REGISTER for the American College Cricket Spring Break Championship : Contact Lloyd Jodah,President. Dogevpr2@aim.com , 646 515 0712

EXCLUSIVE MEDIA PARTNER : In USA & Canada, TV Asia will televise the Semis & Finals of the Spring Break Championship (nationals), and the Semis & Finals at least 6 of our Regionals in 2012. International options are being explored.
http://tvasiausa.com/images/pdf/acc.pdf

Additionally highlights will be shown from the regionals & nationals other matches and reports on American College Cricket clubs throughout the year.

TV Asia will host a Bollywood concert in the break between the Semis & finals on March 18

FLIGHTS : the nationals is March 13 -18 – a fun time to be in Florida so millions of college kids will be going there. The earlier you can book your flights the better.

TEAM COMPOSITION : Undergrads, Grads, MD & Phd students, & up to 2 alumni in the playing XI (if your school rules allow) . A minimum of 2 Undergrads. The touring squad may be as large as you wish.

As in all our tournaments, ROSTERS are verified by the school. Teams must be picked regardless of nationality.

UNIFORMS : All uniforms must have your school and American College Cricket logos ONLY. No exceptions.Teams not adhering to this will NOT play. Going forward new uniforms will have “American College Cricket” written across the torso (see 2011 York College photo) – before ordering uniforms contact Lloyd.
HATS : must be school or American College Cricket caps or hats or plain.

DOWN THE LEGSIDE : this is not baseball,with a known strike zone. Balls deemed playable on the legside (within about 3 inches of the leg stump) will NOT be called a wide – so practice your leg-side shots !

FACEBOOK : Every player must “like” the Facebook Fanpage of our website: “AmericanCollegeCricket.com”.

WHERE & WHEN : Ft Lauderdale, Florida…….March 13 – 18, 2012. March 12 available for practice.

FIELDS : As in the past 3 Championships we will use the CBRP (Central Broward Regional Park) Cricket Stadium (ICC-Certified for ODIs) & its satellite fields, as well as Brian Piccolo fields in Ft Lauderdale Flordia.
http://www.broward.org/Parks/CentralBrowardRegionalPark/Pages/Default.aspx

The Stadium’s wicket is TURF. The satellite fields are ARTIFICIAL (not matting or carpet) that drain well and play fast and bouncy.Brian Piccolo wickets are turf, but they have been playing with a matting on top for cost savings.

The outfields are the best in the USA. The grass is cut low.

HOTEL : We have used Quality Inn Sawgrass Conference Center .They have provided us with a good rate & facilities, allowing 4 to a room. Free hot breakfast. Free transportation to & from the Stadium fields. Free Wi Fi.
http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-plantation-florida-FL798?promo=pmfgqifl798&chain=Q&seg=stAFYfl8i|pmt|b&aid=10327316233&pkw=quality%20inn%20sawgrass%20conference%20center&tid=1547ere10489

We will announce when you can start booking at this hotel. Teams staying anywhere else are responsible for their own transportation to & from the fields.

NEARBY BEACHES etc – The beaches and attractions of Ft Lauderdale, South Beach and Miami are all close by.

SCORING : Each team will provide a scorer for each game. The games at the Stadium will be computer-scored.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS : Many of our players have been interviewed by their college & other media such as New York Times, Washington Post, NY Daily News, India Times, etc. TV Asia will also be interviewing you so be prepared to speak in front of a camera, as a representative of your College team, and American College Cricket.

Do NOT refer to cricket as a “gentleman’s game” !

CLUBS ON THE WEB: I suggest every club have a Facebook group or Fanpage (you figure out which is better), and a page on your College’s website. You can also send major info to AmericanCollegeCricket.com.
I DON”T recommend you have your own website – its too much work, & often difficult to get someone to maintain it.

CONFERENCES : Last year we webcast the drawing of the groups. This year we will either televise on TV Asia or webcast the drawing. This year the Top 8 seeds will be separated, so we don’t have the “Group of Death” like last year.

Therefore your Ranking going into the Championship is important – how can you help your ranking outside of tournaments ? Post AmericanCollegeCricket.com articles on Facebook & other Social Media.

Do other off the field activities – get an article in your college media ! This will also help your team earn Bonus Points going into the Championship.

UMPIRES, FIELDS, BALLS,STUMPS : are provided by American College Cricket.

HELMETS : mandatory against all medium & fast bowlers. Mandatory for in close fielders & wicketkeeper standing up.

TIME LIMITS : Each game will finish in 3 hours or less – we have done this for the past 3 years, & it works well.
We’re adding penalties for delays by batting or fielding side.

NUMBER OF GAMES : In 2010 we played 47 games, in 2011 over 65 in 5 days. In 2012 each team will play a minmum of 3 or 4 matches, plus the playoffs & Finals if you make it.

SPONSORS: do NOT sign an agreement with a sponsor without contacting Lloyd.

EQUIPMENT : our preferred vender is CricketzoneUSA.com, contact Ravi 347 387 2381.

American College Cricket GEAR : is now available for purchasing through CricketzoneUSA – check our website.

COLLEGE SOCCER FIELDS: Thanks to Arvin Varma & the Trojans Cricket Club, we used the USC soccer field for the West Coast Championship – using a matting pitch. It was incredible ! The outfield was the best we have played on anywhere – resulting in REAL batting – not “bush” cricket !

Work with your college admin to get access to school soccer fields to play ! Contact Lloyd for more info.

QUESTIONS or to start a club in your college , contact Lloyd Jodah by phone, email or Facebook.

American College Cricket staged the 2nd Annual game between the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins for the Varma-Sentance Trophy, to begin the West Coast Championship. The game was played under floodlights at Cromwell Track & Field Stadium on the USC campus on Friday night.

It seemed like deja vu, as the UCLA Captain Abhinav Singh smashed 72 in trying to lead his team to victory against the Tojans. Like last year’s effort by then UCLA Captain Junayd Bandaya the effort was in vain and USC won the game.

Sat and Sunday the West Coast Championship took place on the Pac 12 soccer field of USC where tailgating USC fans watched their cricket team go on to retain the West Coast Championship,defeating UC Riverside and Thunderbird Graduate School for Global Management.
TV Asia reported on the Championship.

So it was with USC tailgaters watching, American College Cricketers battled on the USC soccer field – delighting in playing on the best outfield I have seen a cricket game played on in the USA !

The tailgaters ate & drank, and asked questions about cricket and what they were witnessing – they the unexpected cricket contest as a build up to the USC Trojans vs UCLA Bruins football game !

CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE WHOLE.

The Trojans Cricket Club of the University of Southern California (USC) and the Southern California Junior Cricket Association hosted the American College Cricket West Coast Championship this Thanksgiving Weekend for the TV Asia Trophy.

The perfect outfield was fast, and allowed playing of shots like real cricket – along the ground! This was definitely not “bush cricket” as novelist Joseph O’Neill said.

Ammerican College Cricket Advisory Board members David Sentance and Arvin Varma played huge roles in a delightful weekend of competition, as a TV Asia crew reported on the West Coast Championship – next year the 3 games – the Semis and the Finals will be televised from California.

The USC Trojans played undefeated winning all their games, including the Finals vs Thunderbird Graduate School of Global Management. Ravi Thimbawala was declared the Championship MVP for his batting which included scores of 74,44 and 32. Ravi also took 4 wickets with his medium pace, and a run out.

UC Riverside made their American College Cricket debut, won 1 game and lost 1.

The Thunderbird team once again made the 8 hour drive from Arizona, and lost in the Finals for the 2nd year to USC.

USC won their game against rivals UCLA Bruins, just as the Trojans did later in football.

The air was electric as thousands of fans tailgated Saturday for the USC/UCLA football game – hundreds did so whilst watching the American College Cricket teams play on the USC campus.

In 1971 “Every Picture tells a Story” by Rock Legend Rod Stewart became the first album ever to top both the American & British Charts simultaneously. The album is “a mixture of rock, country, blues, soul, and folk ” and includes the huge hit “Maggie May” about many schoolboys’ fantasy.

Every picture from the 2011 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship tells a story about the effort of the members of American College Cricket to raise the profile of the game and bring it back into the American & Canadian mainstream – keep spreading the photos on Facebook, and the word.

Photos by Greg Uzelac (Northwestern) – College Media & College Cricket players may use.

The team for Thunderbird School of Global Management for the 2011 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship:

Sidharth Madhav (Captain)
Venkat Srinivasan (WK)
Rohan Verma
Parth Bahuguna
Vinit Modi
Amitesh Kumar
Digvijay Kanwar
Bhadra Venkata
Ivjot Kohli
Vivek Pappu
Varun Sikand or Aarohan Singh
Abilash Mishra
Ankit Dhawan
Sudeep Misra
Phalgun Balasubramanian or Nitin Sahni

Thunderbird School at the 2010 American College Cricket Championship

CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE FULL SIZE. College media may use without further authorisation. College cricket players may use to promote their teams & for personal use.

Amanda Mcleod (Ms Topanga Canyon) speaks with Thunderbird
 
Amanda with the T-Birds’ Captain Phalgun

Former T-Birds Captain Sudeep Misra

The American College Cricket train rolls across the USA to California for the West Coast Championship. The USC Marching Band will be on hand at Cromwell Field as the Championship kicks off with a matchup between arch rivals USC and UCLA, as the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins face off on the University of Southern Califormia campus in the first of an Annual game to be played between the 2 colleges. One week later, on Dec 4 USC and UCLA play football at the Rose Bowl.

Thunderbird School of Global Management makes the trip from Arizona to reprise their battle with USC – Thunderbird got the win in a very close game at the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship in March in Florida but the Trojans’ 6 ft 6″ fast bowler Tarun Sandhu is aiming for a different result this time.

Cal State Long Beach is an experienced team, and should give USC and Thunderbird tough fights. UC Davis is new, and an unknown quantity and will be accompanied by UC Davis’ tight end Cameron Sentance. Sentance is also a cricket player, but will not be playing as he is recovering from a football injury. However they are led by Shiva Vashishat.

Shiva Vashishat captained the USA team at the 2010 World Cup (for Under 19 players) in New Zealand. To make it there meant the USA ,despite being grossly under-prepared,was one of the top 16 teams in world cricket, at the Under 19 level. And Shiva Vashishat was the Captain !

Vashishat is also a tremendous batsman, AmericanCollegeCricket.com asked Shiva:

You captained the USA team in the World Cup (Under 19). What did this mean to you ?

- My biggest achievment in my life was to lead the USA to the ICC U-19 World Cup. Means a lot to me because this is only the 2nd time the USA U-19 has done so, and also gives me motivation to keep working hard.

The USA being at the World Cup means that we were one of the top 16 teams (Under 19) in the world…..what does this say about our talent ?

- It says a lot about our talent, and potential. But I believe a lot of things can be done to help the young cricketers to improve their cricket, which can change our potential to execution. We should have placed higher in the U-19 World Cup. Imagine where we’ll be now that we have 50 College teams playing the game !

One of the first things you did upon being accepted into college (at UC Davis) was to contact Lloyd Jodah. You had met Lloyd when he arranged for the NY Daily News to travel to Toronto to do a major story on the team’s game at the ICC World Cup Qualifier against Afhganistan. You told Lloyd you wanted to be a part of American College Cricket – why ?

- It was a exciting opportunity to be involved in a academically tough university, and know I can be playing cricket at the same time while I am here. So I decided to contact Lloyd and get cricket going officially in UC Davis. The future of American cricket is at the college level.

In a short time recognition of the importance of college cricket has skyrocketed, as evidenced by Ohio State University President E Gordon Gee joining the Advisory Board of American College Cricket,and College of Wooster having cricket as their Homecoming Game this past October. But when you, the captain of the USA in a World Cup, requested to start a cricket club at UC Davis it did not appear to have been greeted with enthusiasm. Tell us about that:

- I don’t think they recognized the importance of cricket in the world, or the achievements of USA cricket. So they were more worried about their own issues, and I don’t think they understood the positives that UC Davis Cricket would’ve have brought to their university.

We are coming to the close of another passion-filled exciting College Football season, filled with pageantry and school pride, and this Thanksgiving you get to be a small part of this huge American college sports scene, when you lead a cricket team from UC Davis vs a big sports name like USC.How does that feel ?

- Thrilled. College Cricket is true American cricket. When we step out on the field, its putting cricket in the same light as other American sports like football and basketball.

Do you think UC Davis has the talent to win the West Coast Championship ? and next March the nationals, the 3rd American College Cricket Spring Break Championship for the Shiv Chanderpaul Trophy ?

- I personally have never played against any of these colleges so its hard to say whether we will win the championsip, but I will say that my boys love to play ball! Very excited to play these colleges, especially a big name like USC. Want to see at what level of cricket these colleges play.

Who is your favorite cricket player ? Batsman ? Bowler ?

- Favorite cricket player and batsman is Rahul Dravid.Favorite bowler is Shane Warne.

What has cricket meant to your life so far ?

- Cricket is my way of life. Has taught me how to live my life with discipline, commitment, cope with problems, and enjoy it at the same time. It is one of the most important parts of my life, and I’d like to add:
I’ve been following the accomplishments of American College Cricket over the past 2 years, and what Mr Jodah has done is amazing ! so I’m ecstatic to be a part of American College Cricket !

The West Coast Championship is the 5th regional college cricket championship held this Fall, involving 30 colleges,by American College Cricket, supported by BIG League USA.

Purdue University won the E Gordon Gee Trophy at the Midwest Championship from other Big 10 schools like Ohio State, University of Iowa, Michigan State,and Indiana University plus College of Wooster and Carnegie Mellon.

Rutgers won the Northeast Championship from the Adrian Gordon-led NYU-Poly, Boston University, City College of NY and York College.

North Carolina State won the MidAtlantic from George Mason,Virginia Tech, UMBC, Montgomery College, Penn State and George Washington University.

Auburn won the Southeast Championship at the “American College Cricket” Stadium in Central Broward Regional Park from the UF Gators, University of Central Florida, Florida International University, University of South Florida,UMiami (UM) and University of Tampa. The Southeast Championship also saw the launch by BIG League USA of the BIG Broward Cricket League and the BIG Broward Cricket Academy where college cricketers are being coached.

Now the amazing Woodley Fields will see its first college cricket as its time to determine the best in the West – and shake up the national rankings !

Except for the USC vs UCLA game, on the USC campus,all games will be played at Woodley Fields (offically the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex), beginning at 10 am sharp on Saturday morning. 9.30 am on Sunday.

SCHEDULE:
Fri Fri Night USC vs UCLA (Tapeball) on USC Campus at Cromwell Field,under lights. The USC Marching Band will be present.

Sat -2 fields
UC Davis vs USC Cal State vs T-Birds
T Birds vs USC Cal State vs UC Davis

Sunday – 2 Fields
USC vs Cal State T Birds vs UC Davis

FinalsTIMES:: Friday 7. pm

Saturday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM and 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Sunday: 2 games simultaneously starting at 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM

FINAL: 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM

U 19 USA Captain Shiva Vashishat spinning toss with Australia’s Mitchell Marsh at the Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand

Shiva off driving vs Ireland U 19

USC Trojans cricket team at the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship in the Stadium, in March

Thunderbird School of Global Management at the 2010 national Championship in Florida last March

Junayd Banday UCLA