American College Cricket » Nationals

Road to a National Championship !

ljodah — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:39:16 +0000

by Mohammad Suleman.

York College Cricket Club earnestly thanks American College Cricket and its President/Organizer/Founder Mr. Lloyd Jodah. We would also like to congratulate all the participants for a successful 2012 Spring Break Championship that was held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. from March 14-18, 2012.

York College Cricket Club started in spring of 2010 with the help of American College Cricket president Mr. Lloyd Jodah. Within two months, Cardinals put together the team and registered to compete in 2010 Spring Break Championship where York C were the runner-up after a big loss to York University from Canada. In the same year, 2010 American College Cricket North-East Regional Championship, York lost to City Tech (CUNY) in a thriller.

In the year, 2011 York Cardinals struggled to put together a team for 2011 National Championship due to exam schedule and lack of resources. However, York Cardinals came back strongly in 2011 Regionals and won the title after defeating NJIT in the finals. All the games in 2011 Regionals were televised by TV Asia. It was the best thing that happened to US Cricket in ages.

Year 2012, brought great success for York College Cricket Club. Coming strongly from winning the Regional title just 2 months ago, York Cardinals were committed and ready to take on any challenge. I would like to highlight the hard work of newly elected Club President, Shamas Rehman and Team Captain Khizar Abbas, working hand to hand with Club members, Hayat Sikandar, Bilal Shahid, Akeem Dodson, Yasin Khan, Kashif Choudry, Mudassir Hussain, Hugo D O’Liveira, and Rodigan Micheal. The addition of Karan Ganesh on the team was tremendous.

Cardinals entered the National arena with being one the favorites. York Cardinals defeating NYU-Poly, Auburn and University of Houston Clearlake in the first round, went on to beat Cleveland State in the play-offs and qualified for Semi-finals. On the other hand, USF and York University earned a spot in the Semi’s.

Sunday, March 18, 2012.

The stage was set. Sunny Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Was ready to host the Semi-finals and Final of 2012 American College Cricket Spring Break National Championship at the only ICC certified Cricket stadium in the United States of America. Coca Cola sponsored the event and TV Asia was there to cover the historic event. The crowd was building to witness a great day of action. The night before, back at Hotel, I tried learning how to swim. I was somewhat successful. Then I had a little laugh about people confusing York College with York University. USF moved into the finals after beating York University in the first Semi-final of the day.

Secondly, York Cardinals faced previously undefeated Texas A&M University. Texas A&M bowling first, got off to a ideal start by removing Bilal and Akeem very early. But, calm and smart Karan Ganesh and aggressive hitting by Captain Abbas set up a reasonable total of 147. In reply, Texas A&M were bowled out for 76. “This set up York to take on the University of South Florida in the final match, a team that has reached the Final Four in three of the past four seasons.”

2012 American College Cricket Spring Break National Championship- Finals

(York College Cardinals vs. University of South Florida)

Caridnals batting first scored 151/8 in 20 overs. Akeem Dodson top scoring 78 with Karan Ganesh adding 35 to the total. In reply, USF got off to a fiery start with their openers Sai Ramesh(MVP- 2012 Nationals) and Asgher Shiekh aka Abdullah. Some power hitting by both openers led to change in tactics and York College Captain brought the spin earlier than planned. Interestly, he brought me (Mohammad Suleman –Final MVP) on and I got the break-through for the team.

On the other hand, Sai Ramesh partnered with Indawalla continued their impressive stroke-play and built a strong partnership of 72. Things were looking bright for USF and they were sensing a victory here. I was there for the team. Team believed in me, and skipper brought me on for the second spell. I got the big fish. This changed everything for us. USF’s middle order collapsed. Cardinals were pumped up and had their hopes up again. Also, Bilal Shahid and Yasin Khan generated good pace in their second spells with a mix of slow balls and got 2 wickets each. Karan Ganesh bowled handsomely outside off and bagged 2 wickets aswell. Finally, USF were bowled out for 129. York Cardinals were declared Champions of 2012 Nationals.

I would like to congratulate all our Club members, College, fans, families and friends and Organizers for this great achievement. The Championship was well-organized and well structured. There was no secret to our success. It was all hard work and commitment. Some great all round performances, variation of pace and Spin bowling, attacking and well planned classy stroke playing, sharp fielding and lightning glove work. It was a job well done.

Photos by RIVERVIEW STUDIOS/Connie Yen

NASA Flight for Auburn’s Cricket Captain & 2011 Player of the Year !

ljodah — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:38:46 +0000

: Naveen Thiagajaran, Auburn Cricket Captain & doctoral candidate, & Travis Wheeler

Naveenan Thiagajaran, Captain of the Auburn University Cricket Club, and a 2011 American College Cricket Player of the Year has been chosen to fly on NASA’s Zero-G reduced-gravity aircraft ! Naveen will fly out of NASA’s Lynden B. Johnson Space Center in Houston on May 3.

As Morgan Stashick explained in the Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering media :

Sushil Bhavnani, faculty member in Auburn University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, doctoral candidate Naveenan Thiagarajan and undergraduate student Travis Wheeler have been chosen to fly on NASA’s Zero-G reduced gravity aircraft, affectionately known as the “Vomit Comet.” The team’s project, “Fluid Lateral Motion using Surface Microstructures-Channel Flow from a Large Array,” was selected for the flight to study the effects of microgravity on boiling.

Thiagajaran, who began the project three years ago whilst completing his Master’s, told Morgan, “I am thrilled to be a part of this experience, this project is a significant part of my dissertation, and is a story that I will be proud to tell my grandchildren.”

We haven’t spoken with them, but we’re sure that Naveen’s parents are thrilled at the prospect of grandchildren and great-grands.

An excellent cricket captain and Club President, Naveen led the Auburn Tigers to the final four at the nationals in March 2011, after Auburn defeated University of Florida for the South East regional title in Nov 2010. Losing a number of key players to graduation, Auburn did not fare as well at the 2012 American College Cricket Nationals.

As a batsman, he has given Auburn solid starts as an opener. In 2011 (at the South East regional & the American College Cricket Spring Break Championship) he made three fifties, 56*,59 & 50 . Two of which came against SEC rivals the Gators.

No doubt after his stint in zero gravity Thiagajaran will bring new perspectives to cricket’s eternal debates about a cricket ball’s “flight” and “reverse swing”.

PHOTOS courtesy of Morgan Stashick, Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering

TV – Sai Ramesh is 2012 Championship MVP !

ljodah — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:24:30 +0000

Video- Virginia Tech Hokies Cricket debut at Nationals….

ljodah — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:54:43 +0000

Virginia Tech Cricket Club sincerely thanks American College Cricket and its President Mr. Lloyd Jodah. This video is also memorable for the Jersey Handover Event held for the Hokies making their debuts in the American College Cricket National Championship held at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in March 2012.

Virginia Tech under the leadership of Anirudhh Roy (in video) performed exceedingly well at this Championship in the absence of 6 regular players!!!.Hokies lost their first game to Texas Tech mainly due to nervous energy. Bouncing back from this loss, Hokies then beat the #3 ranked Ohio State University. Hokies lost a tough tussle to 2010 Champions: York University, Canada; thereby losing golden opportunity to make it to playoffs. Although ranked #21 now ( ranked #24 before the tournament begun), Hokies believe they played as good as a top 10 ranked team. That is some NEWS.

Lets do it. For the Hokies.

P.S: Correction to video: Swapnil Sheth is the Vice president of the club.
Kareem Akhtar is the President of this Club.

TV -York College Prez Marcia Keizs celebrates school’s 1st National Title !

ljodah — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:02:07 +0000

“Hayat Sikander (York College) with the Chanderpaul Trophy”][/caption]

New Rankings !

ljodah — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:06:25 +0000

: Gavish Sharma (UPenn),Lloyd Jodah American College Cricket President, & York College’s Mohamad Sulema,Abbas Kizer & Shamas Rehman

The Finals of the 2012 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship was the 9th match televised by TV Asia – the first nine ever for domestic cricket in US & Canada. A new Champion, York College led by Abbas Khizer,was crowned, and we got new # 1 & 2 teams !

Iowa State jumped from # 22 into the top 10 ! whilst 2 other relatively new teams, Ryerson University and University of Houston Clearlake continued their strong showings.

Powerhouse Gators suffered the shock of being upset by George Washington University which jumped 10 spots upwards.

With Coca Cola as a sponsor American College Cricket and TV Asia are set to televise at least 18 more games in 2012 – the Semis and Finals of all the regionals. No doubt there will be more shake ups in the rankings as teams do their best, on and off the field, to move up.

RANKINGS – second # represents previous rank.

1—14- York College – Cardinals
2—13- University of South Florida – Bulls
3— 1- Texas A & M – Aggies
4— 9- York University – Lions
5—- 4- Ryerson University – Rams
6—- 5- Rutgers – Scarlet Knights
7— 2- Ohio State University – Buckeyes

8—22- Iowa State University – Cyclones

9— 3- University of Florida – Gators
10–16 -University of Maryland Baltimore Cty – Retrievers

11– 8- University of Pennsylvania – Quakers

12– 6- Auburn – Tigers

13–23- Boston University – Terriers

14–26- University of Houston Clearlake -Blue Herons

15–25- Penn State – Nittany Lions

16–17- Montgomery College – Knights

18–12- Texas Tech – Red Raiders

17–27- George Washington U – Colonials
19–15- NYU-Polytechnic – Fighting Blue Jays

20–21- Cleveland State – Vikings

21–24- Virginia Tech – Hokies

22–20- Carnegie Mellon – Tartans

23– – University of Houston – Cougars
24– Arkansas State U – Red Wolves

25– Embry Riddle Aeronautical U

26– McGill University- Redmen

27–11- University of Southern Cal – Trojans

28–19- Thunderbird School of Global Management – T-Birds
29–29- College of Wooster – Fighting Scots
30–28- Florida Atlantic – Seminoles
31–18- University of Iowa – Hawkeyes
32–31- NJ Institute of Technology – Highlanders
33–32- West Texas A & M – Buffs

2012 National Championship MVP declared !

ljodah — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:30:52 +0000

Here are the stats for 2 of the top players in the 2012 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship :

Sai Ramesh USF

45 2 for 12 off 2 UPenn

64* 3 for 23 off 3 ASU

46 4 for 9 in 3 Embry

20 0 for 9 off 2 ISU

42 0 for 21 off 4 York University plus run out

42 2 for 34 off 4 York College plus run out

Ramesh,bowling off spin, took 11 wickets for 108 runs. He scored 259 runs @ 51.8 runs average.

Sai took 7 catches in front of and behind the wicket.

Ashgar Sheik USF

88 3 for 7 off 2 UPenn

17 0 for 14 off 3 ASU

50 2 for 12 off 3 Embry

76 2 for 19 0ff 2 ISU

22 1 for 37 off 3 JP York U

15 1 for 36 off 4 York College

Ashgar Sheikh,bowling fast, took 9 wickets for 115 runs. He scored 268 runs @ 47 runs average, with 3 fifties.

Sheikh took 5 catches.

Both fielded extremely well.

Either player, based on Championship statistics and on and off the field conduct including promotion of American College Cricket, would be a fitting American College Cricket MVP, and a worthy ambassador.

Ultimately Sai Ramesh was declared the 2012 American College Cricket National Championship MVP ! A master blaster of the ball who hits the ball hard and with arrogance, Sai is also a delightful strokeplayer who opens the batting, and in every innings got the University of South Florida off to a flying start in this national Championship.

His off spin bowling has always been excellent enough to play as a specialist bowler, whilst his wicket keeping and fielding was of a highly professional and athletic level.

Sai has a Masters in Electrical Engineering,and is currently doing his Phd at USF, whilst looking for a job opportunity. This will be his 3rd year selected to the All America team.

Sai Ramesh also had an outstanding 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship for USF, then in 2011 transferred to UCF where, with American College Cricket President Lloyd Jodah, he started a team which he captained in the 2011 Championship.

When American College Cricket arranged Shiv Chanderpaul’s visit to UCF in 2011, Sai assisted with the organizing.

Stats were made possible by CricHQ’s iPhone app, Rahul Potghan & scoring of all USF matches by Satish Hanumathu using the app.

York College – 2012 National Champions after Thrilling Finals !

ljodah — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:17:56 +0000

What a night ! What a game ! The exciting roller coaster you wish for in a Finals, under the lights at the CBRP Cricket Stadium was magnificently captured in the television cameras of TV Asia ! Just watching the replays on the run outs and stumpings was thrilling !

It was like the most exciting BCS Championship game imaginable, or Kentucky vs Kansas to end March Madness 2012 !

Two evenly matched teams put it all on the immaculate Stadium pitch and outfield as they jousted for the Chanderpaul Trophy, and the national title, in the American College Cricket Championship sponsored by Coca Cola !

University of South Florida had been propelled by the all round exploits of Sai Ramesh and Ashgar Sheikh, whilst Karan Ganesh and Akeem Dodson had piloted York College through tough teams like Texas A & M and York University.

York College won the toss, and captain Abbas Khizer chose to bat “with our batting and bowling strength I believe we can put USF under pressure by making them chase runs”.

At first it seemed Dodson and Bilal Shahid had gotten York off to a good start, but they got bogged down, and Shahid in trying to hit out was caught in the deep and at 4.6 overs York C was 28 for 1.

In walked one of New York’s best batsmen, Karan Ganesh, and his cuts and flicks got him 36 in 30 balls with 4 fours; putting on 66 with Dodson. Ganesh was caught off USF skipper Nirav Shah at 94 for 2 in 12.5 overs (run rate of 7.52 ).

Dodson continued his onslaught, coming down the wicket often to pull and drive over the top for 5 sixes and 4 fours in his 78 in 49 balls. Given a crucial life with York only on 27, Doson paid USF pay, and as Amir Sadiqqui said provided “March 18 fireworks” , confusing the spectators who thought it was July 4th ! Only the Dasani water breaks provided the USF bowlers respite.

Batting with a broken nose Hayat Sikander made 10 as York College got to 151 for 8 – a very good total.

Astonishingly, without hitting many boundaries USF’s openers got off to a flying start of over 9 runs per over. Ramesh got off the mark with an exquisite cover drive flat along the ground for 4. Then left arm spinner Mohammad “Lebron” Suleman (sporting his blue headband) came into the attack – and got the breakthrough ! In form Ashgar Sheikh was bowled for 15 (2 fours 1 six) and USF was 36 for 1 after 3.5 overs. Sheikh came into the match averaging 50.6 RPI.

Indawalla took his opportunity to compensate for his costly drop of Dodson by combining with Ramesh for a partnership of 72. Indawala’s fine on drives and cuts and master blaster Ramesh’s arrogant strokeplay put USF in a comfortable position until Suleman once again effected the breakthrough by getting Ramesh lbw ! Ramesh entered the Finals averaging 54.25 !

Nevertheless at 108 for 2 at a run rate of 7.71, with only 44 left to win 35 balls, and Indawalla batting well USF was in the driver’s seat.

Hayat Sikander (York College) with the Chanderpaul Trophy

However here’s where the importance of Ramesh was magnified, as USF crumbled from 108 for 1 to 129 all out as Yasin Khan bowling off a short runup and focusing on swing,line & lenght, Bilal Shahid and Karan Ganesh each took 2 wickets to rout the USF batting.

Lightening-like wicket keeping by Dodson led to 2 stumpings and a run out and many more anxious moments for the Bulls’ batsmen. The 3rd umpire camera replays were a delight to see, everytime there was a stumping or run out attempt, and the accurate decisions of the umpires were confirmed by these replays !

Shiv Chanderpaul had sent a record message of congratulations to all the teams, as York College collected the unique Chanderpaul Trophy, which they just missed winning in 2010, to take back to New York.

With remarkable leadership from Abbas Khizer (who got Powerade poured on his head), dogged determination by Hayat Sikander, great all round play by Karan Ganesh and Akeem Dodson, the York College cricket team exemplified the great talent in American College Cricket and finished the job started in 2010.

Fittingly the Finals MVP was Mohamed Suleman, who got the crucial wickets Ashgar Sheikh and Sai Ramesh to stall, then stop the USF potential victory march. It was Suleman who worked with American College Cricket President Lloyd Jodah to start the York College Cricket club in 2010.

Penn State Cricket Coach David Chakravorty, York U’s Jaiveer Chauhan, University of Pennsylvania’s Gavish Sharma, Ryerson’s Hassan Mirza & Farhan Khan, and Amir Saddiqui provided knowledgeable and exciting commentary for another historic achievement in cricket in America.

Coca Cola and Dish Network’s participation as mainstream sponsors of domestic cricket, was unprecedented and of enormous significance for the game.

From being the first to webcast domestic cricket in March 2010 to being the first to televise last year, American College Cricket, with TV Asia, had now delivered a truly great national Championship, on TV !

Darren Stortz & Becca Levin handled the Stadium Jumbotron, whilst Satish Hanumanthu did the online scoring.

SCORECARD

http://www.crichq.com/matches/8849

Watch for at least 18 more American College Cricket matches on TV in 2012 as TV Asia televises the regionals !

Sat : USF vs York College for National Title ! 7 pm East on TV Asia !

ljodah — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:36:01 +0000

: USC President Max Nikias,in India, presenting a Trojans Cricket shirt to Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group. Photo courtesy USC.

York College has about 8,000 students and is a part of the City University of New York system.

Only 45 years old,it has never won a national title in any sport. Furthermore it never competed with the big names in college sport, until 2010 !

That was when American College Cricket President Lloyd Jodah and student Suleman Mohammed began a cricket club at York College. The hurriedly pulled together team reached the Finals that year. Missing 2011, the York College Cricket club came back, and made the Finals of the 2012 National Championship, facing University of South Florida !

Their success begs the question, what took so long ? In a city where a large % of the population come from a “cricket background” & an even greater % attend York College.

University of South Florida is the 8th largest university in the US, with student enrollment of nearly 50,000. It ranks highly in many categories, including research and Graduate studies. Its budget in 2010 was $ 1.8 Billion.

USF Bulls has won 2 bowl games in football and competes in NCAA Division 1 in a number of sports.

Is it reminiscent of the David vs Goliath battles ? Well, cricket is giving smaller schools opportunities to play on a bigger stage – getting not just national attention, but valuable International publicity.

Some school Presidents make trips to India, and open offices abroad to increase their global profile and get the attention of valuable and high performing International students and benefactors – a vibrant cricket team can do it for them at a fraction of the cost.

No surprise then that the University of Southern California (USC) included its cricket club in its Global Promotion video recently (viewable on the USC website). When USC President Max Nikias visited India last year, he presented Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, one of the world’s largest conglomerates with a USC Cricket shirt. In 2011 Tata donated $ 50 Million to his alma mater Harvard University.

No other sport can do for a school what cricket has the potential to do – if its realised.

The York College Cardinals made the trip from Queens, New York City. Having no no field,they had not played together. To make it tougher, the Cardinals came from winter, and had no indoor facilities to practice.

Both teams bulldozed past other top teams to get to the Finals. USF has master blaster Sai Ramesh, and dynamic Ashgar Sheikh, whilst York College has Karan Ganesh and Akeem Dodson, all in tremendous form leading the way.

So this Saturday tune into TV Asia at 7 pm to watch York College step onto the world stage and take on the University of Florida for the national title,a night game under lights at the CBRP Cricket Stadium in Florida.

As American College Cricket Champions the winning team will know that they are the # 1 college in the US and Canada, and take home a Trophy named after one of the world’s best, Shiv Chanderpaul, # 10 on the list of alltime run scorers (Tests) in the world.

Shiv Chanderpaul Trophy. Photo by Amer Zahoud

Texas A & M falls to York College in final four ! Finals Sat on TV !

ljodah — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:00:41 +0000

: Texas A & M Aggies Cricket

Texas A & M University’s Anurag Verma said, “The telecast was really good and professional.. thanks for the good work ! “

Baiju Shah (Texas Tech) said, “heard some good feedback bout the telecast… go ACC ! ” Swapnil Sheth (Virginia Tech), “It was very good ! “

Bilal Shah (York College), “ Game was amazing–International level broadcasting! Super Work done by whole Team TV Asia and Lloyd Jodah !” and fan Allan Sharma, “Great game ! “

# 1 ranked undefeated Texas A & M University faced 2010 Finalist York College in the final four, each team determined to be the one to face University of South Florida in the Finals for the Chanderpaul Trophy, at the Coca Cola sponsored national Championship.

There were lots of reasons for the players to be nervous, they were playing on national TV, and setting a standard for cricket in America. They were also doing it in an Internationally certified cricket arena, comparable to top cricket stadiums around the world.

A quick 11 by strongly built all rounder Bilal Shahid got York College to a flying start, but he was caught by the keeper Mehta off Wasif Kah, then USA player Akeem Dodson was caught by Anurag Verma b R Soorianarayanan . At 16 for 2 York College was struggling.

But Karan Ganesh smashed 5 fours and 1 six in 31 balls to score 44 .Captain Abbas Khizer made room and cleared the off side many times to get 35 (4 fours,33 balls) whilst Hashi Choudry 19, and Semas Rehman 15, helped get the score to a respectable 147 for 8 off 20 overs.

Soorianarayanan injured his finger badly and had to leave the field, in his interrupted spell taking 1 for 19, Kothalkar had 2 for 22, and Wasif Khan 2 for 24.

The Aggies had the batting power to get the runs, especially with dynamic stroke player Anurag Verma. However, perhaps the pressure of the situation got to them. Tight bowling by pacer Yasin Khan, coming off a short run up and focusing on swing,line & length and Karan Ganesh, opening with his off spin.

For the first time too, Texas A & M’s running between the wicket was not good, and Anurag Verma slipped in trying to get back into his crease and was run out for 12.

Angad Mehta made 26 off 32 balls,with 2 fours.

Texas A & M University finished on 76 for 9, Soorianarayanan could not bat. The telling statistic was that only 4 fours, 0 sixes were struck by the Aggies batsmen, as York College got the win. Ganesh 1 for 11 plus a run out,Suleman 2 for 10, Rod Michael 2 for 11.

Karan Ganesh (York College) was declared the Game MVP.

Texas A & M University and York College had participated in another great step for cricket in the US & Canada, and the world- competitive domestic cricket on American & Canadian TV - significant for the cricket world, and for the huge college sports world of America.

SCORECARD by Satish Hanumanthu

http://www.crichq.com/matches/8841#inning1

THE FINALS WILL BE TELEVISED at 7pm, Sat April 7,on TV Asia.

University of South Florida vs York College !

KARAN GANESH (York College)