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USA Cricketer
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By Peter Della Penna
Timroy Allen saved the day as USA came back from a deep hole in the final overs to snatch a one-wicket win over UAE on Sunday afternoon at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Pic (Right): File picture of Timroy Allen
“I think today was a very very important victory for us,” said Steve Massiah, USA captain. “What it has done for the team has given us more self belief and I think it’s a very very good morale boosting victory for us. So we can take a lot of positives and I’m sure we’ll be up for the game on Tuesday and we are looking forward to it very much.”
UAE was sent in by USA to bat first and were bowled out for 141 with a ball left in the innings. Usman Shuja dismissed both openers in his unbroken four over spell to start the match, getting Mohammed Iqbal out with a good slower ball yorker. Lennox Cush removed Qadar Nawaz first ball, getting him to chip to Massiah at midwicket in the circle before Shuja got Arfan Haider to slice a full and wide ball to Rashard Marshall at backward point to make it 34 for 1 in the 5th over.
After Shuja finished, Massiah mixed up his spinners well to keep UAE’s batsman off balance. Saqib Ali came in at number four and top scored with 47 off 43 balls as he was never really able to tee off due to excellent bowling by Cush and Saurabh Verma in particular. Allen, who opened the match opposite Shuja with his pace bowling, also came on to bowl off-spin in the middle overs, presenting another dimension to his game.
After two solid partnerships, UAE looked to set a very good total with the score at 111 for 4 in the 16th over, but wickets fell fast and furious at the end. Imran Awan came on at the death to take three quick wickets as UAE lost their last six batsmen for only 30 runs. The bowlers were well supported in the catching department by Rashard Marshall in particular, who took three brilliant catches overall.
USA came out and made a confident start with Carl Wright and Sushil Nadkarni before Wright fell on the final ball of the 4th over for 22 to make it 39 for 1. After that, UAE’s three left arm spinners Shadeep Silva, Khurram Khan and Haider, nearly ground the chase to a complete halt. The middle order struggled to get singles and keep the scoreboard ticking as USA was only able to score 17 runs in the next 6 overs.
Three consecutive runouts were brought about as a result of more pressure by the UAE to put USA in a serious bind. None of them were close as kamikaze running and direct hits by the fielders did USA in. After Sudesh Dhaniram was run out for 5 in the 11th over, Aditya Thyagarajan and Rashard Marshall ran themselves out on back to back balls in the 12th, to make it 67 for 6.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with chemistry or us not playing together,” said Massiah when asked about what caused the runouts. “I think it was just some poor judgement and it’s cricket. It happens very often. You are gonna see a repeat of that as you continue to look at cricket. Our preparation has been very good and we’ve gotta make the most of whatever is presented in front of us.”
In came Timroy Allen at number eight, who made batting look incredibly easy by smoking 57 runs in only 26 balls to turn the match in USA’s favor. While others before him became bogged down, Allen showed nerves of steel and kept the runs flowing. He only had five dot balls in his knock to go along with three fours and four sixes.
“Today was a demonstration of some pretty clean hitting as well as some very sensible batting by Tim,” said Steve Massiah, USA captain.
The 16th over was the turning point in the match as Allen seized on Nawaz’s medium pace to take 18 of the 22 runs in the over. After a dot ball and a wide to start, Shuja took a single to get Allen on strike. He then smashed a six over midwicket before another wide was speared down the leg side. Allen then hoisted a six over square leg before Nawaz buckled under the pressure with another leg side wide. Good running turned one into two on the fifth ball before Allen finished the over with a four over the bowler’s head.
“It’s just basic cricket. It was kind of windy. The wind was blowing towards where all of those sixes went on the leg side. So on the opposite side I was just getting singles, ones and twos just to fill it up but I knew we’d have to score most of our runs from that side with the wind because we couldn’t go against it.”
The match swung again late as Silva bowled Shuja in the 17th over and Verma was run out next ball to make it 119 for 9. Awan came in and combined with Allen to provide some tense moments. On the last ball of the 18th over, Allen clubbed one straight into Awan’s right elbow at the non-striker’s end. He was in total agony, but showed great fortitude in staying there to give Allen and USA a chance to win.
With six runs to win and seven balls left, Awan drove a ball from Silva straight to cover that would have ended the match but it was put down at knee height by the fielder. Instead, Allen began the final over against Khan on strike and after a two on the first ball, he drove what should have been a single to long on where UAE’s best fielder Naemuddin Aslam charged the ball and reached down to pick it up, but it went right through his legs for the game winning boundary.
USA will train in Sharjah on Monday before returning to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first Group A match against Scotland, who beat Kenya by 16 runs in the other warm-up game in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Official Scorecard
ICC World T20 Qualifier Warm-up
UAE vs. USA
USA won by 1 wicket
USA won the toss and elected to field
UAE Batting
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
Mohammed Iqbal 9 7 1 0 bowled Shuja
Arfan Haider 21 16 4 0 ct Marshall bowled Shuja
Qadar Nawaz 0 1 0 0 ct Massiah bowled Cush
Saqib Ali 47 43 4 1 ct Awan bowled Cush
Khurram Khan* 18 16 2 0 ct Marshall bowled Verma
Naeemuddin Aslam 19 17 1 0 ct Wright bowled Awan
Abdul Rehman+ 2 3 0 0 ct Cush bowled Verma
EHSN Silva 13 7 0 1 ct Wright+ bowled Cush
Awais Alam 2 3 0 0 ct Marshall bowled Awan
Qasim Zubair 4 4 0 0 not out
Moiz Shahid 2 3 0 0 ct Massiah bowled Awan
Total Extras 4 (1 no ball, 0 byes, 2 leg byes, 1 wide)
Team Total 141 all out in 19.5 overs
Fall of wicket: 27/1 (Iqbal), 32/2 (Nawaz), 34/3 (Haider), 78/4 (Khan), 111/5 (Ali), 118/6 (Rehman), 121/7 (Aslam), 124/8 (Alam), 137/9 (Silva), 141/10 (Shahid).
USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
KU Shuja 4-0-26-2
TP Allen 3-0-24-0
LJ Cush 4-0-23-3
S Dhaniram 2-0-16-0
I Awan 2.5-0-25-3
S Verma 4-0-25-2
USA Batting
Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal
SS Nadkarni 12 9 2 0 ct Aslam bowled Zubair
CD Wright+ 22 17 2 1 ct Aslam bowled Nawaz
LJ Cush 17 25 0 1 LBW Ali
SJ Massiah* 2 11 0 0 bowled Silva
S Dhaniram 5 12 0 0 runout (Khan)
A Thyagarajan 1 2 0 0 runout (Rehman+)
RA Marshall 0 0 0 0 runout (Zubair)
TP Allen 57 26 3 4 not out
KU Shuja 6 9 0 0 bowled Silva
S Verma 0 1 0 0 runout (Zubair)
I Awan 1 4 0 0 not out
Total Extras 19 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 9 leg byes, 10 wides)
Team Total 142 for 9 in 19.2 overs
Fall of wicket: 39/1 (Wright), 40/2 (Nadkarni), 47/3 (Massiah), 57/4 (Dhaniram), 67/5 (Thyagarajan), 67/6 (Marshall), 87/7 (Cush), 119/8 (Shuja), 119/9 (Verma).
UAE Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
Qasim Zubair 3.2-0-21-1
Qadar Nawaz 3-0-49-1
EHSN Silva 3-0-13-2
Khurram Khan 4-0-13-0
Arfan Haider 3-0-24-0
Saqib Ali 3-0-13-1
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Gulf News reported that USA would play two practice matches against UAE on Feb 5th and 7th. [DreamCricket.com will provide live coverage of the tournament, which is hoped to begin February 7th with the second of the practice matches].
The United States of America (USA) cricket team have arrived in the country and will play two Twenty20 matches against the UAE.
"America will play the two matches on February 5 and February 7 as part of their build-up for the International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers," Mazhar Khan, the Administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board, told Gulf News at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
"Both the matches will be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and will commence from 2pm. America is one of the teams competing in the qualifiers commencing on February 9 along with Afghanistan, [the] UAE, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Kenya and [the] Netherlands," he added.
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By Rohan Chandran
Many years ago, I was a college freshman, watching Pakistan take on
the West Indies in an ODI (1990s Tip: Make friends with the guy who
controls the University C-band satellite dish). A dorm-mate of mine
was passing through the room just as the screen showed Desmond Haynes’
8,000+ runs in ODI cricket. Cue complete shock and awe – that one
person could score that many runs. He sat down and watched the
remainder of that game, and several games thereafter.
Cricket can indeed garner an audience, even here in America. There
is, of course, much that we must do to improve the standard of our
game, but in parallel there is much that we can do to make it
attractive, and that is what we focus on here.
1. Think Long Term and put Cricket First.
Short term thinking and ego-fuelled self-aggrandizement are not only
detrimental to the quality of our cricket, but also restricting our
ability to popularize the game. We’re all better than each other, and
busy looking for our own little glories, instead of thinking about the
game and its longevity.
How many people want to spend their free time following that?
For people to invest their time, effort and emotion in following a
sport, whether it is as a casual fan or a fanatic, they need to
reasonably expect some return on their investment. Being a fan is not a
one-night stand, it’s a lifelong commitment. For cricket to earn that
commitment from people, it has to make that commitment itself.
Soccer is still working to make it in this country, and it’s taken
50 years of concerted effort to get this far. If we keep looking for
quick fixes and plump for short-sighted solutions, at best we’ll have a
few false dawns (think Pro Cricket or MLC of a few years ago). Soccer
learned from its mistakes, and took a long-term approach, starting with
fundamentals. It’s working for them, and we would do well to borrow
from their experience.
So what should we do?
2. Get into Schools – It’s about the kids.
The US Rugby team consistently makes it to the Rugby World Cup, and
will be there once again in 2011. The team is currently ranked 16th in
the world, and has been around the top 15 for years.
How many rugby fans do you know? How popular is rugby in America?
Your likely answers are “none”, and “not very”. Will qualifying for a
cricket World Cup (T20 or ODI) have a different outcome?
Rugby has recognized that their biggest problem is that their sport
is only picked up in college, at the earliest, where it serves a niche
interest, but also as a fallback for those who don’t play other varsity
sports. Cricket is even worse off, played by people in their twenties,
thirties and forties. It exists as, and is perceived as, a recreational
pastime for those who hail from other lands.
Rugby is pushing hard to get into high schools and to involve kids
at an earlier age, and that is something cricket needs to do in a big
way if it is looking to create any sort of a broad base for the future.
Start where you have a cricket friendly population, and expand from
there. It’s okay to be the fallback sport for those who don’t make the
cut in the big ones. It’s okay if it’s immigrants and the children of
immigrants who are your first takers.
3. Develop cricketers properly.
We only have to look at our recent national squads, in order to
glimpse another fundamental problem. The senior squad Is comprised of
thirty-somethings (with just a couple of exceptions). But age is not
the enemy, cricketing roots are.
We have failed to develop players locally, and so boys who play in
our U19 squads, and perform at that level, disappear without a trace.
At the senior level, in come players who learned and developed their
game elsewhere, and are now in the US for non-cricketing reasons.
We do nothing to take the children who show real talent and promise
in the 14-18 age group, and develop them into cricketers for our
future. These are the boys who have to break into our national team so
that finally, we have home grown talent to support.
They don’t have to be white Americans, they don’t have to even be
American born, but until we create an environment in which someone can
learn or develop their game here, and then make it to the highest level
available to them (the US senior team), there will be little that’s
American about our cricket team, and therefore little that will appeal
to anyone outside the cricket playing fraternity.
4. Marketing – Kill the politics, and give people a hook.
If you want any sort of broad based appeal, then you need to make an
effort to market the game, and in order to do that, the game has to be
marketable to its potential audience.
First and foremost, nobody has time for the politics and shenanigans
that plague US cricket today. Look at baseball in the mid-90s, and if
you doubt me, ask the Montreal Expos who were having their best ever
season, lost all their fans and are now the Washington Nationals. Clean
up our act in cricket, and then we at least give ourselves something
that we can market without embarrassment.
Then follows the question of how we market it. We need to look at
what resonates with the target audience – the sort of things they might
connect with.
- Collegiate Sports – For Americans, loyalty to their
undergraduate alma mater is lifelong. Pride in your college or
university is a big deal, and following and supporting its sports teams
are a core part of that. At Stanford, I was routinely asked about how
we did in the cricket Pac-10, and there was even excitement about the
cricket Big Game against Cal.
Unfortunately, the cricket Pac-10 did not
exist, and Berkeley no longer play in the local league. There are some
commendable efforts going on to create regional and national
inter-collegiate competition. If we can make this a reality, it will
be another big step forward in giving us a shot at being a popular game.
- Statistics – Follow the example of the baseball boxscore.
Be creative, and realize that the game may need to be marketed a little
differently in a country which doesn’t have the sport sewn into its
fabric. Cricket lends itself to numbers in a way that perhaps no other
sport does – so embrace that.
- Quality – At the end of the day, you need to provide a
certain level of quality to get mass appeal. Loyalty and fandom is
either born out of geography, or the attractiveness of a winning habit.
What I’m really saying is that we need to do all the basic things that
would appear in the “5 ways to improve the standard of cricket in
America” article – around our infrastructure (tangible and intangible),
administration, coaching, selection processes, and just basic
understanding of what the game is about at a higher level. White balls
and colored clothing are not the solution if it’s sustainable interest
that we are looking to foster. A quality product needs to come first.
5. Realistic Objectives.
So with all of that in mind, we come to what might be a
controversial point. Who are the “Americans” we’re trying to take the
game to, and what does it mean to create mass appeal and a national
scale audience?
Here I contend that we are fools if we think we can in any way
supplant or even exist at the same level as the major American sports.
It isn’t going to happen. Cricket is not made in the USA. You either
have to change cricket, make it an American sport, and then give it a
shot; or you have to think realistically about what cricket’s potential
place in the order is. Baseball took care of option 1, so we’re working
with option 2.
We need to avoid using “American” as a euphemism for “35 year old
white male from middle America.” We’re not trying to sell prime time
television advertising, and that person is not, and likely never will
be our audience.
Instead, we need to understand and accept that for the game of
cricket as we know it (and as it evolves globally), the “American” we
can go after is possibly an immigrant, or the child of immigrant
parents. That’s not a bad thing – it describes a node in most family
trees. If cricket can start capturing the children of immigrants first,
it then has a shot at their children, and each subsequent generation on
an increasingly broad scale. So rather than delude ourselves, let’s go
after what we can really get.
Now that doesn’t mean we can’t and won’t attract anyone else – I
think if we taken all of the above suggestions, and those made by
others in this series, we will attract many fans outside that base as
well. But that is where the core has to initially come from – they are
the messiahs who will spread the word, as it were.
[The author captained
Hong Kong U-19 from 1990-1992, and played with the senior squad in
1991-92 before moving to the US, where he has played with Stanford CC
ever since. He was also the first person to join Simon King in running
CricInfo back in early 1993, traveling the world as a journalist and
commentator.]
DreamCricket.com invites you to share
your views with us on how cricket can be made more attractive to
Americans. Please leave your comments below. If you would like to write an Op-Ed column on this subject, please write to us at content@dreamcricket.com.
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Tom Geoghehan ponders the 64 million dollar question - will Americans take to cricket?
And a lot of people weigh in e.g. Don Lockerbie (USACA CEO), Steve Massiah (USA Captain), Kevin Connolly (BBC's Washington Correspondent), Peter Wynne-Thomas (Author of The Complete Encyclopaedia of Cricket), and David Brooks (Sports Historian).

Click on thumbnail for full article. The most interesting parts are without a doubt the reader comments, and the following paragraphs attributed to David Brooks -
Given its need for facilities and equipments, it will need to take hold in schools and universities, says Mr Brooks. And Americans will need to be exposed to world-class cricket, although the time difference means that mostly happens when they are in bed or in work.
"Perhaps if the US team, complete with a baseball star selected by reality TV, qualified for a Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, with a game or two in Miami, then perhaps, just perhaps, with the right marketing, cricket could get the exposure it needs."
Of course, the following comment by Depaul Singh is indicative of the great passion of cricket's expat fans - "I came from Guyana to the US in 1986 and arrived on a Thursday. On the Saturday I was playing cricket." The part about Depaul's being the "only shop in the US entirely devoted to cricket" is strange. Because we have a shop in NJ devoted to cricket. The truth however is that Depaul was an early entrepreneur in cricket retail and noteworthy are his pioneering ways along with other early cricket retailers - Stuart (who founded his store in 1982) and Bedessee.
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By Peter Della Penna
What
had been a sour tournament over the last two weeks for Team USA ended
on a sweet note when they registered their first win of the ICC U-19
World Cup with a nine-wicket demolition of Afghanistan in the Plate
Championship to finish in 15th place.
Pic (Right): Team USA poses
for a final time on the field at McLean Park in Napier, New Zealand
after notching their first win at the ICC U-19 World Cup.
[Courtesy: Peter Della Penna]
Hammad Shahid was named Man of the Match with 3 for 18 opening the
bowling for USA to set up victory as USA bowled out the opposition for
86 before chasing down the runs in 14.2 overs.
“It feels good actually getting a first win in the World Cup,” said Shahid.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first, but they could not
withstand USA’s attack led by Shahid. Afghanistan’s batting has
suffered all tournament after four of their top five batsmen defected
to Canada at the end of the World Cup Qualifier in Toronto last
September, including the second highest run-scorer in that event, Ayoub
Ahmadzai. Coming into this match, Afghanistan’s lowest total of the
World Cup was 118 in 49.2 overs against India. However, USA’s bowlers
teamed up to best that by 32 runs.
Shahid made the first two breakthroughs, getting Jawed Ahmadi clean
bowled for 5 before trapping Ahmadi’s opening partner Mehboob Shah Ayan
Aminzai LBW for 10 to make it 30 for 2 after eight overs. USA was
absolutely stoked in the field while Afghanistan completely capitulated
once the spin bowlers came on. The tweakers were led by Yash Shah, who
was making his first appearance for Team USA after leading all bowlers
in economy rate at the World Cup Qualifier in Toronto, and by Saqib
Saleem, who for the second tournament in a row was USA’s leading
wicket-taker, this time with 10. Shah built pressure with another
classic spell of tight bowling, finishing with 2 for 16 in nine overs
with three maidens.
“I just wanted to play in New Zealand to begin with,” said Shah. “I
just wanted to get the experience of playing in the World Cup. It was
unfortunate that I couldn’t get selected in the previous group stage’s
matches but I was happy to get this opportunity and prove myself that I
can do much better here too.”

Pic (Above): Henry Wardley and
Greg Sewdial receive congratulations from their teammates as they walk
off the field unbeaten. [Courtesy: Peter Della Penna]
While Shah tightened the screws, Saleem gleefully flighted the ball to
invite false strokes from the batsmen to finish with 3 for 20 in 6.2
overs. Khushal Rasooli led Afghanistan with 23 runs and was last man
out to Saleem, caught in the covers attempting a booming drive as
Afghanistan were all out in 32.2 overs for 86. The bowlers were all
well supported in the field as seven quality catches were taken, a far
cry from the first match between the two sides.
“The last game we played against Afghanistan, we dropped a lot of catches,” said Shahid. “Today, we took all our catches.”
Henry Wardley and Steven Taylor eased USA towards the target, which was
achieved before lunch. While Taylor once again belted the ball around
the ground, Wardley caressed it into the gaps to keep the scoreboard
ticking. Taylor fell for 30 going for a big heave, but Greg Sewdial
joined Wardley to finish the job with Sewdial finishing 14 not out and
Wardley unbeaten on 27.
USA finishes 1-4 overall in tournament play, with one washout against
Canada. While the overall result wasn’t exactly what the players and
fans were hoping for, the players were happy to end the tournament on a
winning note.
“I feel like we could have won the Plate, and I think we should have
won the Plate and if not, at least competing for the Plate,” said Shiva
Vashishat, USA U-19 captain. “But we had a loss against Ireland in our
groups, and then the rain and a couple things went against us. So that
really doesn’t show where we stand in the world and I think next time a
team is there, they’ll do a lot better.”
Official Scorecard ICC U-19 World Cup Plate Championship: 15th/16th Place Match Afghanistan vs. USA USA won by 9 wickets Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat Man of the Match: Hammad Shahid
Afghanistan Batting Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal J Ahmadi 5 7 1 0 bowled Shahid MSA Aminzai 10 16 2 0 LBW Shahid NUH Malekzai* 22 46 4 0 ct Shahid bowled Ghous SM Shirzai 0 8 0 0 ct Saleem bowled Ahmad H Shahidi 7 13 0 0 ct Wardley bowled Shah K Rasooli 23 49 3 0 ct Vashishat bowled Saleem AK Zazai+ 1 29 0 0 ct Taylor+ bowled Saleem Z Zaki 4 6 1 0 bowled Saleem A Khan 0 4 0 0 ct Shahid bowled Shah ID Khan 2 10 0 0 ct Sewdial bowled Shahid A Alam 4 7 0 0 not out Total Extras 8 (1 no ball, 0 byes, 2 leg byes, 5 wides) Team Total 86 all out in 32.2 overs
Fall of Wicket: 6/1 (Ahmadi), 30/2 (Aminzai), 36/3 (Shirzai), 51/4 (Malekzai), 53/5 (Shahidi), 66/6 (Zazai), 74/7 (Zaki), 75/8 (A Khan), 78/9 (ID Khan), 86/10 (Rasooli).
USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets SR Ahmad 7-0-27-1 H Shahid 7-1-18-3 YD Shah 9-3-16-2 MA Ghous 3-1-3-1 S Saleem 6.2-0-20-3
USA Batting Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal SR Taylor+ 30 24 5 0 bowled ID Khan HR Wardley 27 46 2 0 not out GR Sewdial 14 17 2 0 not out Total Extras 16 (2 no balls, 0 byes, 4 leg byes, 10 wides) Team Total 87 for 1 in 14.2 overs
Did not bat: S Saleem, RG Corns, S Vashishat, A Mohammed, MA Ghous, H Shahid, SR Ahmad, YD Shah.
Fall of Wicket: 49/1 (Taylor).
Afghanistan Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets A Alam 4-0-26-0 ID Khan 5-0-25-1 Z Zaki 3-0-10-0 A Khan 2-0-18-0 NUH Malekzai 0.2-0-0-4
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By Peter Della Penna
In a very disappointing display, USA lost their ICC U-19 World Cup
Plate Championship playoff match by five wickets to Zimbabwe on Monday
afternoon at Nelson Park in Napier, New Zealand. Man of the Match
Natsia M’Shangwe took 3 for 13 in the field for Zimbabwe before scoring
27 opening the innings to kickstart Zimbabwe’s chase.
After
overnight and morning rain delayed the start of play, the match was
reduced to 41 overs. Zimbabwe won the toss and didn’t hesitate to send
USA in to bat, taking full advantage of the conditions in Napier.
Picture (Right): Andy Mohammed tries to cut this ball from
Nathan Waller, but manages only to edge it behind to become USA's
second wicket to fall. [Picture Courtesy: Ganesh Sanap]
“The pitch had been under the covers for the last three or four hours
so I thought the ball would do a little bit early on,” said Dylan
Higgins, Zimbabwe U-19 captain.
While the bowlers did get the ball to move around quite a bit, USA’s
batting put in a shocking performance to be all out for 115, which
included six batsmen out without scoring. The first of those six was
opener Steven Taylor, who sent a rank long hop from medium pacer Nathan
Waller straight to Higgins at cover with the score at 4 in the second
over. Greg Sewdial then joined Andy Mohammed and constructed a decent
partnership of 34 runs, but it wound up being the biggest partnership
of the innings for USA when Mohammed got out to a similar ball from
Waller, edging it behind to the keeper Dean Mazhawidza for 9 to make it
38 for 2 in the 10th over.
After that, wickets tumbled at will for the Zimbabwean bowling attack.
While Waller finished with three, it was M’Shangwe’s leg-spin that
really dismantled USA. After clean bowling Shiva Vashishat for 17 to
make it 91 for 6, the flood gates opened up and he teamed up with
off-spinner Simon Mugava to rip through the tail as numbers eight
through ten, Saami Siddiqui, Regis Burton and Hammad Shahid, all got
out for ducks. Muhammad Asad Ghous was the last man out for 21,
finishing behind extras, 24, and Sewdial, 35, as USA’s third highest
scorer in the innings.
Post Match Interview vs. Zimbabwe with Shivnaraine from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.
M’Shangwe set the tone for Zimbabwe’s batting order when he hit the
first ball of the second innings for six off Naseer Jamali. He teamed
up with Tinotenda Mutombodzi to put on 42 runs for the first wicket and
from there Zimbabwe never looked back.
Saqib Saleem tried to give USA hope and should have had a wicket first
ball when he came on in the eighth over as he got M’Shangwe to sky a
top edge to midwicket, only for it to be put down by Ghous. It was one
of four USA drops, none of which could be afforded with such a small
total to defend. Saleem finished with four wickets as it was clear
Zimbabwe were clueless against spin. However, the total of 115 was
something that gave USA’s bowlers no chance to defend. Most likely 30
more runs would have been enough. Instead, Peter Moor finished with 21
not out to see Zimbabwe over the line by five wickets.
USA will now face Afghanistan in the 15th/16th place match on Wednesday
at Nelson Park while Zimbabwe will play Hong Kong in the 13th/14th
place game. The last time these teams played, Afghanistan beat USA by
36 runs at the World Cup Qualifier in Toronto last September.
Official Scorecard ICC U-19 World Cup Plate Championship USA vs. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe won by 5 wickets Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field Man of the Match: Natsia M’Shangwe
USA Batting Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal SR Taylor 0 3 0 0 ct Higgins bowled Waller A Mohammed 9 28 1 0 ct Mazhawidza+ bowled Waller GR Sewdial 35 45 5 0 ct Mazhawidza+ bowled Price S Saleem 0 1 0 0 bowled Waller RG Corns 0 5 0 0 ct Mazhawidza bowled Price S Vashishat* 17 47 2 0 bowled M’Shangwe MA Ghous 21 54 1 0 bowled Chatara SM Siddiqui+ 0 1 0 0 LBW Mugava RG Burton 0 2 0 0 ct Waller bowled M’Shangwe H Shahid 0 8 0 0 ct Waller bowled M’Shangwe N Jamali 9 5 2 0 not out Total Extras 24 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 3 leg byes, 21 wides) Team Total 115 all out in 33.1 overs
Fall of wicket: 4/1 (Taylor), 38/2 (Mohammed), 40/3 (Saleem), 41/4 (Corns), 69/5 (Sewdial), 91/6 (Vashishat), 96/7 (Siddiqui), 97/8 (Burton), 99/9 (Shahid), 115/10 (Ghous).
Zimbabwe Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets T Chatara 5.1-1-11-1 N Waller 7-0-42-3 CW Price 6-0-18-2 SM Mugava 8-1-16-1 N M’Shangwe 6-1-13-3 DR Higgins 1-0-12-0
Zimbabwe Batting Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal N M’Shangwe 27 30 1 2 ct Corns bowled Saleem TC Mutombodzi 39 57 5 0 ct Sewdial bowled Saleem N Waller 2 10 0 0 bowled Saleem M Zambuko 13 15 0 1 ct Sewdial bowled Saleem DR Higgins* 10 27 1 0 ct Corns bowled Ghosu PJ Moor 21 19 3 0 not out A Lindsay 2 16 0 0 not out Total Extras 5 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 1 leg bye, 4 wides) Team Total 119 for 5 in 29 overs
Did not bat: D Mazhawidza+, SM Mugava, CW Price, T Chatara.
Fall of wicket: 42/1 (M’Shangwe), 61/2 (Waller), 74/3 (Mutombodzi), 95/4 (Zambuko), 105/5 (Higgins).
USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets N Jamali 4-0-19-0 H Shahid 3-0-14-0 S Saleem 9-1-38-4 MA Ghous 8-0-32-1 RG Corns 5-1-15-0
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History was made for both Indian and American cricket on January 19th at the DLF India Premier League 3 Auction. Nineteen year old Harshal Patel, was among the three U-19 players, the first Gujarat Cricket Association player, and the first to have played any cricket in USA to join the Mumbai Indians.
For 19 year old Harshal, a USA Green Card holder who played the 2008 season with Aggressive Cricket Club in the Cricket League of New Jersey, this is a dream come true. (Well almost - his dream is also to earn a test cap!)
In Harshal's case, the journey was paved with hard decisions. When Harshal's family emigrated to USA when he was still 15 years old, he was in a dilemma. His coach wanted him to stay back in Gujarat. “I was aware of Harshal’s capabilities," his coach Tarak Trivedi said and he pleaded with Harshal's family to give him a couple of years. After much persuasion, Harshal's family finally relented, agreeing that Harshal would spend summers in USA but would continue his training under the guidance of Mr. Trivedi.
"I left a cosy life in New Jersey because I always wanted to be a cricketer," the second year student at HA College of Commerce told Times of India last summer, thanking his parents for encouraging his love for cricket. "I live alone and just practise day in and out. I have got lots of love and care from friends around me."
In fact, his years of independence may have helped. "By staying alone and managing everything on his own, Harshal has matured a lot as a person which is also reflected in his performance," Gujarat U-19 coach Ashok Mankad told TOI.
The IPL Draft - Proud Parents in New Jersey
On January 19th, the drama played out in three different timezones. It was mid-afternoon in India and IPL 3.0 auction was just winding down at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai. The event had already seen more than its fair share of extravagance and drama. Several big players saw no bidders and some like Pollard were grabbed for jaw-dropping amounts.
At 1:54PM, just before he brought the proceedings to an end, the IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi announced that Harshal Patel had been picked up by Nita Ambani of Mumbai Indians for Rs. 8,00,000. Harshal was the last of the three U-19 players to be drafted into the league, a first for that league.
For Harshal's parents - Vikram Patel and Darshna Patel, who are residents of Linden, New Jersey, January 18th had been another day at work at Terminal C of Newark International Airport. Vikram works with Prime Flight Aviation and Darshna at the Dunkin Donuts. They went to sleep hoping that their boy, who was in New Zealand as part of the India U-19 team playing in the ICC U-19 World Cup, would have a good day on the other side of the world.
Little did they realize that the emerging medium-pacer would realize his dreams of becoming a professional cricketer as the new day dawned.
Speaking to DreamCricket.com, Vikram Patel said, "Harshal has been playing cricket since he was a toddler and has been training with Coach Tarak Trivedi since he was 8. It is a matter of great pride and a source of great joy that his dreams have come true. And I hope that he will continue to do well. This is just the beginning."
Over in New Zealand, when he heard the news on January 21st, Harshal was so overwhelmed that “he was speechless,” Trivedi said speaking about Harshal's reaction to the news. Among the many things that Harshal was excited about was the prospect of being part of a team led by his idol - Sachin Tendulkar!
Harshal's next challenge will not find it easy to be part of the playing eleven - Mumbai has several big-name bowlers that will also be laying claim to that spot - Zaheer Khan, Dilhara Fernando, Dwayne Bravo and Dhaval Kulkarni. However, just being part of the squad will help him grow as a cricketer. In the words of Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah: “Sachin’s guidance will make him a thinking cricketer, and he will benefit from this in future matches.”
A right-arm seamer with a big outswinger, Harshal Patel's rise was impressive from an early age. Harshal scored a double-hundred in school cricket playing for Hiramani and was gaining in reputation as a bowler. He took 23 wickets (at an average of 11) in the 2008-09 Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy with best bowling figures of 5-27 against Baroda.
In March of 2009, Harshal was selected for India's victorious U-19 tour of Australia where he did well in seamer-friendly conditions getting 3 for 32 in a three day match at Perth. Very soon, he was named to the U-19 squad to the ICC U-19 World Cup.
Prodigious talent - Immediately made a mark in USA
In New Jersey, where he turned out for Aggressive CC in CLNJ in 2008, his talent was immediately noticed.
"In a match against NJIT, he shared the new ball with former international and West Indies paceman Reon King. And I remember it was Reon, who was standing at first slip, he was astonished with the young boy's accuracy and clean bowling action, saying to me that we have a star in front of us," Santosh Dani who played for Aggressive CC told DreamCricket.com.
NJIT and Atlantic Region cricketer Siddharth Mehta remembers the day like it was yesterday. He was the batsman facing Harshal. "We had heard about Harshal Patel because he had played U-16 cricket back in Gujarat with Rajdev Patel, who also plays in CLNJ. But he was only 16 or 17, so how bad could it be, we thought. But let me tell you, the boy was lethal! We were stunned to see the pace he was generating on a ho-hum New Jersey track! I said to myself - he must play for my team NJIT next season."
Little did he realize that NJIT was going to be competing with India for the boy's time! In the summer of 2009, although Harshal was on NJIT roster and spent the summer in New Jersey, he did not play because he was already signed up to play for India U-19. And even though he will become eligible for USA citizenship in the coming years, he may never play for USA.
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Imran Khan, Manager of the USA Cricket team gets some press in San Francisco ahead of USA's world cup T20 campaign. "No matter how far Imran Khan Suddahazai travels, the sport of cricket always finds him. It
did just that when he moved to Saratoga about four years ago. Although
a lifelong cricket player — who as a youth had hopes of going pro in
his home country of England — Khan had no intention of sticking with
the sport when he made a new life in the Bay Area. But he came
across a posting on the Internet from the California Cricket Academy in
Cupertino asking for volunteer umpires for its youth program. Khan said
he'd be willing to help out. But what was supposed to be a one-shot
deal turned into a yearlong coaching gig." Click here for more.
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By Ian Pont (Third in a series of opinion pieces. Click here for first and second. If you would like to contribute to this series, please email content@dreamcricket.com.)
Having played and coached in the
professional English cricket system, it’s always a challenge to work in
an associates’ system that is lacking in both funding and a
professional outlet. After 3 years as Assistant Head Coach with the
Dutch national team to successfully qualify for the 2007 ICC World Cup,
I have seen there are many factors that can genuinely help develop
cricket. And now, with 3 coaching visits under my belt to the US plus
numerous conversations with officials and those involved with playing
and coaching, I see far more clearly how the US can help itself.
1. Stop The Politics
In any walk of life people are out to make a name for
themselves, But when it comes to developing a sport, a far bigger
picture is important. More than making speeches, it’s useful for
officials and those involved with the game to actually DO things to
bring young players through. Initially, it may mean losing cricket
matches at various levels whilst people learn how to win. You will
often find managers and coaches of teams just wanting to get their own
personal record as good as possible and not think about how they can
bring talent through. The game is all about being fair, reasonable and
player focused. It’s never about administrators and coaches records
even though they like to think it is.
2. Develop Players Correctly
Get a development plan, stick to it and see it through. The
only way any country can make a sport attractive is to develop those
who already play first, so the national teams that represent that
country actually perform well. No media wants to cover a ‘minority’
sport where its teams are not playing at the highest levels. Or worse
still when they do, they are heavily beaten. It would be madness to
imagine that others are attracted to a sport where there’s no success,
outlet for success, nor the opportunity to take the game up further
after a young age other than for recreation. If cricket in the US is
merely for recreation, it’s competing with activities that take far
less time out of a day.
3. Coach Cricket Professionally By Developing 'Professional' Coaches
It’s worrying to note that so few high level coaches (or any
recognised level coaches) work in the US or are involved with cricket
in the US. It simply means that talent lies wasted, unfulfilled. The
best players require the best coaching, or at least specialised
coaching from experts who know how to maximise talent. And beginners
deserve the chance of access to the best advice. Parents are keen to
help but there’s a massive lack of coaching knowledge. A coach
education program with an awareness of what’s required to bring lads
through is vital. I have been lucky to coach at
first-class and international level with players such as Andy Flower,
Darren Gough, Dale Steyn and Shoaib Akthar, but most of my time is
concentrated on Under 19’s now because this is where the most good can
be done. For US to move forward, it must have coaches that can teach
the professional aspects of the game – and on a regular basis - with a
professional attitude to cricket.
4. Spend Money On Grass Pitches
As understandable as it is, playing on matting pitches does
not help the US with its cricket. Yes if it’s all that’s available to
get a game played then fine. Every region of the US should have at
least a couple of grass pitches and funding for this must be made a
priority. The US must seek to have two or three pitches that would be
suitable for ODI’s. This means the US could host matches from larger
countries. Most of the players coming through cricket in the US have
little concept of how to build an innings due to the nature of the
surfaces they play on and the type of cricket they play. It’s only when
players travel to Test playing countries they realise just how
different real turf pitches play. And however good a US player is, if
he has played only on matting then he has little chance of adapting.
5. Look At Your Neighbours
Canada has shown the way. I was fortunate to go to Toronto
with England Under 19’s as a player in 1979 to play in what was the
forerunner to the current Under 19’s world cup. We played on turf
pitches at Upper Canada College and it was a delight. Canadian cricket
has done the four ‘must do’s’ listed above and continued with that over
this entire time. And whilst Canadian cricket rises and
falls dependent on the cycle of players, they have embraced some of the
‘professionalism’ required in attitude to develop the sport on a
limited budget. Canada appointed the best available national coach for
their ICC 2007 World Cup (former England Under 19’s manager and friend
of mine Andy Pick, who is now ICC Associates Director for the Americas)
to work for 3 years at the highest level and scout for and develop
players within the system. Even on smaller budgets, there was real
progress made. There’s an Associates’ success story in place on the US
doorstep that would be worth mimicking, or at least reviewing and
adapting.
My fear for the US is that the clock has
been ticking a long while now. The rest of the world is expecting the
US to step up and make cricket a viable option as far smaller countries
like Afghanistan, Ireland, Kenya and Canada have done. The lure of the
lucre from T20 cricket is lip-smacking. So the prize is a huge one. But
it’s the longevity of cricket, which is important as much as instant
success on the field. It’s a careful balancing act. What little money
is available has to be put into cricket resources. And like any
investment, it’s a calculated investment and not a huge gamble that’s
required.
The urgent always overtakes the important. I just hope that the US can think about what’s important.
[The
author is Founding Partner, Mavericks Cricket Institute (MCI) in UK and
is the founder of ABSAT Coaching Methods. He has written two books on
coaching - The Fast Bowler's Bible and Coaching Youth Cricket. Ian has made three coaching visits to the US in the last two years coaching on behalf of DreamCricket Academy.]
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By Peter Della Penna
Walking around the grounds in Christchurch early this week as well as
the Queenstown Events Center on Friday, it was hard to hear anyone
giving USA a chance in this ICC U-19 World Cup. “You guys are unlucky.
You got drawn in the toughest group,” was a phrase heard early and
often, referring to the daunting matchups USA will face in Group B pool
play against Australia, South Africa and Ireland.
However, the glass half full mentality that is permeating throughout
Team USA’s camp says that despite the odds stacked against them, this
is a fantastic opportunity to take on the big boys and show the kind of
talent that exists in America.

Pic (Above): Team USA goes
through stretches before their final training session ahead of their
Group B clash with Australia. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia]
“Our main goal is obviously we’re going in to win,” said Shiva
Vashishat, USA U-19 captain. “But whether we win or lose, we are trying
to show the whole world that US cricket is growing and we want to show
that US cricket will be a threat in the future and hopefully we can get
some success in this tournament.”
Symbolism in how difficult this tournament will be for Team USA can be
found in looking at the distances they traveled to get to the World Cup
versus that of their first opponent on Friday, Australia. While the
American squad had to fly to San Francisco to then go on a 13-hour
flight across the Pacific Ocean to Auckland, Australia’s players
required just a short 3-hour trip across the Tasman Sea to reach New
Zealand. Still, Team USA is out to prove this is only one of many
obstacles that can be overcome in their path to glory and they are not
about to back down in Saturday’s fixture.
USA will be taking on a squad that features four players who have state
cricket experience, including three who have played first-class
cricket: captain Mitchell Marsh and opening bowlers Alister McDermott
and Josh Hazlewood. The standard of play that these Aussie teenagers
have seized upon is a big advantage preparation-wise heading into the
match.
“Definitely the standard that the Shield cricket back home and the
one-day stuff and all that is of a very high standard, probably the
strongest domestic competition in the world nearly,” said Hazlewood.
“It’s developed my cricket. It’s quickly developed over the past couple
of months and improved a great deal so I think I’m in good stead for
the World Cup.” Hazlewood, who has been compared to Glenn McGrath in
the past, says that New South Wales teammate Stuart Clark has been very
helpful in giving tips on fine tuning his own line and length bowling.
Marsh and McDermott are two of several players on the squad that are
the offspring off some high profile Aussie cricketers and athletes.
Marsh’s dad Geoff played 50 Tests as a batsman for Australia while
McDermott’s dad Craig took 291 wickets in 70 Tests. Team USA’s best
claim to fame is that Regis Burton’s great uncle is Sir Vivian
Richards.
Still, there are some positives heading into the match. First is the
fact that like USA, Australia went 1-1 in their warm-up games, beating
West Indies and losing to Bangladesh. There is also the fact that USA
can present a surprise element to Australia based on the fact that at
this age level, most teams have hardly seen each other and most
information about the opposition is limited.
“We don’t really know much,” said McDermott. “We haven’t really
researched much on any of the teams or anything. We’re just gonna go
out there to play our best cricket every single game and do the best
possible thing we can.”
Seeing the best cricket possible on Saturday would go hand in hand with
the backdrop of Queenstown and its international cricket facility,
which both sides agree is quite a sight to behold.
“I think it’s a lovely town, very scenic and obviously very touristy as
well,” said Hazlewood. “I’m very happy that we got drawn down here and
the ground just looks unreal.”
USA’s captain is hoping the scene will provide inspiration to pull off a big upset.
“This is on everyone’s behalf that our whole team thinks this is the
most beautiful ground that we’ve ever seen, probably will ever play
at,” said Vashishat. “The mountains, the grounds, the environment here,
everything is just so beautiful and perfect so we’re gonna try to make
the most of this.”
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by Ben Miron
The sport of cricket has now been part of my life for just under three years, and like many cricket fans, I am completely obsessed with the game. I play cricket year round in the Houston Cricket League and watch as much international cricket as possible. I know there is a large foreign born population who are as equally obsessed with cricket as I am. However, I am now just finding out that there are other white, American born cricketers like myself. To me this is very refreshing, not only to justify that I am not crazy for spending every weekend at the cricket field, but it also shows that there is hope in expanding the game among other Americans.
I enjoyed reading Peter Della Penna’s article and believe that I can add to his insight with my own five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans. 1. Show cricket highlights on television
As a football, basketball and baseball-loving boy from the American South, I watched ESPN SportsCenter religiously. Of course I tuned in hoping to see highlights from my beloved Texas Longhorns or Atlanta Braves, but I always love seeing outstanding plays from other teams and sports. I believe that injecting some cricket highlights into shows such as SportsCenter would do wonders for introducing the American sports loving public to the sport of cricket.
Showing both international highlights as well as US cricket highlights would be very effective in making cricket attractive to Americans. International highlights showing an amazing catch from Paul Collingwood, a tenacious bouncer from Mitchell Johnson, or a huge six from Yuvraj Singh would spark interest in cricket by Americans. Additionally, if the occasional highlights from domestic leagues and tournaments were shown, it would help Americans realize there are other sports being played on their home soil, besides the standard football, basketball, and baseball.
2. Give Americans an opportunity to play cricket
After seeing cricket on TV while vacationing in London, I came back to the US and realized there was a large South Asian population at the University of Texas who played taped tennis ball cricket. After playing a couple of pick-up taped tennis ball games, I was hooked. I eventually began playing in a seasoned ball league in Austin and then in Houston where I moved a year later. Had I not had an opportunity to play cricket, I believe that my interest would have fizzled, and cricket would have just been that sport I saw on TV.
Through my experience, I realize that getting the opportunity to play cricket is a must in making cricket attractive to Americans. I think the workshop that Peter Della Penna discussed in his article is a great idea and needs to be expanded. By introducing cricket to children at schools, kids will see that it is a fun game and may be something they would like to continue to play and watch. Ultimately, with enough interest, cricket could be established as an interscholastic sport, similar to the PSAL cricket program in New York.
In addition to introducing cricket to kids through the schools, American adults should be given an opportunity to play cricket. Clubs and leagues have to do a better job in recruiting Americans, not just restricting the game to ethnic players who have played cricket all of their lives. Local cricket leagues could have an open house type event at the beginning of each season, which would allow Americans to try bowling or batting and possibly become interested in playing for one of the league’s clubs. Encouraging Caucasian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans to play cricket would help Americans realize that cricket can be mixed into the US sports landscape.
3. Make cricket equipment more readily available
Playing cricket in the US is difficult for an American born cricketer. Not only have I been faced with the challenge of not having years of proper training on batting and bowling technique, but it is also very difficult for me to obtain cricket equipment. Essentially, all cricket shopping must be done online, which might discourage a casual cricketer. It is also usually more expensive because most of the cricket equipment must be imported from overseas and those costs are passed on to the consumer. If economical bats, balls, and pads could be purchased at local sporting goods stores, Americans would be much more likely to play cricket, both in their backyard with friends and recreationally and competitively in a local cricket league.
4. Show cricket on television
If cricket was currently shown on US television stations it would get a smattering of viewers; however the majority would be expatriates or immigrants from cricket playing nations. But after seeing highlights on TV and playing cricket in gym class or a local cricket league open house, Americans would be much more likely to begin watching cricket on television. I saw bits and pieces of various cricket matches during my trip to London, but it wasn’t until I had actually played cricket that I was willing to sit through a full cricket match.
Although it will be difficult for Test and ODI cricket matches to be successful on US television, Twenty20s certainly could be instantly popular. The shorter version of the game is tailor-made as a televised sport, and this would translate to Americans as well. Even though I had only been playing cricket for about four months, throughout the month of September 2007 I was glued to the computer at all hours of the night to watch the World Twenty20. I could only wish that these exciting matches were being shown on TV, rather than watching it on pay-per-view internet streaming sites. Today, I also enjoy watching ODIs and Tests, but still streaming on the internet. Twenty20s are a great way to get initial interest in cricket, and eventually once the American sports watching public has gotten used to watching cricket matches, there can be a market for longer forms of the game as well.
5. $$$
Of course, here in America, the almighty dollar drives everything. For people to want to play cricket it must be economical. Gym coaches are not going to spend their yearly budget on cricket bats and balls when they can buy much cheaper basketballs and dodge balls. Schools are not going to start cricket teams that drain the athletic departments’ budgets. The cricket loving public in the US must be willing to spend time and money in helping introduce their sport to fellow Americans. USACA has to receive more funding and designate it for youth programs. The ICC needs to help jump start cricket in America.
As evident in county cricket and international cricket, as well as tournaments such as the IPL, cricket can provide some very lucrative television contracts and other sponsorship opportunities. American cricket will not see these financial windfalls right away, but eventually it could be a reality. Cricket in America should be seen as an investment. Cricket is never going to replace football or baseball, or even soccer in this country, but there is an opportunity for cricket to make huge strides. It is going to take lots of time, effort, and money, but eventually there can be a market for cricket in America.
These are my five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans. I am sure there are 25 other ways to popularize cricket in America, but from my experience, these five ways would be very effective. My biggest regret in my short cricketing career is that I did not discover the sport until my senior year in college. I dream that cricket one day will become part of US sports culture and Americans can have a chance to see why cricket is one of the world’s most popular sports.
DreamCricket.com invites you to share your views with us on how cricket can be made more attractive to Americans. Please leave your comments by clicking on the Reader's Comments link. If you would like to write an Op-Ed column on this subject, please write to us at content@dreamcricket.com.
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Source: USACA Media Release
The United States of America Cricket Association today released its
Senior Men’s USA team selected to compete in the ICC World Twenty20
Qualifier and World Cricket League Division 5 tournaments in Dubai, UAE
and Nepal, respectively.
The full squad is Timroy Allen, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Lennox
Cush, Kevin Darlington, Sudesh Dhaniram, Glen Hall, Rashard Marshall,
Steve Massiah (Capt.), Sushil Nadkarni, Usman Shuja, Aditya
Thyagarajan, Saurabh Verma, Clain Williams and Carl Wright. Officials:
Imran Khan (Manager), Clayton Lambert (Coach), and Akhtar Masood Syed
(Physio).
Following a weekend long rigorous training camp at the Central
Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida last month, under the
watchful eyes of USA national coach Clayton Lambert, and New Zealand’s
Hamish Barton, USA Cricket Association 2nd VP and Director of Cricket
Operations Sheikh Manaf Mohamed today made public the list of players
and officials selected to travel from New York to Dubai on February 1st
and return from Nepal on March 1, 2010.
In Dubai, the USA will have practice sessions at the Sharjah Stadium on
February 4th and 5th, before a practice match at the Abu Dhabi Stadium
on February 6th. Another practice session is scheduled for February
8th, before the round-robin of matches in the World Twenty20 Qualifier
begins in Dubai on February 9 through 11, with the Semi Finals and
Finals on February 12 and 13 respectively.
The USA squad will leave Dubai for Nepal on Valentine’s Day, February
14. The squad will have three days of practice, before participating in
round-robin matches from February 20 through 27, with a rest day on
February 25th. The squad will leave Nepal two days later for the
journey back home, arriving in New York on March 1st.
This is one of the first times that the USA will have its Men’s senior
team and its Under-19 squad participating in back-to-back international
tournaments outside of the USA. The USA Under-19 squad is currently in
New Zealand preparing to participate in the ICC Under-19 World Cup and
is expected to return home at the end of this month. The United States
of America Cricket Association today released its Senior Men’s USA team
selected to compete in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and World
Cricket League Division 5 tournaments in
Dubai, UAE and Nepal, respectively.
The full squad is Timroy Allen, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Lennox Cush,
Kevin Darlington, Sudesh Dhaniram, Glen Hall, Rashard Marshall, Steve
Massiah (Capt.), Sushil Nadkarni, Usman Shuja, Aditya Thyagarajan,
Saurabh Verma, Clain Williams and Carl Wright. Officials: Imran Khan
(Manager), Clayton Lambert (Coach), and Akhtar Masood Syed (Physio).
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by Peter Della Penna
It’s been a little over four years since cricket hijacked my life. The stick and ball sport holds my thoughts hostage 24/7. A large part of these thoughts revolve around the fact that there are not a vast amount of white American-born people like myself who take pleasure in cricket the way they freely do in other sports like college football. Millions of people across the country were glued to their televisions on the night of Saturday, Dec. 12, to see who would win the Heisman Trophy. Unfortunately, the number giving their attention to the Test match between New Zealand and Pakistan was a fraction of that.
Cricket has the capacity to produce a prolific amount of dedication and fervor in Americans. We are a sports playing and watching society. Bobsledding and speed skating have a much fainter blip on the American sports radar than cricket, but two months from now in Vancouver, those will be two sports that everyone in this country will have a very keen knowledge of when the Winter Olympics are in full swing. If those sports can grab people’s attention, so can cricket.
What needs to happen is to make the sport more desirable. Cricket doesn’t need to be “Americanized” to get Americans to like it. However, there are five things that aficionados and administrators can do to help Americans get more involved by appealing to the things they already like about other sports.
1. Stop referring to it as “A Gentleman’s Game”
… unless you’re being facetious. At a recent workshop in Atlanta conducted by Cricket Academy of USA aimed at getting gym teachers to learn about cricket, footage of Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes in an over off Stuart Broad from the 2007 World Twenty20 was shown on an overhead projector to an audience of about 40 physical education instructors.
After the third six, one teacher bolted out of his chair to the back of the room where I was standing so he could ask me a question. “Can you hit him?” he wanted to know. This man was curious why Broad was getting smoked out of the park without trying to take Singh’s head off with a bouncer in retaliation. “Well…” I thought about it, considering it was a loaded question in which a proper answer would have to include explanations on Bodyline, one bouncer per over in one-dayers, no full tosses above waist height, etc. Yawn. He’ll get confused and lose interest. So I decided to keep it simple. “Yes, as long as you bounce it into the ground first, aiming for his body is well within the rules.” The teacher excitedly went back to his seat and relayed the word to colleagues on his left and right.
A similar conversation took place between myself and two guys I knew from college who I managed to run into a few weeks ago. They had never watched a cricket match before in their lives, but while watching the first day of the third Test between New Zealand and Pakistan alongside me, they got very excited seeing Umar Gul bowl. Tim McIntosh had just hooked him for four and Gul decided to follow up with two more bouncers. All of a sudden, they had their complete attention on the match. McIntosh was ducking out of the way in an attempt at self-preservation and these two guys loved every minute of it.
The stark brutality of cricket is not something that should cause cricket fans to hang their heads in shame. It should be celebrated. Cricket has long been stereotyped in America as “not really a sport because it’s played by men wearing sweaters.” An efficient way to combat this is by celebrating the likes of Mitchell Johnson. Not only is he an exciting talent for his wicket-taking ability, but also for the amount of times in the past 12 months he has sent someone off the field retired hurt. People don’t watch NASCAR for the left turns all day long. They want to see who crashes and who escapes the wrecks. Just as exciting as seeing the stumps rattled in cricket is seeing the ball whizz by a batsman’s head… or into it.
Which Mitchell Johnson spell against South Africa was more entertaining: Perth’s 8 for 61 or Durban’s 3 for 37? At first glance, most cricket folk would take the statistically impressive 8 for 61. However, for my American spirit, I’ll take Durban any day of the week because it included KO’ing Graeme Smith for the second time in three Tests with a broken hand and forcing Jacques Kallis off the field to get stitches after striking him in the helmet with a bouncer. Sit Americans down in front of that and their whole opinion towards cricket changes.
2. Merchandising
This point is two-fold. Americans love buying clothes if they just plain look cool. Last year during a segment on ESPNews, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was being interviewed by one of the studio anchors. At one point, the anchor made mention of a New Jersey Devils hat that Jackson was wearing and asked if he was a big fan of Martin Brodeur. Jackson chuckled and said, “Nah, I don’t watch hockey. I’m just wearing it because I like the way it looks.”
The IPL has introduced a fantastic opportunity for people to buy nifty designed hats and jerseys to get them interested in cricket. While speaking with Amar Shah, author of the award winning ESPN.com 2005 E-Ticket feature “A Wicket Wedding”, Shah recounted a story of a party he was at in Los Angeles in which he wore a Kolkata Knight Riders jersey. The people he was mingling with had no clue who KKR was or that they were the laughing stock of the IPL. They just saw the black shirt with gold trim and a shiny NOKIA logo in the middle and wanted to know where they could get one.
American fans also love buying trendy clothes that represent success in some way. While soccer’s current popularity in America can be mainly attributed to having Pele and other stars come in during the NASL years as well as getting the USA to host the World Cup in 1994, another significant event has also contributed greatly to the appeal and awareness of the game.
In February of 2001, Manchester United and the New York Yankees, two of the most successful sports franchises in the world, teamed up for a joint marketing venture. According to a news article from the BBC, the partnership’s aims were for the clubs to “share market information, develop sponsorship and joint promotional programs and sell each other's licensed goods.” At the time, Man U had a certain midfielder whose reputation was on the rise. For the men in this country, and even more for the women, David Beckham was someone who helped people follow United and got them even more interested in soccer and the English Premier League. Before the end of the decade, he became a full-fledged international icon, got a fat contract to come play in the MLS and his former club Man U is now one of 20 English Premier League teams regularly featured on ESPN networks as part of a new television contract.
On a recent visit to a Sports Authority, I could find Brazil soccer team merchandise as well as items with New Zealand All Blacks rugby logos. If those things can make it in there, it shouldn’t be long before vibrant colored cricket team apparel makes it onto the racks.
3. It’s a stick and ball game
That’s all anyone needs to know. Don’t bother trying to explain the LBW law, or any other law about cricket, within the first five minutes of introducing them to the game. All that is required is sticking a bat in their hand and telling them to hit a ball. The rest of it they can learn at the rate their curiosity allows.
While visiting the Philadelphia Cricket Club in October, I was awestruck at the fact that they had white American-born playing members at their club, most of whom had only picked up the game in their 40s and 50s. When I asked one member how long it took him to learn how to play with proper technique, he replied, “six weeks.” His method was simple. To him, it was just another see the ball, hit the ball game. He’d spent most of his life playing sports and this one was not too far different from the others he’d played. The only difference for him was the fact that he needed to form a defense to pair it with attacking shots in cricket. In most other stick and ball sports, attack is all that’s required. Once he got his defense down, he thought cricket was completely normal.
He was clear that he didn’t understand the rules immediately and that it took him some time to learn. However, he was also clear on one other thing. To him, playing cricket required seeing a ball and hitting it. That’s it. Hitting the ball gave him pleasure. It’s what got him coming back on the weekends with the rest of his American friends.
4. Duration is a plus, not a minus
Newsflash: Americans love long sporting events, contrary to popular belief. In fact, the longer they go, the better and more memorable they become.
For Mets fans, two of the most legendary games in the team’s history were two of the longest. In 1999, the Mets beat the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS on Robin Ventura’s “Grand Slam Single” in a 15-inning classic that went five hours and 46 minutes, which at the time was the longest game in MLB Postseason history. It was eclipsed in 2005 when the Astros beat the Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS in an 18-inning epic that went four minutes longer. An even more famous victory for the Mets came in the 1986 NLCS, on their way to the World Series, when they defeated the Astros 7-6 in 16 innings in what is considered one of the greatest playoff games of all time. I don’t know anyone who talks about these three games and complains that they were too long.
In college basketball, last year’s Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden saw Syracuse and UConn play in one of the most tense and dramatic games of all time, one that went a whopping six overtime periods. The game started at 9:37 p.m. and didn’t get over until 1:22 a.m., not that anyone was complaining. The game was the longest in Big East history and second longest in Division I basketball history.
The same is true for sudden death overtime in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Eleven of the 20 longest games in NHL history have taken place since 1990. Yet, there hasn’t been any hue or cry to eliminate sudden death in the playoffs. The same things that are appealing about sudden death in hockey are what make batting in cricket so alluring. As players head into a second, third, fourth, even fifth 20-minute overtime period, everyone is glued to the television waiting and wondering who will make the heroic breakthrough, or the fatal error. In cricket, a batsman can be at the crease for three, four, five hours, but one lapse in judgment and the bowler has his man.
The endurance element is not limited to just these traditionally American sports. The 2008 Men’s Wimbledon Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal started at 2:35 p.m., but because of an incredible number of long rallies, weather delays and a stunning fifth set without a tiebreak, the match ended at 9:16 p.m. local time. It was nearly pitch black outside, but the flashbulbs were bursting on the court to capture the end to the greatest, and longest, championship match in Wimbledon history. ESPN Classic made it a habit to run the match on a loop and whenever there is a rain delay during a major tournament on ESPN, they don’t hesitate to unleash the footage from that eventful day.
Then there is golf. 2008 US Open Playoff. Four days was not enough. Unlike just about every other golf tournament, the US Open does not use a one-hole or four-hole sudden death playoff. So Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods played another 18 holes on Monday, except that they were still tied. They went one more playoff hole before Woods prevailed.
Reflecting on the way things unfolded, John Maginnes of PGATour.com wrote, “This Monday finish may go down as the most exciting day of golf all year. Considering the way things played out -- with only five of the 18 holes in the playoff being tied -- it was a tournament that deserved a fitting conclusion. Had there been a sudden death playoff or even a four-hole playoff, we would have been cheated out of the most compelling theater golf has to offer.”
Five days to decide a winner. Compelling theater. It sounds an awful lot like Test cricket to me. The length of a cricket match should be embraced, not defaced.
5. Betting
The Super Bowl consistently remains one of the highest rated American television programs of the year despite the fact that fans from 30 of the 32 NFL teams will not be seeing their team playing in the game. What then is the most exciting part of the game: the on-field action, the commercials, or the halftime show? None of the above.
The correct answer is the coin toss. Billions of dollars will change hands depending on which side it will land. The average man tunes in ten minutes before kickoff to scream, “TAILS! TAILS! TAILS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!” so that he can turn $50 into $100. After the coin toss, it’s exciting to see whether or not the player who scores the first touchdown has an odd or even numbered jersey, how many coaches challenges there will be, if the ball is ever spotted on exactly the 50 yard line and other incredibly banal elements of the game that all of a sudden become heart-pounding when you know you’ve got some money riding on it.
This is not exclusively an American phenomenon. Betting has long been a part of cricket. Unfortunately, it is usually seen in a negative light with match-fixing scandals in the game’s past. However, a positive step has been taken by Cricket Australia to make betting a welcome part of the game. They now routinely show the latest Betfair odds over the course of the match during coverage on Channel Nine.
When I went to my first Test match four years ago, I wanted to see Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne bowl as well as Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist bat. When those things weren’t happening, the things that kept me interested were what was going to be the method of dismissal for the first wicket of the match (caught fieldsman, bowled, LBW, runout, stumped, or the very long odds for hit wicket), whether or not darkhorse Shane Watson would take the most first innings wickets, which team would wind up with a first innings lead and would Michael Clarke get out between 50 and 74 runs. A single Test match offers just as many wild and crazy options as the betting lines on Super Bowl Sunday, and man are they fun.
As Masaood Yunus of the Minnesota Cricket Association said in a radio interview promoting the USACA Western Conference Tournament this year, “We get bored sometimes too.” An excellent way to make sure a person stays interested in any new sport is if they have a healthy wager on proceedings. It makes them eager to learn the rules and the structure, who the stars are, what history shows and what the latest trends are. Cricket is no different. The most important city in America for getting people to follow cricket isn’t Fort Lauderdale. It won’t be Indianapolis, New York or Los Angeles either. It’s Las Vegas. Once cricket carves out a niche in the casino sportsbooks, interest will skyrocket.
So there it is, five ways to make cricket appealing and desirable to Americans. Sure the old clichés like grassroots development and domestic cable television exposure will help. But these five simple yet effective concepts will play their part too.
DreamCricket.com invites you to share your views with us on how cricket can be made more attractive to Americans. Please leave your comments by clicking on the Reader's Comments link. If you would like to write an Op-Ed column on this subject, please write to us at content@dreamcricket.com.
If you would like to contact this writer, he can be contacted via Twitter @DPMilGaya or via peter@dreamcricket.com
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By Ricardo Inniss
The highlight of the South Florida Cricket Alliance (SFCA) Presentation of Awards Dinner and Dance, held on Saturday evening December 05, was Lauderhill United’s ace Leg-Spinner Main U. “Romeo” Ahmed, voted as the 2009 Cricketer of the year. “ Romeo” who can produce a cleverly disguised googly at will, created history, by capturing 41 wickets during the 50 overs competition, the most ever by a bowler in the over 30 years-old SFCA. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh on December 30, 1986, “Romeo” as he is familiarly known by his peers, arrived in the United States of America in 2006, having only played tape-ball cricket in the land of his birth. In South Florida, he first played for Florida International, In the Florida Southeast Cricket League (FSCL). Soon after that, with prodigious turn, nippy bounce and deadly accuracy, the crafty leg-spinner was mesmerizing batsmen throughout the SFCA. He first started to play in the SFCA in 2007, where he has turned out for Pakistan, taking 30 wickets in 2007 and repeated it in 2008, playing for the U S Academy. “Romeo” represented the SFCA Youth Team in the 2008 Classic, in 2009 he turned out for current Classic champions Team USA, and bagged 23 wickets the most by any bowler in the competition. Playing for Lauderhill United in the recently completed 50 overs competition (Premier Zone), following is a look at how he took his record- breaking 41 wickets: His best bowling performance was against Myrtle Grove, when he snared 7 for 30, from 5.4 overs. He had three 5 wicket hauls, 5 for 14 from 7.3 overs (including a hat-trick) against Sportsman, 5 for 18 off 5.4 against Osswald Park 1 and 5 for 27 from 8 against Parkway. One 4 wicket haul, 4 for 35 off 10 against International. There were four 3 wicket hauls, 3 for 5 from 4 overs against West Indies Alliance, 3 for 11 off 6 against Palm Beach, 3 for 22 from 9 against Parkway and 3 for 22 off 6 against Palm Beach. 2 for 52 from 9 overs against Myrtle Grove and 1 for 27 off 10 against Osswald Park 1, completes the 41 wickets haul at an average of 6.41, after bowling 80.83 overs, 8 maidens, for 263 runs. Standing at 5’ 10” the slenderly built, cunning, and very determined leg-spinner, is aspiring to represent the USA, but says if a chance comes his way to play league cricket in England, he will grab it with both hands. After cricket, “Romeo” likes playing golf and watching movies. During the SFCA Awards Presentation, Dinner and Dance, Long standing President Jeff Miller, announced his resignation (more to come on this later). Former Vice President Melton Taylor is now the President.
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By Peter Della Penna
A few additions from the initial 40-man list, as well as some notable
omissions, highlight a short list of 23 men’s national team probables
heading down to Florida this weekend to take part in a training camp
alongside the Under-19 team.
The list obtained from USACA features 10 players representing the 2009
USACA National Champion New York Region squad, including three who were
not in the original list of 40. Akeem Dodson, George Adams and Dennison
Thomas have all been invited back to Florida after impressing the
selection panel at the National Championship last month.
Among the 23 players, 13 of them have never played for USA’s senior squad.
“Each one of the new guys has just as much chance as anyone else to
make the team,” said USA coach Clayton Lambert. “Their performances
were so impressive at the last camp that there wasn’t much that
separates any of them from anyone else.”
Sushil Nadkarni is not in the list as he is still recovering from an
Achilles tendon injury he suffered in the Western Conference Tournament
in Minneapolis this past August. It is unclear whether or not he will
be fully healed in time to play for the USA in February when they
travel to the UAE to take part in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
Barrington Bartley, Timroy Allen and Nasir “Charlie” Javed are also not
on the list. Bartley is not participating for work related reasons, but
it is unclear if Allen and Javed are not on the list due to performance
or unavailability.
The U-19 team will also be training alongside the senior team this
weekend in Florida. The 14-man squad that went to Toronto in September
will be joined by six other players gunning for the final roster spot
on the 15-man team that will go to New Zealand for the ICC U-19 World
Cup. While not guaranteeing it, U-19 coach Sew Shivnaraine indicated
there is a strong probability the squad that went 6-3 in September to
qualify for the World Cup will not be broken up.
“It’s hard to change a winning team,” said Shivnaraine. The choice for
the 15th player looks to be a two horse race between South East Region
wicketkeeper-batsman Steven Taylor and New York Region pace-bowling
all-rounder Kavishwar Bridgepaul. It all depends on whether the
selectors opt to increase the depth in batting, which struggled in
Toronto, with the big hitting Taylor or instead bring in Bridgepaul to
boost the pace bowling department for the seam friendly conditions of
New Zealand.
According to Lambert and Shivnaraine, no U-19 players have been
included in the list right now for the senior team because they want
everyone to focus their efforts 100 percent on the month long tour to
New Zealand. However, there is still a possibility that if anyone has a
standout tour, they could be added to the senior team afterwards.
The official 15-man U-19 World Cup squad is expected to be announced
after the completion of this weekend’s camp. The other five players
will form the reserves in case a player needs to be replaced due to
injury or other reasons. The senior squad will be cut down to about 18
players for another training camp that is being planned for mid-January
before a final squad of 14 is picked.
List of Senior Team Probables
Atlantic Region: Imran Awan, Clain Williams.
Central East Region: Ashhar Mehdi (wk), Akhil Pathan, Khawaja Usman Shuja.
Central West Region: Orlando Baker.
New York Region: George Adams, Lennox Cush, Kevin Darlington,
Sudesh Dhaniram, Akeem Dodson (wk), Glen Hall, Rashard Marshall, Steve
Massiah, Dennison Thomas, Carl Wright (wk).
North West Region: Mohammad Bilal Khan, Nauman Mustafa (wk), Samarth Shah, Saurabh Verma.
South East Region: Anand Tummala.
South West Region: Aditya Thyagarajan, Ravi Timbawala.
List of U-19 Probables
Atlantic Region: Muhammad Asad Ghous, Yash Shah, Charan Singh, Henry Wardley.
Central East Region: Abhijit Joshi.
Central West Region: Ryan Corns.
New York Region: Kavishwar Bridgepaul, Regis Burton, Gregory Sewdial.
North East Region: Azurdeen Mohammed.
North West Region: Akash Jagannathan (wk), Naseer Jamali, Saad Khan, Saqib Saleem, Saami Siddiqui (wk), Vinay Suri, Shiva Vashishat.
South East Region: Steven Taylor (wk).
South West Region: Salman Ahmad, Hammad Shahid.
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