, Waleed J. Karimullah, Jodhbir Singh, Mital Patel.

Reserves: Sohaib Choudhry, Krishneal Goel, Akash Jagannathan and Amarnauth Persaud.

Coach: Robin Singh

USA Cricket: USACA schedules U-19 selection camp for January 22-23 in Florida

openingbat — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:16:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USACA is planning to have an 18-man selection camp later this month in Florida in order to pick a final squad of 14 players for the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament due to take place from February 7-12 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to USACA Cricket Committee chairman Krish Prasad, players will be flown to Florida to undergo final evaluation by the selectors on the weekend of January 22 and 23.

“The selectors already saw the west coast guys. Between [chief selector Sew Shivnarine] and them, they know the east coast guys and invite them with the remaining guys that we have leftover from last year and get a 14-man squad with four stand-by players for a February tournament because February’s quickly approaching so we gotta do what we gotta do to get the best possible team,” said Prasad.

An indoor camp had been tentatively planned for January 8 and 9 in New York for players from the New York, Atlantic and North East regions, but that plan has been scrapped.

“The indoor place is not available number one and it doesn’t make sense for us to bring guys in here and then we’ve gotta pick another group of guys to go to Florida,” said Prasad. “We’re going to take about 18 or so guys and have the selectors come over there and pick the team.”

“It’s approximately 18. There might be one or two more guys, but they know who the guys are they’re looking for. I mean they have the guys from last year and they’re gonna invite some more guys and get the 18 guys and have the 14 final players and the four stand-by players,” said Prasad. “We don’t want to bring a whole bunch of guys just to take 14 guys.”

Salman Ahmad, Abhijit Joshi, Hammad Shahid and Steven Taylor are expected to be included in the 18 after participating in the 2010 U-19 World Cup for USA. Prasad said that the final group of players invited to Florida probably won’t be finalized until this weekend due to a variety of eligibility concerns based on age and residency that are currently being addressed by selectors.

Image: Former 2010 U-19 World Cup squad member and South West U-19 captain Hammad Shahid is expected to be part of the selection camp later this month in Florida. [Copyright - DreamCricket.com]

“We were going under the assumption that the cutoff date is September 1, 1990,” said Prasad, referring to the ICC deadline for Associate level players hoping to participate in the 2012 U-19 World Cup and any ICC qualification tournaments leading up to the event. “The cutoff date is no longer 1990, it’s 1991. For whatever reason, we didn’t pay attention to that or we were misled. It’s our own fault. We were going by the wrong dates.”

“Guys like Andy Mohammed, [Regis] Burton and [Kavishwar] Bridgepaul who we thought were going to be included, now we found out they’re not going to be included and of course we have some guys who have not met the four-year [residency] criteria and we don’t want to go through the same scenario that we went through with Neil McGarrell because the ICC seems to be very tough on that.”

A much bigger issue than the confusion about the age deadline is determining who is eligible based on residency. Prasad says that selection decisions are currently being hampered because of unreliable information supplied from the regions and the individual players about their residency status. Players who were believed to be eligible do not meet the criteria after a more thorough examination of documents.

“It’s a whole different ball game when you have to go through the [residency] qualification and guys have not been giving us a lot of correct information,” said Prasad. “A lot of guys said they’ve been here for seven years, they came on such and such a date. Now when we ask them for the proof because Manaf [Mohamed] has to get the proof, we found out that they’ve not been telling us exactly what’s in their passport. So we’re having problems with qualifications.”

“What has been holding us up a lot is the selectors have been going out upon themselves and trying to get information. If you call up certain regional people, they’re telling you this guy has been here for eight years, been here for six years. Now when you get a guy’s information and you call the guy and you say fax me this, this and this, then the guy faxes it and you’ve found out that he’s not been here for the time required. Then who’re you gonna blame? If you gotta pick the guys, you’ve gotta make sure you have the right information before you send 18 guys to Florida and you find four of them don’t meet the criteria.”

USACA stated in a press release on December 28 that 24 players would be invited later this month to an U-19 selection camp in Florida, but apparently the ineligibility of numerous unidentified players has resulted in reducing the number of players that are due to be brought to Florida for the camp. In addition to the players who are too old to compete, there is also a growing list of players that have been found to be ineligible based on the residency requirement.

“Shiv and Abrar [Ahmad] and Sunny [Khan] have been doing a very good job because these guys are constantly trying to get hold of the guys to make sure what they tell them is what they have on paper,” said Prasad. “I know they’ve ruled out about six or eight guys because the guys told them, ‘Yes. We’re good. We’ve been here for six, seven years.’ Then we get information that it’s not true.”

As for the camp itself, Prasad hopes that the players don’t face the same kinds of weather and logistical problems that caused the cancelation of the 2010 Junior Nationals in Los Angeles last month.

“We’re hoping that like everything else, we get good weather,” said Prasad. “The three selectors were told to be there.” The coach and manager for this year’s USA U-19 team have not been appointed as of yet. Prasad said that will take place after the final 14-man USA U-19 squad has been picked.

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.]