This was, in fact, the first action taken by the newly formed USACA Junior Cricket Development Committee, which has been almost unanimously criticized on the Bulletin Boards of the USACA and other US cricket Web sites-- for supposedly being led by persons of questionable character, being packed with political appointees, and for failing to include more than one or two persons with real experience in junior cricket development in the USA (see What ARE they Saying?). In its first major policy action, the USACA Junior Cricket Development Committee managed to live up to most of the misgivings expressed about it, and added a few new ones for US cricketers to ponder.

The USACA List was as follows:

1.Shaham Mumtaz * , 2.Ibad Haider, 3.Shehzad Ajmeri, 4.Dhiren Patel *, 5.Nikhil Mehra *, 6.Dhaval Patel *, 7.Dhruv Motiani *, 8.Michael Persaud, 9.Vinod Persaud * , 10.Christopher Smith *, 11.Brian Ajodhi *, 12.Shalin Naik *, 13.Keenan Fish *, 14.Kartik Vittala, 15.Ahmed Razi, 16.Varun Valluri, 17.Keshav Nair, 18.Tanveer Ajmeri, 19.Dhruv Mehra*, 20.Nabeel Mumtaz , 21.Vikram Valluri, 22.Charlie Shakur.

(NOTE: (*) indicates that this youngster was also selected for the USA Invitational XI.)

Comparing the two lists, it is clear that the players who are missing from the "official" USA list are the four Northern California players-- Ryan Olsen who captained the Southwest Zone in the U-13 Tournament in New Jersey and was one of the few U-13 players to have regularly played in his Senior League team as an opening bowler, Kenny Chandrasakera, Miles Lilledahl, and Adam Clear who had distinguished himself at the national level as a Little League player before bringing his stellar skills to cricket. These were the youngsters who were most closely associated with the Northern California Junior Cricket program, and who had been expressly named as being committed to the US Invitational Under-13 XI. Other than these, every kid who had been selected for the USA Invitational XI was re-selected for the official USA Team-- along with a large number of kids with unknown antecedents, sponsored by influential members of the Junior Development Committee who made up in political muscle what they lacked in junior cricket program experience, to make up the total of 22.

CRICINFO-USA was informed that there was considerable acrimony at the meeting of the USACA Junior Committee over the selection of the "official" USA team. Mr. Ashok Patel, one of only two persons on the Committee with actual experience in conducting junior cricket programs, was said to have insisted that only kids who had actually performed with each other at a tournament level should be considered for the "official" USA team-- which would have meant that only those selected at the U-13 Tournament would be considered. (In hindsight, Mr. Patel may have committed a naive error-- the idea that any tournament which had not been completely managed and controlled by them would ever have been recognized by the USACA Development Committee members is, to say the least, a pipe dream). As expected, Mr. Patel's position was opposed by Mr. Syed Masood and others, who called the U-13 Tournament in New Jersey "illegal"-- that Mr. Robert Weekes, Americas Development Director for the ICC, had himself participated in the event along with two members of the USACA Board was apparently not enough to satisfy them.

The organizers of the New Jersey U-13 Tournament were also accused of not doing enough to get candidates from all across the USA-- a rather amusing charge, since previous USACA selection committees (for the ICC Trophy and the U-19 teams) had been accused (unfairly or not) of especially flagrant violations along those lines. Clearly, raising the specter of "non-representation" was a ploy to put nominations from those Committee members who had a special interest in managing the proceedings, on the table--in other words, it provided a ready-made excuse for padding the selection process.

This accusation was countered by the statement that requests for nominations had been prominently advertised in CRICINFO-USA, Uscricket.com, and other Web sites-- and that the resulting teams for the U-13 Trials were more representative of the USA than any list of "probables" ever assembled for an all-USA team selection. Both these statements happen to be true. But this did not seem to sway the Committee.

In the end, a bunch of names seem to have been added to the USA Invitational Team selectees minus the Northern Californians, no doubt leaving to later (read, political) maneuvers the winnowing down of these names to 12 or 13.

So we may have two US teams at the U-13 International Tournament in Orlando, at Disney World... which was to have taken place in mid-October, but has now been postponed into 2002 by the tragic developments in New York.

What now?

Mr. Robert Weekes, ICC Development Director for the Americas, has confirmed that the USA Invitational U-13 XI is already in the U-13 Tournament, whenever it takes place, since it had complied with all registration requirements well in advance of these goings-on.

It is always possible that political pressure may be brought on Mr. Weekes to rescind his acceptance of the USA Invitational team, but he is generally regarded as possessing the strength of his convictions, so this appears unlikely.

If the USACA is successful in registering an "official" USA team as well, the question is: who will the kids who are registered for both teams end up playing for?

Expect to see a lot of behind-the-scenes intrigue, as the politicos try to coax the kids (or their parents) to desert one team and play for the other. With several months ahead of us before the tournament actually takes place, things ought to get really down and dirty, as bribes and blandishments become the order of the day.

This isn't cricket, is it?

On second thought--of course it is. It is vintage US cricket politics, played with all the style and finesse of that venerable American institution, the Mafia. Even some of the principal characters in this sad charade are beginning to look like dons and their capos. Well-- we in US cricket must deserve this, since we put up with this tamasha. That is the best that can be said of it-- and of us.

--Deb K. Das

Meanwhile, the following statement has been issued by Major League Cricket Inc. on the subject:

The recently concluded US National Under-13 event in Old Bridge New Jersey was a complete success. Thanks to the coming together of three of America's organizations that are striving to develop cricket in the proper manner, the grassroots of cricket took an awesomely flourishing leap. United States Junior Cricket headed by Michael Miller, USA Cricket Academy headed by Ashok Patel, and Major League Cricket headed by Bernard John Cameron and Clive Hubert Lloyd, came together in a show of unity and strength that resulted in an event of epic proportions.

The Officers and Directors of the United States of America Cricket Association were given written notification of the event on July 21st, 2001. However, as of this writing there has been no reply from the USACA.

Thanks

Major League Cricket would like to especially thank Mr. Malcolm Nash, Mr. Mike Miller and Mr. Ashok Patel for their untiring and consistent work in the field of play. Mr. Nash has time and again shown himself as one of the roll-up-the-sleeves-and-get-the-job-done persons on the coaching of cricket. His ability to inspire the young cricketers was evident in their enthusiasm and high spirits. Mr. Miller has worked arduously for junior cricket, and Mr. Patel has "gone where no one has gone before" for the kids in his Cricket Academy.

Established Roles

The three companies came together and set clear goals for the event, along with establishing individual roles that called upon the skill-sets of each organization. Administrative, Management, Logistics, Coaching and the like were all handled in a professional manner resulting in a well-organized and planned event. The event was featured on Bloomberg Radio/Television, the Flash Wireless News Service and received by over 1500 journalists throughout the United States through Major League Cricket's Public Relations company, Multicultural Marketing Resources of New York, NY.

Business Ethics

The selected under-13 Invitational XI team for the symposium in Disney's Wide World of Sports was the direct result of what cricket should be in America. This was emphasized and highlighted by the alliance of US Junior Cricket, USA Cricket Academy and Major League Cricket. MLC strongly supports this team and will support no other.

MLC also believes that the International Cricket Council and the West Indies Cricket Board, along with the newly developed Cricket Council of The Americas, should - for simple business-ethical reasons - support no other team.

The Future

Major League Cricket will continue to develop cricket in an ethical and professional manner that will create attraction to the sport not only within the immigrant community but also throughout mainstream America. We intend to work closely with all organizations that are transparent and ethical in their business practices for the development of Cricket.

We understand Sports Business Management in America and have compiled a team of professionals that can take the sport to where you want it to be - among the echelons of American sports. Contact us today! We need your honest and sincere help in moving cricket forward in America.