USA Cricketer : new jersey cricket

NJ Cricket: Amwell Valley CC to host open day on its new turf wicket

openingbat — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:40:00 GMT

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Hillsborough, NJ— 26 June, 2012 [AVCC Media Release]

The Amwell Valley Cricket Club (AVCC) will host an Open Day on Sunday, July 1, from 10 a.m. to noon on its club grounds at the Hillsborough Golf and Country Club. Adults and children of all ages are invited to come learn all about cricket through hands-on tutorials followed by a fun game. Our Open Days are free to the public, and beverages will be provided. All are welcome to join the fun.

Picture Courtesy AVCC: AVCC's club grounds are the first in NJ to feature a natural turf wicket.

“Don’t worry if you’ve never picked up a cricket bat before,” says AVCC President Alan George. “We’ll provide you with equipment and explain everything you need to know. Our Open Days are a great way for families and kids to discover the wonderful game of cricket.”

Cricket is one of the most widely played and watched sports in the world, with close to a billion followers.

Open Day is an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about this popular sport, which is now growing in the United States through the initiatives of groups like the AVCC.

The AVCC grounds are located at Hillsborough Golf and Country Club, 146 Wertsville Road, Hillsborough, New Jersey 08844. Once at the country club, simply follow the AVCC signs to the cricket grounds.

The Amwell Valley Cricket Club seeks to provide a safe and fun environment for adults and children to learn about and play cricket, and to promote and support the growth of youth Cricket in America. The club always welcomes new members.

For more information on the club, please visit amwellvalleycricket.com

USA Cricket: Dallas area official disappointed with handling of Twenty20 tournament decision

openingbat — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:26:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

An official involved with Dallas area cricket is unhappy with the decision to remove the USACA Twenty20 Nationals from the Central West, disputing the statement made on Wednesday by USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed that it had to do with an inability to finalize a budget.

“It may have to do with the budget as far as USACA is concerned, but not from the Central West,” said the official on Thursday afternoon, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If they had a problem with the budget, if it was too much or whatever, that wasn’t communicated to us. So I’m surprised to learn it’s a budget issue.”

“To say that this is a Central West budgetary issue is wrong. It’s a USACA budgetary issue. You’ve got to spend money regardless of where you hold it. So I’m really curious to know how much they are spending for the tournament in New Jersey now.”

The official said that the first time he learned that the tournament was moved from Dallas to New Jersey was after it was reported through this web site. No one from USACA communicated it and the last time any information was communicated by USACA to officials in Dallas was more than a week ago.

However, the biggest issue according to the official is the fact that this decision has fractured relationships at the local level in Dallas between the cricket officials and local government, businesses, potential sponsors and media.

Image (right) - A layout of Russell Creek Park in Plano, Texas. All four matches could have taken place at the same ground in Plano whereas matches in New Jersey will most likely be played at three or four separate facilities.

“I’ve burnt a lot of bridges,” said the official. “I had excellent relationships with a lot of people in Plano. Tomorrow, we still have to conduct our league’s games here and tomorrow if I need to go to the city for any infrastructure improvement, they’ll say, ‘Hey, you know what? You’re a joker. You said the national tournament was coming here. Nothing came here. This game is never ever gonna grow. I’m actually going to cut you from two grounds to one ground.’ Then what am I gonna do? That is the real problem.”

“It was such a waste of a whole lot of people’s time, including the city of Plano. We had many meetings with them to convince them on how this is really gonna take off and help this city.”

The official says that more than 70 rooms were blocked off at an area hotel for teams to use during the tournament, but the hotel management became increasingly agitated as they had not yet received a deposit from USACA and as such they would not be willing to continue to reserve the rooms.

“The hotel wanted at least the first night’s pay because they were turning away every other customer,” said the official. “We had booked this for two or three weeks while negotiations with USACA were going on. USACA said they would pay. They said they had written to Dainty and they were waiting on his approval. Then no word came… there was absolutely no response from Manaf or John Thickett or Dainty.”

“I feel bad. I burnt my bridges with some of the people, with the hotel guy because he held on for two or three weeks without giving rooms to anybody. I can’t compensate for his lack of revenue now.”

Plans had also been put in place with the city of Plano to make improvements to the cricket facilities at Russell Creek Park before the start of the tournament, but they could not start work until they received a 100% confirmation from USACA to stage the tournament.

“We had four grounds all in a single facility in Russell Creek Park. I had spoken to the city to get the [astroturf wickets] replaced and everything, get it spruced up for the national tournament. They agreed to do it,” said the official. “We talked to the contractors. We had started project managing that and we had to start pulling back everything because everybody was waiting on some advance deposit payment. The physical work to start the relaying of the pitches fortunately did not start because we would have been in a financial hole.”

“Cricket in general would have benefitted,” said the official. “All of that has fallen flat on its face.”

USA Cricket: Atlantic Region holds first Annual General Meeting.

openingbat — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:25:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Comments

[Under Section 18 of Article XX of the USACA Constitution, a Regional General Meeting must be held annually in each region to discuss matters germane to the operation of the region.]

The Atlantic Region Cricket Board held its first Annual General Meeting on Sunday at the DreamCricket Pavilion Indoor Nets in Hillsborough, N.J., to discuss the region’s state of affairs. The meeting was attended by 25 people, including representatives from Millennium Cricket League, Cricket League of New Jersey, Garden State Cricket League and Indoor Cricket USA.

Pic (Right): Shelton Glasgow, Regional Representative of Atlantic Region (middle) welcomes the attendees. Also in the picture - GSCL VP Colin Edwards (left) and Pradeep Vedala (right).

Shelton Glasgow, the regional representative on the USACA board of directors, moderated the meeting. Reports were given on the improvements and accomplishments for each league as well as the status of the region’s youth and women’s development programs. Coaching and umpiring development programs were also discussed.

While no financial report was given by the regional treasurer, who was absent due to a work related emergency, Glasgow informed everyone that like USACA - the parent organization, the region is also suffering from financial problems. As a result, the region is unable to finance these programs with the proper amount of money they need to run effectively.

The attendees were informed that a Planning Committee was recently formed under the leadership of Sheldon Mollineau. Similarly, Venu Palaparthi has been tasked with drafting a fundraising plan for the region and Colin Edwards will lead a committee that is expected to draft a regional operating guidelines document.

Colin Edwards, vice president of the GSCL, called for all leagues to develop and play a regular inter-league tournament. He feels that the region’s selection process (for the senior men's team) suffers for national tournaments because the region’s six leagues do not play in a competition against each other. An inter-league tournament would make it helpful for selectors to judge who the best players are rather than base the selection on one or two days of hurriedly convened trials.

Pic (Left): Attendees at the ARCB Regional Meeting

A large amount of the time spent during the three-hour meeting was used to discuss youth development. Venu Palaparthi, CLNJ's league representative on the ARCB and co-founder of DreamCricket Academy, announced his Academy's intention to start a youth league with a minimum of four teams in 2011.

Palaparthi called on the other senior leagues to support this endeavor by making some of their grounds available. He declared that there have been enough kids available to form such a league for some time, but the last hurdle to clear is getting a ground to use.

Due to the overall shortage of grounds, senior leagues and teams have faced difficulties with offering their own grounds for youth cricket. But the tide is turning and two clubs have consented to share their permits beginning 2011. Palaparthi also urged the attendees to emulate the efforts of USYCA - an unaffiliated organization that has done stellar work at the school level within the Atlantic Region introducing the sport to over 75 schools in Maryland alone. School outreach was important for promoting the sport and DreamCricket has donated 75 cricket kits in support of the Maryland initiative and will gladly support such efforts elsewhere in the region, he noted.

Lalta Persaud, founder of Indoor Cricket USA, also drew attention to his facility and academy. He runs an indoor cricket league during the winter which allows for players to get year-round match practice. The style of the league also rewards players for orthodox cricket batting techniques to ensure that young players are developing their games the right way. It was also noted that Muhammad Ghous, Henry Wardley and Yash Shah all spend their time training at Indoor Cricket USA and each went on to represent the country at the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Ghous also successfully graduated to the USA senior team.

Ashok Patel, founder of the USA Cricket Academy, also called on everyone to recognize his accomplishments in providing opportunities for youth both in the region and on a national level. His tours gave players a chance to develop and make it to the 2006 U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Patel is currently planning a Caribbean tour for the region's junior cricketers. Tony Thandi spoke about his organization, the newly formed Amwell Valley CC, which has its ground and practice facility at the scenic Hillsborough Golf and Country Club. The club has attracted roughly 20 children who are new to the game.

Pic (Right): Attendees at the ARCB Regional General Meeting

While there were plenty of accomplishments to make note of on the youth level, it was also noted by the attendees that there is not a functional youth program in place. The only time a true regional collaboration is made for youth cricket is when a team is picked for the U-15 and U-19 national tournaments. Otherwise, youth cricket has stagnated. It is hoped that with the forum that took place on Sunday, the dialogue will motivate regional administrators to get a true regional program started rather than just a couple of projects. Glasgow observed that the region had its work cut out.

Glasgow also expressed his desire for an improvement in coaching and umpiring. A WICB Level I coaching course was organized in 2009 for the region and he expressed that he intends to organize more coaching courses in the future.

Gokul Chakravarthy, secretary of the USA Cricket Umpires Association, noted that while many players and leagues complain about the state of umpiring, an umpiring course was organized in the region in 2010 and only six people attended. Things cannot change unless more people are dedicated and willing to step up to take umpiring seriously.

The meeting ended with input from just about all of the 25 people present. People are hopeful that action will be taken by the region to put some of the suggestions that came up during the meeting in place rather than let them fade away and be forgotten.

Radiant Info T20 Cricket 2010: Schedule and Groups Finalized

openingbat — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:15:00 GMT

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The groups and match schedule for the Radiant Info T20 2010 tournament organized by DreamCricket.com are as follows -

VENUE

The games will be held at the cricket fields at Watsessing Park, Bloomfield, New Jersey. Watsessing #1 is the cricket field that has a baseball diamond adjoining the perimeter. Watsessing #2 is the one that is farther away. [Directions below]

GROUPS

Group A:

Global NJ Daredevils
Gentlemen of Philadelphia
New England Pioneers

Group B:

Bedessee New York Destroyers
Atlantic All-Stars
Washington Senators

SCHEDULE

Saturday - SEPT 4, 2010

Orientation: All teams must be present by 9:30AM for a briefing. Ceremonial first pitch at 10AM.

Saturday: 10:00AM - Group Stage
Watsessing #1: Global NJ Daredevils vs Gentlemen of Philadelphia
Watsessing #2: Bedessee NY Destroyers vs Atlantic All-Stars

Saturday: 2:30PM - Group Stage
Watsessing #1: Bedessee NY Destroyers vs Washington Senators
Watsessing #2: New England Pioneers vs Gentlemen of Philadelphia

Sunday - SEPT 5, 2010

Sunday: 10:00AM - Group Stage
Watsessing #1: Atlantic All-Stars vs Washington Senators
Watsessing #2: NJ Daredevils vs New England Pioneers

[2PM: Announcement of A1 and A2 as well as B1 and B2 for Semis]

Sunday: 2:30 PM - Semi Finals

Watsessing #1: A1 vs B2
Watsessing #2: A2 vs B1

Monday - SEPT 6, 2010

FINAL at 2PM at Watsessing #2 on September 6, 2010

[The final will have a 20 minute break for half-time entertainment]

DIRECTIONS

By car: The grounds are less than five minutes from Exit 148 (either north-bound or south-bound) on Garden State Parkway. For point to point directions, please click here.

By train: The grounds are less than a five minute walk from Bloomfield Ave stop on the Montclair-Boonton Line. Click here for train schedule. See below for a map of the area.

Radiant Info T20 Cricket 2010 - Global New Jersey Daredevils packs a 1-2 punch

openingbat — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:10:00 GMT

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Radiant Info T20 Cricket 2010 - Global New Jersey Daredevils packs a 1-2 punch

In two previous editions of the DreamCricket.com organized Radiant Info T20, two New Jersey teams managed to reach the semi-finals. In 2009, the NJ Daredevils fell to the eventual champions New York in the semis. Global Challengers, the other NJ team, went all the way to their second consecutive finals before losing to New York. For 2010, the two have decided to join hands to build one formidable team captained by West Indies Test cricketer and former Guyana captain Neil McGarrell.

McGarrell told DreamCricket.com on the sidelines of last month's National U-15 tournament that after two successive runner-up performances in the Radiant Info T20, he is hungry to win the title for New Jersey.

Neil McGarrell came close to lifting the trophy in 2008 and 2009

Global Data Management Corporation, which has stood behind the Challengers acted as a catalyst for the merger of the two sides. "Siddharth Mehta and I, we went back to the drawing board with the aim of pulling together a top-shelf team for New Jersey," Jaideep Reddy, promoter of Global Data and Manager of the newly christened Global NJ Daredevils told DreamCricket.com adding, "this team is packed with USA and international talent that is capable of beating the best."

Here is a sneak preview of the Global NJ Daredevils outfit.

Neil McGarrell (38): To those that follow cricket in New Jersey, Neil McGarrell needs no introduction. A resident of New Jersey, McGarrell plays for GWIA in the Garden State Cricket League and for Global Challengers in the Millennium Cricket League.

Making his international debut in 2001, McGarrell played 4 Tests and 17 ODIs for West Indies. In 2003, McGarrell was named captain of Guyana and last played for Guyana in the 2008 Stanford 20/20 semi-final against Jamaica, which his side lost by 1 run in a close contest. Although he is better known for his exploits as a bowler with 276 first class wickets, he is an equally proficient batsman and featured in several match winning knocks for his side. In a 2007 List A match for Guyana against T&T, McGarrell scored 51* off 39 balls with three fours and a six. At 38, Neil remains formidable and is on the leaderboard in both bowling and batting departments in both the leagues he plays. Last month, he scored a century playing for GWIA against East Orange CC.

Siddharth Mehta (27): Atlantic Region cricketer Siddharth Mehta is a left-handed opening batsman and is a chinaman bowler as well. Having trained at the Kiran More Cricket Academy in Baroda, this cricket prodigy moved to the US when he was 18. He has won multiple individual awards in the bowling and batting categories and some of his personal milestones include hitting 200 in a 40-over game and scoring an unbeaten 144 against the Jamaican national team. He is known for his big-match temperament and has always stored his best for the key matches .

Sid has led teams to a championship in MCL, CLNJ, GSCL or WCL leagues every year since 2004 – a noteworthy accomplishment by any standards.

Jermaine Lawson (28): Lawson is a West Indies fast bowler capable of unleashing the ball at 150 KmH (that is 93 miles per hour). Lawson has so far played 13 Tests and 13 ODIs for West Indies in an explosive international career that has been curtailed by illness and injury.

His 51 Test wickets include an incredible 6 wickets for 3 runs against Bangladesh and a career best tally of 7 for 78 including a hat-trick against Australia. In 2008, he was signed by the English county of Leicestershire as a Kolpak bowler. In 2010, Jermaine joined the Montego Bay Cricket Club in the Garden State Cricket League where he figures among the top bowlers.

Jermaine Lawson bowls to Rahul Dravid (File Photo)

Kumar Nandalal (26): This specialist left-arm spinner formed a potent spinning duo with Neil McGarrell in the last two editions of the Radiant Info T20 to create one of the best spinning attacks in the tournament. His variations in flight and loop and the deadly arm-ball have baffled way too many batsmen and he is gearing up to put on a beguiling show in the art of spin bowling. An Atlantic Region player, Kumar was called for USA last year but has since been sidelined due to injury.

Deepak Gopinath (24): Deepak is the NJ Sluggers batsman who is getting a lot of attention in his first season in New Jersey - he has so far scored 520 runs in 13 appearances at an average approaching 50. Although a newcomer to NJ, Deepak is no stranger to representative cricket having represented Tamil Nadu at U-16 and U-19 levels in India before taking time off for higher studies. After finishing his MS from CCNY, Deepak has now padded up again for his second innings in USA and is sure to make a strong claim in the forthcoming trials to join the Atlantic Region squad.

Aditya Mishra (28): Aditya is a first class cricketer who was the opening batsman for the Karnataka Ranji Trophy team for the season 2001-2002. He also represented Karnataka in U-22 and U-19 categories. He is a gifted opening batsman with compact technique and aggressive batting style that makes him a treat to watch when on song. He plays for Atlantic Region in USA, for the traveling team DreamCricket Fooglies, and after a prolonged wait, he earned a call-up for USA this year.

He represents Gymkhana Cricket Club in the CLNJ cricket league for whom he has consistently been the highest run scorer.

Kiran Patel (27): A former Gujarat U-19 cricketer, Kiran is an explosive top-order batsman who bowls left arm chinaman. Rejoining the cricket scene upon finishing graduate school in USA, Kiran was quick to attention of selectors for his performances playing for Montego Bay in GSCL gaining him a spot in the Atlantic Region squad.

A more complete roster including the names of the two under-19 players will be released on Monday.

Mirza hits 95 in Essex Cricket League debut

openingbat — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:47:00 GMT

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New Jersey's Cameron Mirza hit a superb 95 on debut for Brentwood CC 2nds in Essex Cricket League's Shepherd Neame 2nd XI Premier League match against Chelmsford on Saturday 3rd July.

A feature of his innings was crisp driving and cutting as the 16 year-old eventually passed his 50 with a high pull into the leg side. As he started to play increasingly expansively and with a maiden 100 just a boundary away, he took on a throw from the boundary when returning for a second run but the ball made a direct hit leaving him a few inches short of his ground.

It was a tragic way to end a well-crafted and mature innings but he received raptuous applause from his new team mates as he exited the field.

"It was a great experience", Mirza said. "I am so happy to just get a good score in my first outing and although I struggled at first it was a wonderful experience to open and try to bat through the innings. It is a dream for me to even be in England playing cricket so just having this chance is amazing. With seven overs still to go a hundred would have been very special but it was not to be this time. I am in the UK until the beginning of September and aims to gain as much experience as possible on turf pitches."

Mid-table Brentwood made 263 but leaders Chelmsford eased past the total with 5 wickets and 5 overs to spare.

Mirza is mentored and coached by Ian Pont, an ECB Level III coach who is always on the lookout for talented cricketers at his camps. Mirza trained with Pont at MCI in England and at the DreamCricket Academy in Hillsborough, NJ.

As reported earlier, USA U-19 cricketer Abhijit Joshi has been in fine form in the Gloucestershire Cricket League. On July 4th, Joshi scored 51 (10 fours) for his team - Painswick CC 1st XI, in their quarter final match against Burton Vale CC. So far, Joshi has averaged 47.62 in his 14 innings including four 50's and a century.

GSCL dominates MCL to wrap up three-team New Jersey interleague event

openingbat — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:50:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

USA player Muhammad Ghous top-scored with 49 playing for a Garden State Cricket League XI as the GSCL defeated a Millennium Cricket League XI by seven wickets in a Twenty20 interleague event on Sunday afternoon at Watsessing Park in Bloomfield, NJ. MCL posted 140 for 7 in their 20 overs before GSCL passed the target in 15.4 overs. Ghous continued a good run of batting form after scoring his maiden club century a week earlier for Guyanese West Indian Association CC in the GSCL.

“With my little brother, I just play in my back yard,” said Ghous after the match when asked what he’s been doing recently to help improve his batting. “I have a big long driveway so to improve my batting, he just tapes up the tennis balls and just throws at me for like half an hour or an hour.”

Pic (Left): File photo of Asad Ghous from last year's U-19 tournament.

MCL won the toss and batted first on an extremely hot Independence Day in northern New Jersey. Chintan Modi from Indians CC top scored with 39 for MCL opening the innings, but wickets fell at regular intervals as MCL struggled to put on any good partnerships.

Sean Stanislaus of GWIA CC opened the bowling for GSCL and took 1 for 13 in four overs. He was well supported by the young Suhas Ravish of Sayreville Gladiators, who took 3 for 17 in an impressive four over spell of leg-spin bowling. His figures would have been even better had a chance offered by Modi been taken on the midwicket boundary instead of being parried over the line for a six. Ravish later exacted revenge when he clean bowled Modi on the first ball after the drinks break to regain control for GSCL and they never let up.

MCL had a brief glimpse of hope shortly after taking the field when Ahmer Iqbal of Jersey Cavaliers clean bowled Eugene Hudson on the second ball of GSCL’s chase. However, Stanislaus was then joined by Ghous and the two put on 77 runs for the second wicket in 7.4 overs. Stanislaus capped a solid all-round display with 39 before he finally departed to the off-spin of MCL captain Kashif Syed Ahmed from East Coast Titans. Ahmed had the best figures for any MCL bowler with 1 for 27 in four overs. MCL’s bowlers struggled for accuracy as they conceded 21 wides in the match.

“Our bowlers didn’t do well and they played very well in the beginning so I gotta give it to Garden State,” said Ahmed after the match. “Overall, we’re very happy with our performance. We’re all very happy to be a part of this. We all actually have learned something, have learned how to play together because none of us really played together before so that was a very good experience, a lot of good talented players and hopefully they’ll keep working hard and getting better.”

GSCL captain Roy Bryan of Wanderers CC joined Ghous after the dismissal of Stanislaus and the two added 66 for the third wicket as GSCL continued to cruise. Ghous scored his 49 in 37 balls with three fours and a majestic six over extra cover that was the shot of the day. Ghous was cruelly denied a half-century when he was clean bowled on a slower ball on the last delivery of the 15th over by Noman Iftikhar, regarded by his teammates as one of the fastest bowlers in New Jersey. GSCL passed the target in the next over to finish the match.

“It was a good game,” said Bryan. “When they made 140 I know it was a good position because I know we had the batting.”

Earlier in the day, MCL defeated a New Jersey Cricket Association XI by 55 runs. MCL posted 188 for 1 batting first as Modi scored 50 not out with seven fours while Ahmed blasted his way to 78 with six boundaries and five sixes. Ahmed then took 3 for 13 in two overs as NJCA never threatened. Moneshwar Rajaram of Tropical CC top-scored for NJCA with 41 but got no support from the rest of the lineup as NJCA finished 133 for 8 at the end of their 20 overs.

DreamCricket's Winter Cricket Tournament a Big Hit

gchakravarthy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:44:00 GMT

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After the 1st weekend of DreamCricket’s inaugural Winter Cricket Tournament 2010, the teams assembled again at the Hillsborough, NJ indoor facility for what became affectionately referred to as cricket’s version of “Super Saturday”.

The events of the evening got underway at 6:45PM when Derby (the top team to emerge out of Group “A”) faced off against the Dream Runners (The 2nd place team from “Group B”, who barely scraped through to the Semi Finals with one win after ending their first match with a negative score. Derby won the toss and bowled first. Dream Runners’ first batting pair of Rushi Amin and Lalit got their team off to a good start and the next pairs also chipped in with useful contributions to muster 23 runs in 6 overs. This is a score that, in the 6-over Indoor cricket world, would be considered ‘something that the bowlers could bowl at’.

Derby started cautiously, but once they lost their first wicket, the burden of a negative score started weighing each of their pairs down progressively and the proverbial floodgates blasted open. Dream Runners added to their misery with some brilliant fielding and tight bowling that ensured that they were the first entrants into the Final.

The next match started as scheduled at 7:30PM. This one, between the favorites, Woodlot from Group “B”, and the Desi Warriors from Group “A”, started with Desi Warriors scoring their highest total, the 2nd defendable total of the day, 26. They must have started that defense with one eye firmly set on the Final. But one over where a Desi Warrior was no-balled for a back foot ‘No Ball’ 4 times and gave away few more 2s saw Woodlot miraculously pull of a victory and entered the Finals against Dream Runners. This is probably why they say ‘champion teams find a way to win’ or ‘winning is a habit’.

Photo (Left): Winners of the DreamCricket Winter Tournament, Woodlot

Woodlot proved that once more when they lost the toss to Dream Runners in the Finals and, with a meager total of just 14, still took crucial wickets at the right time and added pressure of the Dream Runners batting combinations. Dream Runners still entered the last over with 10 runs to go, but another wicket in that over pretty much sealed the tournament in Woodlot’s favor.

DreamCricket's Winter Tournament from Rushi Amin on Vimeo.

At the ensuing awards ceremony, Kranthi Bayya, CEO of DreamCricket, welcomed and thanked all gathered for making this tournament a success and announced that a few Winter Tournaments were in the works. Venu Myneni, CEO of Radiant Systems and a partner and advisor at DreamCricket presented the Winner’s trophy to Woodlot. The Winners also received a certificate for free practice hours at the vast 6000 sq. ft. facility at DreamCricket’s Hillsborough, NJ location. Ms. Bayya also awarded free practice hours to ALL the teams that participated in this inaugural tournament.

The captains of the teams assembled expressed their gratitude to DreamCricket for an opportunity to “…play some sport and get some exercise during the winter …” as Sriram from Woodlot put it. Dream Runners awarded their Runner Up trophy to Derby as a gesture of goodwill, gratitude and upheld the spirit of this sport that has been instrumental in its longevity.

For indoor cricket practice, go to
DreamCricket, 5 Jill Court, Bldg 14, Door 16, Hillsborough, NJ.

If you or someone you know would like to participate in future DreamCricket tournaments or events,

please contact:
frontfoot@dreamcricket.com for more information or
keep checking this page for updates on ore winter leagues and tournaments at DreamCricket.

Washington, D.C. tourney provides alternating current of fortunes

openingbat — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:12:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

The USACA Eastern Conference Tournament in Washington, D.C., which took place from July 17-19, threw up a wild mix of on field performances and off the field obstacles, combining the strange with the sublime over the course of the weekend.

Speaking on the occasion, Gladstone Dainty, the President of USACA, called the weekend a great success. “We had some good performances,” said Dainty. “We achieved our objectives and we got an opportunity to see a lot of good cricketers perform.”

Gladstone Dainty interview from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

New York Region was bowled out for 119 and lost by 5 wickets in their first match on Saturday, but came back to win their final two games by 9 wickets each to earn the tournament title. Steve Massiah, the captain of the New York Region and the US National Team, finished as the leading run scorer in the tournament with 151 runs in three innings while only getting out once.

“I must thank my teammates for the wonderful support over the last three days because we basically came from third place to number one and that’s a great accomplishment,” said Massiah after New York defeated the Atlantic Region on Sunday to win the title on run rate. New York got major contributions from several players including Glen Hall, who scored a century in the team’s victory over the Director’s XI on Saturday. On Sunday, Kevin Darlington won the Man of the Match award for his top order demolition of the Atlantic team, finishing with 3 for 16 as Atlantic was bowled out for 82. This followed up on his 4 for 35 against South East on Friday.

South East, who finished as the runner-up due to the tiebreaker of net run rate, even though they had the same record as New York and beat them on Friday, also had some brilliant performances. Captain Nasir “Charlie” Javed finished as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. Timroy Allen took both Man of the Match awards for each South East victory. On Friday against New York he took 4 for 28 and scored 13* to finish the match while on Sunday he took one wicket and finished 39* as part of a match-winning 88 run eighth wicket partnership with Anand Tummala in South East’s victory over Director’s XI by 2 wickets. Finishing second has left them hungry to come to Houston for the USACA National Championship in October gunning for the title.

“We learned a few lessons here as a team and as an individual I did learn a couple of lessons,” said Tummala, who finished with 3 wickets and 113 runs, including one half-century in the tourney. “I think cricket is a game which makes an individual make mistakes. The fewer mistakes you make, the better cricketer you are. So I’ll try and minimize the mistakes, what happened here. As a team I think we are gelling really well and I’m sure we will be a force to be reckoned with in Texas.”

Atlantic went from being 2-0 and in the driver’s seat to win the title on Sunday to a third place finish after the loss to New York. However, Gowkaran Roopnarine’s 70 in 79 balls against South East was one of the most scintillating innings of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Director’s XI squad gave an opportunity for some of the top youth players on the east coast to test themselves against some of the nation’s best. The team, comprised mostly of Under-19 players, put up some respectable efforts in the tournament against three teams that had at least 11 current or former players on the US National Team playing for the regional squads, including six for New York. This made 18-year old Azurdeen “Andy” Mohammed’s century against the New York squad on Saturday all the more impressive.

“I thought we’ve played against some pretty decent players but young Mohammed played a great innings yesterday,” said Massiah. “I mean for someone his age, and I mean we have a pretty experienced attack, and he batted brilliantly. I think his innings over the last three days stood out.”

It wasn’t all fun and games though. Before and during the tournament, there were definitely some issues which were a cause for concern.

First was the fact that the North East Region pulled out of the event only days before it was supposed to begin. According to an official from USACA, the North East Region couldn’t come up with a budget necessary to finance a team to send to Washington, D.C. As a result, the Director’s XI squad was pulled together at the last minute - an opportunity that the young boys utilized

The lunches for the first two days of the tournament were brought to the grounds more than an hour after the scheduled innings/lunch break for the matches. But according to the President Dainty, that didn’t mean the lunches were late. “The lunch was supposed to be at four o’clock. It got here around four o’clock. I don’t know that they had a set time for lunch.”

When pressed further as to why the lunches were scheduled to be ready from the caterers at 4 o’clock when 50 overs would be done at around 2:30 p.m. for each match, Dainty maintained his position. “I don’t know. I just brought the lunch when it’s supposed to be here. I don’t know. So what you’re saying there is news to me. We had a pretty good idea. We told the restaurant when we wanted it and I went and picked it up and that’s it.”

Most of the players were left frustrated with the circumstances, not to mention being out of energy. In the Atlantic vs. South East match on Saturday, the innings break started at 3 p.m. while lunch arrived at around 4:30. As a result, the first drinks break in the second innings lasted about 20-25 minutes so the players could eat, even though an official lunch break had already been taken in between innings.

South East was playing the tournament without the participation of any players from the Georgia Supreme Cricket League (GSCL) even though a team of the best players from the GSCL won the South East Region Inter-League tournament. It remains to be seen if a full strength side will be sent from the South East to the USACA National Championship in Houston.

The on field behavior of some of the teams was also questionable, with prolonged and intimidating appeals directed towards the umpires which did not go down well with several USACA representatives who were present. The nadir was the five run penalty awarded to South East to end the final match of the tournament against Director’s XI because of wicketkeeper Carl Monroe’s use of “obscene language” despite several warnings to stop, according to umpires Nelson Hutchinson and George Richards. But most people agreed it was not the way a match should be decided, including the players from South East.

“I’m sure the umpire must have given them a few warnings before he took the decision of penalizing them with five runs,” said Tummala. “That’s not the right way to decide the game, especially for a young team, but I’m sure the quality of umpiring, what we’ve had in the last few days has been exceptionally good… There must have been something really bad out there which forced the umpires to take this kind of decision. That’s not the right way, that’s not how this great game of cricket should be decided, but discipline, there has to be a barometer that has to be followed.”

The fan support got bigger over the course of the weekend, but overall, it was not very high. However, that was not really of an immediate concern to Dainty before the weekend began.

“To tell you the truth, our focus has really not been about turnout,” said Dainty. “It’s about presenting the players with an opportunity to play a higher level of cricket. In terms of the fans and marketing for fans, I have no way of calculating or predicting because that was not a focus in terms of putting this together. We want to have tournaments where very good players are competing against each other.”

However, by the end of the weekend, Dainty was very hopeful that when the overall quality of play rises in America, as it has been over the past year with the organization of more competitive tournaments, the fans will start to come.

“Well I think that good cricket, we need to have good cricket more frequently,” said Dainty during a separate interview at the conclusion of the tournament. “Cricket people are connoisseurs. They understand the game. They know the game. If you present them with an inferior product, it turns them off. But I think that over the past few days, the word was spreading.”

Hopefully, the word is spreading to Minneapolis. The USACA Western Conference Tournament will be featuring more of the best talent in the United States. The South West, North West, Central West and Central East will be competing with the top two finishers joining New York and South East in Houston this October. A good blend of youth and experience will be on hand, just as it was in Washington, D.C. Several stars will be in attendance from the U-19 and senior levels and by having the tournament in Minneapolis, USACA is hoping to spread the game and bring awareness to cricket outside of the major centers of the Western Conference like Chicago and Los Angeles.

The South West will feature Aditya Thyagarajan, who is a regular member of the US National Team, while the Central West has selected Ryan Corns in their squad. Corns was one of the stars of the U-19 National Tournament over Memorial Day weekend in Brooklyn, N.Y. and continued to showcase his dazzling all-round skills for Team USA’s U-19 squad at the ICC Americas U-19 Regional Qualifier in Toronto at the start of July.

The complete awards presentation ceremony of the USACA Eastern Conference Tournament 2009 from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

USA Cricket Eastern Conference: Bizarre final day sees New York win title

openingbat — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:26:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

New York Region demolished the undefeated Atlantic Region by 9 wickets, their second 9 wicket victory in a row, to become the USACA Eastern Conference tournament champions. South East Region finished second after defeating Director’s XI by 2 wickets in what was an extraordinary string of events on the final day’s play.

“Our main objective today was to win and win big,” said New York captain Steve Massiah. “I thought the guys rose to the occasion. Darlington was brilliant up front and was ably supported by everyone else. It was a total team effort. I must thank my teammates for the wonderful support over the last three days because we basically came from third place to number one and that’s a great accomplishment.”

The Atlantic Region won the toss against New York and elected to bat first at Chillum Park on a bright and sunny Sunday morning. However, things turned dark and gloomy immediately as Gowkaran Roopnarine played on to Kevin Darlington four balls into the match to make it 1/1.

Darlington and Massiah Post Match Interview vs. Atlantic from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

From there, the downward spiral was fast and furious. Siddharth Mehta came in next and was run out trying to pinch a single to square leg. Barrington Bartley threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end to see Mehta gone for 9 making it 15/2.

The score reached 23 when four more wickets fell for seven runs. Aditya Mishra was caught behind by Akeem Dodson off Darlington while Charan Singh lasted seven balls before driving Dennison Thomas to Glen Hall at cover for a duck. Claine Williams was Darlington’s third wicket, once again caught behind by Dodson for 6.

“My mindset was to bowl that good line and length, try to hit the top of off stump and let the ball do the rest,” said Darlington. “This wicket is a pretty placid one and there’s not much room for error. So I just tried to keep the ball close to the top of off stump and that did it for me today.”

Two balls later, Muhammad Yousuf tried to get off the mark with a quick single but was run out by Hall, swooping in from midwicket and firing a direct hit to the non-striker’s end for another bagel in the Atlantic runs column.

Kiran Patel was next as he was caught behind by Dodson off George Adams for 6 to make it 42/7. Atlantic then put on 24 runs for the eighth wicket, their biggest partnership of the innings, as Muhammad Asad Ghous and Durale Forest tried to breathe life into the innings. But New York continued to suffocate Atlantic and eventually Forest was bowled by the spin of Bartley for 22. Imran Awan struck back to back fours before being out next ball to Adams for 8 as he edged one to Dodson for the keeper’s fourth dismissal.

Adrian Gordon came in and hit a four to get off the mark, but the innings ended when Ghous chipped Bartley to Lennox Cush at midwicket for 12 as Atlantic was bowled out for 82 in 27.3 overs. Ghous and Forest were the only two to cross double figures but even Forest got help as he was bowled off a Thomas no-ball on eight, then bowled again on the free hit which followed.

New York made short work of the target. Glen Hall came out and smashed two fours and a six to get to 15 off six balls. On ball number seven, he received a neck high full toss that he tried pulling but dragged onto his stumps. However, neither umpire signaled no-ball and Hall had to go to make it 18/1.

Massiah then joined Dennis Evans and the two set about putting on a batting exhibition with some elegant strokeplay. The covers and fine leg were the favored areas, especially as Atlantic captain Awan refused to put a fine leg in place despite bowling a consistently wayward line into the legs of the New York batsmen with eight men on the off side.

New York reached the target in 9.1 overs as Evans finished not out on 22 and Massiah remained unbeaten on 38. Darlington was named Man of the Match for his three wicket burst at the start of play.

Over at William Wirt Field, the youthful mix in Director’s XI put up a lionhearted effort against South East posting 199 in 44 overs. However, experience proved too much in the end as Anand Tummala and Timroy Allen’s 88 run eighth wicket stand helped win the match for South East by 2 wickets. The winning runs were awarded when the umpires signaled five penalty runs. The two officials, Nelson Hutchinson and George Richards, gave the five penalty runs claiming that Director’s XI wicketkeeper Carl Monroe “used obscene language.”

Allen and Tummala Post Match Interview vs. Director's XI from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Director’s XI had their chances though. After Vaibhav “Ricky” Nayar fell to make it 96/6 in the 21st over, Director’s looked to be in the driver’s seat. However, a costly missed stumping chance came back to haunt Director’s XI in the final result.

Akhil Sehgal was bowling to Anand Tummala on the last ball of the 25th over with the score on 110/6. Tummala danced down the track and tried to hit him through the off side but was beaten in flight. Monroe collected the ball cleanly, but he fanned the stumps while swinging his arms around to break the bails. By the time his second effort connected, Tummala had his bat back in the crease. Tummala was on 9 at the time.

Rasheed had Ken Singh out clean bowled for 10 three balls later to bring Allen to the crease. Allen was on 2 in the 29th over with the score 116/7 when he sent a half volley from Kavishwar Bridgepaul in the air straight to mid off at chest height. It went right through the fielder’s hands and all the way to the boundary.

Allen and Tummala then settled down and took the match away from Director’s XI by playing smart cricket and rotating the strike against the spin of Rasheed, Keon Lake and Andy Mohammed.

Tummala was finally out for 50 with the score at 198/8 after he top edged a pull shot off Sehgal and Monroe waited for the ball to come down behind the stumps. Tummala had just crossed the boundary walking off the field when all of a sudden the entire Director’s XI squad followed him off with Allen, who finished not out on 39.

“They didn’t say anything as such when we were batting,” said Tummala. “But when we heard that we got five penalty runs I was relieved because I was intending to be there until the last run was scored and come out not out.”

Rasheed Post Match Interview vs. South East from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

After the match, Director’s XI coach Mahadeo Ajodhi implied that Monroe swore at himself in frustration for missing the stumping chance that led to an extra 41 runs for Tummala and that is where the “obscene language” was heard by the umpires.

“Well the players were talking to themselves,” said Director’s XI coach Mahadeo Ajodhi. “I was outside, I don’t know what happened inside, but it still had no outcome on the game. I think the game should be played. The kid was saying that he didn’t say the bad word to anybody. He was mad between himself. He did not direct it at anybody and the umpire overheard that and that’s what the penalty was he said.”

Coach Mahadeo Ajodhi Post Match Interview vs. South East from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

The day’s results saw a three-way tie for first place created at 2-1 between Atlantic, New York and South East. New York was announced tournament champion with a superior net run rate and South East named runner-up. Atlantic, who came into the day undefeated, was placed third and as a result will be left out of the USACA National Championships in Houston this October. Director’s XI failed to win a match despite some superb individual performances over the weekend.

USACA Eastern Conference Tournament Unofficial Scorecard
New York vs. Atlantic
New York won by 9 wickets
Atlantic won the toss and batted
Man of the Match: Kevin Darlington

Atlantic Batting

Batsman        Runs    Balls    4s    6s    Dismissal
G Roopnarine        0    3    0    0    bowled Darlington
A Mishra        8    10    2    0    ct Dodson+ bowled Darlington
S Mehta        9    8    2    0    run out (Bartley)
C Williams        6    13    1    0    ct Dodson+ bowled Darlington
C Singh        0    7    0    0    ct Hall bowled Thomas
D Forest        22    49    2    0    bowled Bartley
M Yousuf        0    2    0    0    run out (Hall)
K Patel            4    15    0    0    ct Dodson+ bowled Adams
MA Ghous        12    46    0    0    ct Cush bowled Bartley
I Awan            8    5    2    0    ct Dodson+ bowled Adams
A Gordon        4    6    1    0    not out
Total Extras        9
Team Total         82 all out in 27.3 overs

New York Bowling     Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

K Darlington        7-1-16-3
G Adams        9-1-38-2
D Thomas        8-0-21-1
B Bartley        3.3-1-5-2

New York Batting

Batsman        Runs    Balls    4s    6s    Dismissal
D Evans        22    20    3    0    not out
G Hall            15    7    2    1    bowled Gordon
S Massiah        38    29    6    0    not out
L Cush
R Marshall
A Dodson
D Thomas
B Bartley
K Ganesh
G Adams
K Darlington
Total Extras        8
Team Total        83/1 in 9.1 overs

Galloway Township near Atlantic City attempts to establish cricket field

openingbat — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:59:00 GMT

"Currently, the township is trying to get together money to establish an official cricket field for the three adult teams that play in the state league and the children who play on their own most warm nights behind the municipal complex, he said."

Detailed article, click here.

The ups and downs of the USA U-19 Tournament

openingbat — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:51:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

North West celebrate their victory

The four day USA Under-19 National Tournament concluded on Monday evening at Gateway Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. and there are definitely some promising signs that cricket in America has tremendous potential to succeed at the international level. The general consensus is that the standard of play was exceptional among the eight teams.

"At this age when I used to play back home in Jamaica, I wasn't this talented," said Franklyn Rose, coach of the South West Region team. "To see the kids with so many talents in the USA, we need to do something for these kids so it's a pleasure for me to be coaching the South West team."

Several other current or former international players were in attendance at the final, which was played in front of about 500 spectators at a dedicated cricket ground a few miles away from JFK Airport. Now that the tournament, featuring over 100 players, is complete, only 14 will be selected to represent the US Under-19 team which will go to Canada later this year to try and qualify for the Under-19 World Cup in Kenya in 2010.

"There's a lot of very talented youths here," said Zamin Amin, former captain of the US national team. "I know the selectors are going to have problems picking 14 people, but that's a good thing."

USACA CEO Don Lockerbie at Under-19 Tournament Trophy Presentation from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Overall, there were several very impressive batting performances in the tournament, including two impressive half-centuries from Ryan Corns (97 against S. California, 82 against Central East) of the Central West Region team and a century by Saqib Saleem (108* against Central West and 51 in the final against Atlantic) of the tournament champion North West Region team. Saqib was also successful in the bowling department with his leg spin.

Atlantic Region's Muhammad Asad Ghous took home the series MVP award at the end of the tournament for his three half-centuries despite losing the final to the North West Region. Ghous scored 75 in the first match against South East, 93 in the match against North East and 55 in the final against North West.

The tournament also witnessed sterling performances by Greg Sewdial, Lekiram Latchman, Keon Lake, Regis Burton and Casper Davis Jr. of New York; Azurdeen Mohamed, Rasheem James, Andrew Ajodhi and Zainali Sayyed of North East; Abhijeet Joshi and Saminda Siriwardena of Central East; Karthik Vittala of Central West; Steven Taylor, Mohammad Sheikh, Vaibhar Nayar, Gaston Walker and Zachary Sattaur of South East; Gurpreet Sandhu, Salman Ahmad and Mevan Fernando of South West; Henry Wardley, Charran Singh, Nisarg Chokshi, Yash Shah and Akash Pathak of Atlantic; and Saad Khan, Vinay Suri, Zulkifl Nana and Shiva Vashishat of North West.

But the players were not just cricketers. Their fielding demonstrated the athleticism they possess.

"In the tournament, the most impressive thing I've seen is the fielding and the wicketkeeping," said Clifford Hinds, the Under-19 National Tournament Director and Youth Cricket Director for the New York Cricket Region. "These kids of course at their age are very energetic, but in addition to that, you can see they are putting 100 percent effort into the tournament."

However, the young talent needs help off the field to be able to thrive on it. The biggest responsibility is on the USACA administration.

"Never before have we had so many talented players to work with," said Shelton Glasgow, the Atlantic Region's representative on the USACA board. "I have been associated with cricket in this region for a long, long time but never before have I seen so many talented players in this age group. We are on the right track."

Atlantic Region finished runner-up

As far as on the field improvements are concerned, several were already on display. Sujesh Pulikkal, coach of the tournament champion North West Region team, believes that one of the major reasons his team came out on top this year, and a key for all teams in the future, is improving fitness. The finalists played 4 matches in as many days.

"Fitness is important because it gives you concentration and focus," said Pulikkal. "We wanted to make sure whoever enters the field are super fit so that you don't get burned out. Most of these kids, only two are rotated, the rest of the nine guys played all four days." That is a big step up for many of the players involved, who usually only play one match a weekend for their local club team, but will have greater demands placed on their bodies for tournaments such as this and for the qualifying rounds in Canada for the Under-19 World Cup.

Hinds believes that greater patience and discipline are key to success down the road. "It's a 50 over game and a lot of times, the kids go out there and are batting as if it's a 20 over game," said Hinds.

Franklyn Rose took a different angle, saying that patience over the long term will also be crucial for the development of the kids. "Hopefully these kids will keep on playing club cricket and have the patience."

Shiva Vashishat hold the silverware

Another obstacle is making sure the kids who are playing cricket now stay involved and are not swayed away by the financial lure of other sports in America.

"It's very hard to influence kids," said Rose, who played 19 Tests and 27 ODIs for the West Indies. "Everyone wants to play basketball, football, baseball. Everyone wants to make the big bucks. You have to have patience. I waited for my turn before I played at the highest level for the West Indies. I understand these kids who are playing cricket in America, it's going to be hard, it's going to be tough. But I'm begging these kids, just wait. America is going to be playing at the highest level one day. These kids are good enough to compete against the best teams in the world."

The tournament was organized entirely by volunteers and on a tight budget, for which all the organizers must be commended. However, several areas need to be improved for staging similar events in the future. First, the spectator turnout was less than what was expected. "I'm a little disappointed that we didn't have more people, but of course this is a holiday weekend," said Hinds. "But at the same time, New York draws the biggest crowd in cricket."

"Normally at an event like this there are a lot more people," said Amin, who lives in Long Island. "Cricket in general in the New York area, it could be junior or senior, I have seen a lot more people at big games."

Saqib rejoices after a shot.
He was the backbone of the NW performance.

Simple record keeping and statistics are a very basic and fundamental part of keeping track of any sport. Although summary reports and live text updates were provided by this website, it was surprising to see that no detailed scorecards or statistics for the tournament were available anywhere on the internet. Tournament program with rosters were not available to media who showed up for the tournament final on Monday. Even on the USACA website, there was no published roster for one of the squads, the North East Region.

Speaking with Don Lockerbie, the newly appointed CEO of USACA, he stated that fixing this was one of his main objectives. Lockerbie wants to make it mandatory that all USACA registered leagues maintain a proper statistical database for all matches. This is crucial to ensuring that the players who are performing get the proper recognition towards achieving higher honors and a chance to represent their region or the United States in the future. Separately, DreamCricket.com has initiated a project to collect the scorecards and database them.

Another problem was the inability to have matches start as scheduled. Several players complained about matches not starting on time or being held up for various reasons.

"Yesterday we had a game with no match referee," said one player. The teams were on the field doing their warm-up by 9:30, but that energy was wasted because they had cooled down well before the match eventually started. This player's account was supported by one tournament umpire, who confirmed that a scheduling blunder meant that no umpires were there for the scheduled starting time of the match.

Vinay Suri played a key role in the final

The talent on display over the course of the Memorial Day weekend at the USACA Under-19 National Tournament confirmed what everyone in the US cricket community already knows. With more organizational bandwidth and financial resources supplementing the passion of the volunteer army that has kept cricket alive, any US team on the field will be a force to be reckoned with in the international arena.

A lot of hope and expectation has been put on Lockerbie to get these things in order. He took an opportunity at the post-match trophy presentation to deliver a message to all the players and families in attendance. He wants the USA to make it to the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and these Under-19 players hold the key to making that dream a reality.

"You are the foundation of our future," said Lockerbie. "In six years, we hope to also be in the 2015 World Cup. In six years, you guys will be old enough to be on that team. So work hard, take this All-American opportunity, this chance to play in the finals, to win the finals, to be runner-up, go for it hard because the future of US cricket is bright and we're going places."

(Peter Della Penna can be contacted through Twitter @DPMilGaya.)

New York's Aussie rules footy team looking to share ground with cricket

openingbat — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:30:00 GMT

New York's Aussie Rules Football team - New York Magpies are searching Manhattan and surrounds to develop a field with floodlights, spectator seating and a clubhouse.

Magpies coach Rob Oliver said the club, which has been operating since 1996, would invite cricket and rugby clubs to share and develop the space, which could be called Anzac Park.

Sunil Gavaskar visits DreamCricket Academy in New Jersey

openingbat — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:32:00 GMT

April 4, 2009

Hillsborough, NJ

DreamCricket Academy had a surprise in store for its Under-15 cricketers on Saturday, April 4, 2009. Just as the boys were padding up at DreamCricket's indoor cricket arena on a windy day in New Jersey - they were joined by the legendary cricketer - Sunil Gavaskar.

Whilst on a visit to Wharton India Economic Forum, when DreamCricket.com requested the Little Master to visit the DreamCricket Academy, Mr. Gavaskar immediately agreed despite his hectic schedule.

Sunil Gavaskar with young cricketers at DreamCricket Academy

Mr. Gavaskar connected with the kids instantaneously. Noticing the hands go up reluctantly when he asked who the DreamCricket Academy's opening batsmen were, he joked "I don't blame you. You have to be crazy to be openers!" The kids were not old enough to have seen the Little Master in action during his playing days, but they were awestruck when they were told that the man in front of them was test cricket's best opening batsman ever.

In a short and inspiring speech, Mr. Gavaskar reinforced the importance of sport. "Remember that, above all, this is a sport. You have to enjoy sports. Participating in sports is the biggest high that you can have. I mean, as you get older, as your body gets a little tired, you will feel like I wish I could do this, I wish I could play, but age doesn't allow you, so while you are young, you have the energy, you have the abilities, you must enjoy yourselves."

Mr. Gavaskar told the kids that cricket was a metaphor for life. "The game of cricket is one which tells you what teamwork is all about. It's a reflection of the society that you are in. Sometimes, the better batsman looks after the lesser batsman, the better bowler looks after the lesser bowler."

"The better batsman will not be able to score a century if the lesser batsman doesn't stay at the other end with him. Similarly the better bowler won't get wickets unless the lesser bowler is able to keep some pressure, unless he has the cooperation from the fielders who are taking catches and stopping the runs."

"There are times when the good batsman is struggling, and the lesser batsman comes in and he faces most of the bowling till the good batsman starts to get his form back, starts to get his feet moving, so it is all a matter of cooperation and teamwork. And that's what life is all about."

"Cricket is just a reflection of how to go about life where you try and help everybody, so that it becomes a very peaceful society where everybody helps each other," Mr. Gavaskar added.

U-15 cricketers bowled to the Little Master in the nets

About the game's ups and downs, he told the kids not to worry. "Some days you really feel good playing sports, everything falls into place, if you are a batsman, you are hitting the ball, you are getting hundreds, if you are a bowler, you are getting wickets doing everything. On an another day, nothing, not a thing can work. Still you have to go out there with the knowledge that you are putting everything into it. Effort has got to be there 100%. When you put your head on the pillow at night, it should be with the knowledge that you gave it 100%. And then success and failure is in the hands of God."

"Always wear a helmet," was Mr. Gavaskar's advice to everyone present. These words acquired even more weight because they came from a batsman who never wore a helmet, even as he played the most vicious fastest bowlers cricket has ever produced. He repeated the advice as he sat down to watch the kids play in the nets.

When asked whether American born cricketers had a chance to play cricket at the highest level, Mr. Gavaskar said: "I think that with effort comes better performance. When you perform, you get noticed. And higher honors await you. Throughout the process, enjoy the sport and get the thrill of participation." Mr. Gavaskar was quite impressed with what he had seen and offered some helpful suggestions to popularize the sport.

Kranthi Bayya, CEO of DreamCricket.com welcomed Sunil Gavaskar to the indoor facility

In her welcome address, DreamCricket.com CEO Ms. Kranthi Bayya said, "It is an amazing honor to have a living legend at the DreamCricket Academy." Noting that it was Mr. Gavaskar's opening partner, Mr. Chetan Chauhan, who opened DreamCricket's indoor facility in the winter of 2007, Ms Bayya said, "it is a dream come true for us at DreamCricket to have India's best opening pair visit the facility."

Talking about his many accomplishments as a player, commentator and writer, Ms. Bayya quoted Tony Lewis' tribute to Mr. Gavaskar from the 1989 Wisden: "You would not wish to be Mr Gavaskar's opponent in any field."

Mr. Gavaskar's quick wit was on display throughout his brief visit. When a parent noted that Sunil Gavaskar held the records for both the most runs and most centuries during his playing days. Mr. Gavaskar shot back, "that was in the last century." And as a woman was struggling to open the plastic wrapper off a DVD that she had brought for his autograph, he said "give that to me, I am the opener!"

Gavaskar signed autographs for all present

Following the speech, Mr. Gavaskar spent an hour in the nets with the kids as they got a chance to bowl to the legend. He then watched some of the kids practice their batting. "The kids are on the right track. I don't see any baseball influence here. I think the coach is doing a wonderful job by focusing on cricketing technique," he said complimenting Coach Earl Daley.

Mr. Gavaskar posed for pictures with those present and signed autographs. Before his departure, he toured DreamCricket.com's facility, which includes a cricket store, indoor nets and houses its collection of memorabilia in addition to the DreamCricket Academy.

More pictures

Sunil Gavaskar visits DreamCricket.com.

Sunil Gavaskar gave an inspiring speech to the kids

U-15 cricketers bowled to the Little Master in the nets

Sunil Gavaskar poses with the DreamCricket family

Sunil Gavaskar tours the store

Parents of the U15 boys take a picture with the Little Master