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By Peter Della Penna (on Twitter)
USA opening batsman Steven Taylor has been selected to be a part of a
World XI team captained by former Sri Lanka star Sanath Jayasuriya
against a Pakistan All-Star XI in a pair of exhibition matches this
weekend in Karachi, Pakistan. The 18-year-old Florida native confirmed
his participation in the event via text message on Monday prior to
boarding a flight for Pakistan.
Taylor was named the 2011 Cricketer of the Year
in DreamCricket.com’s New Inning Foundation USA Cricket Awards. The
menacing left-hander was USA’s vice-captain at the 2011 ICC U-19 World
Cup Qualifier in Ireland where he finished tied for second overall at
the event with 455 runs including two centuries. He is the only American
player in the 12-man World XI squad for the matches which will be
played at the National Stadium in Karachi on October 20 and 21.
Image (right) - Steven Taylor in action vs. Denmark at 2012
ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia. [Courtesy: Peter Della
Penna/DreamCricket.com]
At the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE, Taylor was USA’s
second most productive batsman with 179 runs at the tournament. His
best score was 40 in USA’s upset win over ODI-nation Scotland. In
August, he captained the ICC Americas U-19 team in Barbados at the West
Indies Cricket Board Regional U-19 Tournament, making a top score of 75
against Barbados U-19. At ICC World Cricket League Division Four last
month in Malaysia, he finished second overall at the tournament with 216
runs at an average of 36.00 including two half-centuries for USA at a
strike rate of 104.85.
In addition to Taylor, former West Indies Test bowlers Adam Sanford
and Jermaine Lawson, who played for the New York and Atlantic Regions
respectively in USACA National Tournaments in 2010, are also in the
World XI as is former West Indies international Ricardo Powell, former
South African internationals Justin Kemp, Loots Bosman, Nantie Hayward
and Andre Nel and current Afghanistan players Shapoor Zadran and
Mohammad Shahzad.
The Pakistan All-Star XI will be captained by Shahid Afridi and
includes seven other players from Pakistan’s 2012 ICC World Twenty20
squad: Nasir Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Imran Nazir,
Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Sami. Also in the Pakistan All-Star XI squad is
Younis Khan, who has played 79 Tests and was the title-winning captain
for Pakistan at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England.
The matches are being staged in an attempt to help revive
international tours to Pakistan. No Test playing nation has toured the
country since the Sri Lanka team bus was the target of a terrorist
attack on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium for day three of a Test match
in Lahore on March 3, 2009.