WICB announces ticket prices for pair of T20I matches against New Zealand in Florida</h1> <article> <h1>WICB announces ticket prices for pair of T20I matches against New Zealand in Florida</h1> <p>openingbat — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:35:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>The West Indies Cricket Board has announced ticket prices for the two Twenty20 International matches to be played against New Zealand on June 30 and July 1 in Florida. Reserved chairback seats at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill will cost $30 while general admission tickets to sit or stand on the grass embankment will cost $20.</p> <p>The prices are in similar range to the cost of tickets for the pair of Twenty20 matches two years ago at the same venue between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The prices at that event, The Pearls Cup, were $35 for reserved and $22 for general admission for the first match which took place on a Saturday while Sunday ticket prices were $27 for reserved and $17 for general admission. A total combined attendance figure of 8,600 across two days wound up being the turnout.</p> <p><em>Image (right) - The Central Broward Regional Park stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, is the venue which will host two Twenty20 Internationals between New Zealand and the West Indies on June 30 and July 1.</em></p> <p>The WICB release stated that tickets will go on sale two weeks prior to the first match at each venue for the New Zealand tour. In addition to the two Twenty20s in Florida, New Zealand and the West Indies are scheduled to play five ODIs beginning on July 5 – two in Jamaica and three in St. Kitts – followed by two Test matches. The first Test will be in Antigua from July 25-29 before returning to Jamaica for the second from August 2-6.</p> </article> <article> <h1>San Francisco Bay area cricket community rallies around cancer-stricken youth coach Owen Graham</h1> <p>openingbat — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:15:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>Owen Graham, 45, has been an influential youth coach and player in the San Francisco Bay area cricket community for nearly 20 years. His resume includes being a championship winning captain for the San Francisco Freedom in the lone season of the US Twenty20 league known as Pro Cricket, being one of the founding coaches at the California Cricket Academy, coaching in the NCCA junior development program and most recently working as the head coach for the East Bay Youth Cricket Association.</p> <p>So when he was recently diagnosed with cancer, the west coast cricket community didn’t hesitate to rally around the well-liked personality known simply as “O.G.”</p> <p><em>Image (right) - Owen Graham</em></p> <p>“His spirit is definitely high,” said EYCA president Gopal Samant, regarding Graham’s attitude since being diagnosed with multiple myeloma. “He’s appreciative of the fact that the community has got together and put aside the political differences of all the leagues and a lot of people are offering a lot of love and care.”</p> <p>A social media campaign was started a few weeks ago by the tech savvy cricketers in the Silicon Valley to help raise funds for O.G.'s cancer treatment and immediately word spread north to Seattle and south to Los Angeles. In less than 48 hours, the Northwest Cricket League raised $2500 and mailed a check to Samant, who is one of the community leaders organizing the efforts to raise money for Graham. One of the others leading the charge is Ganesh Sanap, former president of the NCCA and a close friend of Graham’s, who says that the reaction by the community is just an indication of the “legend” that is O.G.</p> <p>“People take to him very quickly,” said Sanap. “There’s very few Jamaicans here in the Bay Area. Everyone else here is Indian or Pakistani. That Jamaican accent, people get attracted to him, his coaching techniques, his depth of cricket knowledge.”</p> <p>According to Sanap, Graham had been experiencing back pain for a short while and when he went to see a doctor, he was told he had a tumor. Despite losing some weight, his appetite and some of his physical strength, Graham has stayed positive in the face of his diagnosis. Samant says that Graham will have at the very least six months but probably closer to a year’s worth of treatment beginning with surgery and continuing with chemotherapy.</p> <p>“He’ll have to go through surgery,” said Samant. “There is a tumor on his spine so they have to take it out through surgery because it’s causing numbness in his body and in his legs. After that he’ll have to go through chemo so he’ll be out of action for six to nine months for sure.”</p> <p>Samant says that the EYCA has agreed to continue paying Graham’s coaching fee while he is going through treatment so that he’ll be able to meet his normal living costs including rent. He says it’s the least that EYCA can do for someone who has contributed so much not just to getting EYCA started, but to all of the youth cricketers in the Bay Area.</p> <p>“I have not found another person as passionate as him who had the reason to take the game to the right place,” said Samant. “OG obviously has been a pillar of putting together the structure, the curriculum, what needs to be done and what doesn’t need to be done. His importance to EYCA goes without saying. He’s been the primary pillar who helped us define how a club needs to run and what kind of infrastructure we need.”</p> <p>However, his medical bills are projected to reach six figures and Graham does not have health insurance. As a result, the NCCA and BACA leagues in addition to the EYCA are collecting money to help alleviate the financial burden on Graham. The single dad has a 15-year-old daughter who lives with him. He also has a 5-year-old son who was living with Graham before the diagnosis but has gone back to live with the boy’s mother while Graham receives treatment.</p> <p>“I don’t know how much people can help him but whatever they can that is what we are appealing,” said Samant. For more information on ways to donate funds for O.G.’s treatment, please contact Gopal Samant at cricket.eastbay@gmail.com.</p> </article> <article> <h1>Not Just Cricket - A novel by USA cricketer Vikram Dravid</h1> <p>openingbat — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:11:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>Vikram Dravid, a doctor by trade and a member of the British Officers Cricket Club, recently published his first novel called 'Not Just Cricket' joining the growing list of USA based cricketer-writers, including Joseph O'Neill and Ewart Rouse.</p> <p>The book was officially launched at the 25th anniversary celebrations of the revival of the British Officers Cricket Club in Philadelphia on November 20th 2010. More recently, the author donated copies of the book to the CC Morris Cricket Library in Philadelphia.</p> <p>According to the novel's publisher, Cinnamon Teal, 'Not Just Cricket' weaves interlacing tales, riveting cricket games and the realities of life. The stories and experiences of his vibrant characters exhort you to think beyond the mundane and get you to reflect upon the ultimate ride, life and its very authentic challenges. As the lives of the characters unfold in this fascinating tale, a myriad of complex and conflicting emotions come to the fore. Every new page draws the reader deeper into the book. </p> <p>The book is about Arjun, a talented but easygoing kid from the cricket-crazy metropolis of Mumbai who rises from anonymity to the glory of cricket stardom. As the narrative shifts from Mumbai to Pakistan, the novel captures the coming of age of the young protagonist.</p> <p>The book is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Not-Just-Cricket-Vikram-Dravid/dp/938015156X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335392194&sr=8-1">Amazon.com</a> and has received positive reviews both from readers and critics. </p> <p>Saaz Aggarwal of Black and White literary blog wrote: "I had been reading slowly, enjoying the story about a typical cricket-playing boy from a middle-class family in Bombay. There had been brief glimpses of a world beyond. At page 97 the world beyond shone through, clear and unmistakable, and I understood how and why this book really wasn’t just about cricket. Cricket is the fabric; it’s also the substance of the plot. However, Not Just Cricket also carries glimpses into rich, deep aspects of life that can be revealed to most of us only through fiction because they are so removed from our scheme of things."</p> <p>For more information regarding the author, please visit: <a href="http://www.vikdravid.com/">http://www.vikdravid.com/</a><br /> </p> </article> <article> <h1>EYCA inaugurates youth only cricket facility</h1> <p>openingbat — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:40:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>Source: USYCA and EYCA Media Release </p> <p>The East Bay Youth Cricket Association inaugurated its first youth-only home ground, a beautiful facility and a key step towards development of youth cricket in the San Francisco Bay Area.</p> <p><i>Pic (Right): BACA President Iftikhar Khan and EYCA President Samant Gopal inaugurating the youth cricket facility.</i></p> <p>Providing a state of the art facility was a key promise that EYCA's founders made at the beginning of 2012 and the organization has now delivered on its promise. </p> <p>"While I want to thank my current management team for all the hard work they have put in for last two years," Samant Gopal, EYCA President said on the occasion. He also thanked EYCA's parent volunteers without whose trust and support and countless hours of work nothing would have been possible. “You guys Rock!” Mr. Gopal said.</p> <p>Mr. Gopal also thanked the following members of the cricket fraternity for their resources, contacts and more importantly their knowledge: Owen Graham (OG), Ganesh Sanap, Jamie Harrison (USYCA), Sarabjit Chadda, Rajesh Suthar, Mukul Kumar, Nigel Coutinho (DreamCricket), Abrar Ahmed, Bhavani Pedadda, Sujesh Pulikkal, Anthony La Rue, Frank Camarda.</p> <p><i>Pic (Right): Union City Mayor Mark Green receiving a flower bouquet from EYCA President Samant Gopal.</i></p> <p>"I also want to thank Union City Mayor Mark Green. BACA President Iftikhar Khan and all other Bay Area Club Presidents and Executive for attending our event, their support & endorsement means a lot to what we can do for the youth of this region," Mr Gopal said.</p> <p>USYCA in turn expressed its thanks to Ram Varadarajan, Masaood Yunus and Kannan Muthukkaruppan for stepping up to make this "pitch of dreams" a reality.</p> <p>Club Contact: Gopal Samant (President); <a href="mailto:cricket.eastbay@gmail.com">cricket.eastbay@gmail.com</a></p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Gruny continues solid form in 85-run win over Bermuda at 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20</h1> <p>openingbat — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:47:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p><a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/uscricket/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=5832">Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation </a></p> <p>Nadia Gruny produced USA’s second half-century of the week to lead her side to an 85-run win over Bermuda on Friday in the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship at JP Powell Oval in George Town, Cayman Islands. USA moved to 4-0 with the win to set up a winner-take-all showdown with 4-0 Canada on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at JP Powell Oval. Bermuda dropped to 1-3 with the loss. If USA beats Canada, they’ll not only claim the tournament title but will advance to the 2013 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier.</p> <p>USA batted first for the fourth match in a row after Bermuda won the toss and chose to field. USA made one change to their lineup from Wednesday’s win over Argentina as Delkash Shahriarian replaced Geetha Shawkarla.</p> <p>Anahita Arora became Gruny’s third opening partner of the tournament on Friday, but the move did not pay off as hoped when Arora was bowled for 4 by Reuna Richardson in the second over to make it 10 for 1. As has been the case all week after her arrival to the crease, USA captain Candacy Atkins helped build a strong partnership to put USA on the path to victory. She had scored 31 off 24 balls, including six boundaries, when she retired hurt at the end of the ninth over with the score 63 for 1. Her fitness status is unknown heading into Saturday’s crucial match against Canada.</p> <p>Melissa Sandy entered at number four and scored 9 before she was stumped by Rickelle Smith off the bowling of Rachael Smith to make it 79 for 2 in the 13th. Gruny and Karen Bayles accelerated rapidly over the final seven overs in a 73-run partnership for the third wicket. Bayles scored 29 off 25 balls with three fours and a six while Gruny made 54 off 58 with five boundaries before she was bowled by Richardson on the final ball of the innings as USA finished their 20 overs on 152 for 3. Richardson finished with 2 for 32 for Bermuda.</p> <p>The score was way beyond what Bermuda was capable of chasing with their brittle batting order. Richardson was the first to go, bowled by Triholder Marshall for 1 to make it 10 for 1 in the third over. Bermuda captain Terry-Lynn Paynter top scored with 20 off 16 balls opening the innings, but when she was the second to go in the fifth over, it effectively sealed the fate for both teams on the day.</p> <p>Number three Maryellen Jackson scored 14 not out from a painstakingly slow 48 balls. Brittney Marshall was dismissed for 5 by Gruny, who is making a strong case for Player of the Tournament. Claudine Beckford had Rickelle Smith caught by Arora for 1 to make it 44 for 4 in the 12th before a flurry of wickets fell in the final over.</p> <p>Melissa Sandy and Claudine Beckford teamed up to run out Precious Smith for 10 to make it 62 for 5. Samantha Ramautar then struck twice to stretch her team lead to eight wickets at the tournament. She bowled Lauren Faris for a golden duck and then bowled Emma Simmons for 2 as Bermuda finished their 20 overs on 67 for 7. Ramautar finished with figures of 2 for 10 in four overs while Marshall took 1 for 9 in four and Beckford finished with 1 for 8 in four including three maidens.</p> <p>In Friday’s other matches, Cayman Islands defeated Brazil by seven wickets to put Brazil in danger of being relegated to ICC Americas Women’s Division Two. Brazil won the toss and batted first in a match delayed by rain that was reduced to 13 overs. Brazil posted 57 for 8 with 23 of those runs coming in extras. Vanessa Cameron Clarke took 3 for 14 for Cayman Islands. Wyvonne Forbes scored 20 off 22 balls at the top of the order for Cayman Islands to propel the chase as the host country reached the target with 3.2 overs to spare for their first win of the tournament while Brazil remains winless at 0-4.</p> <p>Canada also won a rain-reduced match over Argentina by 11 runs. Argentina won the toss and as they have done all week elected to chase with each team’s innings shortened to five overs per side. Canada posted 35 for 4 in their 30 legal deliveries but Argentina could only manage 24 for 6 in reply. Argentina fell to 2-2 with the loss.</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Report on USACA election leaves questions unanswered</h1> <p>openingbat — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:23:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>A report titled 'Independent Accountant's Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures' was issued by Keefe, McCullough & Co., the independent accountant engaged by USACA in connection with the election of April 14, 2012. </p> <p>In the report, the firm describes its engagement as an 'agreed-upon procedures engagement.' The firm clarified that it made no representation regarding the sufficiency of the procedures described in the report for the purpose for which the report was requested or for any other purpose.</p> <p>"We were not engaged to, and did not, conduct an audit, the objective of which would be the expression of an opinion on the selected criteria. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion," the report noted.</p> <p>Inspite of the above careful wording contained in the report, USACA described the report as the 'Report of Independent Election Auditor' and USACA counsel noted that the report completes the auditor's work under Article XXII, Sections 2 and 3 of the USACA Consitution 'and certifies the results of the election.'</p> <p>The accountant attested that 'the procedures outlined in the report were performed, which were agreed to by USACA' as indicated in the engagement letter dated March 22, 2012 and one additional procedure (regarding the appeals) that was in an amended engagement letter dated April 20, 2012. </p> <p>The accountant noted no substantive findings specific to the following five steps undertaken. </p> <ol> <li>Review of nomination process and results. (The accountant noted that the nomination process was already completed)</li> <li>Prepare elections ballots based on nomination results. </li> <li>Distribute ballots by federal express mail.</li> <li>Collect and count election ballots. (The accountant explained that one member had misplaced the ballot and his vote was subsequently accepted.)</li> <li>Announce results at annual meeting.</li></ol> <p>Step 6 involved a review of appeals to vote by any League that submits a 'timely challenge' (those received prior to April 14, 2012 12:00PM), for restoration of voting status. The appeals were a desperate act prompted by the opening provided by Judge Koh in her order on April 13, 2012. </p> <p>The accountant's review was limited to six leagues and to an assessment of the Board of Directors decision in conjunction with the findings and recommendations noted in the Compliance Review Results report dated February 25, 2012. </p> <p>The accountant appeared keen on conveying that no independent additional procedures were performed to determine voting eligibility noting that "Had we performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to our attention that would have been reported to you."</p> <p>Post Script: To the leagues that are struggling, here is an old poem in consolation:</p> <p>"If the wild bowler thinks he bowls,<br />Or if the batsman thinks he's bowled,<br />They know not, poor misguided souls,<br />They too shall perish unconsoled.<br />I am the batsman and the bat,<br />I am the bowler and the ball,<br />The umpire, the pavilion cat,<br />The roller, pitch, and stumps, and all."</p> <p>Andrew Lang - Brahma</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: USA scratches out 10-run win over Argentina at 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20</h1> <p>openingbat — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:01:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p><a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/uscricket/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=5831">Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation </a></p> <p>The USA Women’s team posted their lowest total of the week, but held on for a 10-run win over Argentina on Wednesday in the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship at JP Powell Oval in George Town, Cayman Islands. USA moves to 3-0 with the win while Argentina was dealt their first loss to fall to 2-1.</p> <p>After the success they had in fielding first against Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, Argentina sent USA in to bat after winning the toss. USA made one change to their lineup from the previous two matches as Beulah Pidakala made way for Geetha Shawkarla.</p> <p>Triholder Marshall was promoted to open the batting with Nadia Gruny, but the move failed to pay dividends for USA as Marshall was dismissed without scoring by Lucia Culley in the second over to make it 7 for 1. A day after scoring a half-century, Melissa Sandy also fell for a duck, caught off the bowling of Sharon Seaton to make it 9 for 2 in the third.</p> <p>USA captain Candacy Atkins joined Gruny and the pair commenced the first of two modest but vital partnerships for USA in the innings. The pair added 29 for the fourth wicket before Atkins was dismissed in the 10th over by Catalina Greloni for 6. Gruny was bowled by Alison Stocks in the 11th for USA’s top score of 27 to make it 44 for 4 before Samantha Ramautar was runout in the 12th for 1 by Seaton to make it 49 for 5.</p> <p>Karen Bayles and Anahita Arora then worked to get USA to a competitive total by building a 34-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the biggest stand for either side on the day. Mercedes Esperon ended the partnership in the 18th over by dismissing Arora for 13 to make it 83 for 6 before Bayles was runout in the next over for 20 to make it 85 for 7. Claudine Beckford and Sara Farooq finished unbeaten on 5 and 3 respectively to push USA to their 20-over total of 92 for 7. Stocks had the best figures for Argentina with 1 for 9 in two overs.</p> <p>While the target was not big, Argentina’s slow start to the chase cost them badly in the end. Clara Culley scored just 1 off 8 balls opening the innings before being dismissed by Ramautar while Esperon came in at number three and scored just 2 off 8 before she was bowled by Farooq to make it 23 for 2 in the seventh over. Argentina’s other opener, Dirce Yuli, was runout for 15 off just 33 balls to make it 34 for 3 in the 10th. Argentina started their chase needing just 4.65 runs per over to win, but by the halfway point of the innings the required run rate was approaching six per over and continued to climb for the rest of the innings.</p> <p>Argentina captain Veronica Vazquez and Sofia Retamales put on 29 runs for the fourth wicket, but the partnership spanned from the 10th to the 17th over at a time when acceleration was needed but never happened. Retamales was finally caught behind for 17 off Ramautar and Vazquez was bowled in the next over for 10 off 28 balls by Sandy, who took off the wicketkeeping pads to bowl.</p> <p>Argentina entered the final two overs needing 24 runs to win but could not score any boundaries during the final 12 deliveries and only had three in their entire innings. Ramautar trapped Violeta Yuli for 5 to make it 69 for 6 and Georgina Retamales was dismissed by Sandy for 5 in the final over to make it 78 for 7. Seaton scored 4 not out to take Argentina to their final total of 82 for 7. Extras wound up being the top score for Argentina with 23, including 13 wides.</p> <p>Ramautar once again proved difficult to get away, taking 3 for 8 in four overs. Farooq took 1 for 14 in three overs while Sandy finished with 2 for 10 in two overs.</p> <p>In the other matches on Wednesday, Canada also maintained their unbeaten record with a 106-run win over the Cayman Islands. Canada won the toss and batted first, posting 191 for 4 in their 20 overs. Joanna White produced the highest score for any player so far in the tournament as she finished 99 not out off 62 balls including 13 boundaries. Cayman Islands finished at 85 for 6 in their chase as Kamna Mirchandani continued her excellent tournament with the ball for Canada, taking 3 for 15.</p> <p>Cayman Islands remain winless on the week along with Brazil, who lost to Bermuda by seven wickets. Brazil won the toss and batted first but could only scrape together 93 for 4 in 20 overs. Bermuda stuttered at 14 for 2 in the fifth over, but Brittney Marshall entered at number four to steer the chase with 40 not out in 46 deliveries, including five boundaries and a six, to reach the target with nine balls to spare for Bermuda’s first win of the tournament.</p> <p>All teams have an off day on Thursday before returning to action on Friday. USA will take on Bermuda at JP Powell Oval starting at 3:30 p.m. EST. Brazil and Cayman Islands play each other with both teams still searching for their first win. The loser of that match is in danger of being relegated to ICC Americas Women’s Division Two.</p> <p>Canada takes on Argentina in the other match on Friday and if both USA and Canada stay true to form by notching wins, it would mean both teams would enter their Saturday showdown with 4-0 records. The winner would not only claim the tournament title but also a spot at the 2013 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier.</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Sandy half-century leads USA to 88-run win over Brazil at 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20</h1> <p>openingbat — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:05:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p><p><a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/uscricket/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=5797">Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation</a><br /></p> <p>The USA Women’s team made it two wins from two matches on Tuesday with an 88-run win over Brazil in the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship at JP Powell Oval in George Town, Cayman Islands. USA wicketkeeper Melissa Sandy was named Player of the Match after top scoring with 51 off 45 balls including two boundaries in USA’s total of 142 for 5 before restricting Brazil to 54 for 9. Brazil falls to 0-2 with the loss.</p> <p>Brazil won the toss and elected to field as USA used an unchanged XI from their first match against Cayman Islands. Once again, the team got into an early hole as Karen Bayles was run out for 2 and her opening partner Nadia Gruny was dismissed for 11, giving Karina Lagoa a return catch to make it 23 for 2 in the sixth over.</p> <p>On Monday, USA captain Candacy Atkins teamed with Sandy to produce a 55-run stand for the third wicket but on Tuesday the pair nearly doubled that output with a 103-run partnership to take complete control of the match. The partnership finally ended in the 18th over when Lagoa struck again to remove Atkins for 35. Sandy hung around until the final over when she was run out before Triholder Marshall was stumped for a duck on the final ball of the innings off the bowling of Erika Reinehr. Lagoa finished with 2 for 26 for Brazil.</p> <p>Lagoa was a one-woman show for Brazil, top scoring with 25 before being run out for the fourth wicket, as she got little support elsewhere. Reinehr was bowled off the first ball of the chase by Marshall and Claudine Beckford followed with two quick wickets to make it 5 for 3 in the fourth over. Only a 29-run stand between Lagoa and Ana Vicentin saved Brazil from further humiliation. After Lagoa was runout, Akshatha Rao dismissed Vicentin for 13 to make it 48 for 5.</p> <p>Two more runouts occurred in rapid succession while Marshall returned to claim Rachel Maingot for a duck. When Samantha Ramautar bowled Fernanda Goes for Brazil’s fifth duck of the innings, the score was 53 for 9 in the 18th. Maria Costa added one run to the total in the final two overs as she and Helena Dias ensured their side was not bowled out.</p> <p>Marshall had USA’s best figures on the day taking 2 for 2 in four overs with two maidens. Beckford took 2 for 8 in four overs while Ramautar finished with 1 for 3 in four overs and Rao took 1 for 18 in four.</p> <p>In the other matches on Tuesday, both Canada and Argentina remained unbeaten with wins over Bermuda and Cayman Islands respectively. Bermuda and Cayman Islands remain winless which means three teams sit at 2-0 while the other three sit at 0-2.</p> <p>Canada won by 77 runs, posting 150 for 8 after being sent in to bat. Extras wound up as the top score with 40 while Durriya Shabbir scored 29. Lorraine Kenton then took 3 for 8 in the field for Canada as they restricted Bermuda to 73 for 7.</p> <p>Argentina secured a second consecutive 8-wicket win behind solid bowling performances by Sharon Seaton (1 for 6 with two maidens), Violeta Yuli (2 for 7), and Mercedes Esperon (2 for 17). Cayman Islands were held to 79 for 8 as a result. Clara Culley scored 26 in the chase before being runout while Argentina captain Veronica Vazquez finished 26 not out to lead her side to victory with 6.1 overs to spare.</p> <p>USA faces their first major challenge of the tournament on Wednesday when they take on Argentina at the JP Powell Oval. The match is scheduled for an 11:30 a.m. EST start.</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Gruny stars in 68-run win over Cayman Islands at 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20</h1> <p>openingbat — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:35:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p><a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/uscricket/scorecarddisplay.aspx?gameid=5756">Scorecard powered by the New Inning Foundation</a></p> <p>USA gave the Cayman Islands Women’s team a harsh introduction to international cricket, beating the host country by 68 runs on Monday in the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship at Smith Road Oval in George Town, Cayman Islands. Nadia Gruny top scored with 36 off 32 balls, including three boundaries, in USA’s total of 125 for 4 before they bowled out Cayman Islands for 57 in 19 overs.</p> <p>USA won the toss and batted first as Geetha Shawkarla, Delkash Shahriarian and Sahar Azmat sat out of the starting lineup for USA while the Cayman Islands Women’s team embarked on their first ever official match. Gruny and Karen Bayles opening the batting but Bayles didn’t last long, out third ball without scoring to Paulette Robinson to make it 16 for 1. Gruny was joined by USA captain Candacy Atkins and the two added 38 for the second wicket before Gruny was bowled by Sheila Rankine.</p> <p>Former Trinidad & Tobago representative Melissa Sandy came to the crease and along with Atkins produced the biggest partnership of the match with 55 runs for the third wicket. Sandy eventually departed for 27 off 32 balls, caught by Cayman Islands captain Molly Anne Moore off the bowling of Carmel Harms. Atkins left two runs later for 29 off 44, caught by Harms off Deserne Cox. Samantha Ramautar and Triholder Marshall then added on another 14 runs before the end of the innings to take USA to a total which they easily defended.</p> <p>Robinson had the best figures for Cayman Islands with 1 for 6 in two overs. Rankine was the most expensive with 1 for 33 in four overs. Cayman Islands conceded a total of 23 extras in the field, including 16 wides.</p> <p>Cayman Islands never had a chance in the chase after losing three quick wickets, sliding to 7 for 3 in the sixth over. Robinson was run out without facing a delivery while her fellow opener Harms got a duck in more orthodox fashion, trapped LBW by Ramautar before Indiana Watson-Scott was bowled by Claudine Beckford for 1.</p> <p>The fourth wicket stand of 18 between Moore and Wyvonne Forbes was the best of the innings for Cayman Islands. Forbes was eventually out for 4 to give Beckford her second wicket. Akshatha Rao dismissed Carnet McField for 3 to make it 36 for 5 and Gruny bowled Cox for 2 to make it 43 for 6 in the 14th over.</p> <p>After being USA’s leading wicket-taker last November in Bangladesh, Marshall finally got into the act as Vanessa Cameron Clarke was pinned LBW for 2 to make it 52 for 7 in the 17th. Moore’s resistance was finally ended by Ramautar in the next over for 18 off 45 balls to make it 52 for 8. Marshall ran out Melrose McFarlane for 1 to make it 53 for 9 and Beulah Pidakala wrapped up the match at the end of the 19th as she pulled off USA’s third runout of the innings, sending Rankine on her way for 2.</p> <p>Beckford had USA’s best figures in the match with 2 for 2 in four overs including three maidens. Ramautar was just as impressive with 2 for 4 in three. Marshall finished with 1 for 10 in four but only three of those runs were conceded off the bat. Extras wound up being the top score for Cayman Islands in the innings as USA gave away 23 of them including 18 wides.</p> <p>In the other matches on Monday, Canada defeated Brazil by 126 runs in the morning match at J.P. Powell Oval. Brazil won the toss and sent Canada in to bat and the tournament favorites were happy to oblige, racking up 181 for 3 in their 20 overs. Durriya Shabbir top scored for Canada with 63 off 52 balls, including four boundaries, and was part of a 99-run partnership for the third wicket with Joanna White. Brazil was then restricted to 55 for 8 in their 20 overs. Kamna Mirchandani took 3 for 13 in four overs in the field for Canada.</p> <p>In the late game at J.P. Powell Oval, Argentina won by 8 wickets over Bermuda. Argentina won the toss and sent Bermuda in to bat. The decision worked to great effect as Bermuda was bowled out for 59 in 17.5 overs. Sharon Seaton opened the bowling and did the early damage for Argentina, taking 3 for 24 in four overs. Mercedes Esperon applied pressure later in the innings, taking 2 for 1 in three overs. Extras top scored for Bermuda with 14. Argentina chased the target in 10.4 overs. Dirce Yuli top scored with 23 off 25 balls.</p> <p>USA returns to action on Tuesday against Brazil at the J.P. Powell Oval at 11:30 a.m. EST.</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Another twist in USACA election drama</h1> <p>openingbat — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Venu Palaparthi </p> <p>The debate on the eligibility of leagues to vote has now completely shifted away from what is the right thing to do to foster an inclusive spirit of cricket. The ongoing battle can best be described as technical in nature and there is even greater evidence now than ever before that USACA is keen on using every tool available to exclude leagues from the democratic process instead of spending the time, money and energy to make USACA an inclusive and thriving organization.</p> <p><strong></strong><em>Pic (Right): Election has become a technical tug of war </em></p> <p><strong>The court provides an opening to disenfranchised leagues</strong></p> <p>Judge Koh, in the order denying preliminary injunction in the Ram Varadarajan and CCA v. USACA case, wrote: "The plain text of the USACA Constitution vests dispute resolution powers in the independent auditor over 'questions arising in connection with the right to vote.' Thus, there appears to be a remedy under the USACA Constitution yet to be exhausted. Failure to exhaust would bar all of Plaintiffs’ claims here."</p> <p>The court's determination that the auditor was empowered to resolve their eligibility gave an opening to several disaffected leagues to appeal to the independent auditor, which they did in the hours following the publication of Judge Koh's order working through the night. It is a testament to the leagues' perseverance and passion for the sport that they acted as fast as they did. </p> <p>By the morning of the election, over a dozen leagues had already sent their appeals to the auditor, Keefe, McCullough & Co., LLP. "To assist you, we are willing to answer any and all questions and provide any and all pertinent information that will help you independently ascertain our right to vote in this election," the leagues pleaded.</p> <p><strong>Election not yet certified</strong></p> <p>Following Judge Koh's order, the election proceeded and the business of certifying the election remained. However, by April 18, it was clear that the audit firm was on a sticky wicket.</p> <p>A debate now rages on regarding this apparent contradiction between the remedy mentioned by Judge Koh, which the leagues have sought to use, and USACA's position regarding the role of the 'independent auditor.' </p> <p>USACA's lawyers have told the auditor very clearly that, "It is the Board's sole responsibility under that Section to make the determination of voter eligibility." USACA's lawyers also noted that it was the USACA board's position that, "You [the auditors] have no authority to conduct such an independent audit." The letter argues that, "Resolution of disputes means making a decision based on the evidence and arguments presented to you by the parties at the time of the election. It does not include conducting an entirely new and independent investigation." </p> <p>Counsel for Ram Varadarajan and CCA wrote that they, "disagree with how the USACA Board is trying to encroach on the impartiality of Keefe, McCullough & Co., LLP, in its role as the independent auditor, by imposing rules, structures, and timelines that make it impossible for you to properly perform your duties." They reminded the auditors that, "because the Board uses leagues’ membership dues to pay your fees, USACA’s member leagues are as much your clients as the Board of USACA."</p> <p>The USACA board, needless to say, is eager to shut out the 32 disaffected leagues and have the election certified. In his letter to the auditors, the USACA counsel noted that the board, "does not countenance any further delay of the final certification of the election results." </p> <p>"You should decide the leagues' timely requests promptly based on the evidence submitted to you," USACA has advised the auditors.</p> <p>But the lawyers for Varadarajan and CCA point out that the USACA board and counsel should not be allowed to improperly influence the auditors' decision-making and that the auditors should not rely on Mr. Chance's findings stating that Judge Koh had described the so-called compliance process as "suspicious." </p> <p><strong>Independent Auditor may not conduct further audit, USACA says</strong></p> <p>USACA's lawyer wrote that it was the board's position that the auditors, "are not authorized under the USACA Constitution, New York law or the terms of your engagement by USACA to conduct a further audit or factual investigation or to rule upon requests submitted after the annual meeting ended." </p> <p>The counsel for Varadarajan and CCA countered that some of the information that USACA provided the auditors may have been inaccurate. A similar observation was made in connection with the information provided to the auditors in connection with at least one other league that this author has reviewed. According to one source, a handful of leagues have written to the auditors citing discrepancies in the assessments sent to the auditors by USACA.</p> <p>For your reference, and so you can form your own judgement, here is what the constitution says about the role of the independent auditor in Article XXII:</p> <p><em>Section 2: There shall be an independent auditor, appointed by the Board, who shall ensure that all voting/elections are conducted in a fair and impartial manner. Said auditor shall be a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA). The independent auditor shall:</em></p> <p><em>i. Determine the number of legitimate members and shall issue the ballots to the members consistent therewith.<br />ii. Determine at a general meeting the existence of a quorum, the validity and effect of proxies.<br />iii. Receive votes, ballots or consents.<br />iv. Hear and determine all challenges, and questions arising in connection with the right to vote.<br />v. Count and tabulate all votes, ballots or consents.<br />vi. Determine and record the results, and do such acts as are proper to conduct the election or vote with fairness to all members.</em></p> <p><em>Section 3: Upon request of the person presiding at the meeting or any members entitled to vote thereat or any other legitimate member, the independent auditor shall make a report in writing of any challenge; questions or matters determined by him/her and execute a certificate of any facts found by him/her. Any report or certificate made by the auditor shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated and of the votes.</em></p> <p><strong>Business as usual?</strong></p> <p>Of course, none of this has prevented USACA and some of the newly elected administrators from continuing the process of filling key positions. Mr. Nabeel Ahmed was reportedly named acting CEO of USACA, a position that according to the constitution must be advertised. Some regional administrations have quickly moved to nominate and elect people to a variety of positions even as the membership status of several of leagues remains unresolved.</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Understrength team heads to Cayman Islands for 2012 ICC Americas Women's T20</h1> <p>openingbat — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 21:05:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>The USA Women’s team will be working at less than full strength for the second tournament in a row as several first-choice players could not make the trip to the Cayman Islands for this week’s 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship. The winner of the round-robin event featuring Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands and USA will clinch a spot at the 2013 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier.</p> <p>The tournament figures to be a two-horse race between the USA and Canada. USA went to the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier after beating Canada in a three-match 50-over challenge series at Toronto in July 2010. However, Canada swept USA convincingly in a pair of Twenty20 matches on the same 2010 tour and enters this tournament as the likely favorite to come out on top.</p> <p>Of greater concern for USA is team stability and chemistry. Last November, a half-dozen players stayed home after a dispute with USACA over tour stipends for the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. At least four first-choice players won’t be going to the Cayman Islands either and six changes overall have been made from the squad that went to Bangladesh.</p> <p>Shebani Bhaskar, USA’s leading scorer in Bangladesh, is unavailable due to school commitments. Also staying home are the second and third leading scorers from the tour to Bangladesh, Erica Rendler and former captain Doris Francis, as well as Ritu Bhargava.</p> <p>On the positive side, Triholder Marshall and Samantha Ramautar, USA’s top two wicket-takers from the Bangladesh tour, have made the trip to the Cayman Islands. Ramautar was also USA’s most economical bowler in Bangladesh with 4.28 runs per over and the off-spinner bowled the most overs on tour with 50 in six matches.</p> <p>Another plus is the return of Candacy Atkins. One of the top performers at the 2011 USACA Women’s Tournament, Atkins was also a vital member of the USA Women’s team in 2010 that beat Canada in the three-match 50-over series. However, she was one of the players who stayed home from going to Bangladesh after the dispute over stipends. Not only is she returning to the squad, but she will captain the team. USA will need major contributions from Atkins to have any shot at finishing in first place.</p> <p>Atkins needs to step up to help bridge the gap that exists between senior players and very inexperienced ones. Five players have yet to make their debuts for USA. They include Sahar Azmat, Karen Bayles, Beulah Pidakala, Melissa Sandy and Geetha Shawkarla. Sandy formerly represented Trinidad & Tobago before moving to the USA and Bayles turned in decent but not great stats at the 2011 USACA Women’s Tournament.</p> <p>Azmat and Pidakala were bizarrely selected despite a total of four runs in three innings between the two at the 2011 USACA Women’s Tournament while Azmat had bowling figures of 1 for 128 in one match against the tournament champion Tri-State Lynx squad. Shawkarla didn’t participate in the USACA Women’s Tournament in 2011.</p> <p>The team will be coached by Basil Butcher Jr. Other members of the management team are manager Jacqueline Frank, Selwyn Caesar and Brian Jackson. USACA has not made any formal announcement about what roles Caesar and Jackson are serving on tour.</p> <p><strong>USA squad for 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20 Championship:</strong> Candacy Atkins (captain), Anahita Arora, Sahar Azmat, Karen Bayles, Claudine Beckford, Sara Farooq, Nadia Gruny, Triholder Marshall, Beulah Pidakala, Samantha Ramautar, Akshatha Rao, Melissa Sandy, Delkash Shahriarian, Geetha Shawkarla.</p> <p><u><strong>USA’s schedule at the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship</strong></u><br /> Monday, March 23 – vs. Cayman Islands at 3:30 p.m. EST<br /> Tuesday, March 24 – vs. Brazil at 11:30 a.m. EST<br /> Wednesday, March 25 – vs. Argentina at 11:30 a.m. EST<br /> Friday, March 27 – vs. Bermuda at 3:30 p.m. EST<br /> Saturday, March 28 – vs. Canada at 3:30 p.m. EST</p> </article> <article> <h1>Nabeel Ahmed reportedly named acting CEO of USACA</h1> <p>openingbat — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:34:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p><p>Following the national election on Friday, the President of USACA reportedly <a href="http://newyorkcricket.com/news/2012/04/three-more-years-at-the-helm-for-gladstone-dainty/">announced</a> the appointment of Nabeel Ahmed as acting CEO adding that the board would move quickly to make it a permanent appointment. This was also broadcast via a newly established USACA Twitter feed, which has since gone dark. <br /></p><p>Nabeel Ahmed is the founder of Michigan based Great Lakes Cricket Conference and has played a key role in promoting cricket in his region over three decades. A successful <a href="http://www.greatlakescricket.org/Main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28">businessman</a>, Mr. Ahmed was also the First Vice President of USACA until he resigned in November of 2010. <br /></p><p>Following his resignation, he launched his campaign for President of USACA but by the start of the year, his campaign faded out, prompting rumors that he may have entered into an electoral pact.<br /></p><p>At the time of his resignation, Mr. Ahmed wrote, "There has been some improvement in the last two years but USACA should have been more organised with effective leadership. The whole system has to be revisited; the favours have to stop. Everybody has to be selected on merit. I have watched the system very closely and I exactly know what USA cricket community and stakeholders need and are looking for."<br /></p><p>"We need to start electing right people starting from clubs to leagues to regions and eventually the USACA board," he added.<br /></p><p>In the context of an election in his own region, Mr. Ahmed wrote: <span></span>"My mission is very clear and that is to take cricket to next level in this country through pure democratic process, fairness, accountability, selection at merit, equality through all the regions, respect for member at all the levels."<br /></p>In the end, the leadership change he championed did not come true as a majority of the incumbents were reelected. The 'pure democratic process' he strongly advocated also proved elusive. However, as CEO, Mr. Ahmed may still be able to make good on one part of the promise he made. "Change in US cricket is coming and we are going to make it the best cricket market and cricket playing country. The old US cricket politics are over. We don't have time for negativity, we need to change gear and prosper." </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Dainty, Thickett, Rafey and Gale reelected. Kenwyn Williams elected as Secretary</h1> <p>openingbat — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:00:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <div></div> <div>The results of the contentious national election held today in Fort Lauderdale, FL, were on expected lines. </div> <div> </div> <div>Gladstone Dainty was reelected as President for another three year term. Michael Gale, the incumbent from Austin retained the position of First Vice President and John Thickett, also from Austin, was reelected for the position of Treasurer. Incumbent Rafey Syed was elected the Second Vice President. Kenwyn S. Williams was elected as Executive Secretary. </div> <p>It was smooth sailing for Gladstone Dainty, who won by a huge majority of 10 votes. This was widely expected because a majority of the leagues that were aligned with Mr. <span></span>Dainty's opponents had been deemed non-compliant. <br /></p><p>With just 15 leagues voting in the election, Gladstone Dainty received 12 votes for President while his opponent Ram Varadarajan got 2 votes. Kenwyn Williams and Maq Qureshi drew a blank. One league could not be accounted for.<br /></p><p>For the election of Treasurer, Dainty's ally John Thickett got an identical number of votes (12). Once again, this was exactly as expected. His opponent Gangaram Singh got 3 votes. <br /></p><p>For the position of First Vice President, which saw the incumbent and two regional directors in the fray, Michael Gale prevailed with 9 votes while Shahid Ahmed and Krish Prasad got 2 votes each. Maq Qureshi got one vote while Ahmed Jeddy drew a blank. Once again, one league was not accounted for. Although Krish Prasad lost the election for First Vice President, he will continue to serve on the national board as the regional representative of the New York region.<br /> </p><p>In the election for Second Vice President, Rafey Syed (6 votes) <span></span>sneaked past Ahmed Jeddy (5 votes) in a very close election. Both Rafey Syed and Ahmed Jeddy were members of the last administration and both were aligned with Dainty. Hemant Buch and Maq Qureshi received 2 votes each. <br /></p><p>For the position of Secretary, Kenwyn Williams defeated John Aaron by a 10-5 margin. <br /></p><div> As part of the case discussion in which the plaintiffs request for preliminary injunction was denied, Judge Koh wrote on April 13th that the independent auditor should be the final adjudicator of any challenge to the right to vote of a full member. In the final hours before the election, several of the disenfranchised leagues scrambled to get a hold of information regarding the auditor whose identity was not widely known. By morning, roughly a dozen leagues emailed the independent auditor appealing for restoration of their vote. Even this final attempt to be heard was futile.</div><div> <div> </div> <div>It also appears that WMCB's ballot was exercised despite repeated pleas by the WMCB president, Avinash Varma, to be sent the ballot. Mr. Varma confirmed this morning that he had not received his league's ballot.</div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Judge denies plaintiffs request for preliminary injunction; elections will take place April 14</h1> <p>openingbat — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:40:00 GMT</p> <p><em>Now, you can get all the </em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><em>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</em></a><em>. Also follow us on Twitter via </em><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><em>@dreamcricket</em></a></p> <p>United States District Court Judge Lucy Koh has denied the request for a preliminary injunction to delay the USACA general elections scheduled for April 14 in order to allow leagues that were in good standing as of November 30, 2011 the right to vote. The full ruling can be <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/images/news/Judge%20Koh%20Ruling%20on%20Varadarajan%20v%20USACA.pdf">read here</a>.</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: USACA refuses settlement offer in Varadarajan & CCA court case</h1> <p>openingbat — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:03:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>Judge Lucy Koh’s appeal to both sides in the Varadarajan v. USACA court case to come to a resolution has fallen on deaf ears according to court documents filed today at U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. A motion hearing was held Thursday after which both sides were asked by the judge to negotiate a settlement without her having to intervene.</p> <p>According to documents filed on Friday, USACA President Gladstone Dainty issued a <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/images/news/April%2013%202012%20Court%20File%20Attestation%20by%20Dainty.pdf">declaration document</a> in which he states that he asked the USACA board if they would “voluntarily consent to adjourn the election scheduled for April 14, 2012 by 30 days” and whether or not the board would agree that “the independent auditor has the authority to determine questions of eligibility to vote”. Dainty stated that the board responded “No” to both questions by a 7-3 vote.</p> <p>Lawyers representing Ram Varadarajan and the California Cricket Academy filed a <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/images/news/37-main.pdf">statement</a> to inform that they approached USACA after Thursday’s court hearing and made a formal proposal to resolve the dispute. The document starts off by stating that, “During yesterday’s hearing on Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the Court acknowledged what appeared to be election irregularities and suspicious activity. However, before ruling on Plaintiffs’ motion, the Court asked the parties to meet and confer in an effort to resolve their dispute.”</p> <p>Among the items included in the Varadarajan proposal to resolve the dispute were: a 45-60 day postponement of the election to ensure certainty and a final resolution; agreeing on the appointment of a CPA from one of the big four accounting firms to serve as the auditor; accepting a proposal that the “top six criteria” from the Robert Chance compliance audit serve as a way to determine “substantial compliance” by which the independent auditor would then review evidence to determine if a league is eligible to vote; agreeing to make the independent auditor’s ruling final and binding with no more appeals available.</p> <p>“For reasons we do not understand, USACA refused this reasonable, sensible and principled accommodation,” writes David Marroso, attorney for Varadarajan and CCA. “Instead, USACA insists that its self-interested determination and supposedly impartial ‘appellate committee’ already acted as independent decision makers. However, two (of five) members of that committee publicly excoriated the committee as fraudulent, corrupt and a sham. These two members have ‘no dog in the fight,’ for they are Presidents of leagues allowed to vote—yet what they saw happening was so disturbing they have publicly criticized the unfair process.”</p> <p>The court documents include emails from both Minnesota Cricket Association President Masaood Yunus and Northwest Cricket League President Faizan Janjua which are critical of the USACA appeals process from which they sat on. Janjua’s email was <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=16514&ntid=4">published Thursday</a> on DreamCricket.com.</p> <p>Also included in the documents as an <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/images/news/37-4.pdf">exhibit is an email chain</a> between USACA General Manager Manaf Mohamed, Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board President Avinash Varma and newly elected Atlantic Region representative to the USACA board Keith Gill. Varma’s documents show that he is the elected president of the WMCB, yet claims that Gill has usurped his power and falsely claimed to be the president of the WMCB by signing a notary public in order to obtain the league’s voting ballot for the USACA general elections.</p> <p>“This is a blatant misrepresentation and will have legal ramifications,” writes Varma. Mohamed had written to Varma stating that President Dainty and the rest of the USACA board would take a vote to determine who was the legitimate president of the WMCB. If Gill, a known Dainty ally, were to be acknowledged by the USACA board as the WMCB president, it would overrule the wishes of 14 of the 16 WMCB clubs who held a meeting reaffirming their vote to recognize Varma as the president of the league.</p> <p>“The President of USACA has NO business interfering in WMCB matters,” writes Varma. “WMCB clubs have spoken and USACA has no choice but to accept their decision. Period.”</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: NWCL President writes scathing letter criticizing USACA's "sham" appeals process</h1> <p>openingbat — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:36:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p><i>The following is an email dated Thursday April 12 written by Northwest Cricket League President Faizan Janjua to USACA league presidents</i>.</p> <p>Respected Presidents and Cricket Enthusiasts,</p> <p>I’m President of the Northwest Cricket League. When I took over in February, I had no first-hand knowledge about national cricket politics. I had heard about the unscrupulous Management and the dysfunctional state of USACA from different sources.</p> <p>As you know USACA found 33 [sic, 32] out of 47 leagues affiliated with USACA as non-compliant to its constitution. This was done through a very questionable process conducted by Mr. Robert Chance. This was a wicked attempt to prevent these leagues from voting in the upcoming USACA elections.</p> <p>Five of these “non-compliant” leagues filed appeals to contest the compliant process. To deal with these appeals USACA President tactfully handpicked a five-member Appeals Committee comprised of:<br /> <br /> Faizan Janjua - Northwest Cricket League<br /> Milton Taylor - South Florida Cricket Alliance<br /> Milford Lewis - New York Cricket League<br /> Masood Yunus - Minnesota Cricket Association<br /> Sheldon Mollineau - New Jersey Cricket Association<br /> <br /> Three of the five-member committee, Milton Taylor, Milford Lewis and Sheldon Mollineau are close cronies of Mr. Dainty. Mr Dainty knew that he had his “buddies” on the committee and no matter what, he would get his desired decisions. I think Masood and I were picked to make the process look legitimate.</p> <p>I reluctantly accepted the responsibility thinking that this was my chance to help these leagues to be compliant. From the get-go the committee was given very little evidence/information to look at and only two days to conclude all appeals. At the request of Masood Yunus some additional time was given.</p> <p>Looking at the whole bogus compliant process, I quickly realized that these leagues were found non-complaint for petty discrepancies and all the leagues had very strong and logical explanations/reasons.</p> <p>Yesterday the committee had a meeting to present a final verdict. Mr. Yunus could not attend the meeting due to other engagements.</p> <p>During the deliberation it was quite clear that the three gentlemen came with a pre-determined mind set to ignore all the evidence and wanted to rubber stamp Mr. Chance’s dubious findings. After going through the first two appeals, it was obvious for me, the direction in which all the decisions were going. It was very frustrating for me to see how these leagues were being cheated to be compliant. So I dropped out of the call early.</p> <p>I sincerely apologize to cricket lovers in general and especially to the five leagues, that I was so naïve, that I was fooled into serving as a part of this sham committee. But this experience helped me to understand how USACA is controlling, manipulating and suppressing the development of cricket in US. I also believe that under Mr. Dainty’s leadership, cricket in this country will never flourish</p> <p>I know there are many individuals/groups who are fighting against the current thug culture of USACA. We’ll only succeed if we consolidate our efforts to one platform instead of nitpicking against each other.</p> <p>Re,<br /> Faizan Janjua<br /> President Northwest Cricket League</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Decapitating the spirit of cricket</h1> <p>openingbat — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:20:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Venu Palaparthi</p> <p><a href="http://community.dreamcricket.com/community/blogs/usa_cricketer/archive/2012/04/11/usa-cricket-decapitating-the-spirit-of-cricket.aspx#comments">Comments</a></p> <p>As I began typing this column on Monday, my region held a meeting to welcome a new administration after an election in which a majority of the leagues including my own league were disenfranchised. The majority now stands on the sidelines - stunned, decapitated, and humbled. <br /> <br /> These are not fake leagues as some would like you to believe. Three of these disenfranchised leagues - Garden State Cricket League, Cricket League of NJ and Millennium Cricket League - are the largest leagues in our region. Their members have invested decades of sweat and blood in sustaining and developing cricket. Together, they account for over 2,000 cricketers in NJ. One of these leagues also supports the only league-organized youth cricket program in NJ. These leagues carry the hopes of the cricket loving millions in our region and are recognized for their love for the game and for their organizational prowess, not just by cricketers, but by local governments as well.</p> <p>The area's fast growing population places huge demands on the limited infrastructure and the small band of faithful volunteers. Each year, they take time off from work to lobby for new grounds. What they get are swampy marshes and scrub land. It is hard work at the start of the season. Even their regular grounds are a mess after a brutal winter and a soggy spring. But once the season begins, there is not a single ground in New Jersey that is rested for a single weekend day. They share these grounds with the community, with the softball leagues and with each other. In fact, when USACA came asking for grounds after a national tournament was affected by bad weather, these leagues rearranged their matches to accomodate the tournament.</p> <p>So then these are the leagues that were disallowed from voting in the election for the regional administration. <span></span><br /> </p> <p>Why? On what grounds were they rejected? Here's an example. One of the three leagues has been cited for underpaying its dues for just one club in 2010, a club that dropped out at the start of the season and did not play during the season. Why would a league that paid $4300 in annual dues stiff USACA for just $100? What do they get out of that? An appeal was filed with USACA and an explanation was included in the appeal but the regional election proceeded without the league's participation.</p> <p>Clearly, disenfranchising the leagues was not the only remedy available to USACA. Politically however, it may have been the most convenient option. <br /> </p> <p>What is even more brazen is the way in which USACA turned a deaf ear to the repeated requests and pleas of the president of Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board to be sent the ballot, also disregarding the wishes of 14 of the 16 clubs that comprise the league in the process. <br /> </p> <p><em>Pic (Right): Cricket spirit? Anywhere but the US.</em></p> <p>This story repeats itself across America. USACA has amputated whole regions, shut off leagues in the surviving regions, and, as in WMCB's case, they have also muted the voice of the league's legitimate request for representation. Some of the nation's biggest leagues - NCCA, SCCA, MCC, MichCA, CCL, CLNJ, Massachusetts State Cricket League - are not eligible to vote. </p> <p>USACA has reduced the pitch of dreams into a theater of the absurd. The leaders have shown that they have no heart, choosing to become the masters of cricket, not its servants.</p> <p>With the national elections scheduled to be held on April 14th, it is clear that two-thirds of the leagues have been defeated even before elections have taken place. The outcome of this election is no longer relevant. For to be silenced is to be defeated. </p> <p>In his book “Politics,” Aristotle has this to say about the tyrant: (1) he sows distrust among his subjects; (2) he takes away their power; (3) he humbles them. It is easy to see why the fallen and dispirited subjects have not yet gathered the strength to stand up again - they are powerless and humiliated. </p> <p>The tyranny of USACA has been completed. Even Aristotle will be shocked by the manner in which the small number of 'voting' leagues have watched their sister leagues get trampled. Few leagues have protested. Those that have protested might pay dearly in the future. Even some of the candidiates who loudly demanded a fair and transparent system have since gone silent. One candidate is waging a legal battle. The court date is set for April 12th.</p> <p>Yes, there is talk of big money and commercial rights, and we have all seen slick presentations about the largesse that awaits USA cricket through the sale of these rights. We have heard about it at the last AGM that was held in 2010 and we have heard about it in the town halls of 2011. We are reminded that development is just around the corner. As a teaser, the 'compliant' leagues were promised a token handout of $2,000.</p> <p>But a system that lacks a moral compass often sees very little progress. History is replete with lessons. Just look at Equatorial Guinea, a country which has seen windfall gains thanks to oil in the last decade. The country has the highest per capita GDP in Africa and is also ranked 28th in the entire world. But Equatorial Guinea remains the "worst of the worst" in political and civil rights. Its constitution grants the president wide powers, and he is among the world's richest men according to Forbes. Meanwhile 70% of the population survives on less than $2 a day. </p> <p>If there is any hope for USA cricket, it is because history also shows that tyranny eventually gets overthrown as the subjects rediscover their spirit and coalesce. After the nullification of an election in which her party won 81% of the seats, the Burmese leader Aung Saan Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest, said, “without a revolution of the spirit, the forces which produced the inequities of the old order would continue to be operative, posting a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration.”<br /> <br /> Her words finally rang true as she entered the parliament on April 1, even if it took 20 long years. USA cricket has waited a hundred years for reform. What is another 20 years?</p> </article> <article> <h1>New Zealand and West Indies to play pair of Twenty20 matches in Florida this summer</h1> <p>openingbat — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:15:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p><em>New Zealand Cricket Media Release</em></p> <p>West Indies Cricket have released the schedule for the upcoming BLACKCAPS tour with Twenty20 matches on 30 June and 1 July at Lauderhill in Florida launching the series.</p> <p>The five One Day Internationals will be shared between Jamaica and St Kitts, with the first match on 5 July and final fixture on 16 July.</p> <p>New Zealand will then face a West Indies Selection in a three-day warm-up match in Antigua ahead of the first Test on 25 July, before returning to Jamaica for the final Test on 2 August.</p> <p><em>Image (right) - Central Broward Regional Park stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.</em></p> <p>NZC Chief Executive David White said he was delighted the West Indies were able to take the Twenty20 component of the tour to the USA.</p> <p>“Playing matches in Florida is great for the profile of cricket as Cricket Holdings America works towards forming a professional Twenty20 league and think West Indies Cricket should be commended for the hard work that has gone into scheduling the matches,” said White.</p> <p>“We’re excited about the potential impact of this series for the development and growth of cricket in the USA.</p> <p>“I’m thrilled that the BLACKCAPS and the West Indies can help increase exposure and show the locals how exciting Twenty20 cricket is.”</p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Basil Butcher Jr. to coach women's team, two changes made to squad for ICC Americas tournament</h1> <p>openingbat — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:53:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>Basil Butcher Jr. will coach the USA Women’s team this month at the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship in the Cayman Islands, according to documents obtained from a source. A traveling party list obtained from the source also included Jacqueline Frank, Selwyn Caesar and Brian Jackson as members of the traveling party.</p> <p>Butcher previously served as the women’s team physio last summer during the squad’s 10-day training camp in Barbados. He has also coached the Atlantic Region men’s team and the Atlantic Region U-19 team at USACA tournaments in the past and was the USA U-19 team physio at the 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.</p> <p>It is understood that Frank will be serving as the team manager, but it is unclear what roles Caesar and Jackson will be filling on tour. USACA officials have not responded to emails asking for information and clarification on members of the tour management.</p> <p>Two changes were made to the team roster for the tournament as well, according to an ICC Americas spokesperson. Erica Rendler and Ritu Bhargava have been replaced by Beulah Pidakala and Geetha Shawkarla. Pidakala played in last year’s USACA Women’s Tournament, scoring 3 runs in two innings. Shawkarla did not participate in the 2011 USACA Women’s Tournament.</p> <p>The absence of Rendler means that USA will enter the tournament without their top three scorers from the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier. The other two, Shebani Bhaskar and Doris Francis, were also not named in the squad. </p> <p>The team is tentatively scheduled to leave the USA for the Cayman Islands on April 18 for four days of training before opening up tournament play on April 23 against the Cayman Islands. USA will play five matches in six days and their other opponents include Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil and Canada. The winner of the tournament moves on to the 2013 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier. </p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: Why is USACA paying Robin Singh if he's having a "bad experience" working for USACA?</h1> <p>openingbat — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 08:27:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>Friday afternoon at the IPL, the Mumbai Indians team was on its way to defeat at the hands of the Pune Warriors when sideline reporter Shibani Dandekar pulled aside Mumbai Indians head coach Robin Singh, who also sometimes acts as USA’s “coach” and other times their “technical advisor”, for a brief interview in the 10th over of Mumbai’s failed chase.</p> <p>After Dandekar got a few questions out of the way regarding the state of the match and the quality of Mumbai’s fielding unit, she threw in a question about USA cricket, which may have caught the eyes and ears of viewers in America.</p> <p>“A little birdie told me that you also coached the US Women’s team for the qualifiers,” said Dandekar, referencing the squad that competed in November at the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. “What was that experience like?”</p> <p>“Well that was pretty bad,” Singh blurted out. He may have been candid but he was also quite ungracious. However, the worst was yet to come.</p> <p>“I think it was the first time I was doing women’s cricket,” said Singh. “It’s very very different. I mean, you have to drop your mental standards with them. It’s a total change. It’s absolutely different.”</p> <p>Dandekar then tried to offer a chance for Singh to perhaps take back some of what he just said. “But you enjoyed it…” Dandekar responded back to him.</p> <p>Singh took a few moments before offering a half-hearted and utterly unconvincing, “Yeah….” mixed in with a shoulder shrug. “I mean it’s different. You have to rethink how you strategize and so forth.”</p> <p>Maybe it’s time for USACA to have a rethink about how to strategize their use of financial resources towards a “technical advisor” or “coach” who doesn’t sound terribly enthusiastic about being involved with US cricket and is ready to insult the intelligence of female players with what can only be characterized as sexist remarks. Singh saying he had to drop his “mental standards” when dealing with female cricketers implies they are intellectually inferior to male athletes he coaches.</p> <p>I wonder what the female players and supporters of United States cricket have to say about that. It’s a cheap, pathetic statement one would expect out of someone living in the 1950s. The only amusing part about it is that it’s coming from the guy who sources have indicated was the brains behind sending Abhimanyu Rajp in to bat at number three against Ireland last month at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dubai.</p> <p>Let’s look at Robin Singh’s track record so far in US cricket:<br /> <br /> - 1st place finish (out of six teams) with the USA U-19 team at the 2011 ICC Americas U-19 tournament in Florida. The standard of competition was scraping the bottom of the barrel at that event.<br /> - USA U-19 is swept in a four-match series by West Indies U-19 in Florida last July. <br /> - 7th place finish (out of 10 teams) at the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland. USA fails to qualify for 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup.<br /> - 8th place finish (out of 10 teams) at the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. USA fails to qualify for 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup.<br /> - 12th place finish (out of 16 teams) at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. USA fails to qualify for 2012 ICC World Twenty20.</p> <p>Singh claims that he had a “bad experience” with the USA Women’s team, but on the evidence above, it looks like USA Cricket as a whole has had a very bad experience with Robin Singh. Why does USACA continue to let him fleece their tiny bank account if he’s having a “bad experience” with US cricket?</p> <p><i>Image (right) - Robin Singh [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]</i></p> <p>He blames his experience with the US women’s team on having to drop his “mental standards” when coaching them. However, he also said that he had never coached women before. Clearly, this is an admission that he was unqualified and unprepared for the duties he was assigned to carry out in coaching the USA Women’s team in Bangladesh, yet he had no issues swooping into Dhaka like a vulture to snatch a paycheck from USACA. It’s also interesting to note that after Singh’s “bad experience” with the women’s team in November, he didn’t have any issues parachuting himself into the men’s touring party in the UAE last month to collect another easy paycheck as a “technical advisor”.</p> <p>Let’s look at the results again: one success against substandard competition followed by four overwhelming failures. Each failure was worse than the previous one. Singh has shown no interest in coming to help players with practice and training on US soil prior to entering tournaments. Rather, he conveniently shows up on site as a tournament is about to get underway for a shameless cash grab.</p> <p>Muhammad Ali once said, “The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” Conversely, Singh and USACA’s administration feel they can cut corners to achieve success by sending teams to show up at tournaments with little or no preparation beforehand and just expect them to win. What was that again about dropping mental standards?</p> <p><i>[Views expressed in this article are those of the author. If you have differing views or opinions, we respect those views and urge you to provide your feedback - both positive and negative - in the comments section.]</i></p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: 14-player squad named for 2012 ICC Americas Women's Twenty20 Championship</h1> <p>openingbat — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 08:42:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p>USACA has selected a 14-player squad for the 2012 ICC Americas Women’s Twenty20 Championship to be played from April 23-28 in the Cayman Islands. Five players were left out from the squad that finished in eighth place last November at the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. The USA roster was obtained Thursday from an ICC Americas spokesperson.</p> <p>Candacy Atkins was one of four players coming into the squad who did not go with USA to Bangladesh in November. Atkins was one of several players who wound up staying home from the tour after a dispute over tour stipends between women’s players and USACA. Atkins not only comes back into USA’s squad for the Cayman Islands tour but was also named captain of the team, replacing Doris Francis who was left out of the roster.</p> <p>The other players missing out are Joan Alexander, Grace Richards, Durga Das and teenage sensation Shebani Bhaskar, who was USA’s leading scorer in Bangladesh. Bhaskar scored a half-century in USA’s one-run win over Zimbabwe at the Women’s World Cup Qualifier, but according to a source she could not get approval to miss classes from her high school in India to participate in this tournament.</p> <p>Melissa Sandy and Karen Bayles are two players who are in line to make their debuts for USA at this tournament. The 20-year-old Sandy has previously represented Trinidad & Tobago. She scored 79 off 60 balls against the Hollywood Rebels at the 2011 USACA Women’s National Tournament in New York. Bayles is one of five Tri-State Lynx players, including Atkins, that are a part of this USA roster.</p> <p>The most curious selection in the squad is Sahar Azmat. At the 2011 USACA Women’s National Tournament in New York, Azmat was ripped apart by the Tri-State Lynx batting lineup. In 10 overs, she returned figures of 1 for 128. Azmat was out for 1 in the only innings she batted in at the tournament.</p> <p>It is unclear who in the USACA administration was involved in selecting this squad. The 2012 USACA Women’s National Tournament, originally scheduled for March 9-11, never happened and a selection camp to identify talent never occurred either. A coaching staff and management team has not yet been announced by USACA. It is also unclear if the team will play any warm-up games ahead of the tournament.</p> <p>USA plays the hosts Cayman Islands on the first day of the tournament before squaring off against Brazil on April 24. USA then plays Argentina on April 25 before a rest day on April 26. On Friday, April 27, USA takes on Bermuda and then ends the tournament on April 28 by playing Canada. </p><p>The winner of the tournament advances to the 2013 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier, which will be a 10-team event. A date and location for next year’s qualifier have yet to be determined by the ICC.</p><p><b>USA squad for 2012 ICC <span></span>Americas Women's Twenty20 Championship: </b>Candacy Atkins (captain), Anahita Arora, Sahar Azmat, Karen Bayles, Claudine Beckford, Ritu Bhargava, Sara Farooq, Nadia Gruny, Triholder Marshall, Samantha Ramautar, Akshatha Rao, Erica Rendler, Melissa Sandy, Delkash Shahriarian </p> </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier Report Card Part 3 - Outlook for WCL Division Four</h1> <p>openingbat — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:27:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p><b>Click here for <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=16499&ntid=4">Part 1: Team Grades</a> and <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=16500&ntid=4">Part 2: Player Grades</a></b></p> <p><u><b>What the team needs heading into ICC WCL Division Four</b></u></p> <p><b>Preparation:</b> The following quote is taken from the report card that was written after the <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=16191&ntid=4">2011 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 </a>tournament in July.</p> <p><i>“When the team went to Dubai in 2010 for the last World Twenty20 Qualifier, they got to play two warm-up matches against the UAE before the tournament started and wound up finishing fifth after beating Scotland and losing to Ireland and Afghanistan. They’ll need something more significant in terms of preparation prior to leaving for Dubai to have any hope of finishing in the top two in next year’s qualifier. There is currently nothing scheduled for the men’s team between now and March when the Qualifier is due to be held so making plans to fill that gap in the calendar should be a high priority.”</i></p> <p>If the USACA administration was able to arrange a four-match 50-over series in Florida for the USA U-19 team against West Indies U-19 before heading off to Ireland for last summer’s ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier, the administration should have been able to make a few phone calls to organize some unofficial Twenty20 fixtures to be played in late December or early January in Florida against some of the West Indian domestic teams such as Jamaica, Guyana or Trinidad & Tobago for the USA men. West Indies A played a series of unofficial matches against Bangladesh A in November and something similar could have been designed for USA against one of the islands during the gap in the West Indies domestic calendar ahead of the Caribbean T20 tournament in January.</p> <p>The administration failed to prepare the team for this tournament and as a result the team was prepared to fail. In the seven and a half months that followed USA’s second place finish at the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in July, next to nothing was done. USA played three Twenty20s in Canada in August, but because USA was only confirmed to participate a week before the start of the Etihad Summer Cricket Festival, a B squad was sent to play in Toronto.</p> <p>Of the players who participated for USA in the event against Canada, Afghanistan and Trinidad & Tobago, only two of them were picked in the 14-man squad to go to the UAE – Muhammad Ghous and Andy Mohammed – while Japen Patel joined as an injury replacement. For the other 12 players in the team that went to the UAE this month, the only matches they got to play together in a USA uniform between July and the first match against Uganda were three warm-ups in Sharjah a few days before the qualifier began.</p> <p>Compare that to Namibia, who like USA is not one of the six ICC High Performance Program teams. Like USA, they played their ICC Regional Qualifier in July and finished second at the ICC Africa Division One Twenty20. However, they had a plan in place that resulted in an undefeated 7-0 record in Group B. When Scotland visited to play an Intercontinental Cup match and two 50-over games in September, Namibia arranged for them to stay an extra week into October so they could play five unofficial Twenty20s against each other. Scotland won four of the five, but the preparation and familiarity with their opposition certainly helped Namibia when they hammered Scotland at the qualifier.</p> <p>Then, completely independent of any ICC tournament obligations whatsoever, Namibia hosted Kenya for eight unofficial Twenty20 matches in November. They won six matches and lost two, but most importantly got to try out various combinations and roles to see what worked best. Namibia also plays in South Africa’s provincial three-day and 50-over competitions, but they specifically sought out Twenty20 practice matches independent of that to get their players geared up for the qualifier and it paid off.</p> <p>Conversely, USA’s administration sat on their hands. As a result, the coaching staff was trialing combinations and roles during the tournament rather than ahead of the tournament. It cost the team badly. Previous evidence shows that USA takes a long time to get into a good rhythm when they enter an ICC tournament which takes place in the northern hemisphere winter, outside of USA’s domestic club cricket season. They needed all the help they could get ahead of this tournament to get prepared. Instead, the administration thought that a three-day selection camp in January followed by a series of weekly conference calls before leaving on March 6 for the UAE would bring good results. USA’s 3-6 tournament record demonstrates what a folly that was.</p> <p>Anyone looking to make excuses for USA’s performance at the qualifier by saying that it’s unfair to compare USA with the upper echelon Associate level teams is doing just that, making excuses. Entering the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, USA had beaten Scotland, Canada, Nepal, Italy and Hong Kong in either 50-over or 20-over matches since the start of 2010. Scotland finished fifth and Canada sixth at the qualifier. Nepal finished seventh, Italy 10th and Hong Kong 11th.</p> <p><i>Image (right) - Aditya Mishra hits a six against Scotland in USA's seven-wicket win. If they can finish comfortably on top against Scotland, there's no reason USA can't stand toe-to-toe with any other Associate. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]</i></p> <p>USA’s talent matches up well with any of those teams. Scotland played in the Intercontinental Cup final at the end of 2010. USA beat them convincingly at the World Twenty20 Qualifier in 2010 and they beat them convincingly at the World Twenty20 Qualifier in 2012. The fact is that USA’s players are talented enough and capable of competing with any team that was in the tournament, including Ireland and Afghanistan. However, that can’t be done by standing idle for seven and a half months while other countries are playing together regularly.</p> <p><br /> <b>Selecting players for roles:</b> One of the most amusing things to go back and read on the forums after the end of a match are comments left by fans and supporters that say something along the lines of, “Player X opens for his club/league/region team. Why is he batting at number seven for USA?” One of the only players who bats in the same role for his club/league/region as he does when he has played for the national team is Aditya Thyagarajan. Not surprisingly, Thyagarajan has had success playing in the middle order for USA because he is familiar and comfortable there due to the fact that he fills the same role for his club/region.</p> <p>Every other player picked for USA opens or bats at number three for their club/league/region. Then they come to play for USA and are asked to bat at 5, 6, 7 or 8 and have no situational experience to draw upon. They are used to starting the innings and dictating the course of play. For the most part, they have no concept of how to respond when they enter at 30 for 4 or 40 for 5 when playing for the national team because they’ve never had to do it at club/league/regional level. They struggle and the team struggles as a result. More attention needs to be placed on picking players for roles. USA is guilty of this at U-19 level as well as senior level in terms of squad selection. It makes no sense picking eight opening batsmen when only two can play in that position for the national team.</p> <p><br /> <b>Get people playing regularly on turf wickets:</b> The vast majority of USA’s squad had limited international experience prior to this tournament. The vast majority of them also had limited experience playing on turf wickets. Two players who play on turf wickets on a weekly basis at Woodley in Los Angeles – Abhimanyu Rajp and Elmore Hutchinson – were two of USA’s most impressive players on tour despite the fact that they were making their debuts for USA. That’s no coincidence. USA’s batsmen in particular struggled and part of those struggles can be pinned on failing to adjust to turf wickets after playing virtually year round on artificial surfaces. It will continue to be this way until the administration makes infrastructure development a top priority.</p> <p><br /> <b>Hire a full-time coach/team director:</b> This was <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=16364&ntid=4">discussed in November</a>, but it’s worth revisiting here. Just about every player had positive things to say about Robin Singh and his involvement with the squad. Singh was with the team during the warm-up and group phase, then flew back to India after USA’s final group match against Scotland. Everyone felt they learned something from him over the course of their time with him.</p> <p>However, USACA is wasting precious funds by just throwing money at him to show up for two weeks and disappear again. USACA must bring him on board full-time and have him work with the various regions on a regular basis by developing programs geared to get everyone on the same page and he has to work with the national team inside the USA ahead of tours as well. It’s no use having him just show up at tournament time. He needs to be on site on a regular basis.</p> <p><b><br /> Hire a proper physio:</b> Throwing a first aid kit bag over a USACA board member’s shoulder doesn’t count. The person USACA has been sending on every tour to be the team physio is licensed in the state of Illinois to be a <i>Physical Therapist Assistant</i> (PTA). He is not licensed to be a <i>Physical Therapist</i> (PT). According to the Illinois Physical Therapy Association, there is a very big difference between the two.</p> <p><i>Physical Therapist</i></p> <p>“Physical therapists must graduate from an accredited educational program with a master's or doctoral degree. After completing your education, you will be required to pass a licensure examination before you can work as a PT. Coursework includes biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as specialized courses such as biomechanics, neuroanatomy, human growth and development, manifestations of disease, examination techniques, and therapeutic procedures.”</p> <p><i>Physical Therapist Assistant</i></p> <p>“Physical Therapist Assistants graduate from a 2 year program, earning an associates degree from an accredited physical therapist assistant program. PTAs also must pass a licensure examination to work as a PTA. PTAs perform a number of physical therapy treatments and procedures as determined by the supervising physical therapist.”</p> <p>There are plenty of 27 and 28-year-old newly licensed physical therapists fresh out of completing a master's or doctoral degree at university with the latest training methods in sports medicine who would give their right arm for an opportunity to work for a few weeks on tour for a USA national team in any sport. Many of them would probably do it pro bono as long as their expenses were taken care of. The selectors showed in January that they were keen to find some fresh blood to represent the team. With that spirit in mind, the same should be done for the next tour by bringing along a new fully licensed, freshly trained physical therapist.</p> <p><br /> <b>A healthy Aditya Thyagarajan:</b> If USA’s middle order man for all crises can return to full fitness after more than a year away from the national team, he would provide priceless stability to the batting. To give fans a reminder of what USA has been missing, here’s a look at some of Thyagarajan’s highlights in a red, white and blue uniform:</p> <p><i>November 27, 2008:</i> Enters match at 114 for 4, builds 119-run partnership with Rashard Marshall for the sixth wicket. Finishes second top score behind Marshall with 42 in total of 254 for 7 before eventual 86-run win over Bermuda.</p> <p><i>Image (left) - Aditya Thyagarajan in action against Canada in 2008. [Courtesy: ICC]</i><br /> <br /> <i>November 29, 2008:</i> Enters match at 59 for 4, builds 105-run partnership with Orlando Baker for the seventh wicket. Top score of 84 not out in total of 201 for 8 in USA’s eventual 81-run win over Canada.<br /> <br /> <i>February 10, 2010:</i> Enters match at 11 for 5 in fourth over, builds 99-run unbeaten partnership with Orlando Baker for the seventh wicket. Top score of 72 not out in 78-run loss to Ireland at ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.<br /> <br /> <i>February 23, 2010:</i> Enters match at 55 for 5 in 23rd over, builds 118-run partnership with Carl Wright for the sixth wicket. Builds 80-run unbeaten partnership with Rashard Marshall for seventh wicket. Top score of 83 not out in USA’s 66-run win over Jersey.<br /> <br /> <i>February 26, 2010:</i> With USA needing 163 to win in 50 overs, enters chase at 112 for 5 in 29th over. Builds 47-run unbeaten partnership with Sushil Nadkarni for the sixth wicket. Scores 18 not out in five-wicket win over Nepal amidst crowd rioting.<br /> <br /> <i>May 28, 2010:</i> Enters match at 91 for 4, builds 213-run partnership with Orlando Baker for the fifth wicket. Top score of 159 in total of 347 for 6 in USA’s eventual 119-run win over Argentina.<br /> <br /> <i>June 6, 2010:</i> With USA needing 101 to win in 20 overs, enters chase at 60 for 4 in 10th over. Builds 37-run unbeaten partnership with Carl Wright for the sixth wicket. Top score of 27 not out as USA wins ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 title over Canada by five wickets with nine balls to spare.<br /> <br /> <i>August 20, 2010:</i> Enters match at 17 for 5 in fifth over, builds 84-run partnership with Lennox Cush for the sixth wicket. Builds 205-run unbeaten partnership with Rashard Marshall for the seventh wicket. Scores 102 not out in total of 306 for 6 before eventual 196-run win over Argentina.</p> <p>Call him the Iceman, the Insurance Policy, the Stick of Glue… call him whatever you want, Thyagarajan was USA’s middle order. USA hasn’t been the same since he went down with a dislocated right knee against Denmark in Hong Kong more than a year ago at ICC WCL Division Three. He’s progressed enough in rehab to be playing club cricket for Hollywood CC in the SCCA, but he needs to get 100% fit and back into a USA uniform for ICC WCL Division Four. USA is a different team with him in the lineup and the younger players can learn a huge amount by observing him and the way he approaches each innings.</p> <p><br /> <b>The return of Steve Massiah:</b> Massiah has never been a good performer in Twenty20 cricket so it’s doubtful he would have caused a change in fortunes for USA had he been with the squad in the UAE. However, he still offers value to USA in the 50-over format. Now that his legal matter has been resolved, it opens the door for him to come back and bolster USA’s middle order for WCL Division Four.</p> <p>With Massiah and Thyagarajan in the lineup, USA should feel more confident about its chances of progressing from Division Four - where they'll be up against Denmark, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore and Tanzania - back into Division Three. The four teams in Division Three awaiting the two sides to get promoted from Division Four are Bermuda, Italy, Oman and Uganda. On paper, Division Four is going to be more difficult than Division Three. USA will need all hands on deck to progress out of Division Four and Massiah will be one of the players who has to step up.</p> <p><br /> <b>Finding a wicketkeeper:</b> Since 2010, USA has used Carl Wright, Orlando Baker, Ashhar Mehdi, Steven Taylor, Ritesh Kadu, Akeem Dodson and Nauman Mustafa in the specialist position. Taylor was forced into the role on this tour when it wasn’t the original plan, but he is not a long term solution and should only be used to keep wicket in emergency situations. Otherwise, Taylor should be playing as a specialist batsman.</p> <p>USA’s handling of Mustafa on this tour was reminiscent of their handling of Durale Forrest in Hong Kong. The coaching staff killed Mustafa’s confidence by dropping him and handing the gloves over to Taylor rather than show faith in Mustafa after a rough first game behind the stumps against Uganda. Forrest didn’t even get the benefit of a game before his confidence was shattered. He had to watch as a 46-year-old assistant coach was added to the roster and walked right into the starting XI before he could even make his debut.</p><p>USACA has also done wonders to put a major dent in Akeem Dodson’s development. The 24-year-old won the Best Wicketkeeper Award at the ICC Americas tournament in July, but USACA sent invitations out to a half-dozen other wicketkeepers for January’s selection camp. Mustafa succeeded in knocking the incumbent out, but couldn’t cement his position once on tour and that caused a major headache for the squad during and after the tournament. It's highly likely that USA will be going back to the drawing board once again for a different wicketkeeper when WCL Division Four comes around after Mustafa's underwhelming performance in the UAE.</p> <p>The bottom line is someone needs to step up to fill the role ahead of WCL Division Four. The wicketkeeper position figures to be one of at least two roster spots in the team up for grabs heading into the senior team’s next international commitment. Adil Bhatti might be able to fight off a few challengers to remain in the squad, but if Timroy Allen or Rashard Marshall show interest in recommitting themselves to the national team, they would be too difficult to pass up. Here’s a projected lineup for USA at Division Four with two roster spots left unnamed.</p><p>1. Steven Taylor <br /> 2. Aditya Mishra (vice-captain)<br /> 3. Sushil Nadkarni (captain)<br /> 4. Steve Massiah<br /> 5. Aditya Thyagarajan<br /> 6. Orlando Baker<br /> 7. Wicketkeeper - Up for grabs<br /> 8. Elmore Hutchinson<br /> 9. Usman Shuja<br /> 10. Abhimanyu Rajp<br /> 11. Muhammad Ghous</p> <p>12th man: Ryan Corns<br /> 13th man: Asif Khan<br /> 14th man: Up for grabs</p> <p><i>[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches. If you have differing views or opinions, we respect those views and urge you to provide your feedback - both positive and negative - in the comments section.]</i></p> </article> <article> <h1>Lessons to Obama Courtesy of USA cricket</h1> <p>openingbat — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:15:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Venu Palaparthi</p> <p><a href="http://community.dreamcricket.com/community/blogs/usa_cricketer/archive/2012/04/02/lessons-to-obama-courtesy-of-usa-cricket.aspx#comments">Comments</a></p> <p><strong>[This is a satirical article. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental except in the case of a very famous former president and his impressions on cricket.]</strong></p> <p>Dear President Obama:</p> <p>With the elections around the corner, here are five priceless lessons on how to remain in power for a second term (or, if you prefer, as many years as you want). </p> <p>You should know your history, Mr. President. Cricket and US presidency share some historic connections. John Adams, the first Vice President of USA and our great nation's second President, told the Congress that leaders of simple cricket clubs were called "presidents." He argued that the leader of USA should be called something more grand like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams#Vice_Presidency">His High Mightiness</a>. President Adams thought that the title of president was the "most superlatively ridiculous." </p> <p>As it turns out, he did not prevail, the result of which is that you are called the President today and the title of <em>His High Mightiness </em>might rightly belong in cricket administration.</p> <p>But I digress, Mr. President. Thanks to cricket, there may still be some other superlatively ridiculous stuff for you to learn about safe-guarding your presidency. Remember, they don't teach this stuff at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. So next time you play air-cricket with Brian Lara, don't forget to thank him.</p> <p><strong>Lesson #1: Don't hold an election that you cannot win. </strong></p> <p>It is better to postpone an election than let your opponents win. When in doubt, postpone. It also has the additional benefit of extending your term even if you were to somehow get defeated eventually. </p> <p>Your constitution does not allow it? Don't let trivial things like the constitution determine how long you are in power. </p> <p>Just tell people you are conducting a review of every voter's long-form birth certificate and vaguely suggest to them that all elections may be on hold until the review is completed. "This is simply not cricket," you say? This is cricket in your country.</p> <p><strong>Lesson #2: Know the outcome, then reverse engineer!</strong></p> <p>Everyone wants to win. But you are in power, so use it to your advantage Mr. President. Campaigns, manifestos, democracy - those are relics of a bygone era. </p> <p>Focus on the outcome. Figure out who might vote for you. Then, make sure they are the majority. [For how, see Lessons 3 thru 5]. </p> <p>Reverse-engineering runs against the very spirit of democracy, you say? C'mon Mr. President. Don't forget that the only "spirit" you see in some of the world's biggest democracies is the "spirit" that flows freely come election time.</p> <p>You say the international community would never allow that? Once again, look no further than cricket for inspiration. ICC, which is the international cricket body swears by "spirit of cricket," and has even enshrined it in the game's laws. But they simply are too preoccupied to care about things like election process, unless there were TV rights associated with it.</p> <p><strong>Lesson #3: Deny, disqualify, disregard!</strong></p> <p>Start with those red states, Mr. President. Deny them the vote. On what grounds, you ask? Be inventive Mr. President. May be they have not done enough to improve their real estate prices, their math scores, or perhaps a majority of their people haven't paid their taxes by April 15th. Figure something out that will get those states off the electoral map. Don't just stop with those red states. There are red zones in every blue state will soon be large enough to disrupt your influence.</p> <p>You are afraid that your own government has had difficulty with these parameters at the national level? You are over-analyzing, Mr. President. Those rules only apply to the voters.</p> <p>You are worried that roughly half the country might not vote? Draw some courage from cricket, Mr. President. A good two-thirds of USA's cricket leagues have been disenfranchised in the forthcoming election. It doesn't harm your electoral chances at all if you disregard those that are screaming their lungs out.</p> <p><strong>Lesson #4: Offer incentives to only those who have been granted the vote.</strong></p> <p>Here's a secret, Mr. President. Collect taxes from everyone, but offer rewards only to those that can vote. For better effect, make an announcement just before the election, so that it remains fresh in the voters' memory. </p> <p>That sounds like a bribe, you fear? Let me clarify. When cash is offered by candidates from their own pockets in the developing nations, those are bribes. This is a tax-payer paid "grant." </p> <p>To make it look even less like an inducement, tie it to something that looks like you care. Give every voting family a "math improvement" or "timely tax payment" grant. The beauty of it is that there is no cost to the exchequer. </p> <p>Once again, look for precedents in cricket. One non-voting cricket league in your own region paid enough to fund grants for the three voting leagues.</p> <p><strong>Lesson #5: Never lose control of the final results.</strong></p> <p>Elections are never transparent, Mr. President. The votes are held in really opaque boxes. Elections are only transparent when they produce the right result. If you feel that the election is not going your way, block the results and announce fresh elections. Then get back to reverse engineering the desired outcome.</p> <p>If the results have already been announced by over-enthusiastic election overseers, be comfortable in the knowledge that gerrymandering is not just a word in the dictionary. </p> <p>You have a lot of options Mr. President. Like disqualifying entire regions and announcing redistricting reviews. If you have any questions on how to block nay-sayers from getting to vote, feel free to google USA cricket. </p> <p>Follow these lessons and you will never bat on a sticky wicket.</p> <p>Thank you Mr. President. </p> <p>A cricket loving American.</p> </article> <article> <h1>How Sachin got saved from moving to South India</h1> <p>namya — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:26:00 GMT</p> Sachin frantically calling up Bhajji just before the commencement of IPL V – “Aila, Bhajji, we have a problem on our hands. Arjun has suddenly started saying since yesterday that he wants to shift to Bengaluru and wants me to move to RCB. He says that his genetic shortcomings can be overcome only if we move our base immediately.” Bhajji – “Oye what’s the problem in that Paaji? I will captain MI. We won the CLT20 without you no? The deafening silence on the other side reminds Bhajji of the silent...(<a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/community/blogs/not_cricket/archive/2012/03/31/how-sachin-got-saved-from-moving-to-south-india.aspx">read more</a>) </article> <article> <h1>USA Cricket: 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier Report Card Part II - Player Grades</h1> <p>openingbat — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:47:00 GMT</p> <p><i>Now, you can get all the </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/dreamcricket"><i>USA Cricket updates via Facebook</i></a><i>. Also follow us on Twitter via </i><a href="http://twitter.com/dreamcricket"><i>@dreamcricket</i></a></p> <p>By Peter Della Penna (on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/DPMilGaya">Twitter</a>)</p> <p><u><b>Player Grades</b> </u></p> <p><b>Sushil Nadkarni – C:</b> The captain was USA’s leading run getter in the tournament with 187 runs and had a high score of 59 against Oman. He was USA’s top scorer in four games (Uganda, Oman, Kenya, Bermuda). However, his string of three consecutive ducks against Italy, Namibia and Ireland crippled the team’s chances in those games. He got a good ball against Italy, but hooking to deep square leg on his second ball against Namibia was not something you’d expect out of a senior player and neither was the way he ran himself out against Ireland.</p> <p>As a captain, he was hamstrung because the team didn’t have enough preparation ahead of the tournament to figure out which bowlers would be best suited for certain roles such as bowling at the death. There’s nothing wrong with trying to think outside the box but some of the batting lineups were bizarre. Having Abhimanyu Rajp coming in at number three against Ireland was something straight out of Ripley’s, but one suspects the coaching staff had more to do with that than Nadkarni.</p> <p><i>Image (right) - Sushil Nadkarni in action against Kenya. [Courtesy: ICC/Thusith Wijedoru]</i></p> <p><b>Steven Taylor – B-:</b> The youngest player on the team was quiet in the first three games in the tournament, but started to click against Ireland and from then on was one of USA’s best batsmen. He finished second on the team in runs with 179 at a strike rate of 117.76. He had plenty of good starts, but never reached 50. However, his top score of 40 came in USA’s win over Scotland, the biggest upset of the tournament.</p> <p>He was also involved in USA’s best two partnerships of the tournament, teaming with Aditya Mishra on each occasion to score 78 for the first wicket against Scotland and 64 for the third wicket against Namibia. He used to struggle at junior level with carrying on after making a start but erased those issues at the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland with a pair of centuries. He needs to focus on doing the same thing at the senior level. He also could have probably had a better time with the bat had he not been thrust into the wicketkeeper role by the second match. Taylor played six matches behind the stumps, taking four catches and completing two stumpings during the tournament but unless he shows significant improvement with the gloves he should really be playing as a specialist batsman.</p> <p><b>Aditya Mishra – B:</b> The vice-captain led the team in the group stage with 155 runs and finished third overall on the team at the qualifier with 169 runs, including two half-centuries. In the field, he dropped a sharp chance offered by Davis Arinaitwe of Uganda on the first day that had a major impact on the game and sometimes took poor routes to the ball trying to cut off runs, but took three catches overall in the tournament.</p> <p>In some matches, he looked imperious and brimming with confidence at the crease. In others, he looked tentative and fidgety, which unsurprisingly led to two runouts, not to mention two more he had in the warm-up games ahead of the tournament. There was no middle ground. It usually only took one over to gauge which Mishra was at the crease in a given match.</p> <p><i>Image (left) - Aditya Mishra during his match-winning 62 against Scotland. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna/DreamCricket]</i></p> <p>In the matches against Italy, Namibia and Scotland, the first Mishra appeared and carried the team just short of victory on two occasions. On the third, he scored 62 to lead USA to their best win of the tournament. It is worth noting though that he was the beneficiary of drops in the field in all three of those matches, but managed to make the most of the second chances. Nerves mysteriously seemed to get the better of him in the other five games. For that reason he was arguably USA’s most compelling and confounding player on tour.</p> <p><b>Orlando Baker – C+:</b> Given more responsibility with the bat than he had under Steve Massiah’s captaincy in July at the 2011 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20, Baker contributed a few good knocks against Italy and Namibia before playing a crucial support role to Mishra in the late stage of the chase against Scotland. His best score though was 39 against Bermuda, a disappointing stat considering the starts he got in several games. He finished with 130 runs in nine innings, one of only four USA batsmen to break past 100 at the qualifier.</p> <p>With the ball, Baker took five wickets at an average of 20, which was the second best average on the team behind Ghous. His bowling was only used in four matches though. His strike rate of 15.6 was the best on the team for any bowler with a minimum of one over per team match. It could have been better had three catches not been dropped off his bowling, but he also dropped two chances and took no catches at the tourney. He has a knack for taking wickets and his bowling could have come in handy in some other games but it appeared Nadkarni wanted to keep him fresh for when it came time to bat.</p> <p><b>Nauman Mustafa – F:</b> For several years, Mustafa has been one of the best batsmen on the domestic scene, but he failed when it came time to transition his game to the international stage. Had there been a USACA Twenty20 National Tournament in January as originally scheduled, the North West Region had selected a squad in which they dropped Mustafa yet he was brought into the USACA selection camp that took place in Florida instead of the tournament. While it was felt there wasn’t much difference between the standard of keeping between him and incumbent Akeem Dodson, Mustafa’s batting is held in higher esteem than Dodson’s and that helped Mustafa earn selection as USA’s first-choice wicketkeeper heading into the tour.</p> <p>This proved to be a major error in judgment by the selectors, especially since Dodson had won the Best Wicketkeeper Award at the 2011 ICC Americas Twenty20 Division One tournament in July. Mustafa was making his debut at 37, not exactly ripe for a wicketkeeper and it showed on the first day against Uganda. With just 123 runs to defend, every run mattered in the field but Mustafa gave away at least 10 behind the stumps through byes and other misfields.</p> <p>He was promptly dropped for the next game against Italy, then recalled for the Namibia match where he was selected as a specialist batsman at number three and scored 0 off 4 balls driving loosely in the air to cover, the same way he got out against Uganda for 13 off 19 balls coming in at number five. When he was a fielder not behind the stumps, he wasn’t exactly fleet of foot. He scored 6 off 15 at number six playing as a specialist batsman against Ireland, then had another two matches on the bench before wearing the gloves against Scotland. He did an adequate job, taking three catches. Two days later against Bermuda, Mustafa scored 9 not out from 3 deliveries at number seven but had a sloppy performance behind the stumps in the first few overs in the field, an easy reminder as to why Taylor had taken over the gloves for most of the tournament. Mustafa was then dropped again for the final day against Hong Kong.</p> <p>Before the tour began, USACA Cricket Committee chairman Ahmed Jeddy told DreamCricket.com, “We expect a good result,” when asked what he thought of the team’s chances in the qualifier. “Winning it and qualifying for the World Cup is a good result for us.” If the mindset was to try and win now, then perhaps selecting Mustafa for the tournament was worth a gamble.</p> <p><i>Image (right) - Nauman Mustafa, seen here against Scotland, entered the tour as USA's first choice wicketkeeper, but only wore the gloves in three of USA's nine matches at the qualifier. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]</i></p> <p>However, halfway through the tournament after the team had lost its first four games in Group B, Jeddy told the Associated Press, “I really don’t care what the results of this tournament will be. I want people to look at this team in two years.” If this team was being selected with the future in mind, to groom players and get them experience to set them up for the next few years, 24-year-old Dodson should have been in the team and not been dropped in favor of Mustafa. Dodson didn’t set the world on fire with the bat playing for USA last July in Florida, but he couldn’t have done much worse than Mustafa did with the bat or gloves in the UAE.</p> <p>Going back to the ICC Americas tournament in July, Mustafa was selected in the original 14-man squad before the administration intervened to remove him in favor of Nadkarni. The coaching staff in the UAE showed little faith in his wicketkeeping after the first match and he never had a clearly defined role afterward, batting in four different positions in his four innings at the tournament. Those things weren’t his fault. USA’s wicketkeeper position has been poorly handled over the last two years and the indecisiveness over who should be in the role both before and during the tour cost the team badly in the UAE.</p> <p><b>Ryan Corns – C-:</b> Corns scored 10 off 12 balls and took 1 for 27 in the field against Uganda before sitting out the next three matches with a groin injury. He had initially been ruled out for the rest of the tournament, but came back to play against Oman and played every match the rest of the way. However, he was clearly not 100%. He only came to the crease three more times after the first game but was a disappointment overall with the bat, scoring 27 runs at an average of 9.00.</p> <p>Despite his problems with the bat, he showed great promise with the ball, taking four wickets in 13 overs at an average of 25.25 and an economy rate of 7.76. That might not sound special, but Corns was one of the bowlers who suffered through a series of drops, with three catches put down off his bowling including a key chance against Uganda that Taylor misjudged coming in from the long on boundary.</p> <p>Corns took a step back with the bat in the UAE, but a step forward with the ball. Once he gets the balancing act right, he will be a very handy all-rounder for USA at the senior level just as he was at the Under-19 level.</p> <p><b>Adil Bhatti – D:</b> Bhatti scored 34 not out off 11 balls in the final warm-up game against Denmark and also took five wickets in three warm-up games, including 4 for 38 against Namibia. But when the live matches got underway he only bowled five overs and took just one wicket which came in his first over of the first game against Uganda. His 21 in that match was also his top score for the tournament. He added just 54 runs in seven innings after that. Five of his eight innings came at number seven but he struggled in the position, whether he was tasked with trying to give USA a late innings surge or helping rebuild when the team was in trouble.</p> <p>On most days, his fielding was good, not great, as he typically patrolled either the midwicket or cover boundary. He finished with three catches, but also had three drops although one of them was a tough chance against Namibia where he did well just to get to the ball. Bhatti typically demonstrated a positive attitude in everything he did. His effort never seemed to waver and he consistently tried his best. At this level though, trying isn’t good enough. His number one priority should be to sharpen his batting.</p> <p><b>Elmore Hutchinson – C+:</b> Team management seemed confused how best to utilize Hutchinson throughout the tournament. He batted at four different positions (three, six, eight and nine). On the bowling side, he opened, came on at first change, but was also the fifth, sixth and seventh bowling option used depending on the match.</p> <p><i>Image (left) - Elmore Hutchinson celebrates the dismissal of Ireland's Paul Stirling, who was the number one scorer at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. [Courtesy: ICC/Barry Chambers]</i></p> <p>Despite all the shuffling around, he finished with six wickets, tied for third on the team with Usman Shuja. His best performance came against Ireland when he took 3 for 22, including the wickets of Paul Stirling and Gary Wilson, for the best figures of a USA bowler in any match at the qualifier. He then top scored in the second innings with 29 at number nine. He was also a crucial player in the match against Scotland, taking 1 for 10 in two overs before scoring 19 off 20 balls at number three in USA’s successful chase. Hutchinson was adequate in the field, but did have two drops. He’s still a bit unpolished, but showed signs that he could be a solid contributor in future tournaments both for his bowling and batting.</p> <p><b>Asif Khan – D:</b> He was supposed to be USA’s frontline spinner, but only managed to take one wicket in 17 overs during the qualifier. That sole wicket came in his very first over of the event against Uganda. His main problem on tour was trying to find consistency. He only bowled one over against Italy in which two boundaries were hit off him. Against Namibia, he was hit for four boundaries in his first over, but then came back and bowled a maiden in his second spell. Against Ireland he went for 10 runs in his first two overs, then 25 in his next two.</p> <p>In his last match of the tournament, he took 0 for 24 against Scotland and had Scotland’s top scorer, Jan Stander, dropped off his bowling. After the chance was put down, Khan applauded Muhammad Ghous for putting in a sliding effort. Khan then grinned and shook his head as if to say, “Nothing’s going my way.” He still managed to finish second in economy rate for USA with 7.23 runs per over, but his inability to take wickets resulted in him being dropped for the final two games.</p> <p>With the bat, Khan topped USA’s averages on tour with 42 runs at 42.00. This came primarily from his 35 not out off 29 balls at number six against Italy when he nearly took the team across the line. He top scored for USA that day, but struggled to get the ball away in the last two overs and the team eventually lost by eight runs. Curiously though, Khan was not one of the nine batsmen used the next day against Namibia at a time when USA could have definitely used him in their chase. He came in at number five against Scotland and was in the middle when the winning runs were scored. Overall, it was a disappointing tour for Khan, but hopefully he will bounce back for USA at ICC WCL Division Four.</p> <p><b>Abhimanyu Rajp – B+:</b> Rajp entered the tour behind Khan and Ghous in the spin bowling pecking order and sat on the bench for day one against Uganda. After a reshuffle for day two against Italy, he made his debut and took a wicket on his very first delivery, setting the tone for the rest of his time in the tournament. While he never had a big haul, Rajp was USA’s most consistent performer with the ball and finished tied for the team lead with 10 wickets at an average of 21.90.</p> <p><i>Image (right) - Abhimanyu Rajp bowling against Scotland. Rajp tied for the team lead with 10 wickets at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. [Courtesy: ICC/Ian Jacobs]</i></p> <p>His fielding was usually sharp. He took six catches, the most of any player on the team at the tournament including wicketkeepers. Three of them were off his own bowling. Rajp was also decent with the bat. His 59 runs were the seventh most on the team and came at an average of 11.80. He nearly pulled off a stunning win against Italy after hitting a four and six off the first two balls of the final over before USA fell short by eight runs.</p> <p>The only noticeable drawback in his game was a tendency to try to buy wickets. He averaged 1.00 boundary or six conceded per over, the highest rate on the team for bowlers with a minimum of nine overs (one over per team game) at the qualifier compared to 2.31 dot balls per over, which was fifth on the team for bowlers with a minimum of nine overs. These are minor adjustments he can make but he should be an even bigger contributor for USA in 50-over cricket when ICC WCL Division Four comes around.</p> <p><b>Usman Shuja – C+:</b> Stood out as being USA’s fittest player on tour, Shuja has perhaps the most professional approach to the game of any player on the team and as a result is also one of the most durable players USA has had for the last several years. He was one of only four players on the team to play all nine matches at the qualifier, which is even more remarkable because he’s an opening pace bowler.</p> <p>He was wicketless in the first three games, but started to hit his stride against Ireland, taking 1 for 16 in three overs. He was named Man of the Match for his spell of 4-1-9-1 against Oman, even though Nadkarni scored a half-century in the first innings. His best figures came against Scotland, with 3 for 39 in the team’s upset win although it could have been 4 for 35 if not for a drop on the last ball of the innings. Shuja also had another chance put down off his bowling on the last day against Hong Kong.</p> <p><i>Image (left) - Usman Shuja in his delivery stride vs. Ireland. [Courtesy: ICC/Barry Chambers]</i></p> <p>Overall he took six wickets, tied with Hutchinson for third on the team but his average of 33.16 and strike rate of 27.30 were ahead of only Bhatti and Khan. He bowled two of USA’s four maidens and his 2.78 dot balls per over was the best rate of any bowler for USA at the qualifier, but he also conceded 0.99 boundaries or sixes per over, the second highest rate behind Rajp for bowlers with a minimum of one over per team game.</p> <p>Shuja should have been batting at number eight and definitely not lower than nine. After scoring 8 not out and 8 in the first two matches coming in at nine and eight, Shuja was hardly seen again on the batting side until he scored 14 at number nine on the final day against Hong Kong. He was underutilized in this regard, but the coaching staff was keen to try out different combinations. Shuja will continue to be a key player in the next few years as USA rebuilds in an attempt to climb back up the Associate ladder.</p> <p><b>Muhammad Ghous – B+:</b> After two subpar tournaments in 2011, Ghous bounced back in a big way in the UAE and was arguably USA’s standout bowler on tour. He tied for the team lead in wickets with 10 and had USA’s best economy rate of 6.00 runs per over. He bowled the most dot balls at the tournament for USA with 83 and had the second most dot balls per over for bowlers with a minimum of one over per team game with 2.59 behind Shuja’s 2.78. He also had the team’s lowest rate of boundaries or sixes allowed per over with 0.63, well below just about everyone else, a sign that he bowled very few loose deliveries and that teams struggled to get him away all tournament.</p> <p>Ghous’ fielding was hit or miss. He was given more opportunities to field inside the circle on this tour especially after Corns was injured in the first game. When he was at point, Ghous was very active and did well to save runs by diving and throwing his body around. He was even involved in a run out while fielding at point in the Scotland game. Curiously though, he doesn’t always show the same desperation to save runs while fielding on the boundary. He looks particularly disinterested when fielding at third man or long leg on the boundary and in general is slow to react to the ball off the bat when fielding anywhere along the rope. That seems to be the only flaw in his game, but one that can be corrected with better habits developed at club level.</p> <p><b>Japen Patel – Incomplete:</b> Patel joined the tour as an injury replacement for Gowkaran Roopnarine and wound up playing four games. He took 3 for 29 against Oman, the worst batting side at the tournament and the only team to go winless in the group stage. He was rocked for 19 runs in his only over against Kenya and 17 runs in his only over against Hong Kong, a more accurate reflection of his bowling abilities. He bowled 36 legal deliveries in the tournament and 33% of them were hit to or over the boundary.</p> <p>He also looked out of his depth on the batting side, scoring 11 runs in three innings. He had two drops in the field against one catch. If he is going to make it in the side in the future, it has to be with his batting but he needs a ton of work to improve.</p> <p><b>Andy Mohammed – Incomplete:</b> Was the reserve batsman on tour. Despite early injuries to Corns and Roopnarine, Mohammed wound up playing only two games at the qualifier. He scored 18 not out off 18 balls at number six against Namibia. He entered in the 15th over at a time when the team needed at least one boundary per over to stay in the chase, but Mohammed struggled badly to get underneath the ball or get in a position at the crease to try to clear the ropes and that seemed to doom his chances of selection for the rest of the qualifier.</p> <p>His only other game was against Kenya, where he came in at number three and again struggled against their pace attack, scratching together 3 off 12 balls before getting out. He also had a drop in the field later in that game. Mohammed’s frustrations probably grew when Patel, who was not in the original squad, played ahead of him in the games against Oman, Scotland and Hong Kong. It meant that USA was playing three all-rounders (Baker, Bhatti, Patel), two of which were barely used for their bowling. However, based on his two performances, Mohammed is another who needs to work very hard to improve his batting.</p> <p><b>Gowkaran Roopnarine – Incomplete:</b> Juicy was edged out in the starting XI for the opening match by Steven Taylor. When he got his first chance in the game against Italy, he promptly injured a hamstring in the third over fielding on the boundary at third man. He scored 2 off five balls coming in at number nine later in the loss before being declared out of the tournament and replaced by Patel. It was an unfortunate experience for a player who worked hard in the last year to get back into the team.</p> <p><b>Coming up in Part III - Looking ahead to ICC WCL Division Four</b></p> <p><b>Click here to read</b> <a href="http://www.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/news.hspl?nid=16499&ntid=4"><b>Part I - Team Grades</b></a></p><p><i>[Views expressed in this article are those of the author who was present at all of the team's matches. If you have differing views or opinions, we respect those views and urge you to provide your feedback - both positive and negative - in the comments section.]</i> <br /></p> </article> </main></body></html>