USA Cricketer : USA U-19 cricket

USA Cricket: U-19 Trials Held in the Bay Area

openingbat — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:45:00 GMT

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By Karishma Goel

Two National Selectors from Florida visited the Northern Western Region to observe the region's cricket trials at the U-19 level.

"We expect that about 300 boys in USA will be observed by the selectors, which will give them great confidence when they pick the top 14," said Hemant Buch, the co-coordinator for USACA. Darren Beazley, CEO of USACA, constructed a new cricket development plan along with the youth committees from various regions. Sunny Singh and Barney Jones, were in the Bay Area as part of that program.

National selectors will continue to make appearances in the next five weeks to five different cities throughout the country that will cover the eight (erstwhile) regions. Fourteen players each from the western and eastern conferences will be chosen to face off in the Western and Eastern Conference tournament, Memorial Day weekend.

Vijay Pradhan, the NWR youth coordinator, first presented the plan to the regional board. Once approved, Pradhan worked closely with regional selectors, Ozair Nana, Khader Mohammad, Vijay Beniwal and Kulwant Virdi to come up with criteria for selection. The selection process took place on April 6 and 7 at the Clyde L. Fischer Middle School cricket ground in San Jose. A total of fifty-six players showed up, 8:15 a.m., sharp.

The regional selectors had players warm up by assigning various exercises on the first day. After, allotting each player a number to be identified with, the selectors divided the players into five different categories based on their skills.

The players were categorized as top order batsmen, middle order batsmen, wicket keeper, batting all-rounder and bowling all-rounder.

Commencing net sessions, each player, depending on their specific skill was given a chance to bowl, bat and wicket keep. Net practice was part of a circular-like motion workshop that included players fielding, catching and fitness drills.

"I think that this cycling-process was a very unique way of having each player run through all the sessions," said Satsheel Alterkar, a happy parent of one of the players. "It should be started as a routine in most of the practices held," he added.

The 56 players slowly diminished to 24 before lunch time, so that the national selectors would only have to concentrate on a certain amount of players.

The remaining 24, were divided into two teams, one which was led by Krishneal Goel and Arsh Buch as the other was led by Roshan Varadarajan and Vibhav Altekar. The two teams began playing a 25 over game, where national selectors came and watched as they took notice of all players.

On the second day of trials, the same 24 players played a 40 over game as national selectors took notes again.

"Entire process helped build momentum among youths and youth program organizers as now they have something to look up to and set goals for themselves," said Buch. "They should try something like this at the senior level also."

USA Cricket: New players eager for opportunity to represent men's national team

openingbat — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:30:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

In less than a week, USA will field seven first-time representatives at the senior level for during Canada’s tour to Florida as part of The Auty Cup. Danial Ahmed, Naseer Jamali, Timil Patel, Hammad Shahid, Saami Siddiqui, Nicholas Standford and Timothy Surujbally will all be traveling to Fort Lauderdale to put press their claims for a permanent spot in the USA lineup and give the selectors something extra to think about when they select teams in the spring for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament and ICC World Cricket League Division Three.

“It was always a dream of mine to play for the country,” Standford said after being selected for the matches against Canada. Standford first came to New York from Barbados in 2004 and received his citizenship in 2011. He wants to leave an impression on US cricket in these matches in order to prevent it from being just a one and done assignment. “I’m picked now. I want to carry on. I’m 25. I’ve still got a lot of time to play some cricket. Hopefully this is the first of many tours.”

Siddiqui is another player holding the same sentiment. “I know I’ll be happy once I go there and do well,” Siddiqui said. “For me, just getting picked isn’t the end of the story. Real happiness is gonna come if I go and do well.”

Siddiqui previously represented the USA at the junior level as a wicketkeeper at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. During USA’s qualifying phases in Canada, Siddiqui earned a Man of the Match award in a win over the Netherlands when he completed a catch, three stumpings, teamed up for a runout with Saqib Saleem and scored 18 with the bat in a 33-run win. The bond with his USA U-19 teammates is still strong as Siddiqui initially found out he’d been picked for the matches against Canada after receiving a text message from Ryan Corns, who will also be in the USA side against Canada in Florida.

Off the field, Siddiqui graduated last December from the University of California, Berkeley, after completing a double-major in Computer Science and Political Economics. He’s now working for a startup company in Silicon Valley. Balancing cricket with work is a lot easier than it was as a student for Siddiqui and he’s hoping that will allow him a chance to seriously push for a spot in the men’s side.

Image (right) - Naseer Jamali bowling against India with Saami Siddiqui keeping wicket during a 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup warm-up match in New Zealand. Two two have been picked to represent the USA men's side for the first time against Canada next week. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia]

“I don’t have to miss practices because of group projects or mid-terms and don’t have to miss games either,” Siddiqui said. “My schedule is more stable. It’s more manageable than it was. Also my club was about 45 minutes away from Berkeley so my time was limited.”

Of all the new players, the one who brings the most experience to the table is Los Angeles resident Patel. The 28-year-old played 38 first-class matches, scoring a century and taking two five-wicket hauls for Gujurat in India’s Ranji Trophy competition. In this year’s SCCA Division One regular season, he scored 500 runs at 62.50 with five half-centuries. Only USA batsman Aditya Thyagarajan and former Nepal U-19 captain Kanishka Chaugai finished higher on the runs list. Patel’s leg-spin accounted for 47 wickets at 9.77 in 16 matches for Vijayta CC as well. The next best bowler claimed 33 scalps.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Patel said about being picked. “My performances have paid off. It feels really good to be in the squad.”

Ahmed, 27, makes his way into the USA squad after being the leading wicket-taker in the Washington Cricket League in 2012. A left-arm spinner, Ahmed took 38 wickets at 5.89 in only 13 matches. The two players who finished behind him, former Atlantic Region U-19 player Haris Ilyas and former USA national team member Naseer Islam, took 31 wickets in 19 and 16 matches respectively. Ahmed feels that fitness will be a key aspect of the performances with USA playing four matches in four days.

“I’m very excited, ready to go, working hard in the gym, practicing hard every day,” Ahmed said.

After just missing the final 14 and being named a reserve player for USA’s last two tours, Surujbally finally cracked the 14-man squad for this event. The Trinidad native came to Florida in 2007 and has been captaining International CC in the SFCA, spending much of his time batting alongside club, league and regional teammate Steven Taylor. After dismantling bowling attacks together at the lower levels, Surujbally is hoping he’ll get the chance to work in tandem with Taylor in a USA uniform.

“I love playing with Steven Taylor,” Surujbally said. “We destroy a lot of people here. I always saying to him, one day me and him, I want to open with him on the USA team. We open bat for our club, we open bat for south Florida, we open bat on so many occasions. I think both of us, we have a good chemistry together.”

With USA’s fast bowling depth going thin since the departure of both Imran Awan and Kevin Darlington from the national team, Shahid and Jamali have been given an opportunity to develop their games and test themselves against a very good Canadian batting unit. Shahid has two campaigns under his belt with the USA U-19 team and plays in the very competitive SCCA Division One. After going to New Zealand in 2010 with the USA U-19 team, Jamali was on the fringes of selection for the USA squad that went to the UAE to the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. He spent the past summer playing league cricket in Middlesex, England for Uxbridge CC where he took 25 wickets, second most at the club in 2012 while bowling the most overs for Uxbridge.

Most of USA’s first choice players are missing for The Auty Cup due to work obligations. USA will play Canada in a two-day match for The Auty Cup beginning on November 14 followed by a 50-over match on November 16 and two T20s on November 17.

USA Cricket: ICC data illustrates the need for a sense of urgency in grassroots development

openingbat — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:55:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)

In June, the ICC released its Development Program Census Results for the 95 Associate and Affiliate countries for 2011 and also included participation figures for each country dating back as far as 10 years for most of the 95. The census charts each country’s participation level in terms of increase or decrease in the number of players, number of coaches and number of umpires as well as the increase or decrease in the number of facilities. It doesn’t take long to realize when scanning through the figures the importance youth participation numbers has on the overall success of many nations.

More often than not, countries with strong youth participation figures, especially countries whose youth participation figures strongly outnumber the adult participation figures, have experienced a significant amount of success or improved results over the timespan of the census compared to those countries where adult participation outweighs youth participation.

For example, Ireland had 4515 adult players and 3540 youth players in 2007, the year they pulled off a massive upset victory over Pakistan to advance past the group stage of the World Cup in the West Indies. A year later, youth participation levels had gone up 57% to 5565, eclipsing the adult figures of 5340. Through 2011, the youth numbers had grown to 8145. Seeing the impact the win over Pakistan had percentage wise from 2007-2011 and bearing in mind Ireland pulled off an even bigger upset in 2011 over England at the last World Cup, Ireland could have 15,000 or more youth players by 2015.

Nepal’s successes at U-19 World Cups in the last decade have not only contributed to success at the senior level but have resulted in an uptick in youth and overall participation numbers. In 2002, Nepal’s adult participation numbers were at 3240 and their youth numbers were at 1080. By 2011, the adult figures have grown to 7500, but more impressively the youth figures have multiplied more than eight-fold to 9285.

Other countries like Namibia may have small participation numbers overall, but their numbers are still skewed heavily in favor of youth percentage and ratio wise. In 2004, Namibia had 465 adults and 1185 registered youth players. In 2011, those figures were 765 and 2405 respectively.

In 2004, when USA participated in the Champions Trophy in England, the country had 12,675 adult players. Based on the other aforementioned countries and figures, one would assume that USA would have had several thousand youth players at the very least and by 2011 conceivably should have had double or triple the amount of youth players, well into the tens of thousands.

Unfortunately, neither is the case. In 2004, USA had 960 registered youth players. After reaching a high of 1020 registered youth players in 2007, USA experienced a 41% drop to 600 in 2010. In 2011, USA’s adult participation numbers were 16,680, a 32% increase from the year they played in the Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, USA reported 750 youth players registered in 2011, a 28% drop in the same time span that the adult figures went in almost the exact opposite direction.

So in a country of more than 300 million people, there are only 750 registered youth players. That includes roughly 400 players participating in the New York City Public Schools Athletic League. Outside of New York City, there are less than 400 youth players playing in organized cricket competitions nationwide. If you don’t believe that, keep in mind that the Central West Region failed to send a squad to the USACA U-15 National Tournament in 2010 and 2011. That’s right, the Central West is a region that has three thriving adult leagues in Texas with a combined 85 teams – that’s more than 1000 adult players in Texas – and one league in Colorado and had four players named in the USA senior team for 2012 ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia but could not come up with 11 players aged 15 and under to participate in a national tournament.

Most shocking is the overall ratio disparity of adults to youth cricketers in the USA. While most top tier Associate countries are hovering around 1:1, 2:1 or 3:1 ratios in favor of youth to adult players, USA has 22.24 adult players for every one youth player. As evidenced by the Central West, some regions have a disparity of somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 adult players to one youth player.

Image (left) - Long Island City celebrates winning the 2012 NY PSAL championship. When will other cities follow the lead of New York and establish their own youth leagues? [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In April, USACA vice president Michael Gale posted a PowerPoint presentation on the USACA web site advocating for an increase in youth participation levels to “2000 active U-19 youth players in order to pick up 5% that could be competitive on a world stage.” Top 5% from any figure is just scratching the surface and would include a lot of mediocre talent by international standards, but with a sample pool as small as 2000 that would especially be the case.

Take a look at other pro sports in the USA and less than 1% of all athletes participating from high school on up ever truly make it to an elite level. At the moment, there are 120 NCAA Division One/FBS college football programs with a maximum of 85 full scholarship players allowed on each roster, not including walk-ons. There are hundreds of thousands of high school football players across America, but only 10,200 players get a full scholarship to play Division One college football in any given season. From this already highly select group of players, only 253 became NFL draft picks in 2012. That’s just 2.48% of super elite athletes from an already elite group who may get drafted to play professionally.

College basketball is just as popular if not more so at the high school level especially with the rise of AAU teams traveling and playing outside of the high school season. There are currently 344 NCAA Division One men’s basketball programs and each program can have 13 players on full scholarship not including walk-ons. This means that of the hundreds of thousands of high school basketball players playing nationwide, only 4472 possessed an NCAA basketball scholarship in 2012. Then from this group of 4472 scholarship players, there were just 60 draft picks made by NBA teams in 2012 or 1.34% of NCAA players. Nine players who were from overseas and did not play NCAA basketball were drafted in 2012. So there were actually only 51 NCAA basketball players out of 4472 who were drafted, 1.14% of the already elite pool.

Going back to that figure of registered junior players in the USA, 750, and applying the 1% theory to it, that means that there are really only 7 or 8 players at the U-19 level in the country who could potentially be considered elite. On the evidence of the performances of the USA U-18 team in Florida last month, which should also supply the core of the USA U-19 team in 2013, saying that this country had 7 or 8 elite players in that team would be extremely optimistic. The same would be true of the squad that went to the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland.

In reality, the USA U-18 squad in Florida was Steven Taylor, Ryan Persaud and everyone else. USA arguably had just two elite players out of 750 that exist in this country. Multiply 750 by seven and you get 5250. That’s how many registered youth players USA needs nationwide before they can realistically find 14 players just to be competitive on an elite level to represent a junior national team.

Image (right) - Steven Taylor is one of the USA's few elite age group cricketers. Overall participation figures need to rise in order to unearth more talent like him. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Double that figure to get to 10,500 and that’s how many youth cricketers this country would need for the cream of the crop to be competing with each other for the right to make it into the final 14 of a youth national team. Only then will this country really begin to make strides not only at the youth level, but as a by-product the senior men’s level.

The ICC census data should be a wake-up call to all cricket administrators to get their priorities straight and put an immediate focus on youth development. Many fans and stakeholders like to place all of the blame on USACA for the historically negligent approach to youth development and USACA is a very convenient target. However, much of the fault lies directly with the clubs, leagues and administrators at the local level. In the five seasons since it debuted in 2008, the NY PSAL high school cricket league has mushroomed from 14 to 26 teams and is considered a tremendous success, a model success. Yet, no other city has copied that model and New York City remains the only city in America with a high school cricket league.

While most clubs in overseas leagues have an U-11, and U-13, U-15, U-17 and an U-19 squad as part of the overall club structure, the vast majority of “clubs” in the USA are just that in name only. The majority of leagues in this country don’t have a youth team, let alone each individual club within the league.

In reality, the vast majority of “cricket clubs” in the USA are a solitary team comprised of 13 or 14 guys in their mid 30s to late 40s with no desire to develop a formal club structure, which would mean building a relationship with the local community by inviting local residents, - boys, girls and adults – to tryout, participate and build up a membership base to the point that the municipality could designate a proper ground specifically for cricket and not to be shared with baseball, soccer or anything else.

It’s up to the clubs and leagues to develop these programs and structures themselves because if they wait for help from USACA, this country will still be hovering between 750 and 1000 junior players in the year 2020. The onus is on the administrators at the local level to help effect change. Progress is being made by the USYCA to help increase youth participation numbers, but a bridge must be built from the kids who are being introduced to the game in school programs to connect with youth leagues or youth teams within adult amateur clubs and leagues.

The Michael Gale target of 2,000 U-19 youth players will not be enough to field a truly competitive squad at the international level. USA must grow the total to 10,000 youth players over the next 10 years from which the top 1% will be truly competitive at an elite level suitable for international cricket tournaments. Otherwise, the USA will continue to be stuck in limbo while other Associate and Affiliate countries leave America in their wake.

USA Cricket: Lack of long term vision results in team chaperones, not coaches

openingbat — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:13:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

The recent failure of the USA Women’s team to qualify for the 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup was not unexpected. The final team was whipped up at the last minute after a series of disputes with the original squad. Even with a full strength squad, they would have had only a marginally better chance at gaining ODI status, let alone World Cup qualification.

In an attempt to gloss over some of the negative attention garnered from the player disputes, USACA announced that Robin Singh would be the head coach for the women's team in Bangladesh. A coach works with a team locally and on a regular basis, develops strategies and philosophies that can be structured through practice sessions before being utilized in games. This is not what USACA's arrangement with Robin Singh has yielded for US cricket.

To say Robin Singh has coached the USA U-19 or the USA Women’s team is not really the best way to characterize his position within US cricket. Singh spent a grand total of two weeks inside the USA alongside the U-19 team during the ICC Americas U-19 tournament in February and then the four-match series against the West Indies U-19 in July before serving as head coach at the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. USACA has not been able to retain his services in between tournaments. As a result, he is not in the US to work with players and help them focus on developing the necessary skills and approaches to improve. If he’s only present to watch over a team in a tournament, then USACA has only acquired a chaperone and perhaps a mentor, but not a coach. Whatever amount USACA paid for the services of such a high-profile coach, it cannot be justified in the face of such myopic thinking.

Robin Singh is not the only chaperone that US cricket has had recently. Milton Pydanna was enlisted as a chaperone for the USA U-15 team on their trip to Canada in August. The teenagers who were picked to play for USA had never seen the man before and may never see him again.

Image (right) - Robin Singh [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Mark Johnson had no prior coaching involvement with the USA men’s team before assuming a role as the men’s chaperone for the ICC Americas Twenty20 tournament in July. In August, USACA hastily arranged for a team to go to Canada to play in a four-team Twenty20 tournament followed by a two-day match against Canada for the K.A. Auty Cup. Howard Johnson took charge as chaperone for that team for a few days, then went back to Florida.

Prior to them, Clayton Lambert served in that capacity. Lambert had a decent knowledge of players in the USA structure, but he hardly had an opportunity to implement any sort of plan with any of the men’s teams because he was only able to work with them for the odd two or three-day selection camp prior to accompanying them to ICC tournaments.

Dipak Patel was brought in to assist the 2010 U-19 team in New Zealand. He had to leave before the team started playing tournament matches at the ICC U-19 World Cup because USACA couldn’t afford his services or made other plans. He returned a few weeks later to accompany the men’s team for matches in the UAE and in Nepal, but was never seen again.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Singh, Patel, Lambert, the Johnsons, Pydanna or John Buchanan, paying someone for a tours only assignment is just as good as lighting the money on fire. It does nothing for development.

If USACA wants to improve future results it should focus on developing local coaches and overall infrastructure to a higher standard. One of the reasons why the administration resorts to a desperate ploy of paying for a foreign coach to do a one-off appearance is because the local coaches are deemed to be inferior and incapable of raising the standards of play for the national teams. Paying an arm and a leg for someone to spend one or two weeks with a team and then disappear is not going to raise the standard of the national teams either.

USACA does not do much to get local coaches the training they need to improve but this has to change in order for the playing standards to improve. If the money used on Singh was spent on training 15 or 20 local coaches to improve their coaching methods, it would have a trickle-down effect on improving the players. Money needs to be invested in the people who work with players day in and day out.

Cricket in America is still entrenched in amateurism. Once USA's amateur players have hit a ceiling with the amount of improvement they can receive from better trained local coaches using legitimate cricket facilities, a high-priced professional coach will become necessary and worthwhile. That day is still a long way off.

If USACA wants to pay a professional a significant amount of money to be a national team coach, that person has to be here 365 days a year working with players and coaches at all levels in the various regions of the country in order for stakeholders to get the full value and benefit of what they have to offer. If that person is not willing to make such a commitment of their time and energy, USACA should not be willing to make such a commitment with its scarce financial resources.

Another opportunity missed for USA as the Netherlands enters 2012 Caribbean T20

openingbat — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:38:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Along the news wire this morning were articles announcing that both Canada and the Netherlands were invited and accepted the opportunity to participate in January’s Caribbean T20 tournament to be held in Trinidad and Barbados. Another way to interpret the story is that two Associate members will be participating in the Caribbean T20 tournament but the USA is not one of them, despite belonging to the same ICC Region where the tournament is being conducted.

This will be the third time Canada is participating in the tournament while it’s the first time for the Netherlands. USA was passed over for the July 2010 event In favor of Canada, which took place only a month and a half after USA had beaten Canada to claim the inaugural ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in Bermuda. In the next Caribbean T20 which took place the following January, Canada was once again invited ahead of the USA. Last November, USACA President Gladstone Dainty was asked why Canada was getting these opportunities while the USA was not.

“I speak with the President of the West Indies board very frequently and the CEO of the West Indies board, a great man,” said Dainty. “That thing with Canada and the T20 or whatever, once again we were preparing to go to Italy at the same time so it made the West Indies board easier, made the decision easier to invite Canada rather than the United States. At the time, we were contacted and we didn’t necessarily decline, but they knew that it would present a financial hardship because you gotta remember the players we have, they’ve got jobs.” The excuse for not getting involved in the tournament last January was that the dates conflicted with USA’s involvement in ICC World Cricket League Division Three, a perfectly legitimate excuse. What is the reason USA hasn’t gotten involved this time around?

It’s doubtful that USA actually received an invite for next January’s event. Why would the West Indies want to sully the reputation of their tournament and lower the overall playing standard by inviting a team that was demoted to Division Four of the World Cricket League this year instead of inviting two teams that are in Division One and participated this year in the ICC World Cup? Not only did USA sink from Division Three to Division Four on the WCL ladder, they entered the most recent ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 as the defending champs on home soil but could only muster a second place finish to a second-string Canada side.

Those less than desirable results are a byproduct of the absence of a clearly defined mission from USACA for USA’s teams and more importantly, a pathway toward achieving such a mission. When Canada participated in the first Caribbean T20, the squad they sent was far from a first choice unit, but they utilized the event as an opportunity to give some of their younger players valuable experience against good opposition. The experience players obtain in events like this and the Intercontinental Cup has gone a long way toward providing Canada a solid pool of players they can call on to fill in and perform without a dip in the overall quality of the team. This was clear from their dominance in Fort Lauderdale over the summer.

KNCB (Netherlands Cricket Board) CEO Richard Cox said that, “Undoubtedly this is another significant move in our preparation for the international playing program,” in regard to the Netherlands getting a chance to participate in January’s Caribbean T20. What is USACA doing in preparation for its international program? They will be playing in the same ICC World T20 Qualifier in March that Canada and the Netherlands are in, but they will be doing it without the same level of preparation.

Some people may argue that there is a plan in place for USA, one which consists of having local players improve their skills by participating alongside and against elite level international players in a New Zealand Cricket backed Twenty20 league that is planned to kickoff next summer. Money acquired from TV rights and sponsorships of the league will then help fund grassroots and infrastructure development to make USA national teams better. There is a problem with part of that plan though. USA’s players are currently incapable of competing in such a league without severely embarrassing themselves. Very few companies will be eager to sponsor a sports league where the source of entertainment winds up being unintentional slapstick comedy when the actual aim was to demonstrate athletic brilliance.

At the tournament awards banquet for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 in July, Dainty got up in front of the six teams present and reminded everyone that USACA had big plans to start a Twenty20 league with the first match getting underway in the summer of 2012. According to Dainty’s calculations, there would be six teams with about 16 players on each roster. The intention was that half of them would be Test level standard players from overseas and the other half would potentially be Associate players from the Americas region. However, he bluntly stated that he did not feel there were anywhere near 48 players from the region capable of participating in the league without severely bringing down the standard of play and told those present that they needed to step up their games if they wanted to be a professional player with a contract in the league.

So what is USACA doing for its own players to help bridge that gap? What has USACA done since July to help develop players to get them ready to play in this league? What opportunities is USACA creating for its national team to make people confident that they can not only make a serious run in Dubai to qualify for next year’s ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, but also reverse course in the World Cricket League to get USA going in the right direction back toward Division One?

After winning the ICC Americas U-19 championship in February, USACA sat on their hands for months before throwing the USA U-19 team to the wolves against the West Indies U-19, setting the team up for disaster weeks later at the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. Do they have a similar plan in mind to prepare players for participation in a Twenty20 league? Play club cricket once a week on substandard fields against out of shape men in their 40s right before facing up against Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor? How is a promising talent like Hammad Shahid supposed to do anything but come up short in a potential showdown with Brendon McCullum when he’s spending a good chunk of his time helping out at his family’s car dealership?

These things never get addressed because USACA’s administrative tussles continue to get in the way. Instead of using their time to focus on preparing players for success and arranging opportunities for talent to improve, USACA administrators choose to squabble like a group of kindergartners moaning to their teacher because Jimmy won’t share his set of Legos for everyone else to play with. Fans do not show up at grounds to see administrators. They show up to see the players.

USA’s players and fans do not strive to be embarrassed on the field, but it’s happened a few times in 2011 because of the kamikaze approach of the administration and it’s in danger of happening again with teams at every level, first and foremost with the way the women's team is being treated ahead of the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier next month. There’s also the possibility that USA won’t even get the chance to do good or bad on the field next year if the ICC decides they’ve had enough of the board room shenanigans and lay down another suspension. Either way, USA will continue to go in the wrong direction until administrators put players first and develop a plan that gives teams a clearly defined vision with an achievable target to aim for. The Netherlands, Canada and so many other Associate countries appear to have that. There’s no reason the USA shouldn’t either.

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

USA Cricket: USA U-19 denied berth at 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup after 99-run loss to Nepal U-19

openingbat — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:13:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

A steady knock from Naresh Budhaayer guided Nepal U-19 to an insurmountable total as they defeated USA U-19 by 99 runs at Limavady CC on Tuesday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Limavady, Northern Ireland. Budhaayer was named Man of the Match after top scoring with 76 in Nepal’s total of 264 for 9. USA’s loss, combined with wins by Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Namibia, meant that USA finished seventh and failed to qualify for the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Queensland, Australia.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bat in perfect conditions in Limavady. USA took wickets at regular intervals to begin the match with opener Sagar Pun caught behind off Salman Ahmad for 1 and fellow opener Fajlur Rahman giving a return catch to Hammad Shahid for 26 to make the score 45 for 2 in the 11th. Nepal U-19 captain Prithu Baskota was caught at midwicket for 2 off Shahid and Pranay Suri had Rajesh Pulami Magar LBW for 16 to make it 78 for 4 in the 23rd.

Unfortunately for the third time in the tournament, USA then allowed their opponent to produce a century stand to regain control as Budhaayer and Pradeep Airee teamed up to add 113 for the fifth wicket. Budhaayer was particularly brutal to USA’s bowlers once he crossed 50 as his last 26 runs came up in only 12 balls while it took him 83 deliveries to get to his half-century. Budhaayer was finally stumped off the bowling of Ahmad but by that point Nepal had started to run away with the match.

After Rahul Vishvakarma got out for 9, Nepal began a full-fledged sprint when Krishna Karki arrived at the crease. Karki scored 45 in 17 balls including three fours and four sixes as Nepal scored 63 runs for the loss of two wickets in the batting power play. Airee fell to Shahid for 57 in the 47th to make it 214 for 7 but Karki continued his onslaught until he got out with three balls to go in the innings with the score at 262 for 8. Bhuvan Karki was run out for a duck off the next ball but two more runs were added to Nepal’s total off the final two balls.

Ahmad once again bowled a solid spell for USA, finishing with 3 for 44 in 10. Shahid also bowled superbly to take 3 for 32, but couldn’t finish his allotment after being forced to leave the attack two balls into his eighth over immediately after taking the wicket of Airee when was reprimanded by the umpires for a third time for running into the danger area in his follow through.

USA’s chase never got going when Cameron Mirza and Abhijit Joshi fell LBW without scoring on back to back balls in the first over. Left-arm seamer Avinash Karn was the one who did the damage and it put USA into a massive hole they were never able to dig themselves out of. Greg Sewdial was the next to go, LBW for 4 to a ball that kept low from medium pacer Krishna Karki to make it 15 for 3 in the sixth.

Amarnauth Persaud had been dropped from the lineup in exchange for Gurpreet Sandhu so it meant that Suri was promoted up the order to number five where he put on a 63-run stand with Taylor. Taylor brought up his 50 in 53 balls but got out in shocking fashion only four balls later for 52. Facing the off-spin of Baskota, Taylor elected to leave one alone that went straight on and hit off stump. Six balls later, Suri was caught slogging to long on for 13 and USA was 78 for 5.

Jodha Singh was dismissed without scoring when Baskota pulled off an Angelo Mathews inspired catch at long on to give Vishvakarma his first wicket. Shayan Abdulghani provided a brief flurry of scoring with three sixes before he was out LBW missing a sweep to Baskota for 21. Ahmad took his time scoring 38 before he was bowled by Vishvakarma’s left-arm spin to make it 161 for 8 in the 43rd. Two balls later Shahid was caught at long on by Baskota to net Vishvakarma his third. Vishvakarma wrapped up the match seven balls later by clean bowling Mital Patel and USA was all out for 165 in 44.1 overs. Vishvakarma’s 4 for 24 allowed him to finish tied with Canada seamer Manny Aulakh for the most wickets in the tournament with 21.

In the other matches of the day, Papua New Guinea defeated Ireland by five wickets after bowling out the hosts for 155. Afghanistan bowled out Canada for 71 before winning by eight wickets. Namibia scored 314 for 5, the highest single innings score in the tournament, before winning by 109 runs and Scotland defeated Vanuatu by 130 runs to claim the tournament title. Nepal finished second, Ireland third, Afghanistan fourth, PNG fifth, Namibia sixth, USA seventh, Canada eighth, Kenya ninth and Vanuatu last. Namibia, USA and Canada all finished with identical 4-5 records, but Namibia took the last World Cup berth based on a superior net run rate.

At the post tournament closing ceremony, Duncan Allan of Kenya was named Player of the Tournament. Allan finished tied for second on the runs list with Steven Taylor as both players had 455 runs along with two centuries. Allan also had the most wickets for Kenya and tied for 12th overall in the tournament with 14 wickets bowling medium pace.

USA Cricket: Aulakh rips through USA U-19 with 6 for 32 in 5-wicket win for Canada U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 CWC Qualifier

openingbat — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:01:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

Canada U-19 medium pacer Manny Aulakh took 6 for 32 as his side bowled out USA U-19 for 101 before completing a 5-wicket win at Bready Cricket Club on Sunday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Magheramason, Northern Ireland. Aulakh was named Man of the Match for his performance which keeps Canada’s hopes of a top-six spot alive while placing USA’s chances of 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup qualification in serious jeopardy.

“Seeing the way the pitch played, I think if I had the toss again I think we would have definitely bowled first,” said USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial. “It looked a bit dry so we opted to bat but we’re not here to make excuses. I thought that we played a few rash shots that cost us our top order. I also thought Canada did well to keep pressure on us and just take control over the game.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a sunny morning but a day which had plenty of rain in the forecast. Within the first five overs, Aulakh had made his mark on the game by removing both USA openers. Steven Taylor was the first to go, top edging a short delivery to cover for 10, and Cameron Mirza was bowled for 8 to make it 21 for 2.

“We had a plan that if we won the toss we were gonna bowl first because those first few overs there’s always dew in the wicket and we always get help from the pitch,” said Aulakh.

Jobanjot Singh Sidhu kept the pressure on from the opposite end by taking the wicket of Abhijit Joshi when the batsman went for a loose drive and was caught at second slip for 1. Aulakh took the next three to wreck USA’s middle order as Amarnauth Persaud spooned a catch to cover for 7 before Sewdial was given LBW for 2. Five balls later, Jodha Singh was cleaned up by a yorker for a duck to give Aulakh his five-wicket haul and USA was in pieces at 35 for 6 after 11 overs.

“I just think it’s all about us being mentally prepared and I don’t think for this game we were but hopefully for the next game we will be against Nepal, our final game,” said Sewdial. “Having won four games, we need five to definitely qualify.”

It was around this time that rain started falling steadily on the ground. The umpires elected to play through it and as a result, batting became increasingly difficult as more and more moisture went into the pitch. Pranay Suri and Salman Ahmad fought for 13.2 overs to put on 27 runs together for the seventh wicket before Ahmad was caught behind for 13 off the bowling of medium pacer Rayyan Pathan.

Suri batted for 71 balls but his time finally came to an end when he couldn’t get out of the way of a Sidhu bouncer. The ball went off his gloves before popping up to Kyle Edghill in the slips and Suri had to go for 14 to make it 69 for 8 in 30 overs.

Aulakh returned for his final two overs and had Shayan Abdulghani caught at cover for 11 before medium pacer Akash Shah wrapped up the innings when Mital Patel was caught behind for 6 going for a big drive and USA was all out for 101 in 40.3 overs. Hammad Shahid top scored at number nine with 15 not out in 45 balls while extras also contributed 14 to the total.

Image (right) - Manny Aulakh receives his Man of the Match award after taking 6 for 32, the best statistical bowling performance at the tournament. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Canada’s chase got off to a fiery start with Pathan at the crease as he punished Ahmad and Patel with a series of prodigious blasts over the ropes. The only hiccup happened when he ran out his partner Shah for 2. Nitish Kumar came in next and a day after making 150 against Papua New Guinea was out stumped off the bowling of Abdulghani without scoring to make it 48 for 2 in the eighth over.

At the other end, Pathan had slammed two fours and five sixes to race to 42 but he tried to play a cute flick over fine leg in the circle to a short delivery from the off-spin of Suri and mistimed the shot to Mirza at square leg. From there, Canada’s chase crawled along with few runs coming off the bat. However, they were aided by 17 extras conceded by USA’s bowlers including 13 wides.

It wasn’t until the 23rd over that Shahid came on for a second spell where he routinely caused problems with uneven bounce for deliveries pitching on a good length. He had Nikhil Dutta caught at midwicket two overs later for 19 to make it 83 for 4. Kesavan Juvarajan joined Edghill at the crease and the two went through a challenging period as the pitch become more treacherous. Juvarajan was hit on the gloves numerous times in his 29-ball stay at the crease before he finally had a short delivery go off his gloves and onto the stumps to be out for 7 with the scores level on 101 after 33 overs. Edghill hit the winning single through midwicket three balls later.

In the day’s other matches, Nepal defeated PNG by 29 runs to become the second team after Scotland to clinch a berth at the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia. Afghanistan trounced Vanuatu by 9 wickets and Scotland defeated Kenya by 15 runs while Ireland’s match with Namibia was washed out after only 8.1 overs had been bowled. The match between Ireland and Namibia will be replayed on Monday.

After eight matches, Scotland remains in first place with a 7-1 record. Nepal is second at 6-2 while Ireland is third at 5-2. Afghanistan, USA, PNG and Canada are all at 4-4 with USA in fifth place on net run rate. Namibia is in eighth place at 3-4 but has a solid net run rate and a win over Ireland on the reserve day would most likely move them ahead of USA. Kenya is in ninth at 2-6 and is no longer in contention for a top six spot while Vanuatu is in last at 0-8.

On Tuesday’s final day of play, USA takes on Nepal, a team which has conceded the second fewest runs in the tournament behind Ireland, who has played one fewer game. Ireland takes on Papua New Guinea while Namibia takes on Kenya and Scotland plays Vanuatu. Afghanistan plays Canada in a match with major implications for USA. A win by Afghanistan would most likely prevent Canada from qualifying in the top six, but if Canada wins it’s still conceivable that Afghanistan could qualify due to their solid net run rate. If USA wins, they are most likely assured of finishing fifth or sixth. However, if they lose, they would need Namibia or Papua New Guinea to lose, regardless of the Canada vs. Afghanistan result, in order to have a chance at qualifying and even then it would come down to net run rate. If PNG and Namibia both win and USA loses, regardless of the Afghanistan vs. Canada result, USA would most likely finish out of the top six.

DreamCricket.com’s live tournament coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, will continue based on internet availability on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. local time, 5:15 a.m. EST, with USA’s final match of the tournament against Nepal. First ball is scheduled for 10:45 a.m.

USA Cricket: Taylor takes third Man of Match award in win over Vanuatu U-19 at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 00:23:00 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 has a winning record for the first time during the tournament after completing a win by 42 runs on Duckworth Lewis Method over Vanuatu U-19 at Drummond Cricket Club on Saturday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Derry, Northern Ireland. Steven Taylor was named Man of the Match after top scoring in USA’s chase with 33 not out.

USA won the toss and sent Vanuatu in to bat in a match that was reduced to 32 overs after a four-hour delayed start due to persistent rain. Vanuatu’s innings struggled to get momentum but at the same time USA’s performance in the field lacked a ruthless killer instinct that should have been on display against the weakest opponent in the tournament.

Vanuatu captain Patrick Matautaava was the first to go, bowled by Mital Patel without scoring to make it 5 for 1. Worford Kalworai and Jaxies Samuel combined to put on 27 runs for the second wicket before Kalworai was caught at backward point for 16 off the bowling of Salman Ahmad.

Three more wickets fell in quick succession as Samuel was bowled by Hammad Shahid for 13, Nilin Nipiko caught behind off Shayan Abdulghani for 0 and Callum Blake LBW to Shahid for 1 to make it 54 for 5 in the 17th. Rather than put the hammer down to finish Vanuatu off, USA let them rebuild with a 30-run partnership between Jelany Chilia and Joseph Rasu which came to an end when Chilia tried to slog Pranay Suri out of the ground and got a top edge to Greg Sewdial in the circle for Vanuatu’s top score of 29.

Rasu and Ronald Tari produced a modest 20-run partnership together that was curtailed after Rasu was run out for 19 trying to steal a run off a misfield. Tari and Kendy Kenneth chipped in with another double-digit stand of 24 runs before Kenneth was caught behind on the final ball of the innings off the bowling of Jodhbir Singh and Vanuatu finished 128 for 8 in 32. Shahid returned USA’s best figures with 2 for 16 in seven overs.

Taylor and Cameron Mirza put on a half-century stand for the first wicket before Mirza was caught for 24 driving to mid off to give Blake one of the two wickets to fall. The other was taken by Matautaava when Singh fell for 15 chipping a catch to mid on.

Taylor did have a life on 13 when a straightforward chance was grassed at midwicket but from then on there were no hiccups as he used a very cautious approach to accumulate runs. Sewdial came in and scored a brisk 28 in 18 balls as USA reached 118 in 22 overs when the rains returned to end play still 11 runs short of the original target. According to Duckworth Lewis rules, the par score was 76 at the time play was stopped.

In the day’s other matches, PNG captain Christopher Kent scored 166 not out to upstage the 150 scored by Canada’s Nitish Kumar in the first innings as PNG won by 4 wickets. Nepal beat Ireland by 10 runs on D/L Method as Rahul Vishvakarma took four wickets to go past USA’s Patel for the tournament lead. Afghanistan beat Kenya by 9 wickets in a rain reduced game while Scotland became the first team to clinch a spot at the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia with a 40-run win over Namibia.

Scotland is currently top of the table at 6-1. Ireland and Nepal are both 5-2. USA is level with PNG at 4-3 but USA has a higher net run rate so is sitting at fourth. Namibia, Afghanistan and Canada are 3-4, Kenya is 2-5 while Vanuatu has officially been eliminated from contention for a top-six spot and is sitting at 0-7.

USA is scheduled to play Canada on Sunday at Bready Cricket Club’s second pitch. If USA beats Canada and Afghanistan loses to Vanuatu or Namibia loses to Ireland, USA will clinch a spot in the top six and along with it a berth at the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup in Australia. Once again, DreamCricket.com will provide live coverage of USA’s match against Canada, subject to internet availability, beginning at 10:15 a.m. local time, 5:15 a.m. EST. The match is scheduled for a 10:45 a.m. start, but rain is in the forecast throughout Sunday morning and af

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

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

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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By Peter Della Penna in Derry, Northern Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

USA Cricket: Patel claims 6 & a hat trick to lead USA U19 past Afghanistan U19 by 3 wickets at 2011 ICC U19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:37:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

Ball-by-Ball Commentary

USA U-19 medium pacer Mital Patel took six wickets and wrapped up the first innings with a hat trick to help lead USA to a three-wicket win over Afghanistan U-19 at The Hills CC on Monday afternoon at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Dublin, Ireland. Patel was named Man of the match after finishing with figures of 6 for 35 and is now the leading wicket taker in the tournament with 13.

USA won the toss and elected to field first and Afghanistan got off to a quick start with 22 runs in the first three overs. A steady rain began to come down after the third over finished but the umpires allowed play to continue and on the first ball of the fourth over, Patel struck for the first time on the day, getting Javed Ahmadi to edge behind for 8 to USA U-19 captain Greg Sewdial at first slip. Before the next batsman arrived at the crease, the umpires took the players off the field for a one hour 53 minute delay.

When play resumed, Patel finished the over by taking the wicket of the new batsman Shir Shirzi, also caught in the slips by Sewdial for a duck. Jodhbir Singh struck next, having Afsar Zazai caught by Cameron Mirza on the cover boundary for 11 to make it 47 for 3 in the 10th over.

Hammad Shahid had entered the attack in the fifth over and bowled a fantastic eight-over first spell, taking 2 for 12 with three maidens. His first wicket was that of Rahmat Sahaq for a duck in the 13th over before he removed opening batsman Hashmat Shaidi for 25, caught at point by Nair on the last ball of the 15th over to make it 60 for 5.

As was the case in USA’s matches against Ireland and Namibia, the opposition was allowed to regroup as Afghanistan middle order batsmen Nasir Ahmadzai and Najib Zadran led a mid-innings revival for their team. Zadran played a magnificent innings of 70 to dominate a 96-run sixth wicket stand with Ahmadzai. The left-hand batsman hit exactly 14 fours and 14 singles in an elegant display before falling to the off-spin of Abhijit Joshi, edging an attempted cut to wicketkeeper Steven Taylor.

With Zadran gone, Patel returned for a third spell and finished off the order. Mohib Paak drove a simple return catch back to Patel for 4 to make it 167 for 8 in the 38th over before Yamin Ahmadzai was bowled for 2 to end the 39th. Number 10 batsman Aftab Alam was caught slogging to Shahid at long on to start the 41st as Patel claimed USA U-19's first five-wicket haul since Gurpreet Sandhu took 5 for 7 against Bermuda U-19 in February.

Nasir Ahmadzai, on 47, crossed while the ball was in the air to get on strike for the next delivery. Ahmadzai also attempted to slog Patel out of the ground but skied a ball high over midwicket where Sewdial ran back to take an excellent catch, giving Patel his hat trick as Afghanistan was bowled out for 183 in 41.2 overs.

Image (right) - Mital Patel poses with the match ball after taking a hat trick and 6 for 35 in the field for USA U-19. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

Because the rain interruption took place after the match had started, the Duckworth Lewis calculation for USA’s target became 183 in 46 overs instead of 184. Mirza opened with Taylor, who continued his red hot form by blazing 49 in 43 balls with six fours and three sixes. He got out attempting to flick a single against the turn through midwicket while facing the off spin of Zadran and sent a leading edge to Shirzi at cover who stumbled to the ground but managed to take a one-handed catch anyway to stun Taylor and make the score 73 for 1 in the 15th over.

From there, USA’s scoring rate dropped rapidly as Afghanistan’s captain Shirzi applied tight fields to put pressure on USA. Shirzi moved himself into silly point in the 23rd over and two balls later Joshi tapped a catch straight to him off left arm spinner Abdul Naseri to leave for 10. Shirzi then remained there for Naseri or at short leg for the off spin of Ahmadi for the majority of the rest of the innings.

Mirza departed LBW for 37 in the 32nd over playing back to a full length ball from Ahmadi and Amarnauth Persaud, batting with a runner, lasted only three balls before he edged Ahmadi behind to the keeper Zazai for his second duck of the tournament to make it 128 for 4 in the 32nd.

Sewdial tried to alleviate the mounting pressure with a brief counterattack to notch 28. One ball after hitting his fifth boundary through the covers, he went for another big drive and missed while dragging his back foot out of the crease to allow Zazai time to flick off the bails for a stumping and Ahmadi had his third to make it 149 for 5 in the 36th. Pranay Suri was run out for the second time in three games two overs later for 7 and Shahid got out LBW for 4 to a yorker from Yamin Ahmadzai as USA was teetering at 169 for 7, 14 short of victory.

Afghanistan’s bowling unit lost their nerve though, bowling a series of wides down the stretch, finishing with 21 in all which cost them very badly in the final result. Singh and Salman Ahmad patiently crept their way to the target until Singh cracked a four over mid off on the final ball of the 45th to clinch the second win of the tournament for USA while handing Afghanistan their third loss.

In the other matches of the day, Nikhil Dutta’s century for Canada was not enough as they lost by three wickets to Namibia. Duncan Allan hit his second century of the tournament for Kenya but like Dutta his came in a losing cause as Ireland won by two wickets. Scotland defeated Papua New Guinea by two wickets in a 33-over match. In the only match of the day that didn’t go to the wire, Nepal beat Vanuatu by 159 runs.

After the conclusion of the first week of matches in Dublin, four teams are tied at the top with 3-1 records – Nepal, Namibia, Scotland and Ireland. Canada, USA and Kenya are tied for fifth at 2-2 with USA sixth on net run rate. Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea are 1-3 while Vanuatu remains winless.

Tuesday is a travel day for all teams as the tournament shifts to Londonderry in Northern Ireland. USA’s next match is against Scotland on Wednesday at Eglinton. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by New Inning Foundation, begins at 10 a.m., 5 a.m. EST in the USA, with the match starting 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: PNG U-19 overcomes Taylor century to beat USA U-19 by 6 runs at 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier

openingbat — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 01:28:00 GMT

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

By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

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

USA U-19 opening batsman Steven Taylor scored a record-breaking 140, but it wasn’t enough as Papua New Guinea U-19 held their nerve to win by 6 runs in a rain reduced game at Leinster CC on Friday at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Dublin, Ireland. Taylor broke Cameron Mirza’s USA U-19 single game record score of 118 not out to be named Man of the Match in a losing cause.

“It was an awesome game of cricket and it was nice for us to come out with a win,” said Papua New Guinea U-19 head coach Andy Bichel. “Let’s not forget Steven Taylor’s innings, an amazing innings really. He hit the ball with power. I think he’s still only 17 so he’s got a bright future if he can keep everything together but he’s got the right things about his game at the moment and who knows down the track where he could end up if he does so.”

Image (above) - Steven Taylor set a new USA U-19 record for a single innings for scoring 140 vs. PNG U-19 at Leinster Cricket Club in Dublin, Ireland on Friday afternoon. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

USA won the toss and elected to field first in a game that was reduced to 43 overs. The start was delayed two hours and 15 minutes due to persistent morning rain. PNG openers Lega Siaka and Charles Amini put USA on the back foot right from the first ball with a 135-run partnership. The two players made a habit of dispatching anything loose to the boundary while their running between the wickets put USA’s fielders under immense pressure as they routinely stole singles inside the circle. For balls hit through the inner ring, Siaka and Amini hustled to turn singles into twos and twos into threes.

The stand was finally broken when Amini tried to turn another single into two but failed to get a response from Siaka. A relay from the midwicket boundary by Mirza was sent to Jodhbir Singh at the non-striker’s end where he fired a direct hit to the keeper’s end to have Amini out for 44. Siaka departed seven runs later at the start of the 25th over when he skied a flighted delivery from left-arm spinner Shayan Abdulghani to Hammad Shahid at mid on where he was caught for 73.

Mital Patel took the first of his four wickets after coming on for his second spell of medium pace bowling, getting number four batsman Sese Bau caught at point by Pranay Suri for 11 to make it 173 for 3 in the 31st over. USA could have put PNG under heavy pressure in the next over when PNG U-19 captain Chris Kent, on 19 at the time, was stranded halfway down the wicket after a mixup with the new man in Ratu Maha, but the throw to the stumps was wild and he was allowed to continue. Kent and Maha then produced a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket to regain control of the innings.

Kent reached his 50 in 52 balls, doing a superb job of farming the strike to keep the run rate going strong while Maha gave him steady support. The partnership was finally broken when Maha was caught slogging to long on for 21 where Singh completed a catch to give Patel his second wicket making it 235 for 4 in the 40th over. Patel struck twice more in the 42nd as Kent flicked to Ahmad at midwicket to depart for 60 before Toua Tom gave Singh his second catch on the boundary to go for 9. PNG added seven runs in the 43rd and final over to finish at 262 for 6. A day after conceding seven extras against Ireland, USA gave up 37 extras while spending seven fewer overs in the field against PNG in a very sloppy performance that also included an overthrow which went to the rope for four runs.

PNG opening bowler Raymond Haoda put USA into a deep hole early in the chase by taking three wickets in his first spell. Mirza edged to second slip without scoring for the second day in a row while Amarnauth Persaud was out LBW two balls later to make it 12 for 2 in the third over. Greg Sewdial came in and was dropped on 8 at third slip off Haoda in the fifth over but could only add 7 more runs to his score before edging to Maha at gully in the ninth and the score became 46 for 3.

“Raymond’s someone we’ve invested in. He showed signs in the Under-19 World Cup that he had potential to be a player of the future,” said Bichel about Haoda, who took 15 wickets at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup to lead all bowlers at the event in New Zealand, including Australia’s Josh Hazlewood who tied for second with 13. “He’s been in Australia pretty much on a scholarship out there with the Queensland Bulls. He’s been training in and around that squad and in their gym and he played Grade cricket in Brisbane last year. So he’s spent a bit of time away. He’s learned a few things and he’s improving. He’s an exciting young talent for us.”

As wickets were tumbling at one end, Taylor was finding his groove at the other. Taylor gave a half chance slicing a ball to point on 9 as the fielder got one hand to a diving effort, but from there the USA U-19 wicketkeeper settled down and focused on building a devastating innings. He continuously peppered the off side boundary, regardless of how many fielders were stacked there to seal off runs, by hitting through and over the infield. He reached his 50 in 40 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

Taylor produced a 51 run stand with Abhijit Joshi for the fourth wicket before Joshi chipped a leg stump half volley straight to Siaka at midwicket off the bowling of medium pacer Alei Nao for 9 just four deliveries after he’d been let off when he hit an Amini full toss that was dropped at mid on. Two overs later, Taylor should have been out for 64 with the score on 101 for 4 when he edged a wide delivery from Nao straight to wicketkeeper Dogodo Bau who spilled a simple chance.

Singh had just arrived at the crease and teamed up with Taylor to make PNG pay for the mistake by forging USA’s highest partnership of the innings, 62 runs for the fifth wicket. The pair took apart the leg-spin served up by Amini and Kent for a series of boundaries as PNG struggled to cope with the big hitting of each player. Kent finally got rid of Singh after he top edged a full toss to the midwicket boundary for 21 to make it 159 for 5 in the 27th over. Two balls later, Taylor clipped a full delivery through the on side to bring up his 100 in 87 balls with 14 fours and two sixes.

In an attempt to keep the scoring tempo high, Suri was run out for 1 attempting to come back for a second run to keep Taylor on strike after the opener drove a delivery from Kent straight down the ground. USA’s poor running between the wickets bit them again two overs later when Salman Ahmad pushed a full delivery from Haoda, back for a third spell, into the covers and stayed put while Taylor ran for what appeared to be a clear single. Both men wound up at the keeper’s end before Ahmad left his crease to sacrifice himself just before the ball was tossed from Amini to Haoda at the non striker’s end and USA fell to 192 for 7.

As long as Taylor was at the crease, USA seemed destined for victory, but the south Florida product finally fell for 140 when he drove a wide delivery in the air to Amini on the cover boundary off the bowling of Nao to make it 207 for 8 in the 36th over. Six balls later, Abdulghani edged medium pacer Norman Vanua behind to the keeper Bau and the match looked safely in PNG’s hands at 209 for 9.

However, Patel came in at number 11 and battled hard with Shahid to keep hope alive for USA as the batting power play was taken at the start of the 38th over. The last wicket pair produced 35 runs through the next four overs with each man taking some meaty swings to clear the ropes. Shahid hit a four and two sixes while Patel struck two boundaries and one maximum to leave USA entering the final over with nine to win. Shahid was on strike at 21 not out and Patel off strike on 20.

Shahid hit the first ball straight down the ground as Patel hared back for two just ahead of the throw from the boundary. On the second delivery of the over, Shahid skipped down the track to meet a knee high full toss which he drove powerfully in the air wide of long on, but he didn’t get under it quite enough as Sese Bau covered 20 yards running to his left before sliding to take a matchwinning catch two yards in from the rope. Shahid slumped onto his knees while the entire PNG squad sprinted out to the rope to pile on top of Bau. Shahid’s 23 at number nine was USA’s second highest score off the bat behind Taylor with PNG also contributing 25 extras to the total.

“I think there’s a bit of spirit that comes through you’ve just probably seen there at the end of the match,” said Bichel. “PNG’s got that unique spirit. They’re great to watch. They play in the right vein as well. They’re just out there trying to enjoy every moment and I just think that probably in the end that might be the difference. I think any team that I’ve played in, that team spirit, team passion, wanting to do it for each other, if you can have that it is special. I think PNG, the country itself, the way they play their game of cricket at senior level and also at Under-19 level, they have that so it is special and that’s one little advantage for them moving forward.”

Image (above) - Raymond Haoda (second from right) howls in delight as his teammates mob Sese Bau who took the winning catch on the boundary to give PNG U-19 the win. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket.com]

In the day’s other matches, Namibia made it two for two with a six-wicket win over Vanuatu, Ireland scraped a four-run win against Afghanistan to stay perfect as well, Kenya remained undefeated with a 15-run win over Canada while Scotland notched their first win after defeating Nepal by 57 runs. Scotland, Nepal, PNG and Canada are all 1-1 while Vanuatu, Afghanistan and USA are still winless after the first two days.

Saturday is an off day for all teams before play resumes Sunday with USA U-19 set to take on Namibia U-19 at North County. DreamCricket.com’s live coverage, made possible in part by New Innings Foundation, will commence at 10 a.m. local time, 5 a.m. EST in the USA with the match scheduled for a 10:45 a.m. start.

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

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

By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Peter Della Penna in Dublin, Ireland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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