USA Cricketer

ACC Spring Break Championship Day 1: Thunderbird and Auburn win T20 games on run rate

openingbat — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:51:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

Thunderbird School of Global Management (T-birds) secured a win over USC on Wednesday in the first match of the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship on the artificial wickets outside the stadium at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Fla. Auburn also notched a victory in a rain-interrupted match over George Washington.

“Right now, I think people are pumped up,” said T-birds captain Sudeep Misra after his team’s victory. “We’re gonna win every single match we’re gonna play.”

USC won the toss and elected to bat first in overcast and wet conditions getting off to a very strong start but the T-birds fought back with wickets in the middle overs to restrict the Trojan batting lineup. USC was still hopeful of posting around 140 but due to the nature of the tournament rules, which do not follow ICC guidelines, they were not able to make a final push as their innings was called after 18 overs and they finished on 115 for 8.

“They had a fantastic start so we were thinking of wrapping them up within 125 or something and we were partly successful,” said Misra. “We got them for 115 runs. But at the same time, when they started they were getting some boundaries because there was some sloppy fielding I would say from outside and the ball was swinging a lot. It was different than our conditions back in Arizona. It’s way too dry. It doesn’t swing at all and right here it was overcast and the ball will swing so it was difficult for the bowlers to control it.”

According to the tournament rules, each innings can not take longer than 80 minutes, regardless of injury stoppages or stalling by the team in the field. As a result, USC’s plan to hit out in the final few overs was negated and they finished on 115 for 8 in 18.

“The last momentum, the last push we usually give towards the end of the innings, we couldn’t give that because our batsmen weren’t aware,” said Tarun Sandhu, USC vice-captain. The target was changed to 116 off 17 overs after a decision was made that T-birds should be penalized with 1 over overall and 1 over deduction of Poweplay.

USC got off to a fantastic start in the field as Sandhu’s pace claimed two wickets in the first over, including one on the first ball of the innings, to put T-birds in a big hole. However, number four batsman Nimish Jalan dug in at the crease and dug his team out of trouble with a very solid 49 to top score for T-birds.

“I just wanted to stay in the crease and ensure that I see through the first six overs and see the new ball and that was the plan,” said Jalan.

T-birds were 99 for 6 in 15 overs, needing 17 to win, when the match was called after 80 minutes of time had elapsed for the second innings. According to the tournament rules, the winner in this situation is decided on net run rate, not Duckworth/Lewis Method, and T-birds were declared the winner based on a better run rate.

In the words of Sandhu: “In the entire history that we’ve been playing, we’ve never faced this kind of situation. We always play our 20 overs and that’s how we plan it out. If you look at it, our main bowlers, they still had on over up their sleeve because we were waiting to use them right at the death. But saying that, I would still give all credit [to T-birds]. I think they batted well. Whatever the conditions I think their batsmen, a couple of those guys got stuck in and they played really well.”

In the second match of the day, Auburn blitzed the George Washington bowlers and capitalized on some poor fielding to run up 141 for 1 in 15 overs before time was called on their innings. In reply, GWU was 35 for 3 in 7.1 overs when the umpires took the players off the field as the showers at the ground became stronger and fielding became dangerous. Under the tournament rules, the match becomes official if at least six overs are completed so Auburn was declared the winner, way ahead on net run rate. Auburn captain Naveen Thiagarajan opened the innings and top-scored with 49 not out.

The other three games on Wednesday, College of Wooster vs. Minnesota, University of West Indies vs. South Florida, and University of Miami vs. Thunderbird, were washed out.

Eleven matches are scheduled for Thursday to be split between Central Broward Regional Park’s artificial wicket fields and the artificial and natural turf wickets at Brian Piccolo Park in nearby Cooper City. York College and University of Pennsylvania are scheduled to play the morning match on the natural turf wicket at Brian Piccolo Park while USC will face University of Miami (Fla.) in the afternoon contest.

All-Star Team announced for Hollywood Twenty20 game against MCC

openingbat — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:50:00 GMT

An All-Star team comprising players drawn from various SCCA clubs will play in the Hollywood All-Star versus MCC Twenty20 match on Saturday, March 20, 2010. The match begins at 9:30AM and will played at Woodley Field, Van Nuys, CA.

Several current SCCA and USA players will join local legends who have served SCCA for years. Two former test internationals - Gary Crocker (Zimbabwe) and Franklyn Rose (West Indies) - who play their cricket in the Southern California Cricket Association, are also part of the All-Star team.

The team is coached by one of USA’s finest coaches - Reginald Benjamin and is managed by Mark Azeez who is a long time member of Hollywood CC and Hollywood Golden oldies.

The game will be played as a tribute to Christopher Carroll from Hollywood CC and Phil Lynch of Corinthian CC. The two long serving SCCA members passed away in the last 2 weeks.

A Tribute to Christopher Carroll

Chris was born March 1, 1944 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. he was raised in a carefree era, before cell phones, email and fax machines, a 'luxury' Chris maintained for most of his life.

His family traveled extensively throughout Europe during his childhood in the 1950s, thereby instilling in him a lifelong love of adventure and travel.

In 1965, when Europe was still recovering from WW II, Christopher left England for America. Having completed his undergraduate degree from London University, he took an enormous leap of faith and arrived in New York aboard the Queen Mary, from where he boarded a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles with $100 in his pocket. With pluck and perseverance, the 21 year old Englishman joined an investment firm. Two years later, he put himself through USC, earning a master's degree in Finance and then moved into a coveted position with a major New York investment bank. Later, he established Carroll Capital Management Corp., specializing in venture capital, money management and real estate investment.

An avid athlete and passionate cricket player, Christopher is a past president of the historic Hollywood Cricket Club.

Christopher dedicated a formidable amount of his time to the local arts community and at the time of his death, he was an active member of the board of directors of Opera Santa Barbara and the State Street Ballet. He was also a former board member of the Montecito YMCA, past president and current member of the Rotary Club of Montecito, a council member at the Music Academy of the West, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

A Tribute to Phil Lynch

Phil arrived in California in 1997 when he joined the Corinthian Cricket Club. His impact on the Southern California cricket scene was felt immediately as he started to contribute to the Southern California Cricket Association (SCCA) as Director, Grounds Committee member and other key roles.

Originally from England, Phil was an avid reader, a writer and a talented musician with the blues guitar and vocals. Above all, he will be remembered for his love of cricket in its purest spirit.

He played competitive and social cricket with the same attitude as a gentleman and promoted the spirit of cricket among all.

Pen Pix of the Hollywood All-Stars Squad

Aditya Thyagarajan (C) – Hollywood CC (India): Current USA National player and SCCA captain. Former India U-19 and Karnataka Ranji player.

Nazim Shirazi (VC) – Pegasus CC (Bangladesh): Former SCCA captain and Bangladesh National player.

Ritesh Kadu (WK) – Hollywood CC (India): Future USA player and currently representing SCCA.

Franklyn Rose – Corinthian CC (West Indies): A former West Indies and Jamaica international.

Gary Crocker – Hollywood CC (Zimbabwe): A former Zimbabwe test and ODI player.

Ronnie Iranpur – Hollywood CC (India): Former SCCA and Hollywood player.

Rodney Cutting – Carribean CC (West Indies): Former SCCA player.

Richard Blackledge – Corinthian CC (England): SCCA player and former English first class player.

Paul Severn - Corinthian CC (USA): The only USA born player of the team.

Anup Desai – Hollywood CC (India): Long time SCCA and Hollywood club player.

David Pieters – Pasadena CC (South Africa): At 23 years of age, one of the most talented fast bowlers in the country. A future USA prospect. Currently playing professional cricket in England.

Coach – Reginald Benjamin

Manager – Mark Azeez

Five ways to make cricket attractive to Americans - By Jamie Harrison

openingbat — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:51:00 GMT

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By Jamie Harrison

Cricket, as a game, has everything required to make it attractive to Americans, especially now that the Twenty20 format has been adopted. All arguments made to the contrary are based on ignorance or, in some cases, a misplaced parochialism. How do I know this? I have witnessed it firsthand in my association with the Cardinal Gibbons cricketers, who were smitten by the sport from they instant they played it. My experiences with those students, when juxtaposed with the rest of non-cricketing America, also provided a roadmap to making cricket more than just a niche sport.

1. Get Kids Playing Cricket.

This, I believe, is the key element in any discussion about growing cricket in America. Typically, adults are resistant to adopting new sports; the sports one enjoyed as a child are almost always the sports one follows as an adult. This is why time and treasure invested in an attempt to introduce American adults to cricket are likely to be time and treasure wasted. Yes, there are rare exceptions, such as myself, but we represent the statistical outliers, and should not be used as examples to be emulated.

The true blueprint for success can be seen in the American soccer market, which is, itself, still developing. For decades, soccer was a sport played only by adult immigrants and ignored by everyone else in the United States. It was only when soccer began to be played in schools and recreation leagues that it moved into the American mainstream. Why? Because parents follow their children. If Billy wants to play soccer, Mom or Dad must take him to practices and games, where they will learn the sport by watching, and will develop a passion by cheering for their child’s team. (I have been through this process with my daughter, Sarah.)

As Billy learns the sport, he will become interested in its teams and players, and he will want to own things that reflect his newfound interest. This will require that Mom or Dad join him on this voyage of discovery, as they will be the ones responsible for acquiring the correct paraphernalia (apparel, posters, bedding, memorabilia, etc.). Billy will also wish to attend professional or college games, which will require an adult escort, and the escorting adult will, of course, cheer loudly for Billy’s player and team, which continues the indoctrination process.

So how do we make Billy a cricketer? Billy probably won’t choose to play a game he’s never heard of, or join a league where he has no friends. This is why it’s critical that we start by introducing him to the sport at school, where it can be taught as a part of his curriculum, and he and his friends can learn it together. (Cricket is a perfect sport for physical education classes, but I’ll leave that for another time.) My experience has been that often this is all that will be required to spark a passion for cricket. Once Billy and his friends begin to enjoy cricket at school, they’ll want to play at home, and it’ll be up to us to make sure they have the opportunity.
This brings us to the major hurdle we face in this regard: Right now, there is no coordinated national effort to introduce cricket at the elementary or middle school levels in the United States. As a matter of fact, I’ve never even heard of an organized local effort. This vacuum of leadership in the area of youth cricket creates an obstacle that will frustrate all of our desires to promote cricket, if it is not addressed. This is why USACA, as the sport’s officially sanctioned governing body, must appoint a board-level National Youth Cricket Coordinator without delay. This individual will be responsible for articulating USACA’s vision for youth sports, and developing local leaders, sponsors and programs that will effectively implement that vision. Until this is done, our hopes for youth cricket will founder and drift as a series of disconnected, directionless dreams.

Until we see children playing cricket at American beaches, in American parks and in American gym classes, little of lasting substance can be accomplished.

2. Cricket Equipment and Sets Must Be Readily Available For Purchase In Stores

Even if, in the beginning, it’s only toy cricket sets on the shelves at Walmart, having something to give Billy for his 8th birthday that will foster his love for the game is critical. Soon after, we’ll need to have real equipment on the shelves at places like Modell’s & Sports Authority. Right now, there are precious few places in America where cricket gear of any kind sits on a store shelf, and while dedicated cricketers may be willing to order online, those that are merely curious about the game (our target market) must have somewhere convenient to go to satisfy that curiosity. Also, if we want to see children playing cricket, we need to make it easy for their parents to acquire their equipment. That is not the case today.

To change this, a major push will have to be made both by the manufacturers of cricket products and by the game’s American supporters. Retailers will want to know that SKUs can be obtained easily, at a cost that will enable them to make a profit. They will also need to know that a market exists for these products. Someone at a national level will have to coordinate this joint effort if we want to see immediate results.

3. We Need To Have More Places To Play

From my experience in the Baltimore/Washington area, I can tell you that there simply aren’t enough pitches for the teams that exist already, and there are no indoor facilities closer than New Jersey. This is unacceptable if we wish to develop the game. Players need facilities at which to practice (especially in the offseason), and teams need places to play. Changing this will require both public and private funding, and the patience to wait for the market to grow to the point of full usage of the facilities.

4. Cricket Highlights Need To Be Seen On Television

One impediment to the adoption of cricket in the United States is that most Americans have never seen it played. As a result, they reject it as alien, and assume it to be unwatchable. Regular highlight clips, played on networks that are available as part of the basic cable package, are important in both introducing the sport and dispelling the stereotypes. It may seem strange, but psychologically, as the sports fan sees cricket alongside other “accepted” sports, it will seem more normal for him to have an interest in it, and his mind will be opened. (I’ve actually seen IPL highlights on ESPN Sportscenter’s Top Ten before, but there needs to be more than that, and it needs to be more than just the IPL.)

5. T20/IPL-style Leagues Must Be Used To Promote The Game

All of the buzz seems to indicate that we are very close to seeing an American professional T20 league established. If this becomes a reality, it presents a wonderful opportunity for the teams, players and coaches to get out into their local communities and promote the game. This can be accomplished through youth clinics, demonstration games, ticket donations and so forth. It would truly be a lost opportunity if the league came and went without ever leaving the cricket grounds. The individuals involved have a duty to be goodwill ambassadors for the sport, and it is my hope that they won’t fumble this golden chance.

Our success will eventually be measured not by the number of trophies won, but by the number of children playing our sport.

As you can see, when I think about growing cricket in America, my focus is squarely on developing the youth market. If we fail to do this properly, no advances made anywhere else will make a difference, including winning international matches. On the other hand, soccer has expanded vastly in the United States, despite the fact that the American men’s national team has never gotten within sniffing distance of a World Cup. This points out the fact that creating and maintaining a fan base is not dependent on world-class victories as much as it is dependent upon the adoption of the game by kids.

[The author coached the only American high school cricket team outside of New York City. The Cardinal Gibbons Cricket Club was created by a group of American kids who, without ever having played a hardball game, had fallen in love with the sport. ]

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.

Sai Sitaram Ramesh cracks 3rd big ton in 2010 SFCA Simms Cup.

openingbat — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:29:00 GMT

By Ricardo Inniss

Sai Sitaram Ramesh is used to getting massive scores. A former India U-19 player, he played TNCA Division 1 for Sanmar Chemplast and has also represented India Delhi at the U-16 level and was South Zone University Captain in India.

Pic (Right): Sai Sitaram Ramesh smashed a third ton of the season!

No surprises then that as the 2010 Annual South Florida Cricket Alliance (SFCA) Simms Cup Classic Cricket Competition moved into the 7th round, Sai Sitaram Ramesh cracked his third big ton. But it was to no avail, as at the end his team, India, lost to Jamaica on Sunday March 13.

In other matches, Guyana defeated Team USA, Combined Islands trounced Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago (T & T) got a victory over Pakistan by default. The SFCA U-23 Team had a bye.

Jamaica vs. India at North Dade Middle School:

Asked to bat first after calling the wrong side of the coin, India led by a scintillating knock of 153 from the bat of Sai Sitaram Ramesh, reached 298 for 8 off the allotted 40 overs. The gifted 23 year- old Ramesh, with an array of delightful shots, on both sides of the wicket, elegantly stroked, 14 fours and 8 sixes, whilst scoring his third ton in the competition. Sandeep Desai who hit 30(2 fours & a six), Vamseedhar Kalam with a useful 24 (1 four & a six) and Sunil Nair 23 (3 fours), helped to boost the total.

Ramesh put on 89 with Nair for the second wicket, and 85 with Kalam for fourth wicket. Bowling for Jamaica, Neville Dawkins took 3 for 58 from 8 overs,Ricardo Wilson 1 for 34 from 5, Owen Roper 1 for 40 from 7 and Sunil Mittoo 1 for 46 from 3.

In search of 299 for victory, Jamaica in a bold reply, knocked up 300 for 7 to chalk up a very important 7 wicket victory. The in form and consistent Steven Taylor, led the victory hunt smashing 4 fours and 5 sixes in a sterling innings of 69, Fredrick Redwood banged 2 fours and 4 sixes in a well-played supporting knock of 6, Mark Johnson slashed 3 fours and a six in his 37 and Kenroy Wright 27(1 four & a six). Taylor and Johnson put 119 for the third wicket, and Redwood and Wright 75 for the fifth wicket. Bowling for India, Ramesh took 2 for 31 from 8 overs, Kalam 2 for 35 from 8 and Naliniknath Jammula 2 for 61 from 6.

Team USA vs. Guyana at Myrtle Grove Elementary School:

Taking to the crease first after winning the toss, Team USA was dismissed for 210 after 37 of the arranged 40 overs. Sheldon Irving slammed 7 fours and 4 sixes in a topscore of 70, Andrew Carey hit 33 including 2 fours and 2 sixes, Micton Wallace had 3 fours and a 5 in a plucky 29, Anil Bhawani chipped in with 24 (2 fours & a six) and Rhaines Boothe got 23 (3 fours). Bowling for Guyana, Imran Saddick bagged 3 for 29 from 8 overs, Masood Mohamed 3 for 39 from 5, and Riad Mohamed 2 for 2 from 1.

Looking for 211 for victory, Guyana rattled up 212 for 7 to secure a 3 wicket triumph. Leading the way, Nazim Ali in tip-top form, cracked 9 fours and 2 sixes in a match-winning innings of 86, Earl Stephens got 34 (4 fours & 1 six), Masood Mohamed 23 not out (3 fours & a six) and Vickram Kumar 18 (1 four & a six).

Bowling for Team USA, Cedrick Davis ripped 4 for 39 from 8 overs, Rhaines Boothe 1 for 30 and Oneil Walker 1 for 39.

Combined Islands vs. Barbados at Miramar Regional Park South:

Barbados won the toss and electing to bat first, posted 212 for 8 off a reduced 38 overs. The very consistent, husky 6’ 5” 20 year-old Justin Holder, fresh from a whirlwind ton last week, pummeled 4 fours and 5 massive sixes in a blazing 71, Kenny Smith hit 42 (6 fours & a six), while Jamiko Marshall got 40 (5 fours & a six). Bowling for Combined Islands, Antoine Charlery snared 4 for 27 from 7 overs, Jarvis Francis 2 for 45 from 8 and Rene Toussant 1 for 37 from 4.

Pic (Left): Justin Holder smashed a blazing 71!

In reply, Combined Islands hustled to 213 for 5 in 32 overs to inflict a decisive 5 wicket victory. The hard-hitting Ashton Dennis, slammed 5 fours and 2 sixes whilst compiling an undefeated 60, Bert Davis knocked up 47 (4 fours & 3 sixes) and Toussant got 33 (5 fours & a six). Bowling for Barbados, Dave Brathwaite captured 3 for 40 from 8 overs, Smith 1 for 42 from 6 and Holder 1 for 20 from 4.

Western Region and SCCA squads announced for matches against MCC

openingbat — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:44:00 GMT

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[Updated: Western Region, NWR and SCCA squads announced for matches against MCC]

The Marylebone Cricket Club squad begin their tour of USA with limited-overs matches and coaching demonstrations in Los Angeles between March 16th and March 20th.

Talking about the tour, Hemant Buch, Chairman of the Western Region said: "Western region is proud to host MCC's visit to California. We have made efforts to make sure all the different leagues of our region are given an opportunity to participate in hosting MCC. Hence, in addition to Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay area, they will also be playing a game at Sacramento, hosted by Sacramento Cricket Association. Our goal in the region has been to make sure that maximum number of players and organizers get opportunity to participate. "

In Los Angeles, the MCC are expected to provide coaching to the regional U-19 side (on March 16th) and play matches against the Southern California and Western Region (on March 17th and 19th respectively).

Without a doubt, the most anticipated encounter is the 40-over match between MCC and the Western Region. That match starts at 10AM on March 19th, Friday, at Woodley Field. There is no entry fee to watch this game and DreamCricket.com urges all cricket fans in Los Angeles to show up and cheer for their region.

The Western Region announced the squad that will be captained by Aditya Thyagarajan. The team includes the following players from the North West - Nauman Mustafa (Vice captain) , Shiva Vashisht, Saqib Saleem, Bilal Khan, Samarth Shah. Members of the team from the South West are - Aditya Thyagarajan (Captain), Ritesh Kadu (WK), Kanishka Chaugai, Ali Shafi, Abhimanyu Rajp, Hammad Shahid, Ravi Timbawala. The team's coach is Reginald Benjamin and manager is Imran Khan. Ganesh Sanap will support the team as Analyst/Statistician.

Following the match, a banquet will be held at the Sportsman’s Lodge from 7PM to Midnight. Tickets are required for the banquet. Please visit SCCACricket.org for details on how to obtain tickets.

The SCCA announced the squad for its game vs MCC to be played at Woodley on Wednesday, March 17th. The match begins at 10AM and is expected to be a 40-over match. The SCCA squad will be captained by Ali Shafi and comprises Hrishikesh Unni (Vice Captain), Hari Sukumar, Muhammad Asad, Gaurav Khillon, Dionisius Mavrokefalos (Theo), Benson Thomas, Ravi Singh, Zafar Rizvi, Hammad Shahid, Anand Panchal. Reserves are Ali Mukhadam and Nisarg Patel. Ronak Patel will serve as the manager and Reginald Benjamin will coach the side.

North West Region too announced its squad for the match between North West and MCC to be played at the Santa Clara Cricket Ground. The match, the only 50-over match to be played on the West Coast leg of the MCC tour, will begin at 10:30AM. The NW team will be captained by Vijay Beniwal and comprises - Nauman Mustafa (Vice-Captain) (W/K - R/H Batsman), Majid Mohammed (R/H Batsman), Shantanu Divekar (R/H Batting Allrounder - Medium-Pacer), Srinivas Raghavan (R/H Batting Allrounder - Medium-Pacer), Shiva Vashishat (R/H Batsman), Vijay Beniwal (Captain ) (R/H Bowling Allrounder - Medium-Pacer), Ashok Singh (R/H Batsman), Sourabh verma (R/H Bowling Allrounder- Leg Spinner), Samarth Shah (L/H Bowling All rounder - Left Arm orthodox), Imran Khan (L/H Bowler), Hamza Tiwana. (L/H Bowler). Saqib Saleem (R/H Batting Allrounder - Leg Spinner) is the 12th man.

An All-Star team representing the legendary Hollywood Cricket Club will play a Twenty20 match against the visitors on Saturday, March 20th. For details of that match, please visit hollywoodcc.hitscricket.com. That team comprises - Ritesh Kadu (W/K), Franklyn Rose, Aditya Thyagarajan (Captain), Gary Crocker, Nazim Shirazi (Vice Captain), Ronnie Iranpur, Rodney Cutting, Richard Blakledge, Paul Severn, Anup Desai and David Pieters.

At Cardinal Gibbons, We Played Cricket!

openingbat — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:03:00 GMT

By Jamie Harrison

Last year, I coached the only American high school cricket team outside of New York City. It was created by a group of American kids who, without ever having played a hardball game, had already fallen in love with the sport. How did this come to pass? Well, it all started in Virginia, in April of 2008.

As a U.S. History teacher at the Cardinal Gibbons School in Baltimore, I often led field trips to the many historic sites in the area, and that April, I led a group of students on a two-day visit to Civil War sites in Richmond.

Pic (Right): Listening to Tom Melville are (from left to right) Don Erdman, Don Grey, Will Arsenault, Will Berkey, Ryan Kelly, Tim Schmidt, Jamie Harrison

Our first stop was the American Civil War Center at the site of the Tredegar Iron Works. After watching a cannon-firing demonstration, a smallish man in period clothing called out to our group, asking if we would like to play cricket. We agreed to have a look at the game, and from that point on, my life has had an added dimension.

The man was Tom Melville, an interpreter who, for has spent many years introducing hundreds of Americans to cricket at festivals, fairs, and reenactments in over a dozen states and Canada. He’s also the author of “Cricket For Americans” and “The Tented Field: A History of Cricket in America.” He learned cricket at the University of Wales, but he now lives in Wisconsin. We gathered around Tom, and he gave us a very simplified explanation of cricket.

In this modified version, a rubber ball was pitched underhanded, but otherwise, the basic rules applied. Our group was soon split into two teams, and before long, we were playing the centuries-old game of cricket.

We probably played for about an hour, and it turned out to be the most fun we had all weekend. While we were still in Richmond, the boys were already talking about finding a way to play cricket after they returned to school in Baltimore.

I said supportive things, but didn’t really believe that their new infatuation would last. I was wrong.

Pic (Left): Keith Hess places a stroke to the Forward Short Leg

By the time I got back to my classroom on Monday morning, a nascent cricket club had already begun to develop. All that Monday, students kept showing up in front of my desk, asking when they would be able to play cricket. At that point, however, we had no equipment of any kind, not even a ball. So I went home that night and started spending my money online – soft cricket balls, Kashmir willow tennis ball bats and plastic stumps sets all went on my credit card. I trusted that I could eventually get my money back, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if the fad would last long enough for that to happen.

Once the cricket gear came in, I took the boys to an open part of the athletic field and set up the wickets. From that point on, the game took care of the rest. The students organized themselves into teams and taught themselves the game; I mainly watched, acted as occasional umpire and collected up the gear when they were done. Soon, after-school cricket had a fairly large following at Cardinal Gibbons.

Every day after school, there would be a dozen or so students in my classroom, nagging me to quit working and start cricket. My history classes also became diverted by students trying to move the subject to cricket, rather than schoolwork. On rainy days, we watched the Indian Premier League on my laptop, and discussed rules, players and nations.

Pic (Right): The photograph that appeared in the Sun.

By the month of May, there were over 50 cricket players, and they wanted something more organized. We sold polos, collected money for more equipment and uniforms, and made plans to divide the boys into four teams for a fall league.

These teams then played a ten-week intramural cricket season, on a real cricket mat, starting in August when we reconvened at school. Members of the Baltimore Cricket Club, led by Gregory Alleyne, volunteered to help teach the boys the game, which was the first time that any of them had any real coaching. It went incredibly well, and the league was even featured in a story in the Baltimore Sun.

After we had crowned a champion that November, many of the players weren’t content to leave it at that – they wanted to play real cricket, with real, alum coated, rock-hard cricket balls. Fortunately, the family of an alumnus, the Patidars, had a pallet’s worth of real cricket equipment shipped to us from Mumbai, so, with just one more round of contributions, we had everything we needed, except, of course, other teams to play against.

With only a vague plan to play demonstration matches at area high schools in place, the Cardinal Gibbons Cricket Team began workouts inside the frigid gymnasium in January. There was a bit of conditioning, a bit of skills work and then a pick up game at the end of each Saturday’s practice.

An eighth-grader who was unsure about whether to come to Cardinal Gibbons or Archbishop Curley, Ashker Asharaff from Sri Lanka, started practicing with us, and was soon accepted as “one of the guys.” Gregory Alleyne stopped by occasionally to work with the boys, too.

Pic (Left): (From left to right) Will Berkey, Gladstone Dainty, Jon Marshall, Justin Bruchey

It was around this time that Megan Godfrey of the Baltimore Cricket Club put us in contact with Keith Gill, of the Washington Metropolitan Cricket Board, who at that moment was trying to organize a youth cricket league. A prayer had been answered.

Not long after, Keith visited us at practice, accompanied by Gladstone Dainty, President of the United States of America Cricket Association, which is the governing body of American cricket. Dainty watched us practice for a time, and then got involved personally, helping the guys with their technique. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. After practice, he spoke to the team, telling us how important it was for cricket to spread to kids like themselves, who had no cricketing background.

By March, temperatures had risen enough to allow us to practice outside, and we were soon joined by two new coaches, Trevor Roberts and Mike Thomas of the British Officer’s Cricket Club of Philadelphia. Every week, the team worked out on the football field. (Which they did not destroy. This, for some reason, was a great fear of the groundskeeper, who had somehow convinced himself that cricket was harder on grass than football. Go figure.) By May, the time had come to play our first match.

Even though we were only playing 20 over matches, we lost bad in our early matches, usually by over 100 runs. But we accepted our fate, since we were playing against experienced cricketers from cricket-playing countries.

In June, we became more international, being joined by Jayson Delsing, a player from South Africa, and Quincey Samuels, from Jamaica. Later two brothers of Indian descent from Philadelphia showed up at our match, asking to play. Having added our own experienced cricketers, the gap closed considerably.

During the year or so that we had been playing cricket, I had been working long and feverishly to generate publicity for our program. My efforts paid off rather well, I think, as we received print coverage in the Baltimore Sun (multiple times), the Catholic Review and the Press Box. We also were discussed on 98 Rock’s morning radio program. We also got quite a bit of coverage from the online cricket media, including Dreamcricket and Cricket World. For a time, it seemed like the world was watching us.

Another thing I did to garner support was to send emails to the major test-playing nation’s governing cricket bodies. Only Cricket Australia responded, and they were absolutely fantastic. I exchanged many emails with CA’s Rebecca Mulgrew, who put me in touch with Dave Tomlin of Western Australia’s Kent Street Senior High School’s cricket program and sent me a lot of great coaching materials. She told me how much Australia wanted to see cricket succeed in America, and while they knew it would be “tough slogging,” CA would be following us closely.

Pic (Left): The letter from Cricket Australia

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I quickly became Cricket Australia’s #1 American fan, and many of the boys started following Punter and the Aussies as well.

Another great experience I had was to be a part of the West Indies Cricket Board Level 1 Cricket Coaching Course, the first ever held in the United States. Windies coaches Wendell Coppin and Stephanie Power were great, and I was able to network with many of the Atlantic Region’s key people. I also spent a lot of time talking up the need to develop youth cricket in America, and how I believed that our program was just the beginning. Officials at USACA were really excited about what we were doing, and they looked forward to helping us grow.

In mid summer, it seemed like we were ready to take cricket to the next level.

For the first six months of 2009, we had been a magnet for cricket aficionados from all over the Mid Atlantic. At practices, guys from Pakistan, India, and other cricketing nations would show up to watch, talk cricket and ask about our plans. Many of these people were doctors and independent businessmen with teenagers at home who longed to play cricket. I received phone calls from investors who wanted to know if Cardinal Gibbons was interested in various “partnerships.” I began thinking about how our program might take advantage of being “the only game in town” for those in America who loved cricket.

At about the same time, I was told by David Brown, the school’s principal, that due to drastic budget cuts, I was being laid off from teaching. Enrollment was down again, I was told, and 40% of the tuitions of those who were enrolled were in arrears, which made the school a budgetary disaster. For too long we had been accepting any student that applied, regardless of ability to pay, and now the Archdiocese had given the school a year to get its act together. (The Archdiocese had just announced the closing of Towson Catholic High School, and there was a somber feeling at Cardinal Gibbons, wondering if we were to be next.) I went home that night, and after having made a few phone calls, knew what to do.

I spent the next few days designing a plan that would save cricket and Cardinal Gibbons School at the same time. It seemed like an idea, that, if not perfect, was at least guaranteed to reverse the school’s enrollment conundrum.

What I proposed was that Cardinal Gibbons School become the home to the United States’ first cricket academy. We would add elective courses in cricket (we already had elective courses such as “weight training” and “Gym II”), teach the game in Phys Ed classes and generally, make cricket an important part of the Gibbons culture. By doing this, we would attract the children of expatriates, such as the doctors at St. Agnes Hospital across the street. My experience with this group of students was that they were typically high achievers from well-off families – exactly what Gibbons needed to turn around its enrollment mess (I had two prospective students’ applications already in hand). I would become a cricket student-athlete recruiter, personally visiting clubs, associations and private homes, scouring the area for likely candidates. I also proposed a plan to spread cricket to gym classes at the middle and elementary schools, which even if only partially successful, would create a ready-made feeder system for Gibbons. We would also become a magnet for the investors that had been looking for a place to put their money. This plan worked for cricket and Cardinal Gibbons – the prototypical win-win. The only thing I needed was for the school to provide the start-up money to launch.

I first pitched the plan to the Archdiocese, which after a few days, called me back to say that they endorsed the plan, and that the Archbishop was “intrigued” by its potential. Next, I spoke to the Mr. Brown, explaining the importance of changing the trajectory of the school’s enrollment, in light of what was happening to Towson Catholic. He seemed supportive, but told me that he could make no budgetary decisions without first getting the approval of the school board. A few days later I met with Jonathan Smith, President of the school board, and explained the plan. Smith seemed less impressed. He told me that the school board had decided that there would be no new investment in the school for the coming year; their entire focus was on slashing expenditures as deeply as possible, and trying to raise money to offset the budget deficit, with the goal being a balanced annual budget. He was convinced that if this was done, the Archdiocese would not close the school.

When I explained that the Archdiocese, in public comments after the closing of Towson Catholic, had made it clear that enrollment trends were a critical factor in whether to close a school, Smith seem uninterested. The school board, I was told, was certain that the only consideration would be whether or not the school was in the black by December. Anything that jeopardized that would not be considered. Plus, the board had already decided to give a private individual $3500 a month to fundraise for them. It was suggested that I ask the alumni to invest in my plan.

That July, the Alumni Association had responded to the crisis with a plan of its own, the “Gibbons Forever Endeavor,” which was a complicated attempt to reorganize the school’s fundraising database, presumably with a fundraising push then to follow. At the first meeting to announce this initiative, I was allowed to pitch my plan, but none of those in attendance, save Carmel Kelly (an early supporter), saw any value in it. Alumni I spoke to individually said that they would continue their habit of donating only to sports teams that they favored. I found this attitude mind-boggling to say the least. It was like watching people rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic.

Pic (Right): Fast bowler Don Erdman

Scrambling, I called potential cricket investors, whose enthusiasm was dampened by the idea of sinking money into a school that either didn’t care for cricket that much, or was so near to closing that they couldn’t even provide the seed money for it. I was repeatedly told that their money was contingent upon the school’s firm commitment to the academy. Exasperated, I returned to the school board, which once again rejected the plan. The Archdiocese, along with a number of parents interested in sending their kids to Gibbons, asked me how things were going – I had no good news to report.

I began to wonder if the disinterest was a result of cricket being too “foreign,” or maybe because most of the players were honor students instead of “jocks.” I know that the other sports programs at Gibbons resented the attention that cricket had been getting in the press, and that the groundskeeper had long been agitated with me for forcing the football team to share its field with us. (He actually said to me, “That is a football field, not a cricket field!”) Once, his lawn tractor that was used to mow the grass had run over a lost cricket ball, and he demanded $38 in compensation for the “damaged blade,” even though it routinely ran over baseballs with no ill effects. I paid the $38.

By August, the cricket season was over and it was clear that my efforts to start a cricket academy had failed. I returned the few thousand dollars that had already been donated by cricketers, and called the investors to let them know. On a sad day in August, I returned to Cardinal Gibbons one last time to collect my personal belongings and return my key to the barn shed where the cricket equipment was stored, leaving the school to its fate.

And so, what may have been the last, best hope of the Cardinal Gibbons School was locked away inside a shed, never to be seen again. And that, perhaps, is the greatest tragedy of all.

More Pictures (All pictures courtesy of Jamie Harrison)

Will Foy

Ashker Asharaff

(From left to right) Justin Bruchey, Gregory Alleyne, Jamie Harrison, Keith Gill, John Boland

Mr. Dainty & me

Don Erdman bowls to Mr. Dainty

Finally, the pre-game ceremony ended, the moment of truth arrived. It was time to play cricket.

The first Gibbons batters, Justin Bruchey and Will Berkey

Justin Bruchey

Will Berkey

Jeff Thornton

Keith Hess

Don Erdman

Jayson Delsing and Quincy Samuels, our "ringers"

Four South Florida teams locked at top of Simms Cup standings

openingbat — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:47:00 GMT

By Ricardo Inniss

What was formerly called the SFCA Keith Graham Memorial Classic, is now 2010 Annual South Florida Cricket Alliance (SFCA) Simms Cup Cricket Classic Competition, or in its shortened form - the Simms Cup!

At the end of round six in the hunt for the Simms Cup, four teams are locked on 20 points each at the top of the standings. Each team has had a bye in 6 rounds of matches played.

The teams are: Reigning Champions Team USA, last year’s second place India, Jamaica and Guyana. Next is Trinidad & Tobago (T & T), with 10 points from their 5 matches played. And, all tied at the bottom with 5 points each from 6 matches are: Barbados, SFCA Under 23 Team and Combined Islands.

Meanwhile, so far 13 centuries have been recorded, and those hitting centuries so far are as follows: Sheldon Irving, Dave Wallace and Shawn Beckford of Team USA (3), Fredrick Redwood, Jermaine Thompson and Mark Johnson of Jamaica (3), Sai Ramesh (2) of India, Justin Holder and Raymond Denny of Barbados (2), Ashton Dennis of Combined Islands (1), Earl Stephens of Guyana (1) and Clarence Salmon of the Under 23 Team (1).

Last week’s sixth round action produced some exciting cricket, as Barbados’ Jason Holder and Raymond Denny banged tons, to steal the spotlight. The victors were Barbados, India, Trinidad & Tobago (T & T) and Jamaica, with victories over Pakistan, SFCA Under 23 Team, Team USA and Guyana respectively.

Barbados vs. Pakistan at Lauderhill Sports Park:

Batting first after winning the toss, Barbados rattled up an imposing 310 for 5 off the arranged 40 overs. Leading the way Justin Holder, Counted 6 fours and 13 massive sixes in an unbeaten scintillating 115, former USA wicket-keeper batsman Raymond Denny, also unbeaten, blasted 15 fours and 2 sixes in a stroke-filled 105 and Anton Alleyne chipped in with 19. Bowling for Pakistan, Adil Bhatti bagged 2 for 21, Salim Saddique 2 for 22 and Shawn Qureshi 1 for 17. In reply, Pakistan was dismissed for 186. Irfan Khan cracked 9 fours and 3 sixes in brisk 59, Rizwan Ahmed hit 48, Saddique got 31 and Azfal Qureshi 17. Bowling for Barbados, Michael Springer took 3 for 26, Tony Reid 2 for 25, Holder 2 for 73 and Robert Hinds 1 for 34.

India vs. SFCA Under 23 Team at BRCC/Delray Beach:

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, India reached 216 for 6 from the regulated 40 overs. Vaibhav Nayar, banged 3 fours in an enterprising topscore of 58, skipper Nalinikanth Jammula slammed 4 fours and a six in his 55, Sunil Nair got 25 (2 fours) and Prabhakar Dixit 22 (1 four). Bowling for the SFCA Under 23 Team, Joseph Smith was the best of the bowlers with 2 for 28 from 6 overs. In reply, the SFCA Under 23 Team, could only manage 154 all out after 33.2 overs.

The most resistance came from, Jamell Douglas who got 34 and Ensworth Wallace with 31. Bowling India to a convincing 62 run victory, medium pacer Jammula, returned with the ball, to top off a fine allround performance by ripping out 5 for 35 from 8 overs, ably assisted by Sai Sitaram Ramesh, who snared 3 for 26 also from 8.

Team USA vs. T & T at Myrtle Grove Elementary School

Sent in to bat after losing the toss, reigning Champions Team USA knocked up a fairly respectable 234 all out off 39 of the allotted 40 overs. The run-hungry Shawn Beckford, was in tip-top form smashing 6 fours and 7 sixes in a sparkling 82, Rhaines Boothe hit 46 spiced with 4 fours and 2 sixes, Mark Simpson hit 29 (4 fours) and Andre Forbes got 20 (1 four & a six).

Bowling for T & T, Ken Singh captured 3 for 18, Baliram Nayaik 3 for 20, Ravi Ramlal 1 for 31, Timothy Surujbally 1 for 45 and J. Lee 1 for 56. In reply, T & T cruising to an emphatic 5 wicket victory, was led by a sizzling 89 from Surujbally, who lashed 9 fours and 6 sixes, Singh in a fine allround performance hitting 3 fours and 4 sixes in an exact 50, Nayaik also in a good allround show, smacked 5 fours whilst carrying his bat for a well played 46 and Asad Alrashid got 22 (1 four). Bowling for Team USA, Simpson took 2 for 35, Boothe 1 for 29, “Romeo” Ahmed 1 for 42 and Dave Wallace 1 for 65.

Guyana vs. Jamaica at lake Stevens Middle School:

Asked to occupy the crease first after losing the toss, Guyana reached a not so competitive 177 all out after 33.2 of the allotted 40 overs. Nazim Ali stroked 8 fours and 2 sixes in a topscore of 71, Earl Stephen got 28 (3 fours & a six), Fazal Sheriff (1 four) and Kaiume Mohmed (2 fours) got 16 each. Bowling for Jamaica, Neville Dawkins and Fredrick Redwood captured 3 for 24 each and skipper Ricardo Wilson 3 for 35. In a bold and positive reply, Jamaica hustled to 181 for 2 to inflict a decisive 8 wicket victory.

Young Steven Taylor, the USA U-19 up and coming batsman, cracked 8 fours and 3 sixes in an superb undefeated 82, Sunil Mittoo had 7 sweetly timed fours in an exciting knock of 43 and Mark Johnson carried his bat for 23 (1 four & a six). Taylor and Johnson put on 94 runs in an unbroken third wicket partnership. Bowling for Guyana, Kaiune Mohamed took 1 for 23 and Vickram Ramoutar 1 for 31.

The Tenth MCC Tour of USA - March of 2010

openingbat — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:12:00 GMT

A brief history of MCC Tours

In 1859, a team led by George Parr toured America, playing two matches at Hoboken, two in Philadelphia and one match at Rochester. This was the first overseas tour by any English side. The team, a composite English side that drew from several first class teams before the dawn of international cricket, featured several members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC - the custodian of the laws of cricket). The MCC members that took part in that first tour including Alfred Diver, William Caffyn, Thomas Lockyer, James Grundy, and John Lillywhite. George Parr subsequently joined MCC in 1863. Thus began MCC’s long love affair with USA.

The 1859 tour was also instrumental in triggering a tradition of visits by international teams to USA including the first such tours by Australia (1878) and West Indies (1886). Matches versus Gentlemen of Philadelphia (GOP) formed the backbone of many of these tours, and in time, the GOP began to improve and sometimes defeat the visiting teams. This emboldened the Gentlemen of Philadelphia to undertake overseas tours themselves in 1884. On the 1884 tour, the GOP played seventeen games on their first tour of England, winning nine, losing four and drawing four.

The Harvard Crimson noted with satisfaction: “Barring a crushing defeat at the hands of the celebrated Marylebone Club, generally known as the "MCC," which numbers amongst its three thousand and more members, (almost every amateur cricketer of note in England), the record of the team was very creditable.” This was a USA team's first overseas match against the MCC.

In 1905, an exclusively MCC side toured USA - a forerunner for many such MCC tours. In 1959, MCC marked the 100th anniversary of the historic tour of 1859 by traveling to USA, playing matches against Philadelphia and Washington DC. To date, MCC toured USA nine times, including most recently in 2004 when they played seven matches at four venues including New York.

The 2010 tour of MCC (March 14th - 31st, 2010)

Fast forward to 2009, when a tour to North America was planned to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the 1859 tour of George Parr XI. That much anticipated tenth tour of MCC to USA was postponed and will now take place in March of 2010 (March 14-31). For the first time ever, this MCC side will not play any matches in Philadelphia, opting to play all its matches in California and Florida, endowed with better March weather and turf wickets.

Pic (Right): John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket (Coutesy: MCC)

Without referring to the historic nature of the tour, John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket said: "MCC’s 2010 touring schedule whets the appetite. More MCC Members are applying for tours than ever before, and our tours continue to prove themselves beneficial to both our players and, most importantly, cricket in the countries we visit."

MCC Tour of March 2010 - Tour Program

The visitors will land in Los Angeles on March 15th. After a day of rest on March 16, the MCC side will play an exhibition match against the Southern California Cricket Association (SCCA) on March 17th.

On March 19th, the USA Western Region team captained by Aditya Thyagarajan will play a 40-over match, to be played at Woodley Field. Reginald Benjamin will coach the Western Region side, Imran Khan, the Manager of Team USA will assist as manager and Ganesh Sanap of NCCA will be the scorer/statistician for the match. Following the match, the Hollywood Cricket Club will host a banquet honoring the MCC.

After playing a Twenty20 match against Hollywood CC on March 20th, the action will shift to the Bay Area where on Sunday, March 21st, a North West side captained by Vijay Beniwal will play a 50-over match against the visitors at the Santa Clara cricket ground on Benton Street. The region has also planned a banquet honoring the visitors that evening.

From the San Francisco Bay Area, the visitors will proceed to Sacramento where they will play a 30-over match against the home side on March 22nd. On March 24th, the MCC will offer coaching to the Western Region’s U-19 and U-15 probables at the Collins Elementary nets in Cupertino.

From California, MCC will travel to Florida, where they will play a Twenty20 match against a West Indian XI on Friday, March 26th. The tour will end with back to back 50-over matches against USA on Saturday (March 27) and a West Indian XI (March 28th). All three matches will be played at the Lauderhill Stadium, Central Broward. The composition of the Western Region, the North West team, Team USA and West Indian squads for the matches against MCC are not yet known and will be published on DreamCricket.com when they become available.

The MCC Squad

Name	Role	Represented
Frank Russell	Manager	Buckinghamshire CCC; Gerrards Cross CC
Michael Foster	Captain & batsman	Victoria; Reigate Priory CC
Rupert Swetman	Batsman	Old Brisotlians; Westbury CC
Shani Kamalia	Batsman	Shepherds Bush CC
Paul Bryson	Batsman	ECB XI; Cheshire CCC; Highfield CC
Torquil Deacon	Batsman	Romany CC
Karl Pearson	All-rounder	Herefordshire CCC; Gore Court CC
Paul Davidge	Wicketkeeper	Huntingdonshire CC; Godmanchester Town CC
Matt Friedlander	All-rounder	Boland; Northamptonshire CCC; Cambdridge MCCU; Cambridge Granta CC
Tom Bartram	All-rounder	Durham MCCU; York CC
Simon Montgomery	All-rounder	Prestbury CC
Paul Terry	Bowler	Chicester Priory Park CC
Will Hodson	Bowler	Durham MCCU; Castleford CC
Ajaz Akhtar	Bowler	Cambridgeshire CCC; Peterborough Town CC
Sid Poole	Umpire	Middlesex League umpire
Don Shelley	Scorer	Middlesex CCC scorer

Courtesy: MCC

MCC Tour Itinerary - Sunday 14 March - Wednesday 31 March 2010

Date(s)	Info/Match	Venue
Sun 14 March	Team meeting at Lord's	Lord's
Mon 15 March	Depart for LA, USA	Heathrow
Tue 16 March	Accliamatisation & nets
Wed 17 March	Coaching session MCC v SCCA (40 overs)	Woodley CC
Thu 18 March	Rest day
Fri 19 March	MCC v Western Region (40 overs) followed by banquet hosted by Hollywood CC	Woodley CC
Sat 20 March	MCC v Hollywood All Stars (20 overs) & transfer to San Jose	Woodley CC
Sun 21 March	MCC v North West Region (50 overs)	Santa Clara Cricket Ground, Benton Street
Mon 22 March	MCC v Sacramento (30 overs)	Sacramento
Tue 23 March	Rest day
Wed 24 March	Coaching in California	Collins Elementary, Cupertino
Thu 25 March	Transfer to San Francisco Fly to Miami
Fri 26 March	Coaching & MCC v West Indian XI (20 overs)	Central Broward
Sat 27 March	MCC v USA (50 overs)	Central Broward
Sun 28 March	USA v West Indian XI (50 overs)	Central Broward
Mon 29 March	Rest day
Tue 30 March	Depart for UK
Wed 31 March	Arrive back in UK

Past MCC Tours - Statistics (Courtesy of our stats partner - Cricket Archive)

G Parr's XI in North America 1859 (not officially an MCC tour - comprised of several MCC members)

Marylebone Cricket Club in North America 1905

Marylebone Cricket Club in North America 1907

Marylebone Cricket Club in North America 1959

Marylebone Cricket Club in North America 1967

Marylebone Cricket Club in United States of America 1990/91

Marylebone Cricket Club in United States of America 1992/93

Marylebone Cricket Club in United States of America 1999

Marylebone Cricket Club in United States of America 2000

Marylebone Cricket Club in United States of America 2004

DreamCricket's Winter Cricket Tournament a Big Hit

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

DreamCricket.com, USA's cricket destination, is now on Facebook. Please help us popularize cricket in USA by becoming a fan of our Facebook page.

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

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

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

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

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

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

DreamCricket's Winter Tournament from Rushi Amin on Vimeo.

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

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

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

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

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

Interview: Don Lockerbie sits down to talk about the latest announcements in USA cricket (Part 1)

openingbat — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:34:00 GMT

A few days before the start of the ICC World Cricket League Division Five Tournament in Kathmandu, Nepal, Peter Della Penna of DreamCricket.com had the opportunity to sit down with USA Cricket Association CEO Don Lockerbie to ask him about recent developments that have been making headlines for USACA. In particular, the biggest news announced ahead of the tournament was that New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be coming to the US in May to play a series of Twenty20 matches in Florida.

Over the course of the interview, Lockerbie revealed several other pieces of new information. Among these are that Pakistan might possibly join Sri Lanka and New Zealand to play in May’s Twenty20 series, an MCC team will be coming to Florida to play a USA development squad in March, his potential plan to bid for the 2013 Champions Trophy and a more in-depth look at how he plans to professionalize cricket in America.

Pic (Right): USA Cricket CEO Don Lockerbie with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

Here is part 1 of the interview.

Peter Della Penna: The partnership with New Zealand, these matches that are announced with Sri Lanka, obviously everybody’s known about New Zealand for a while now, the partnership that’s been established with them, but how did Sri Lanka become involved in this in trying to arrange these matches?

Don Lockerbie: Back in November, we met with the Sri Lankan secretary at the ICC meetings and it was made expressly by them that they wanted to follow in the footsteps of other Full Members, particularly like New Zealand, and come sooner than later to the United States. Nishantha Ranatunga is the secretary general for the Sri Lanka Cricket Board and funny enough, his brother was formerly the secretary and now lives in Washington, D.C. So he knows USA well, he’s followed USA cricket. They want to help and there’s a good feeling about Sri Lankan cricket around the world.

Sri Lanka are a fun team to watch, they’re very energetic. They were World Cup finalists in the 2007 World Cup. I’ve seen them play a lot and I just think it’s a great brand of cricket so absolutely wanted to honor their desire to come play and with our partnership, Justin Vaughan has been doing a great job from New Zealand making the case to come to the United States. With the West Indies hosts of the 2010 World T20, all the teams are coming to the neighborhood so a lot of them are knocking on the door and looking to find a chance to play with us.

Peter Della Penna: Obviously these are matches between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, but what kind of money, what are the potential earning opportunities in terms of possible television rights and other sources of revenue that would go to USACA from this kind of event?

Don Lockerbie: It’s hard to say right now what the final tally like that could be estimated at, but I can tell you that in this day and age in cricket, the way that you’re going to make some commercial rights stick are to create some long-term partnerships and relationships. So in the coming weeks, with our partners New Zealand, we’ll be looking to create some long-term match opportunities and series where we can sit down with some of the top broadcasters of the world and look for something that they can count on.

Doing one-off events is never going to be profitable. What we need to do is start creating a consistency of matches that are probably best played in the United States between, let’s just say April to September, something like that, where it’s a good time of year for the

Full Members who are looking for places to play and we think that trying to establish some long-term value to our broadcasters, our sponsors, having good paydays for the teams that come and play in the United States are all very very important in commercial consideration. So right now what we’re doing is we’re developing the strategic plan that we can bring to sponsors and broadcasters and it also has a lot to do with who is playing.

So one of the things that we’re also looking to do is at the same time we announced the Sri Lanka-New Zealand opportunity, which we’re still finalizing all the nuts and bolts on that from dates, to the competition schedule, to again working with any potential broadcasters, there’s an opportunity for a third Full Member to come in as well and it’s no secret that we’ve been in discussions with Pakistan. So obviously I think the value of the television rights or long-term rights for the United States Cricket have to do with the high level of competition that’s coming to the country and if we can bring in two or three Full Members in May this year after the World T20, that will be a great start for us.

It’ll be the first time that we really have two or three Full Members playing and that’s what we want our stakeholders to realize, that this will be annual, this will be several times a year and your question about how commercially viable it is will have to do with the ability that we start off well. If we play to empty stadiums and nobody’s all that interested, then the whole business of the commercial viability of the United States is nothing more than a rumor. So what we really need is for people who’ve been wanting to see cricket, who are hungry for cricket, support what we’re doing. Get out there, watch it, support it and let broadcasters know and let sponsors know that this is exactly what fans of US cricket have been wanting or fans of world cricket have been wanting.

Peter Della Penna: Obviously the dates haven’t been finalized yet, but potentially what would be the kind of price range that fans would be expecting to pay? There’s no real precedent that’s been set for a kind of US cricket event obviously in terms of ticket-selling but has there been any discussion in terms of what the price range would be for fans who might want to come and fly to Florida or fans in Florida who would want to buy tickets to this kind of thing?

Don Lockerbie: No. It’s a little premature to say what our ticket prices are going to be. But I can say that we want them to be reasonable. We’re essentially a new business and like any new business, you want to set up price points that are going to get people to the stadium and to enjoy it and come back. So I think that we are absolutely looking at the opportunity to develop the kind of matches that people will find affordable.

I know that our Full Members will be generous with us and see their own coming to the United States as a way to help USACA and the way to do that is not to be too terribly expensive for them and that’s why we’re looking at generous partners.

The whole thing with the New Zealand partnership, this is a long-term deal we’re putting together with them. We’re looking at New Zealand actually investing in United States Cricket and by doing that, they’re not out to do anything but make the game more popular and we all agree that the way to do that is to fill up the stands as best we can. So we’ll be reasonable with our ticket prices, with our concessions, with our merchandise.

Peter Della Penna: What else are these teams doing besides obviously playing matches? Is there anything that’s going to be set up in terms of running a local youth coaching clinic or running a local community thing, anything like that?

Don Lockerbie: Without a doubt, we’d be looking always to set up coaching clinics and youth camps and opportunities maybe for local VIPs and celebrities to try hitting the ball and trying to make it fun for all. Without a doubt the sport, particularly in the Twenty20 game, is one of family entertainment and fun and it’s a fast paced experience and I’m sure that we’ll be looking to address some of the entertainment around the grandstands.

Perhaps concerts, perhaps going as far as the IPL with cheerleaders, we want to make sure that cricket is the exciting fast paced game that it’s now become in Twenty20 and I know that part of what we want to do is become the place to come play. United States is going to be a place that will have full stadiums and lots of fun and entertainment and great atmosphere. That’s what everyone thinks cricket should be for the United States and that’s what we’ll be planning to do.

Peter Della Penna: You mentioned with Pakistan obviously could be a team that comes in May, along with Sri Lanka and New Zealand. But they played, in the past year, series in Abu Dhabi, one day series, and they obviously don’t have a permanent home right now to host matches. What is the likelihood of them playing 50-over matches in 2010 in the US against other teams?

Don Lockerbie: Right now, I don’t think there’s any plan for them to play one-day internationals. The invitation that has been made has been to come to the United States in April where they could be creating a training camp and perhaps some warm-up matches before they go defend their world championship in the West Indies at the T20 World Cup and then the other option is to see if they’re interested to come play in May.

I need to be clear, the current negotiation between New Zealand and Sri Lanka is moving forward. The invitation is being made to Pakistan, but their interest is very very high and it has a lot to do with their own scheduling, with the players who would be available, and we made it clear to all three teams that we’re looking for their powerhouse teams. We’re looking for them to come and make history in the United States.

To be clear, the announcement that we made about New Zealand and Sri Lanka is significant. It’s one where we are very very excited that they are now finalizing negotiations with us to make it real. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to take place and with Pakistan we’ve just made the invitation for them to study very quickly whether April and or May would be something that they want to do. So that puts them in a Twenty20 mindset. We made it very clear to [Pakistan Cricket Board] Chairman [Ijaz] Butt that we again want a long-term relationship with them.

We want to be helpful and useful to their situation and current condition of having difficulty finding places to play and there’s millions of Pakistan fans in the United States. We’ve got I’m sure for them a very loyal following that would be very eager to support that team. Therefore, the idea that there could be 50-over cricket from a Pakistan side soon is very reasonable to expect.

Pic (Left) - L to R: Nabeel Ahmed (USACA - First VP), IS Bindra (ICC Principal Advisor), Don Lockerbie (USA Cricket CEO) and Ahmed Jeddy (Central West Regional Representative to USACA Board) [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

Peter Della Penna: In terms of getting the US team playing in these Twenty20 matches in Florida, would these be actual matches or would it just be warm-up matches? Would they be listed as warm-up matches or would they be classed as full?

Don Lockerbie: The matches in April would be to help benefit the teams who are going on to the World T20 in the Caribbean. We would have liked to been one of those teams, but we finished essentially in a tie for fifth with Kenya. We had to finish in the top two to have that shot.

So now it’s really a matter of being good members of the ICC and fulfilling an opportunity to help the guys that are going to the World T20, those teams.

In May, it’s a different matter. In May, with Sri Lanka and New Zealand coming in, we would be in a position to be one of the competing teams and that’s exciting for us because that truly will be full-on cricket with the United States being the third or fourth team in a series of double-headers.

Peter Della Penna: There’s this letter (press release) that was made at the end of January in regards to professional coaching being one of your intentions for the future. How close is that or how far away is that from happening? Also part of that statement was professional contracts for players. How close are those things to happening?

Don Lockerbie: They should happen in 2010. The expectation is that we’re professionalizing cricket in the United States. It started with my hiring in April of a year ago. We’re fast approaching the end of the first year and we’re fast approaching the ability to feel comfortable with some of the initiatives that we’ve put in place and some of the financial planning that we’re putting in place and can soon announce.

We’re adding staff to my office which would include hiring a national director of coaching, an assistant coaching staff, kind of retooling the way we select players throughout the country.

We’d be looking at a regional coaching staff around the country that we’d want to incentivize with paid positions. So in other words, I think that a lot of people know that my strategy all along has been to start at the national team level and work our way down because I believe that club cricket and regional cricket is healthy. Certainly, they can always use more funding and more facilities and more initiatives and we’ll get that to them in the near future, but the first thing to do in my opinion is to meet the mandate of the ICC and the mandate of the ICC is to make sure that we’re developing professional cricket teams that can make it to World Cups.

So we’re going to start that way, but I think that the stakeholders of US cricket will soon find that there will be funding for all areas of US cricket and that the goal is to make noise and noteworthy headlines at the national and international level so that the funding can come in so that there are broadcasters and sponsors and investors who want to be part of US cricket and so that it then makes its way throughout all specters and spectrums of US cricket.

Pic (Right): USA Cricket CEO observes a team meeting before USA vs Nepal (which USA won) [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

Peter Della Penna: (Moving on to professionalization of cricket). How many contracts do you foresee initially being handed out? Is it going to be 15 for the full national team squad or is it just 5 or 10 or incrementally over the course of the next year or so? How many initially are there going to be?

Don Lockerbie: I can’t say that now. I haven’t finalized that plan. A lot of it has to do with how fast we also move towards development of a professional T20 domestic league in the United States, which is also very much on the table. We are currently very far along with a group that we’ve been talking to since the summer of 2009 who are putting together a very impressive proposal for us regarding the development of a league by 2012.

Now, we’d be looking for an American summer of international cricket at the domestic T20 league which would professionalize many of our players and would contract many of our players. What we have to look at is following kind of the professional soccer model which is you professionalize your players because they’re part of franchise teams and then you incentivize them for the national teams with a secondary contract when they’re playing at the international level and that’s kind of the model that we’re following.

Obviously we want to professionalize as many players as possible and the league will do that. If you figure that in a few years, we might have six to eight professional teams in the United States with say seven or eight Americans on each team, we could soon have whatever that math is, 50-60 players with professional contracts and that also would mean that there would be administrators and coaches with professional contracts and then our selection process would be completely different as to how we then devise and create national teams.

We really see that part of our strategy to professionalize cricket is also to create this domestic league and that’s very high on our radar and we’ve not been talking about it a lot but we can announce that in 2010, we’re making very serious progress and look forward to some announcements about that later in the year.”

Peter Della Penna: How many and which cities are being targeted to host these teams and where would the matches be played? Obviously there’s only the one major stadium in Florida at the moment. Where would these matches be played?

Don Lockerbie: These stadiums are going to have to come online in the next few years in the cities that want and so again I’m not at liberty to share the business model right now. I just wanted to be able to share the fact that we’ve made more progress than most people think and I’m talking about a domestic league right now. I’m not talking about the IPL coming to the United States. That’s another matter. To be clear, this is something we’ve been working on since really June of last year.

You’ll recall there was an international tender that took place. Well, it’s been making progress. So to say how many teams are gonna be or how many cities would be premature because the business model’s still being worked on. But what I can say is at the right time, there’ll be an opportunity for franchises. There’ll be an opportunity for cities to bid. Part of that will have to be the development of stadiums and we’ll get more information out about that probably by the summer.

Peter Della Penna: Where are you expecting the fans to come from to support this kind of thing? Obviously over the past year that I’ve seen anyway, nobody’s really shown up to the USACA tournaments and nobody really shows up to club cricket in the US. Where are you anticipating or how are you going to try and get fans to come out to start supporting domestic cricket?

Don Lockerbie: Domestic cricket doesn’t mean it doesn’t have international players. Domestic cricket means that it is American city based. It’ll be owned and operated by a USACA joint venture and it will be ICC approved and it will be the kind of league that deals in a very significant and friendly manner with the Full Member boards from around the world.

We will absolutely be a team where fans will see some of their favorite players and maybe some other players that are up and coming from various boards and clubs around the world. Again, the business model isn’t finalized, but I know that everybody we’re talking to is pretty excited about it and the important piece of it right now is that we’re making the necessary progress. It’s not stagnant, it’s not static.

Pic (Left): Don Lockerbie addresses a gathering of students at Lincoln School in Nepal [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

Peter Della Penna: You talked about players, new selection process, a whole lot of new things coming in with hopefully the new professional structure, etc. Why should players who are currently in the domestic system who have been overlooked continuously in the past, why should they feel that a new system, why should they feel convinced that things are going to change when in the past they’ve been frustrated at having not been selected?

Don Lockerbie: Well, unfortunately US has played such little international cricket over the last five years that when there’s only 14 men selected to a team, it’s difficult to either break in or it’s just not that much cricket. So for even the men who’ve been on the 14 and who’ve been here for years like Steve Massiah, Lennox Cush, Orlando Baker, all these guys who’ve been playing for years, that they’re still around is a testament to their dedication and commitment to cricket so it’s exciting to see these guys.

In the same vein, we now have professional management. We’re not just a board anymore with volunteers who give up their time and dedication and when there’s an opportunity to play cricket, they put a team together. Now, we’ve got a 24/7, 365-day management that is looking to try and find a way for our teams to play more cricket.

If some of the current players can be patient and some of the younger players can stay dedicated, there’s no reason why again, with a professional league coming, you couldn’t be a professional cricketer. 50-60 players can be professional cricketers. That’s something you’re going to be able to see in the next two to five years.

The US national team is going to play more frequently, I mean even this year in 2010. Let’s look at 2009. There was not one single international match for the US national team in 2009. In fact, when we played in Dubai in February, it would have been November ‘08 since the last match so maybe we were a little rusty. We hadn’t played in, what would that be, 15 months. So here we are. But now, we (played) a month of cricket in February in Dubai and Nepal.

In March, we’re gonna play the MCC in Fort Lauderdale. In April, we’ll play warm-up matches for the T20 World Cup. In May, we’re gonna be part of the Sri Lanka-New Zealand series. Then we have the Americas Championships in May-June and WCL Division Four in Italy in August. I mean that’s an amazing amount of cricket in comparison to what this team has done.

Some of the guys are gonna be able to play all of it, some are not. We’ll be able to move players in and that doesn’t even count the other ideas we have right now – series with Canada, series with other countries that all want to come and play in the United States. So honestly, if you’re a cricketer, the next few years could be the beginning of the dream to play as much professional cricket as people ever hoped. For the guys that we’re watching today and are currently playing, I hope that they still have a lot of good years left in them to play. Now, I’m not sleeping at night until what I’ve promised, which is professionalization of cricket in the United States, is alive and well.

Pic (Right): Don Lockerbie believes that the fans will come if we do it right. A picture of the spectators that came to watch USA vs Nepal. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

Peter Della Penna: What else is new or what are some of the other things on tap for the United States in the next nine months, ten months through the end of 2010?

Don Lockerbie: Well, we’ve made the announcement that we’ve met with Lalit Modi, Sundar Raman, and we’ve definitely got a working group that will be starting in May with the IPL. Lalit has agreed to meet with us again in May, right around the T20, and we will be setting up a working group that will study how the IPL does come to the United States, when does it come, how does it come. Right now, the concepts are on the table, everything from just individual teams or several of them coming and touring the United States and playing matches to the potential of maybe a shorter version, smaller version of the IPL in the American summer. Those are all concepts that are no secret because other people are talking about them.

So we’ll start talking seriously. The IPL has made the announcement that they’d like to be in the United States in 2011. So that sounds like a pretty serious commitment. The good part about it is that when people are reading headlines about what the IPL is saying about America, Americans should understand that we’re very much part of the picture. We know what’s going on, we’ve been quiet about it until now, but it’s exciting to state that things are moving in the right direction.

Peter Della Penna: You talked with David Morgan and Haroon Lorgat in Dubai?

Don Lockerbie: Absolutely. In fact, I was summoned to a meeting by them which was a great opportunity for me to update them while I was in Dubai as to all the plans that we’re working on and kind of give them more first-hand information on the details from the press releases they were reading.

I think they’re very very pleased with the direction we’re headed. They were very very complimentary of our relationship with New Zealand Cricket and we seem to be handling things correctly. I think as an Associate, we might be an anomaly. We’re trying to be an Associate team that’s going to act and behave like a Full Member until someday that we have the kind of teams that can beat Full Members and maybe become a Full Member. It would certainly be our goal following what Ireland is trying to do.

Peter Della Penna: Did you talk to them at all about the possibility of trying to bring an ICC event to the US?

Don Lockerbie: Well, there’s one ICC event that is available, open and unscheduled and unlocated and that’s the Champions Trophy of 2013. It’s our understanding that the ICC will inform all members that there will be a tender process probably in the next month and I learned that while I was in Dubai.

I will put this before the board of USACA, but it would be my own personal goal to bid for the 2013 Champions Trophy. We understand that we would need essentially two stadiums and several training grounds that would all be within an hour or two of one another, maybe an hour or two or three of one another. I already know that there would be tremendous interest in Florida. I know that there would be tremendous interest in New York and I would be happy to know if there were other cities in the United States that would be interested.

Nepal takes tournament title after magnificent seven wicket haul by Vishvakarma

allrounder — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:55:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

In a rematch of Friday's showdown at Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground, Nepal exacted revenge on USA as the host team won Saturday's World Cricket League Division Five championship match by five wickets in Kathmandu, Nepal. Rahul Vishvakarma was named Man of the Match after turning in a stunning performance with the ball, taking 7 for 15 bowling left arm orthodox spin.

Pic to the left: Rahul Vishvakarma pics up his Man of the Match award after taking 7 for 15. Courtesy Daniela Zaharia/USACA.

"We would have loved to win this today, but full credit to Nepal," said USA captain Steve Massiah. "I thought they took the game away from us. 150 for 3 and then Rahul came in and got seven wickets. They deserve it."

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a cool morning. For the third game in a row, USA used a different opening combination as Orlando Baker came out to bat with Lennox Cush. Cush tried to be his usual aggressive self and struck a six over point off his second ball to get off the mark but was out for 10 after only 11 balls and USA was 19 for 1 in the 4^th over.

Steve Massiah came in and continued his solid form by constructing a methodical partnership with Baker. The two kept the Nepal pacemen at bay as they added 81 runs for the second wicket. Baker was starting to look stronger as his innings went on, but was run out for 49 on a piece of lazy cricket. Massiah was on strike facing Vishvakarma in the 27^th over and slogged a full ball wide of long on. He didn't run thinking it was going for four. Gyanendra Malla chased after it hard and swatted it back inside the rope when Massiah and Baker decided to get moving. Off the bat, it should have been a comfortable two, but because neither man started running hard at first, Baker came back for what become a very risky second. Malla scooped up the ball after knocking it down, fired an accurate throw from the boundary to Vishvakarma over the stumps and the bails came off with Baker well short.

However, Massiah did well to shake off the blunder and steeled himself for another long stay at the crease. Sushil Nadkarni came out and joined him to put on 41 runs for the third wicket before he was out stumped for 17 trying to slog off-spinner Sanjam Regmi to make it 141 for 3 in 36 overs.

With the batting power play still in hand and Massiah well set, it appeared USA would motor on to score between 220 and 240. Massiah brought up his 50 with an impressive six over midwicket off left arm spinner Shakti Gauchan in the 39^th over. In the next over though, USA would have no answer for Vishvakarma's plan to bowl over the wicket. Previously, the spinner had bowled only around the wicket, but after the first ball of the 40^th over, decided to change his angle and it paid immediate dividends. Massiah tried to slog him and top edged one high over the keeper's head to Gauchan who made a great catch diving forward running in from short third man to send Massiah on his way for 55 as USA had fallen to 152 for 4.

Pic above: Lennox Cush bowls to Anil Mandal with Rashard Marshall (left) and Orlando Baker (right) fielding close in as the crowd looks on. Courtesy Daniela Zaharia/USACA.

From there, things unraveled for USA at an alarming rate. Aditya Thyagarajan was out two balls later edging a drive to the captain Paras Khadka at point for 4. Carl Wright and Timroy Allen fell in identical fashion, driving him in the air to be well caught on the long off boundary by Mahaboob Alam. Usman Shuja's foot dragged slightly out of his crease going for a slog to be stumped while Rashard Marshall and Imran Awan got out when they top edged attempted slogs. USA's last 7 wickets fell for 20 runs. In Vishvakarma's second spell of bowling, he bowled 5.2 overs, had 2 maidens and took 7 wickets for 3 runs as he just about singlehandedly bowled out USA for 172 in 47.2 overs.

The crowd in excess of 10,000 had even more reason to cheer when Mahesh Chhetri and Anil Mandal got Nepal off to a strong start, putting on 85 for the first wicket before Mandal slammed one to midwicket facing the off-spin of Allen and was caught on the boundary by Shuja for 37. Cush then had Chhetri caught behind for 28 to make it 88 for 2 in 24 and followed it up by nabbing the captain Khadka for 5 to make it 104 for 3 in the 30^th.

USA tried to keep making breakthroughs, but more terrible fielding, a chronic problem on tour, held them back as dropped chances, misfields and overthrows gave Nepal room to breathe. The pressure was relieved and Nepal managed to get closer and closer until they had passed the target with 19 balls to spare. Usman Shuja took two wickets to try and give USA a chance, but Malla and Alam put the pressure straight back on USA's bowlers with an aggressive 35-run partnership to end the match. Malla, who is only 19-years-old, finished 28 not out a day after top-scoring with 52 against USA while Alam was unbeaten on 17. The crowd erupted when the winning four was hit by Alam as Malla immediately grabbed a souvenir stump out of the ground.

While USA finished in second place as a team, they had some impressive individual distinctions. Massiah finished as the tournament's leading run scorer with 289 runs in six games. He had the most 50s in the tournament with four, including a high score of 74 against Fiji. Kevin Darlington was the leading wicket-taker in the event with 14 in six games. His best return was 4 for 65 versus Singapore.

Official Scorecard
ICC WCL Division Five
Nepal vs. USA
Nepal won by 5 wickets
USA won the toss and elected to bat
Man of the Match: Rahul Vishvakarma

USA Batting	
Batsman		Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Dismissal
OM Baker		49	105	3	2	runout (Malla/Vishvakarma)
LJ Cush		10	11	1	1	b Das
SJ Massiah*		55	114	4	1	ct Gauchan b Vishvakarma
SS Nadkarni		17	29	2	1	st Chhetri+ b S Regmi
A Thyagarajan		4	12	1	0	ct Khadka b Vishvakarma
CD Wright+		1	2	0	0	ct Alam b Vishvakarma
RA Marshall		4	9	1	0	ct B Regmi b Vishvakarma
TP Allen		2	12	0	0	ct Alam b Vishvakarma
KU Shuja		3	9	0	0	st Chhetri+ b Vishvakarma
I Awan			7	8	0	1	ct Gauchan b Vishvakarma
KG Darlington	0	6	0	0	not out
Total Extras		20 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 7 leg byes, 13 wides)
Team Total 		172 all out in 47.2 overs

Fall of wicket: 19/1 (Cush), 100/2 (Baker), 141/3 (Nadkarni), 152/4 (Massiah),
152/5 (Thyagarajan), 157/6 (Wright), 158/7 (Marshall), 162/8 (Allen), 
164/9 (Shuja), 172/10 (Awan). 

Nepal Bowling	Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
M Alam		3-0-16-0
BK Das			7-1-27-1
P Khadka		5-0-19-0
SP Gauchan		9-1-31-1
B Regmi		9-0-37-0
RK Vishvakarma	8.2-2-15-7
S Regmi		6-1-20-1

Nepal Batting
Batsman		Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Dismissal
MK Chhetri+		28	73	3	0	ct Wright+ b Cush
AK Mandal		37	66	5	1	ct Shuja b Allen
SP Gauchan		23	58	0	0	LBW Shuja
P Khadka*		5	9	1	0	ct Marshall b Cush
S Vesawkar		11	26	0	0	ct Wright+ b Shuja
G Malla		28	31	3	0	not out
M Alam		17	18	1	1	not out
Total Extras		26 (0 no balls, 2 byes, 4 leg byes, 20 wides)
Team Total 		175 for 5 in 46.5 overs

Did not bat: B Regmi, S Regmi, RK Vishvakarma, BK Das

Fall of wicket: 85/1 (Mandal), 88/2 (Chhetri), 104/3 (Khadka), 127/4 (Vesawkar), 
140/5 (Gauchan). 

USA Bowling 		Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
KG Darlington	8-3-25-0
KU Shuja		10-0-46-2
I Awan			2-0-13-0
LJ Cush		10-1-27-2
TP Allen		10-0-26-1

ICC WCL Division 5 Cricket: USA advances to Division Four with dramatic five-wicket win over Nepal

openingbat — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:47:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

Sushil Nadkarni delivered in a big way for USA, scoring 57 not out in a match-winning performance to lift USA past Nepal by five wickets on Friday at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, just outside of Kathamandu, Nepal on day five of the ICC World Cricket League Division Five tournament. USA's chase was interrupted after the 32nd over in controversial circumstances as a riot broke out in the hill stand when USA needed 13 runs to win.

Pic (Right): Nadkarni smashed 57 not out. [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

In front of a crowd of about 1000 fans at the start, which would grow to over 12,000 by the start of the second innings, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first on another good batting track. However USA’s pace attack was too much for Nepal’s young lineup. Crucially, Usman Shuja was included in place of Sudesh Dhaniram, who was left out due to injury according to USA captain Steve Massiah.

“I was definitely on the boundary for quite some time and the crowd was really loud,” said Aditya Thyagarajan, who hit the winning runs for USA. “It was I think it was a great experience to play in that crowd and to see the passion of the Nepalis. They were really loud, but I think what really happened is that it motivated everybody else to go out there and give your best. I think this game, we played really motivated and we were on the ball. From the first ball, we all were right there and I think the crowd played a part in it.”

Shuja teamed up with Kevin Darlington to blitz the Nepal top order. Darlington continued his excellent form as he took three more wickets to remain USA’s leading wicket-taker in Nepal with 14 in five games. Dipendra Chaudhary was the first to go, trapped on the crease by Darlington for 7 to make it 14/1 in the 5th over. Shuja then struck five balls later, clean bowling Anil Mandal with a full and straight delivery for 4 before Darlington came back in the next over to knock Shakti Gauchan’s off stump out of the ground for a duck to make it 16 for 3.

“It was great to bowl with Usman today,” said Darlington. “Actually, Usman is my roommate. So we had a chat about this last night, basically going over our strategies after our team meetings. So we basically tried to hit the deck really hard today, try to hit the top of off stump, make it kind of difficult for the Nepalis today.”

Shuja should have had another wicket when Nepal’s captain and leading run-scorer in the tournament, Paras Khadka, edged one to first slip a short time later on 6, but was put down by Lennox Cush. However, it wound up not costing USA much as Khadka dragged a pull onto his stumps to be bowled for 12 by Orlando Baker as Nepal sunk to 39 for 4 in the 17th over. Baker then accounted for Nepal’s other danger man Sharad Vesawkar, dismissing him for 15 caught behind by Carl Wright.

Tight bowling by the USA pacemen combined with aggressive field settings by Massiah heaped more pressure on Nepal. A runout was the result when Mahesh Chhetri was indecisive on a single and couldn’t beat Rashard Marshall’s throw to the bowler, Saurabh Verma, over the stumps and when the bails came off, Chhetri had to go for 3 to make it 80 for 6 in the 32nd.

Nepal staged a solid fightback with Gyanendra Malla and Mahaboob Alam putting on a 64-run partnership for the 7th wicket. While Malla grinded out his runs, Alam had a more adventurous stay at the crease, swinging with reckless abandon and offering several edges that always fell safely out of reach from the fielders.

Nepal could have scored even more runs had they not made a crucial tactical blunder. Malla and Alam had each got their eyes in and were well set by the 40th over, but opted not to use the batting power play until the last five overs of the innings. This backfired spectacularly on them in the 45th over when Alam was run out for 38 by Wright darting out from behind the stumps to field a ball hit by Malla in front of point and fired a direct hit at his own end. Four balls later, Cush speared one full on the stumps to hit Malla in front and he was gone LBW for 52 to make it 143 for 8.

Instead of making a charge with two set batsmen, the power play was wasted on two tailenders fresh at the crease. Darlington came on again and gave away only seven runs in three overs of the power play to go along with the wicket of Basanta Regmi for 12. As a team, Nepal only managed 19 runs from the final five overs, even with fielding restrictions, and as a result only finished with 162 for 9 in their 50.

Pic (Left): Riot police were brought in after crowd turned violent! [Courtesy: Daniela Zaharia/USACA]

USA came out and made a decent start in the first few overs with Wright and Baker opening before Baker was given out caught behind for 7, gloving a short ball outside off to the keeper Chhetri off the left arm pace of Alam. Massiah then came out and consolidated with Wright as the two inched their way towards the target. Wright was uncharacteristically defensive and finally was out for 14 in the 14th over, LBW to left arm spinner Gauchan, to make it 43 for 2.

At around the same time Singapore was racing to their target of 193 against Jersey and met it in only 26 overs to boost their net run rate dramatically to +1.347. If USA reached their target of 163 in 37.4 overs or less, both they and Singapore would move on to Division Four in Italy this August and Nepal would be stuck in Division Five.

Nadkarni came out and at first struggled to middle the ball. Massiah took the reins and looked to up the ante with a couple of sixes over the bowler’s head. After eight dots in his first nine balls, Nadkarni started to become slightly more comfortable looking for singles to get Massiah back on strike. The two put on 45 runs when Massiah tried for another six against off spin bowler Sanjam Regmi but was well caught for 42 at long on by the sub fielder Amrit Bhatterai. Marshall got out four balls later to Basanta Regmi for a duck and the double-strike balanced the scales to make it 88 for 4 in 25.

Cush came out and as he has all tournament long in Nepal, tried to hit runs quickly. But after a two half-centuries to start the series, got out cheaply again, chopping a short ball from left arm spinner Rahul Vishvakarma onto his stumps for 9 to make it 112 for 5 in the 29th over.

Thyagarajan then came to the crease in yet another pressure situation. Yet again, he came through for USA and teamed up with Nadkarni to get USA over the line. However, the two men accomplished it the midst of frightening scenes.

The crowd had been unruly for much of the afternoon. During the lunch break, several USA players mentioned feeling uncomfortable fielding on the boundary and one player reported having a rock thrown in his direction. Fights and disturbances had been happening in the crowd on and off throughout the second innings depending on the fortunes of the home team.

The 32nd over started with the score on 131 for 5 with Basanta Regmi on to bowl. After two dot balls, Thyagarajan belted a six over extra cover and then notched a single to get Nadkarni on strike, who was on 43. Nadkarni belted back-to-back sixes over midwicket to bring up his 50 and take the score to 150 and help cement his eventual status as Man of the Match.

“Frankly speaking, I’m actually coming back after six months,” said Nadkarni. “I had a major injury and I was out of cricket period for six months so for me to come back, I was at a point where I’m probably 90-95% really feeling good. The initial two games, I didn’t get going so the confidence levels were low. Going into today’s game against spinners, the one thing I did back myself was that if I can get in and really get my eyesight and my rhythm going, then I should have no problems against these spinners because I back myself. I’m a natural player of spin bowling so that really helped.”

The crowd then became violent at the conclusion of the over, throwing rocks as well as bottles and other objects over the fences and onto the field. Nadkarni and Thyagarajan recognized there might be a delay and initially only asked for drinks to be brought out to them. However, the situation deteriorated rapidly and moments later, both men were rushing off the field into the USA locker room. Nepal’s players soon followed as riot police, who had been stationed on the boundary throughout the match, finally went into action. Within minutes, more than half the crowd fled out of the ground. The field was flooded with rocks and large stones. Wheelbarrows were brought out by the ground staff to help carry the mess away.

“The crowd was brilliant up until the 18 runs,” said Massiah. “It happens. They’re emotional, they love their cricket. I guess it was just disappointing to see a Nepal loss.”

Post Match Interview vs. Nepal with Darlington from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

After a 45-minute delay, play resumed with the Duckworth-Lewis formula coming into effect. Four overs were taken off the innings which had a massive effect on the final standings. The target was reduced from 163 to 157 as well. If USA scored seven runs in seven balls, USA and Singapore would advance. If it took slightly longer, USA would move on with Nepal. In the end, Thyagarajan hit a four to finish the match nine balls after play resumed. Had the match not been stopped, USA would have had to score 13 runs in 34 balls out of the 18 overs remaining for Singapore to finish second. Instead, Nepal finished as the second place team with a net run rate of +1.351, just four thousandths of a point better than Singapore.

The celebrations for USA were marred as well when more stones and rocks were thrown from behind the pavilion onto the field as Nadkarni and Thyagarajan were about to come off to be greeted by their teammates. USA’s squad was rushed back into the locker room again while the two batsmen, along with Nepal’s entire team in the field, were forced to wait out in the middle until it was safe enough to sprint for the locker rooms.

USA will return to the same field against the same team for the right to be called WCL Division Five tournament champions on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. in Nepal, Friday night at 10:15 p.m. EST in America. Live coverage will once again be available on Dreamcricket.com.

Official Scorecard
ICC WCL Division Five
Nepal vs. USA
USA won by five wickets (D/L Method)
Nepal won the toss and elected to bat
Man of the Match: Sushil Nadkarni

Nepal Batting	
Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Dismissal
D Chaudhary		7	17	0	0	LBW Darlington
AK Mandal		4	14	1	0	b Shuja
SP Gauchan		0	6	0	0	b Darlington
P Khadka*		12	45	1	0	b Baker
S Vesawkar		15	39	2	0	ct Wright+ b Baker
G Malla			52	81	5	0	LBW Cush
MK Chhetri+		3	21	0	0	runout (Marshall/Verma)
M Alam			38	44	2	1	runout (Wright+)
B Regmi			12	17	1	0	b Darlington
S Regmi			4	14	0	0	not out
RVishvakarma		1	2	0	0	not out
Total Extras		14 (0 no balls, 2 byes, 2 leg byes, 10 wides)
Team Total		162 for 9 in 50 overs

Fall of wicket: 14/1 (Chaudhary), 14/2 (Mandal), 16/3 (Gauchan), 39/4 (Khadka), 
53/5 (Vesawkar), 80/6 (Chhetri), 142/7 (Alam), 143/8 (Malla), 161/9 (S Regmi).

USA Bowling		Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
KG Darlington		10-4-23-3
KU Shuja		8-1-19-1
TP Allen		10-1-17-0
OM Baker		6-1-20-2
S Verma			8-0-44-0
LJ Cush			8-0-35-1

USA Batting
Batsman			Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Dismissal
CD Wright+		14	44	1	0	LBW Gauchan
OM Baker		7	5	1	0	ct Chhetri+ b Alam
SJ Massiah*		42	58	3	2	ct sub (Bhatterai) b S Regmi
SS Nadkarni		57	59	3	4	not out
RA Marshall		0	4	0	0	ct Gauchan b B Regmi
LJ Cush			9	15	1	0	b Vishvakarma
A Thyagarajan		18	16	1	1	not out
Total Extras		12 (0 no balls, 1 bye, 4 leg byes, 7 wides)
Team Total		159 for 5 in 33.3 overs (Target 157 in 46 overs for D/L Method)

Nepal Bowling		Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
M Alam			2-0-12-1
P Khadka		6-0-23-0
B Regmi			9-3-33-1
S Gauchan		6-0-18-1
R Vishvakarma		5-0-25-1
S Regmi			5.3-0-43-1

Wayward performance in the field costs USA in loss to Singapore

gchakravarthy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:05:00 GMT

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By Peter Della Penna

Narender Reddy Bongarum top-scored with 51 at number three for Singapore and took 2 for 23 to help lead his team to a 99-run victory over USA at Pul Chowk Engineering College on day four of the ICC World Cricket League Division Five Tournament in Kathmandu, Nepal. Bongarum was named Man of the Match for his efforts to pull level with USA at second place on the tournament table. Both teams are now 3-1 with USA marginally ahead on net run rate behind Nepal, who is undefeated at 4-0. USA will play Nepal on Friday in a high stakes match at Tribhuvan University and desperately need to win if they want to give themselves the best chance of advancing to Division Four in Italy this August.

USA had a golden chance to clinch a spot in Division Four by beating Singapore, but the Division Six champion from Asia proved they have what it takes to move up one more level by putting in a virtually mistake-free performance against USA. Singapore won the toss and elected to bat first on one of the better batting tracks seen in this tournament. Another string of dropped chances as well as a tournament-high 23 wides and 34 extras by USA’s bowling unit opened the door for Singapore to post 245 in their 50 overs.

Photo (Left): Narender Reddy Bongarum receives his Man of the Match award in Singapore's victory over USA; Courtesy Daniela Zaharia/USACA.

“The bowlers seemed to stray at the wrong time,” said USA head coach Clayton Lambert. “Unfortunately then we go for wides, going for five wides. We ended up giving too many extras.”

Chetan Suryanwanshi and Buddhika Mendis got Singapore off to a crisp start with a 64-run opening stand as the two batsmen played with superb confidence against the pace bowling of Kevin Darlington, Timroy Allen and Orlando Baker. Sudesh Dhaniram was then brought on to slow things down with his off-spin and built pressure until it resulted in a run out. On the last ball of his fourth over, Dhaniram bowled his 16th straight dot ball as Mendis tried to get off strike guiding a ball to third man in the circle, but confusion resulted with his partner and he was stranded as Steve Massiah calmly threw to Carl Wright behind the stumps and the bails were dislodged to send Mendis back for 27. Suryawanshi then pulled a short ball from Lennox Cush to Massiah at midwicket and USA had two wickets in four balls as Suryawanshi walked back for 34 to make it 64 for 2 in the 16th over.

However, Singapore regrouped with the biggest partnership of the match put on by Bongarum and Anish Param to build a platform for a late innings charge. The two combined to add 83 runs for the third wicket. USA had their chances though as Bongarum was put down twice, first on 25 as Dhaniram put down a diving chance at deep midwicket with the score at 99 for 2 in the 26th over off the bowling of Saurabh Verma and then again on 40 off a sharp caught and bowled chance when Allen returned to bowl off-spin with the score at 125 for 2 in the 33rd. He was finally given out backing away to slog Darlington in the batting power play and edged a ball that got lodged in Wright’s pads as he was standing up to the stumps.

Another two wickets fell in the power play to give USA some energy as Param was out for 24, stumped after Cush bowled a wide down leg side with Param coming down the pitch to make it 153 for 4. Saad Khan Janjua then fell for 3, clean bowled by Darlington to make it 164 for 5 in 39 overs.

The power play ended in the 40th over with the score at 166 and it seemed as though USA was in the clear. But Pramodh Raja was undeterred by the wickets that had just fallen and came in at number six to bash Darlington, Dhaniram and Cush around the ground for an electric 45 in 29 balls with five fours and two sixes. He put on 57 runs with Manish Arora, the third half-century partnership of the innings, to suddenly give Singapore the upper hand.

Darlington then came back in the 46th over and dismissed Raja to make it 221 for 6. Three more wickets fell in the space of 16 runs as Darlington claimed two more and Dhaniram one, but Singapore managed to bat all 50 overs to finish 245 for 9. In addition to the drops and some poor ground fielding by USA, the bowlers conceded 23 wides against Singapore when they had given up a combined 24 over the first three matches.

“Yesterday’s game certainly put a lot of strain on us and maybe the guys were a bit too relaxed after we had to fight so hard yesterday,” said Lambert. “They came out today and all around we played really really bad cricket.”

USA’s chase was always going to be hard and they stumbled out of the gate when Sushil Nadkarni continued his poor return from injury to be caught behind on the first ball of the second innings off the fast pace of Janjua. Baker was LBW to Janjua for 6 in the 5th over as USA were preparing for another top order collapse at 16 for 2.

Jackie Manoj-Kumar came on and the left arm orthodox spinner was unlucky not to be named Man of the Match as he bowled a devastating spell beginning in the 9th over. On his first ball, Cush came out of his crease and was beaten in flight to be stumped for 14. Sudesh Dhaniram then failed again and has yet to cross double-digits in an official match in either Dubai or Nepal. He went to defend a ball well outside off stump and gave a simple catch behind the stumps to Suryawanshi for Manoj-Kumar’s second wicket, out for 5 to make it 49 for 4 in 15 overs.

Aditya Thyagarajan then came out and did his best to rebuild with the captain, but after the two put on 40 runs together, Thyagarajan could not keep a sweep to ground and middled one straight to Riaz Hussien on the square leg boundary to give off-spinner Param a wicket, out for 22 as USA sunk to 89 for 5.

Wickets then fell at regular intervals as Singapore kept the spinners coming. All but the four overs bowled by opening paceman Janjua were spin. Dharmichand Mulewa induced a mistake from Carl Wright, who lofted one to Bongarum on the long on boundary for 10. Massiah brought up his 50 in 97 balls, but then was out on his next ball to Manoj-Kumar, bowled around his legs trying to sweep and USA’s hopes were dashed as the score became 127 for 7 in 33 overs.

Bongarum then returned for a second spell of off-spin bowling after he opened the match with Janjua. He finished off the match, taking the wickets of Rashard Marshall and Verma with Manoj-Kumar nabbing Allen in between, and USA was all out for 146 in 37.5 overs.

Nepal beat Fiji on Wednesday to remain undefeated and Bahrain topped Jersey to eliminate them from contention for the top two spots. Nepal is 4-0 with a +1.919 net run rate. USA is placed second with a 3-1 record and +1.355 net run rate. Singapore is third at 3-1 and a +1.114 net run rate. If USA beats Nepal and Singapore beats Jersey on Friday, there will be a three-way tie at 4-1 atop the table and net run rate will decide the two teams to move on to Division Four. Nepal is the only team that controls their own destiny and will clinch a spot in Division Four with a win over USA. If USA wins and Singapore loses, USA and Nepal will advance. If Singapore wins and USA loses, USA will finish third with the other two teams advancing. If USA and Singapore both lose, second place will be decided on net run rate. Live coverage of the tense final day will begin at 10 p.m. EST Thursday night on Dreamcricket.com as USA looks to knock off the host team at Tribhuvan University.

USA vs. Jersey, Post Match Interview with Coach Lambert from Peter Della Penna on Vimeo.

Official Scorecard
ICC WCL Division Five
Singapore vs. USA
Singapore won by 99 runs
Singapore won the toss and elected to bat
Man of the Match: Narender Reddy Bongarum
Singapore Batting
Batsman               Runs    Balls    4s    6s    Dismissal
C Suryawanshi+    34    38    4    0    ct Massiah b Cush
B Mendis              27    55    2    0    runout (Massiah/Wright+)
NR Bongarum        51    72    4    2    ct Wright+ b Darlington
A Param               24    59    2    0    st Wright+ b Cush
SK Janjua               3    5    0    0    b Darlington
PVSS Raja           45    29    5    2    ct Dhaniram b Darlington
M Arora*               12    20    1    0    ct Wright+ b Dhaniram
RA Hussien            2    6    0    0    b Darlington
D Mulewa               2    3    0    0    not out
M Shoib                 5    5    0    0    LBW Dhaniram
J Manoj-Kumar       6    8    0    0    not out
Total Extras          34 (0 no balls, 1 bye, 10 leg byes, 23 wides)
Team Total           245 for 9 in 50 overs

Fall of wicket: 64/1 (Mendis), 64/2 (Suryawanshi), 147/3 (Bongarum), 153/4 (Param), 164/5 (Janjua), 221/6 (Raja), 230/7 (Arora), 230/8 (Hussien), 237/9 (Shoib).

USA Bowling     Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
KG Darlington    10-0-65-4
TP Allen             7-1-35-0
OM Baker          6-1-28-0
S Dhaniram       10-3-30-2
LJ Cush             9-0-52-2
S Verma            8-0-24-0

USA Batting
Batsman           Runs    Balls    4s    6s    Dismissal
SS Nadkarni      0    1    0    0    ct Suryawanshi+ b Janjua
OM Baker         6    10    1    0    LBW Janjua
SJ Massiah*     50    98    3    0    b Manoj-Kumar
LJ Cush           14    12    3    0    st Suryawanshi+ b Manoj-Kumar
S Dhaniram       5    17    0    0    ct Suryawanshi+ b Manoj-Kumar
A Thyagarajan 22    26    2    1    ct Hussien b Param
CD Wright        10    23    0    0    ct Bongarum b Mulewa
RA Marshall     13    12    1    1    b Bongarum
TP Allen            2    7    0    0    st Suryawanshi+ b Manoj-Kumar
S Verma          14    17    3    0    LBW Bongarum
KG Darlington    0    4    0    0    not out
Total Extras     10 (0 no balls, 0 byes, 0 leg byes, 10 wides)
Team Total      146 all out in 37.5 overs

Fall of wicket: 0/1 (Nadkarni), 16/2 (Baker), 36/3 (Cush), 49/4 (Dhaniram), 89/5 (Thyagarajan), 113/6 (Wright), 127/7 (Massiah), 129/8 (Marshall), 145/9 (Allen), 146/10 (Verma).

Singapore Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
SK Janjua              4-0-25-2
NR Bongarum        9.5-1-24-2
J Manoj-Kumar       8-0-23-4
D Mulewa              4-0-22-1
PVSS Raja            3-0-17-0
A Param               6-0-25-1
RA Hussien          3-1-10-0

Defiant stand by Wright & Thyagarajan turns the tide for USA in win over Jersey

gchakravarthy — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:45:00 GMT

By Peter Della Penna

With USA in deep trouble batting first at 55 for 5, Carl Wright and Aditya Thyagarajan guided their team to safety in a match-winning partnership as USA beat Jersey by 66 runs on day three of the ICC WCL Division Five Tournament at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal. Wright was named Man of the Match for his gutsy 76 while Thyagarajan top-scored with 83 for USA as the two combined to put on 118 runs for the sixth wicket.

Pic to the left: Carl Wright punches off the back foot as he got USA out of trouble to be Man of the Match. Courtesy Daniela Zaharia/USACA

“It wasn’t a matter of pressure, but it was just a matter of the situation and what you have to do in that situation,” said Wright. “I think with good support from Aditya, Dhani and the rest of the guys, we actually stuck it out and tried to see how much runs we could get in the situation and it paid off.”

USA won the toss and elected to bat first on a hazy and cool morning and were under pressure immediately. Sushil Nadkarni opened in his first match of the tournament alongside Orlando Baker, but Nadkarni didn’t last long as he chopped a good length ball from Matthew Hague onto his stumps to be out for 1 with USA’s score on 2. Steve Massiah came in, but also fell for 1 just nine balls later, edging a ball from Jersey captain Ryan Driver to Hague at first slip to make it 3 for 2. Lennox Cush, who had been red hot with the bat coming into this match, failed for the first time in the tournament as he edged one from Driver through to the keeper Bobby Minty and USA were struggling badly at 11 for 3 in the 7^th over.

Driver could do no wrong when he snaffled a brilliant return catch off Baker, sending USA’s other opener back for 20 to make it 30 for 4 in the 13^th over. It could have been even worse for USA as Wright was dropped on the sixth ball of his innings off a sharp caught and bowled chance to Hague when he had yet to score. But things did slide further when Sudesh Dhaniram was out for 9, middling one from medium pacer Jonathan Gough straight to Hague at square leg and USA were 55 for 5 after the first ball of the 23^rd over. Visions of USA’s previous meltdown against Jersey in 2008’s Division Five tournament semifinal started to appear when Driver took 3 for 32 and Hague claimed five scalps to take Jersey past USA into Division Four.

But in stepped Thyagarajan with USA in a hairy situation, a scenario he has encountered on more than a few occasions. Once again he answered the call, teaming up with Wright to change USA’s fortunes. Wright took a long time to get going while trying to see off the opening spells of Driver and Hague as wickets were falling opposite him. With Thyagarajan as his partner though, Wright seemed much more at ease turning over the strike. While Wright played straight down the ground and off his legs to score the bulk of his runs, Thyagarajan deftly and repeatedly found the gap between point and third man to frustrate Jersey’s bowlers.

“That’s just my strength,” said Thyagarajan. “Whenever we are down, I always play to my strength.”

The two batsmen progressed steadily to take the score to 136 for 5 when the second drinks break was taken after 39 overs. Wright had just brought up his 50 off 102 balls in the middle of the 39th over and when play resumed, he showed he was hungry for more. They decided to take the batting power play at the start of the 41^st over and Wright feasted immediately on Peter Gough’s off-spin, smashing him for back-to-back fours as part of a 13-run over. Wright started the 43rd over against left arm spinner Ben Stevens by lofting him over mid off on consecutive deliveries for another set of boundaries. However, Stevens got his man next ball, spearing one in fuller to get Wright LBW for 76, ending the century partnership to make the score 173 for 5.

USA turned this setback from a negative into a positive with immediate effect as Rashard Marshall came to the crease. Thyagarajan kept on chugging at the other end, bringing up his 50 with a single off his 60^th ball faced in the very next over. Marshall scored singles routinely to keep the scoreboard ticking as well as give Thyagarajan opportunities to score some boundaries. But after scoring nine singles in his first 12 balls, Marshall was ready to unleash his fury on the Gough twins and Andy Dewhurst. The 27-year-old creamed five sixes in the next seven balls he faced to electrify the crowd of about 600 gathered at the ground. His outburst was primarily responsible for USA scoring 52 runs in their last three overs as the innings ended with an unbroken 80-run partnership in 7.3 overs. Thyagarajan finished 83 not out with seven fours and a six while Marshall’s 42 not out came at two runs per ball.

“Marshall and me have always played together when the team has been down and we always have a partnership,” said Thyagarajan. “There has never been one situation where one of us hasn’t scored. We always go and score. What I do with him is just try to get him back on strike and whenever I get a loose ball, I go behind it. I try to get him back on strike as much as I can because he just strikes the ball so well, as we have seen in this entire tournament.”

Pic to the right: Aditya Thyagarajan goes for another cut. He top scored with 83 for USA vs. Jersey. Courtesy Daniela Zaharia/USACA.

Jersey, who had the match firmly in their grasp in the first half of the innings, saw it slip away in agonizing fashion. USA’s bowlers came out and never let Jersey’s batsmen get away as the biggest partnership in reply was 42 runs. Kevin Darlington made the first breakthrough, having Hague caught behind by Wright for 6 to make it 15 for 1 in 7 overs. After a couple of nervous drops in the field, USA tightened the screws as Massiah employed the off-spin of Dhaniram paired with Baker’s medium pace. Lennox Cush then came on after the runs dried up and struck on his third ball, trapping Dean Morrison LBW for 36 on an attempted sweep to make it 67 for 2 in the 23^rd over. Cush struck again in his next over as he fired in a flatter delivery to beat Peter Gough in flight coming down the pitch and Wright completed the stumping to have Gough out for 24 with Jersey falling further behind at 76 for 3.

Driver tried to lift his team up as he came out to join Sam De La Haye, but Darlington came on for a second spell and after being hit for six by De La Haye, bowled him next ball for 36 to make it 118 for 4. Saurabh Verma then came on to bowl the new batsman Stevens for 2 to make it 128 for 5. Driver tried to rebuild once more with Dewhurst as they put on 41 runs, but Cush came back for another double-strike as Driver tried to clear the ropes but was caught for 29 at long off by Thyagarajan. Three balls later, Cush had Minty out stumped for a golden duck and at 172 for 7 in the 46^th over, Jersey saw their dreams of going back to Division Four vanishing into Nepal’s thin mountain air. Verma took two more wickets but Jersey’s last two men stayed until the end to prevent USA from bowling them out, finishing at 187 for 9 in their 50 overs.

USA is now 3-0 in the tournament along with Nepal, who beat Bahrain on Monday by 8 wickets. Singapore stayed in third place at 2-1 with a tight two-wicket win over Fiji. USA will play Singapore on Tuesday morning at the Pul Chowk Engineering College in Kathmandu. Live coverage of USA’s matches continues on Dreamcricket with play scheduled to start at 10:15 pm EST on Monday night in America.

Video interview with Wright and Thyagarajan

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Official Scorecard

ICC WCL Division Five

Jersey vs. USA

USA won by 66 runs

USA won the toss and elected to bat

Man of the Match: Carl Wright

USA Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

SS Nadkarni 1 7 0 0 bowled Hague

OM Baker 20 31 1 0 ct & b Driver

SJ Massiah* 1 6 0 0 ct Hague b Driver

LJ Cush 5 15 1 0 ct Minty+ b Driver

CD Wright+ 76 120 7 1 LBW Stevens

S Dhaniram 9 19 1 0 ct Hague b J Gough

A Thyagarajan 83 82 7 1 not out

RA Marshall 42 21 0 5 not out

Total Extras 16 (1 no ball, 1 bye, 3 leg byes, 11 wides)

Team Total 253 for 6 in 50 overs

Did not bat: TP Allen, S Verma, KG Darlington.

Fall of wicket: 2/1 (Nadkarni), 3/2 (Massiah), 11/3 (Cush), 30/4 (Baker), 55/5 (Dhaniram), 173/6 (Wright).

Jersey Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

R Driver 10-1-25-3

M Hague 10-1-23-1

J Gough 9-0-58-1

B Stevens 10-1-48-1

P Gough 8-0-60-0

A Dewhurst 2-0-28-0

S Dewhurst 1-0-7-0

Jersey Batting

Batsman Runs Balls 4s 6s Dismissal

D Morrison 36 82 2 0 LBW Cush

M Hague 6 20 1 0 ct Wright+ b Darlington

P Gough 24 41 2 0 st Wright+ b Cush

S De La Haye 36 32 2 3 b Darlington

R Driver+ 29 52 2 0 ct Thyagarajan b Cush

B Stevens 2 18 0 0 b Verma

A Dewhurst 34 32 5 0 b Verma

R Minty+ 0 1 0 0 st Baker+ b Cush

J Gough 5 11 0 0 b Verma

I Crocker 1 9 0 0 not out

S Dewhurst 0 3 0 0 not out

Total Extras 14 (1 no ball, 7 byes, 2 leg byes, 4 wides)

Team Total 187 for 9 in 50 overs

Fall of wicket: 15/1 (Hague), 67/2 (P Gough), 76/3 (Morrison), 118/4 (De La Haye), 128/5 (Stevens), 169/6 (Driver), 172/7 (Minty), 183/8 (A Dewhurst), 186/9 (J Gough).

USA Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets

KG Darlington 10-1-40-2

TP Allen 5-0-17-0

S Dhaniram 10-2-30-0

OM Baker 10-1-34-0

LJ Cush 10-1-37-4

S Verma 4-0-19-3

SJ Massiah 1-0-1-0

Notes: Carl Wright was USA’s wicketkeeper for the first 43 overs in the field. Orlando Baker then padded up to keep wicket for the final 7 overs of the match.

"Bring on the USA" declares Jersey Evening Post

openingbat — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:35:00 GMT

Without losing an opportunity to rub it in that the Jersey team had defeated USA in the last encounter in 2008, Andy Bradshaw of Jersey Evening Post has challenged Jersey to a repeat.

"It’s a key match in the group and Jersey can not afford a second defeat if they are to achieve their goal of winning promotion to Division IV by finishing as one of the top two nations in the six-team tournament," he wrote. Jersey lost its first match against Nepal.

Jersey Cricket Board director Chris Minty said: ‘We have a rest day today but there will be no rest for us because we will continue to work hard in the nets."

Jersey was in Chandigarh in India ahead of the tournament getting some serious practice whereas USA was over in Dubai playing in the ICC WC T20 Qualifier.

USA must leave no stone unturned to win all the matches and finish at the top of the points table.

Here is the schedule for USA after a day's rest. Nadkarni is expected to rejoin his team after a quick trip back home to take care of business.

Feb 23	USA v Jersey
Feb 24	Singapore v USA
Feb 26	Nepal v USA
Feb 27	Final

Full article here.