Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket

At the USACA Annual General Meeting in Dallas in April, Don Lockerbie, CEO, said that his goal was for USACA to attain an annual
budget of $3 to $5 million for 2011 and an even larger amount the year
after. 

When asked where the money was going to come from, Lockerbie said that the worldwide tender attracted 106 expressions
of interest and 42 serious proposals from 16 countries.  Of those, he
said that nine proposals were short-listed and two programs were
"currently being considered."  It was said that
a deal was in legal review and felt that USACA could potentially make
an announcement within days.

At first, these pronouncements led to a lot of hope.   For a while, it appeared that the USACA machinery was producing results.  Pearls Cup,
the historic first international T20 series between New Zealand and Sri
Lanka, was successfully conducted despite its share of nay-sayers.   For the first time, a major international event was imagined and executed in USA.  Some months later, when USA reached Division 3, it helped to re-energize the troops.

But as days turned to weeks and then months, and nothing more was heard about the commercial deal, the hope dwindled.   Positive news dried up and selection woes and accusations of favoritism once again came to the fore.  Poorly organized domestic tournaments and constant changes to tournament schedules did nothing to enhance USACA's reputation.  And the political tension surrounding the suspension of Western Region's representative only helped to add to the distrust. 

The commercial deal is once again a hot topic and the person that should get credit for it is Ahmed Jeddy. 

In an interview with DreamCricket.com last week, Jeddy attributed the lack of progress in his region to lack of funding and to a lack of support from his team.  “When we had the USACA Western Conference
in Houston two years ago, I singlehandedly went out and contributed a
lot of funds to stage the tournament. So between USACA, HCL (Houston
Cricket League) and myself, we were the sole financers of that
tournament,” Jeddy said.   "Obviously, it is not a hidden fact that USACA has not been able to secure funds," Jeddy reportedly told CricInfo.  "How long can we keep telling people that we are going to get funding, we are going to get funding,"  he asked.

That may have led USACA to break its silence on the subject.  In the same article that appeared in CricInfo, John Thickett, USACA's treasurer shed some light on the 'eight figure' commercial deal involving New Zealand
Cricket.   The deal is expected to bring in millions of dollars into USA cricket vastly increasing the funding available for developing the sport in the regions.

Repeating what was said at the AGM earlier this year, Thickett promised that the deal was close.  "I think we're getting pretty close to finalizing it all," Thickett
told CricInfo adding that it had taken a year to negotiate.  Regarding the CEO's role in negotiating the deal, he said "Don has been the biggest driver.
He's done a very good job of representing US cricket, as have the other
directors who have worked on negotiating it."   Talking about a timeframe, Thickett said that he expected an announcement to be made in 4 to 6 weeks. 

DreamCricket.com sources indicated that the pace of negotiations has
intensified over the last several months but as the old saying goes -
'it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.'   Jeddy is right when he says "Promises only last so long and after that people do start questioning."  

Will USACA make good on its word this time? 

Now, you can get all the USA Cricket updates via Facebook.   Also follow us on Twitter via @dreamcricket

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. The umpires initially were going to let USC bat 20 overs
and then penalize T-birds for bowling at a slow over rate, but the
tournament organizers intervened to make sure that the official rules
for the tournament were being applied. 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. “They were playing thinking about
playing 20 overs and suddenly in the 17th over [the umpires] go in and
they’re like, ‘Okay guys, this is the last over.’”

Initially, it was decided by the umpires that Thunderbird would have 18
overs to score 116, but then this was changed to 116 off 17 overs after
a decision was made that T-birds should be penalized for bowling slow
in the field.

“They told us that these guys have batted for 18 overs so let’s make it
a fair game, you’ll also get to bat 18 overs,” said Misra. “Actually,
he told us 17 overs, bat for 17 overs, that was one over deduction for
us… that was a punishment for us.”

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 with two overs
remaining, 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.

More confusion resulted as USC should have won based on a run rate
calculation for chasing the runs in 17 overs (6.82 per over, 102 par)
while T-birds would win based on an 18 over calculation (6.44 per over,
97 par). Eventually, T-birds were declared the winner.

USC was left smarting after having both innings curtailed to their
detriment!  “We were just expecting standard rules,” said USC captain
Tarun Tyagi.

“This is the first time that we’ve had a game cut short,” said 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.”

After seeing how their first match turned out, USC sees an open door
for teams to manipulate the over rates to work in their favor and
believes other teams will follow suit.

“The teams who were watching the game today, they will certainly react
to the situation,” said Sandhu. “Basically, the way to interpret these
rules is that if your team is doing well, you slow the game down. You
slow it down because you already have the advantage and then the other
team gets under pressure because they have to perform at the same rate.”

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.

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

Four years after start, cricket team makes nationals

by Elizabeth Traynor
Hatchet Reporter  

It's not uncommon for college kids to spend their spring break in Florida. But one group of GW students will be heading south next week for a different reason: the 2010 American College Cricket Championship.

It's a far cry from four years ago, when a trio of current seniors decided to start a cricket team at GW without ever having played the game. Ankit Sheth, Ali Sternberg and Curt Sonnet recruited potential teammates – and then asked them to teach them how to play.

"We just started off looking to do something different," said Sheth, "And I don't think I would have ever thought we'd be here after four years."

It took a while to get the cricket team off the ground. They started playing pickup games in University Yard as more of a fun pastime than a competitive team.

Once the team gained momentum, however, they reached out to GW students to boost their roster and then to the surrounding colleges to find anyone that would play them.

"It started off as an accident," Sternberg explained, "and then turned into something institutional."

As their number increased, so did their visibility, and the players found themselves with funding from the Student Association and match-ups against surrounding colleges, including American and Montgomery college.

Full article here.

Brillian article in the Washington Post by Annys Shin

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Last March, the Montgomery College men's team handily beat four other schools to win the first American College Cricket championship.

There was only one problem: The school had no idea it had a cricket team.

Despite the college slogan, "endless possibilities," national titles are hardly commonplace at Montgomery, which has more than 60,000 students on its campuses in Rockville, Germantown and Takoma Park. But officials didn't realize that their own school was a cricket powerhouse until some weeks after the tournament, when English professor David Lott read a newspaper article about the championship. He alerted the administration, which didn't exactly shower the team with support, leading Lott to agree to serve as the team's faculty adviser.

Click here for full article.

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By Peter Della Penna

USACA VP of Operations Manaf Mohamed confirmed in an email on Tuesday morning that the USA U-19 World Cup squad will not be participating in the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship, scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Speculation had been mounting for weeks as to whether or not USA’s U-19 World Cup squad would be playing in the tournament as USACA never announced a squad. Mohamed did not say when or why the decision was made.

The news is not sitting well with teams who were looking forward to getting a chance to play matches against USA.  “I think it’s disappointing,” said Nisarg Chokshi, vice captain of Rutgers University and former captain of the Atlantic Region U-19 squad at the 2009 USACA U-19 National Championship.

The Rutgers squad arrived in Florida by plane on Tuesday morning and was supposed to play USA in their first match at the tournament on Wednesday. “We had a perfect schedule. We play USA tomorrow and we had our league matches after that. We could have understood our strengths and weaknesses by playing against them. But now we have a rest day and it’s just kind of a waste of a day.”

“[USA] were basically special guests so the games were not directly involved in the championship aspect of it,” said Jodah. 

Jodah said the rest of the teams are still going to participate and it will not affect the tournament in terms of competition points. USA’s scheduled matches against Rutgers University, York University and Montgomery College would not have counted towards the standings.

Jodah said that a revised tournament schedule would be released sometime later on Tuesday, which will now include Montgomery College playing against University of the West Indies. Jodah also said that Brian Piccolo Park will be used for the tournament in addition to the Central Broward Regional Park in an effort to have more matches on turf wickets, giving the players a chance to test themselves on a natural cricket pitch.

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.

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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.

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.