American College Cricket » 2009

2009 National Championship – the Beginning !

ljodah — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:54:13 +0000

Montgomery College (MD) Takes Home The Chanderpaul Trophy

March 24th, 2009
A day like this was made for cricket, beautiful blue skies with clouds of white and temperatures around 78 degrees. The Finals of the first American College Cricket Spring Break Championship got underway for the Chanderpaul Trophy in Lauderhill, Florida. Shiv himself began the celebrations by scoring 112* in the ODI against England in the West Indies. Chanderpaul could not be here to present the Trophy himself but he sent his best wishes to the Teams and showed the way with his ODI Century. Inspired by this century the young College Cricketers, the future of American cricket, took the field.

Montgomery College batted first and surprisingly found it difficult to score against a tight University of South Florida bowling attack. After 7 overs Montgomery had only scored 29 runs, this from a batting lineup that had averaged 11 runs per over in their previous matches.

USF Captain Harsh Baddepalli, one of Florida’s young stars, opened the bowling with Nirav Shah and both kept great line and length, frustrating the Montgomery batsmen.The consistent and elegant strokeplayer Danish Ashgar went for only 7 and Sadiq Naseer and Sehgal spent some time steadying the ship before they both fell, at 60 and 67. Ben David made the breakthrough for USF and Montgomery looked vulnerable for the first time in the Championship.

Captain Adit Bhatti, a talented all-rounder who could easily have been Dreamcricket.com’s Series MVP, came in at number four and Mohammed Khamran joined him to put on a 108 run partnership. Bhatti held his end down scoring 36* whilst Khamran did a Chanderpaul imitation by saving his Team’s innings. To do so Khamran punished any errant ball and pulled and hooked 6 sixes in his 63*. Khamran’s sixes soared well over the boundary line, and the scorers and spectators seemed in danger a few times. Like Chanderpaul, the left-handed Khamran gave the impression of being in control, doing what he wanted to do with the bowling despite the strong winds helping the swing bowlers.

Khamran and Bhatti propelled Montgomery to 175 for 3,low compared to their previous scores but a high one nevertheless in 20 overs cricket.

The USF Team began with a good run-rate but kept losing wickets. Losing star batsman Harsh Boddepalli to Khamran really hurt their chances and they were all out for 120, never really threatening the Montgmery total.

The Montgomery players grabbed the stumps to celebrate their winning of the Chanderpaul Trophy in the inaugural American College Cricket Spring Break Championship. A cooler was emptied on Captain Adit Bhatti before he was with the huge Shiv Chanderpaul Trophy.

Later in the evening Awards were presented by Laparkan Shipping’s Brian Edun in the following categories:

Laparkan Best Bowler - Ankush Chandra of Boston University – together with Sumantro Das and Shilpin Makwana he comprised a pace attack that would have probably performed better had they not come from the Massachusetts winter lacking practice.

Laparkan Best Batsman - Rajeev Prabhakar of the University of Miami – his amazing 89* in 34 ballsspeaks for itself. It was dazzling and audacious and an example of what this new UMiami Team can do next year.

Laparkan Best Fielder - Atishe Chordia of Carnegie Mellon University- Atishe is a star, he opens the batting, and often takes off the gloves to bowl fast. His wicketkeeping was excellent, even when his pacers were generating lots of bounce and he had to jump for the balls. Dreamcricket.com Series MVP – Mohammed Khamran of Montgomery College. His innings in the Finals saved the game for his Team and as a left-hander he drew comparisons to his hero, the great Shiv Chanderpaul.

Khamran also took the crucial wicket of Harsh Baddepillai, the USF star batsman and effectively stymied USF’s chances of winning. His all-round performance throughout the Championship was excellent with the bat and ball.

Team Award, to the College Cricket Team best exemplifying the spirit of cricket, went to Carnegie Mellon. From the moment this Team heard of the Championship they registered their support and showed their professionalism. On the field they batted and bowled with desire.

Opening batsman Aswin Badrinarayan was one of the best batsmen in the Championship and Zoheb Veljee showed lots of talent. Their fast bowlers, Sahil Jolly Anirudh Sood and Ankur Sarin generated surprising speed and bounce. This is a Team to watch next year as many of their players will still be in school.

Results Opening Day American College Cricket
University of Miami vs Carnegie Mellon University

On an absolutely beautiful South Florida day the Inauguaral American College Cricket Spring Break Championship got underway. Early on the overnight dew made the outfield a bit slow but the Florida sun soon dried the outfield and the boundaries were flowing.

First the University of Miami Cricket Club took on Carnegie Mellon University Cricket Club. UMiami batted first and scored 114 with most of its batsmen reaching double figures.

For Carnegie Mellon University Ankur Sarin 2 for 21 oof 3 overs, Mohit 1 for 8 off 3overs and Atishe Chordia, the Captain taking a break from keeping wicket, 1 for 16 off 3 overs. Carnegie lost an early wicket but opener Aswin badrinarayan 34 and Man of the Match Zoheb Veljee 44* took them within victory before 2 wickets fell and made it a thrilling finish.

For UMiami Mohit 1 for 14 off 4 overs, Hasan Ahmad 1 for 15 off 4 overs and Kalpesh Patel 1 for 23 off 4 overs bowled well. A few late dropped catches then cost UMiami the game.

Boston University vs University of South Florida
With the temperature at 75 % the University of South Florida Cricket Club upset the Boston University Cricket Club. USF batted first and got off to a bad start, losing 4 wickets for 23 runs, the Boston opening atack of Captain Shilpin and Sumantro Das looked fast. But then opener Aditya Agarwal 39 (5 fours) and Man of the Match Prithvi Penare 44* steered them to a strong 146 for 7 off 20 overs.

Boston U ‘s batsmen did not fare well and only some late hitting by fast bowler Sumantro Das,31 got them to a respectable total. The tall powerfully built Das reminded many of Kapil Dev. The bowling attack of Dhir Shah 3 for 15 off 4 overs and Nirav Shah 2 for 16 off 4 overs finished the surprising win by the University of South Florida which gave notice that they were a Team to watch.

Carnegie Mellon University vs Montgomery College.

Great as the cricket was all day the Montgomery College batsmen were amazing, blazing 223 runs in 20 overs, an astounding runrate of 11 runs per over.

Captain and Man of the Match Adil Bhatti,46 ( 4 sixes and 2 fours) led the batting attack and Ankit Sehgal, 29 (2 sixes ans 2 fours) Danish Ashgar,27 and Mohamed Kamran,26 (2 sixes) batted well also. The left-handed opener Ashgar played some exquisite shots which demonstrated that 20/20 scoring did not have to mean slogging. His cover and off-drives were reminiscent of the great Zaheer Abbas. It was a cornucopia of stroke-play and big-hitting.

Ashwin Badrinarayan again showed his mettle by scoring 34 for Carnegie Mellon U but the Montgomery College total was just too daunting and it was an overwhelming win for Montgomery to close the day of exciting cricket.
A momentous day of American College cricket.

Rain Marred The Second Day Of The American College Cricket Spring Break Championship
Boston University vs Montgomery College

The stylish Danish Ashgar stroked 5 fours in his 33 and together with Sadiq Naseer 29 (2 fours and 1 six) got Montgomery off to a strong start, nullifying the pace of Boston U’s Sumantro Das and Captain Shilpin Makwana.

Ankit Sehgal 28 (1 six and 2 fours), Mohammad Kamran 23 (1 four and 2 sixes) and coming in at # 7 allrounder Amir Choudary blasted 29* (3 fours).combined to give Montgomery 216 for 7 off 19 overs before the rain came.

Ankush Chandra and Shilpin Makwana were Boston’s best bowlers taking 3 wickets for 37 runs and 2 for 28 respectively.

The game was shortened to 10 overs and Boston U’s batsmen again looked talented briefly before losing their wickets, betrayed by the Massachusetts winter of not much practice.

Notable was the tall broad shouldered Wali Syed 40* who played some glorious shots, taking 3 fours and 2 sixes off the strong Montgomery bowling. Syed made 40* and made one wonder what would have happened had he come earlier in the lineup. A cover drive for 4 he played was as good as you’re likely to see.

Carnegie Mellon vs University of South Florida

The U of South Florida batted first and scored 69 for 2 off 10 overs with Captain Harsh Baddepillai scoring 32* including 4 fours. Baddepillai usually stars in the local League but in this Championship is getting the opportunity to star for his University.

The gallant Carnegie Mellon Team responded with 48 for 1 before the game was abandoned because of rain. Carnegie’s 2 star batsmen Ashwin Badri 36* and Captain Atshe Chordia 11* looked good in their time at the crease. Unfortunately the weather stymied their impressive effort and no result was declared.

Boston University vs University of Miami
This 15 over match continued the exciting cricket of the previous matches when Boston U was sent in to bat by UMiami.

Batting at number 3 the powerfully built Armu Syed who had made 40* in his previous game stroked the ball all over the field for his 58*.Getting down on his knees Syed played cover drives that split fielders or soared overhead. Pulls, hooks and cuts were all in his repertoire of shots, giving him 3 sixes and 5 fours. Syed’s innings made Boston U give UMiami a formidable total of 126 to beat.

UMiami lost an early wicket whilst Rajeev Prabhakar unleashed an avalanche of 12 fours and 3 sixes to reach 89* in only 34 balls. and lead UMiami to an amazing and unexpected victory. Prabhakar and Sharat shared a 92 run partnership of which Sharat did his part and contirbuted 19.

At one point Prabhakar hit 4 consecutive fours, another time he hit 4,4,6 and 4. It was not big hitting but stroke-playing. Prabhakar was unstoppable and he played all around the wicket, piercing the field for boundary after boundary.

2009 Finals MVP Mohammad Kamran (MC)

With batting like this Prabhakar might have taken UMiami to the Finals had he not missed Friday’s games due to classes. Naming him Man of the Match was a foregone conclusion.

The NY Times coverage of the first American College Cricket Spring Break Championship

ljodah — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:20:12 +0000

The NY Times story on the 2009 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship was the biggest mainstream media story on cricket in the US since Don Bradman toured the USA in the 1930′s.

The players at the first Championship felt they had claimed more than the three-foot trophy for the first American College Cricket Spring Break championship. In their minds they had brought their sport one step closer to the American mainstream.

Though cricket counts its fans by the billion worldwide, and Cricket is the original American sport ….READ MORE

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/sports/othersports/25cricket.html?_r=3&ref=sports

Cricket’s real Field of Dreams

ljodah — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:17:34 +0000

Nirav & Dhir Shah, of USF

The Central Broward Regional Park (CBRP), including the stadium and its side fields, cost about US$70 million to build. From the beginning the 110-acre facility generated a lot of opposition to the spending of so much public money on a cricket-purpose facility.

For this reason the facilities were designed and promoted as “multi-purpose,” allowing sports such as soccer and rugby, as well as musical events to be staged there. Annual revenue generated by all sports at the CBRP is far less than the facility’s operating expenditure.

The Stadium has turf wickets, was recently certified by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for hosting One Day International matches (ODI’s) and has a permanent seating capacity of 5,000, with grass seating for an additional 15,000. The main pavilion has two locker rooms, a VIP seating area with large panoramic window views, and a state of the art media and electronic scoring room, while a large electronic scoreboard situated to the left of the main pavilion, has the capability of carrying live video.

The main ground is outfitted with lights allowing for night matches, and there are two side fields in the CBRP with artificial pitches capable of play even after heavy rainfall. Picnic areas, shelters and additional seating abound the facility.

The location of the CBRP is ideal for cricket visitors, near the gorgeous beaches of Ft. Lauderdale, and not far from the nightlife of the celebrated South Beach and Miami areas. Built with the hope of attracting warm-up matches from the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in the Caribbean, the CBRP facility did not get any matches. Cricket in Florida and the rest of American cricket-at-large, has not generated enough cricket in the interim for the spectacular facility, thus the CBRP sees more action from soccer and rugby currently, and generates more revenue from those two sports.

The facility is affordable to local cricketers, it would cost cricketers using the facility a mere $4 a man per game to play in the CBRP, on beautifully manicured outfields. Such a situation begs the question – why don’t local cricketers support the CBRP when soccer and rugby players fill the Park with fun, food and their families ?.Or can the facility be marketed differently to appeal to the local cricketing community? The bottom-line is – What is the cost of not supporting such a fine facility?

Opened in November 2007, the stadium came along at a time when US national cricket was in a holding pattern and it was soon being described as a “white elephant”.

Things changed in March 2009 when the first American College Cricket Spring Break Championshipwas held in the CBRP on the side fields.The New York Times spent three days covering the college championship with a huge article and video – both of which went National and International. Referred to by Sports Illustrated as a “must-see video,” it highlighted the cricket stadium at Central Broward Regional Park as a “Field of Dreams,” for the organizers of the Championship, and the players.

Planning for 2010, American College Cricket had an option to move its Championship, but its commitment to supporting the facility was steadfast. When the stadium and County officials lowered the price American College Cricket took early advantage by reserving the stadium for three days and nights in March 2010. Within close proximity to the beaches and a youth-oriented party scene, the CBRP is ideally suited for a College Spring Break sports event such as cricket.

Now the recent agreement between USA Cricket and New Zealand Cricket could finally bring international cricket to the stadium and the Fort Lauderdale area, with some international matches slated for next year. The economic impact on the commercial area could pay significant dividends for Lauderhill and neighboring towns.The CBRP facility is not even a kangaroo hop from the cricket loving Caribbean, and the area has the right weather forecasts all year round for the “Barmy Army” type cricket followers of the majority of the ICC Full Member nations.

New Zealand Cricket CEO Dr. Justin Vaughn said, “It’s a beautiful ground for cricket. The facilities seem top-notch.” That was an unbiased and ringing endorsement from an ICC Full Member. Bringing the 2009 USACA National League Championships to the park in October was a step in the right direction.

Despite this hopeful future, as recently as this past August, there was a movement to make the CBRP into a Track and Field Park, particularly for the Florida Caribbean Games, it was another attempt to stake claim to the facility by non-cricketing groups.

Appearing before the County Commissioners to speak on behalf of retaining the stadium as a premier cricket facility were Allan Gopie, a local cricketer and radio personality, Miramar City Commissioner Yvonne Garth, Broward County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin, and then Lauderhill Commissioner Joseph Eggelleston, and American College Cricket Vice President Nino DiLoreto.

Nino DiLoreto told the County Commissioners, “The CBRP, the City of Lauderhill and Broward County received valuable exposure as a result of the American College Cricket Championship. We did all of this without asking for any money from the County. As a matter of fact, the Championship contributed much needed revenue to the Park and surrounding businesses. American College Cricket will once again hold its American College Cricket Spring Break Championship from March 17-21, 2010 at the CBRP. I am happy to report that we’ll have a field of 20 Universities from throughout the United States, as well as the University of the West Indies.”

DiLoreto continued, “The South Florida area is a world class tourist destination and has played host to BIG TIME EVENTS such as Super Bowls, World Series, The Breeders Cup, NBA All-Star Games, etc. Now we can add that South Florida will be the home of the American College Cricket Spring Break Championship. This event will attract hundreds of cricket student athletes.The Championship is a win-win event for South Florida, Broward County and cricket fans. To accomplish this we need the cricket facilities to remain intact.”

Such appeals by DiLoreto, Gopie and the County and City Commissioners were successful and cricket remains a prime raison d’être of the Central Broward Regional Park – the only cricket stadium in the USA and Canada.

Still we must be on guard to protect such a fine facility that offers so much in a family-oriented recreational setting. With basketball, netball and tennis courts, in addition to a 1.5-mile walking trail, the facility is an ideal family recreational facility. Children of all ages can enjoy the safe surrounding playground areas, without interrupting the game of cricket. Cricketers and cricket fans – bring your families!

The Central Broward Regional Park is truly a Field of Dreams – OUR Field of Dreams…are we going to support it, or let it be taken away ?

This article was originally published Nov 2009 -written by Lloyd Jodah