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USA- U19s finish 1-3 in Americas Tourney
The USA-U-19 Team went to Canada trailing a lot of expectations, and some controversy, along the way.
Under the circumstances, they put on a better show than was expected of them.
The problems began long before the team was assembled and made its way to Toronto.
There were complaints that the Chief of the Selection Committee, Mr. Akhtar (Chic) Masood, had insisted on having his own way in the selection process, and that many good players had been passed over because of undue favoritism. However, as the list of players finally selected would show, there was no discernible bias in the regional spread of the selectees.
The age distribution was another matter-- it appears that many players who were 13, 14 or 15 years old were selected for the team, i.e. well below the average 17- and 18-year olds who were the mainstay of the other Americas teams. Was taking a comparatively under-age team to the Americas U-19 qualifier a case of leading lambs to the slaughter -- or was this an inspired, if risky, strategy on the part of USACA, in trying to build seasoned youth cricketers for the future? Only time will tell.
The difference between 14- and 18-year olds is rather significant-- in terms of maturity, the distance beween pre-pubescent middle-schoolers and fully testosteronized high-school jocks. Add to that the haste with which the team was assembled, and the few short weeks that elapsed before the kids would have to face their experienced "elders", and the challenge would have to be a daunting one for any youngster.
It is in this context that the USA U-19's performance would have to be judged. Had there been even a couple of mature 18-year-olds with cricketing experience on the US Team, as there were in all the other Americas teams, the results might have been dramatically different. Consider, for example, what would have happened if Amer Afzaluddin, USA's 2001 U-19 skipper, then the Americas 2002 U-19 captain, and perhaps the best US-born cricketer (regardless of age) playing today, had been available to play? Was he too old this year-- or was he simply overlooked? And how about young Anish Mehta from Northern California who had batted with distinction in the 2001 Americas U-19 Tournament-- was he unavailable, as well? One of those questions which may bear further examination.
In the end, what let the US kids down was immaturity, not pluck or spirit. The two openers batted with grit and determination in almost all the matches, and there were several bowlers who rattled the stumps of their "older brothers" to telling effect. The middle order had problems finding their touch, and only sporadically showed what they were capable of. Even in defeat, however, the USA kids were never disgraced-- they went down fighting all the way. The Canadian boys, who qualified as winners due to their easy consistency and confidence, had better be looking to their laurels in a few years, because most of the USA squad would still be available and experienced-- and the shoe might well be on the other foot.
Postscript: USA U-19 team going to the Caribbean in August 2003
On the heels of the U-19 tournament in Canada, a perplexing rumor had surfaced about a possible USA U-19 team to play in the West Indies U-19 tournament in August.
According to the West Indies Cricket Board, An under -21 team from the USA has been invited to play in a major tournament for Under-19s in August. (A spokesperson for the WICB explained that the USA was asked to send an Under-21 team so that it could match the skills of the Caribbean youngsters-- an odd justification, but probably an accurate assessment of current US youth strengths.)
From there on, things get murky. writing on the USCRICKET.COM Bulletin Board, some people claimed that this was an entirely New York affair-- that it was the New York Region Cricket Association which had wangled the invitation from the WICB, and was in charge of selecting the team that would go to the Caribbean. Players would be selected from outside New York as well, but this was primarily a NY show.
The implausibility of this report was countered by others who pointed out that, as an official ICC body, the WICB could only have worked with the USACA, and that a direct invitation to any one else would not have been legal.
The situation remained rather unclear, until an announcement from the USACA that a team had been selected to participate in the West Indies U-19 Tournament, and naming the players who were to travel. Oddly, there was no mention of who was to be the Coach, or the Manager for the tour-- only the players.
Half of the 14 players who had been on the U-19 team were left out of the West Indies contingent. Jason Heimstra, the South African all-rounder from Michigan who had skippered in Toronto, was dropped, as was Keenan Fish of Colorado. Nadir Malik of California, one of the most successful bowlers on the USA U-19 contingent, also did not make the side. The two successful openers, Birju Gajjar and Ravi Timbawala, were included, as was Komal Singh of New York, the vice-captain of the Toronto side; Akeem Dodson also made the team on the strength of his performances. The rest of the team were newcomers, and the USACA did not provide any details on their qualifications or the regions they represented. Hopefully, the performances of the squad in August will provide more information on whether these selections were well-conceived.
-- Deb K. Das, USA Coordinator, CRICINFO
Following are the summaries of the USA Under-19 matches, as reported in CRICINFO.
USA vs.Cayman Islands
These two teams put on a thrilling contest that went to the last over and the last wicket. Cayman Islands won the toss and elected to field. The USA lost wickets in the early going but a fine innings by opener Birju Gajjar (33) helped them along until the number seven batsman Komal Singh (44) and the number nine batsman Zaka Khan (23*) came to the rescue. They were all out in the last over for a respectable total of 182. Top bowler for the Cayman Islands was Omar Bryan 3/31.
After losing an early wicket Cayman Islands settled in with a second wicket partnership of 86 between Gregory Ebanks (33) and Jalon Linton (37). When this partnership was broken the USA took control and wickets began to tumble as the score crawled closer to the target. It was up to Omar Bryan to swing the game back to the Islanders with an unbeaten knock of 28*. However it was his last partner Marlon Bryan, who he had carefully shielded for several overs ,that won the game for Caymans with a boundary on the fourth delivery of the last over. It was an exciting finish to a game that saw the advantage switch many times during the day.
For his efforts Omar Bryan was awarded Man of the Match.
USA 182 (all out 49.4 overs) Komal Singh 44, Birju Gajjar 33, Zaka Khan 23 , Omar Bryan 3/31
Cayman Islands 185/9 (49.4 overs) Jalon Linton 37,Gregory Ebanks 33, Omar Bryan 28*
Man of the Match: Omar Bryan (Cayman Islands)
USA v Argentina
Both of these teams needed to rebound after their emotional losses of the previous day. Argentine's young squad needed to get back their confidence after their crushing defeat at the hands of the Canadians and the USA needed to recover after their close one wicket loss to Cayman Islands in the last over. Argentina won the toss and elected to field. Runs came freely for the USA squad with the first wicket putting on a respectable stand of 63. Birju Gajjar (30) and Ravi Timbawala (37) started the Americans on a respectable total of 222/7 in their 50 overs.
It was a better effort in the field and with the ball for the young squad from Argentine but still a sizeable target to tackle. Fighting not only the USA total but the weather which had deteriorated proved too much for Argentine but not before their skipper Julian Bordachar fought hard with an unbeaten innings of 29 *. The game was finally called after 47 overs with Argentine on 99/9.
The USA won their first match by the D/L method.
USA vs Bermuda
The match began in windy, cloudy and cool conditions. The USA won the toss and elected to field.
Bermuda quickly regained their batting form after being bowled out for under 100 runs by the Cayman Islands the previous day. Opener Oronde Bascome (56) and Delyone Borden (75*) shared a third wicket stand of 93 as Bermuda recorded the second highest innings of the tournament-- 256/6 in 50 overs. The best bowler for the USA team was Nadir Malik who took 3/49.
The USA again started well with an opening partnership of 77 between Birju Gajjar (39) and Ravi Timbawala ( 32). But the pair consumed 25 overs in order to accomplish the solid start, and the run rate faced by the remaining batsmen was now in excess of seven runs per over. It proved to be too much of a task and wickets fell steadily as the middle and lower order tried to reduce the run rate required. Finally, after a game struggle, they were all out in the 49th over for 152 runs. Shane Hollis ( Bermuda) had an outstanding day with the ball taking 6/27 in his ten overs.
USA v Canada
The USA won the toss and elected to bat under brilliant blue skies as the U19 Americas Championship continued after a rest day on Thursday.
Canada struck quickly with opening bowler Simon Upton removing the opening batsmen before the score had reached 20 (the first time the USA openers failed to make a solid start). Skipper Jason Hemstra(27) and Akeem Dodson (41) then put together a respectable partnership of 48 before off spinner Shaheed Keshvani had the skipper trapped lbw for 27. After his Captain's departure Dodson continued his innings but saw a number of partners leaving to a variety of spin bowling from the Canadians. Keenan Fish, Hammad Rafiique and Danish Aseem posted low double figure scores as the Americans crawled to a modest total of 161 all out in 49.3 overs.
The Canadians started their reply in their familiar style of aggression, spiked with the occasional classic cricket stroke. Last year's U15 Captain Ryan Lall supplied the aggression while his partner Gavin Bastiampillai played a number of cover drives for boundaries as good as you would see at any level of cricket. The 50 partnership took only 21 balls before Lall was bowled by Komal Singh. But the day belonged to Gavin Bastiampillai who played a magnificent innings of 87 not out as the Canadians coasted to a five wicket victory with seven overs to spare. By this time, the USA team seemed to have lost their spirit-- it was their last match, and they would be going home a day early as per the tournament schedule, while Bermuda and Canada duked it out for the Championship.
*Did the USACA President Cancel the USA U-19 tour to West Indies?*
On August 1, 2003, USCRICKET.COM published an extraordinary item on its Bulletin Board. It purported to be a letter from Mr. Gladstone Dainty, USACA President, to the WICB, declining their invitation for a U-19 team to participate in the West Indies U-19 Tournament in August 2003.
What was extraordinary about the letter was that it was published on the Bulletin Board, not as a story in the USCRICKET.COM web site. And, considering that this was supposedly an official letter from the USACA President, it was especially odd that it was not printed on the USACA Web site -- that site still carried the announcement of the team selected to participate in the West Indies tournament.
Our position at CRICINFO-USA is that we do not consider any report or letter to be an official announcement by the USACA unless it is printed on their Web site. Until we receive confirmation on this point from the USACA, we have to question the credibility of the letter. With that caveat, we are printing the letter as it appeared on the USCRICKET.COM Bulletin Board, so readers can make up their own minds.
--- Deb K. Das, USA Coordinator, CRICINFO
Dear Mr. Brathwaite:
The USACA respectfully declines the invitation of the WICB to participate in the
U-19 tournament to be held in Guyana from August 3, 2003 to August 28, 2003. We
have been told in no uncertain terms that the WICB has concerns about our
team's abilities, and would like to see particular players added to our
team's roster. This is totally unacceptable and can only serve to undermine
the integrity of our selection process and the other mechanisms that we have in
place.
The actions of the WICB are indicative of the leadership you have provided to
the region as we seek to develop the game of cricket in the Americas. From the
inception of the ICC Development Program for the Americas, the WICB has failed
to provide the assistance that we would come to expect from a very successful
organization which, in the long term, stands to benefit from the
development of cricket in the Americas.
In this particular instance, we see a WICB executive, Michael Seepersaud,
extending an invitation to the New York Region of the USACA to participate in
the above mentioned tournament. The decision to invite one region to send the
national team has proved to be divisive and should be investigated as a vile and
corrupt act. After it is discovered that the invitation is actually for a USA
team, and once the USA named its team, we are suddenly told that the team does
not “appear” to be competitive enough to be in the tournament. This begs
the question, who were the WICB expecting when the invitation was made?
The answer to that question is easily found by looking at the situation as it
exists today. If the players who were expected to be named to the team during
the discussions when the invitation was extended (to New York) actually made the
team, then all would be well and the USA would be a most welcome guest.
However, once the team roster was presented and the roster did not reflect WICB
and Michael Seepersaud's image of the USA team, the WICB then raised questions
about the team’s abilities and suddenly expressed grave concerns about the
integrity of their tournament. This is funny since the USACA's integrity
seems to have no place in any of these matters.
The USACA has a morbid fear that its players may be subjected to the grief,
humiliation, and chaos that the USACA had suddenly found itself faced with as
the result of the actions of one WICB official. We will not even entertain the
possibility that they too may be subjected to this type of behavior. As such,
we have a team of extremely disappointed young men who we must now start the
process of healing. We do not take this responsibility lightly, and we will not
abrogate our responsibilities.
We also feel an obligation to decline the invitation since the WICB in typical
poor judgment has now placed the decision on whether we are to send a team in
the hands of Martin Vieira, the ICC Manager of the Americas. We have had an
opportunity to work with Mr. Vieira and Andrew Eade of the ICC, and are suitably
impressed with the cooperation, professionalism, and dignity which these
gentlemen have conducted themselves. We would certainly like to spare them the
pain of having to make a decision to correct a situation that was not of their
making.
In closing, the USACA feels that its position is principled and that it has done
everything that was requested except to name the team that the WICB wanted to
see. That essentially is why questions are being raised about the team’s
abilities. We recognize that the development of our game is in its infancy, and
we are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to nurture it to fruition.
Again, we are honored at having been invited and thanks very much but we must
decline your invitation. We sincerely hope that the tournament is successful,
and that it serves the purpose intended.
Sincerely,
Gladstone A. Dainty, President
USACA .
* WICB disinvites USA-- instead picks Canada, "Rest of Americas" *
As a final chapter to this abysmal story, we have the following report from www.caribbeancricket.com on the fate of the USA U-19 Team for the Caribbean tournament.
Reading the report in conjunction with Mr. Dainty's alleged letter (see above), It is not clear who rejected who-- the USACA because the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) did not let it select the team it wanted, or the WICB because it wanted no part of the politics between USACA's New York Region and the national USACA Executive regarding the team to be selected. It is quite likely that once all the complexities of the situation are unravelled, no party will emerge with perfectly clean hands.
If nothing else, this should serve as an object lesson in how US cricket politics undermines the best intentions of those who would like to see progress in US cricket-- and how the USACA manages to make a mess of every situation it interferes with. It is entirely likely that if the national USACA had not interjected itself into the issue, there would have been some sort of US team in Guyana-- and some US youngsters would have had the chance to play their peers in the Americas. As it stands, the 2003 "Rest of the Americas" team does not even include any US players, unlike two years ago-- the USA kids are totally out of the proceedings, and will have their seniors to thank for the total shutout.
And how important is this for US cricket? One has only to recall that in 2001, when the "Rest of the Americas" included US players, a youngster named Amer Afzaluddin and another called Shahan Mumtaz established records in the Tournament in a losing cause. Today, Afzaluddin has developed into arguably the best US-born cricketer playing today, and Shahan Mumtaz, still only 14, is developing into another US-born nationally rated leg-spinner of promise. These possibilities are the ones torpedoed in 2003-- and we have to wait another two years to see if the USA will get another opportunity.
--- Deb K. Das, USA Coordinator, CRICINFO
Friday, August 01, 2003
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has suddenly -- and without explanation -- ditched the U.S. from the TCL Group Under-19 tournament this year in favour of a team from Canada.
After releasing an itinerary several weeks ago that included teams from the U.S. and Bermuda, the WICB switched course Friday with a new announcement that Canada would replace the U.S. in Zone-A and a 'Rest of the Americas' squad would play in place of Bermuda in Zone-B.
New York-based officials of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) were left scratching their heads Friday when news of the revised fixtures was relayed by CaribbeanCricket.com. "As far as I know, we will have a team in Guyana. We have made all the flight arrangements," said one official.
He said the U.S. team was included in this year's tournament after discussions with WICB director Chetram Singh and chief cricket development officer Dr Michael Seepersaud. The selection of the U.S. team has been mired in controversy with New York Cricket Region (NYCR) officials publicly complaining that its players were sidelined by absentee selectors.
The news comes as a kick to the stomach for the NYCR, which has implemented an active youth program to promote competitive cricket among teenagers. The New York Under-19 squad has been training under a team of coaches and was given a send-off pep talk by West Indies batsman Daren Ganga.
Canada's youth team won a recent tournament to qualify for next February's Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, leading to speculation that the ICC intervened to ensure Canada was invited to the West Indies tournament.
The ICC is paying for the participation of the two teams -- Canada and the 'Rest of the Americas' -- meaning the WICB won't have that additional expense at the tournament. However, U.S. officials say they would have paid their way to Guyana, if that option was made available.
The 'Rest of the Americas' side will include players from Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Argentina.
help@cricket.org
Date-stamped 01 August 2003 - 20:52
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