The 1st US Military Cricket Team makes Final 4 !
In 2011 American College Cricket President Lloyd Jodah helped start a NYPD Officers Cricket team. Within a short time matches were played vs the Pakistan Embassy Security team in NYC, and Toronto Police came to Queens to play. Lloyd was actively involved with these occasions including getting TV Asia to show up to do a report and interviews. He also arranged for Umpires. The NYPD Officers Club kept developing, playing in the Commonwealth League, and touring Toronto, England, Ireland and the Caribbean.
Knowledgeable about US cricket history, Lloyd often talked about when George Washington and the Troops played cricket at Valley Forge, so a US Military Cricket Team became a natural idea. The 1844 cricket match between USA and Canada in NYC was the 1st sporting event between 2 countries, and marked the 1st time young men from 2 different countries “fought” each other on a Playing field, instead of a Battle field. Who knows how many wars have been averted because men had a peaceful means to “battle” each other ?
Around 2012 a Sargeant stationed in Afghanistan contacted Lloyd to get cricket donations for playing with Afghan boys. TV Asia wanted to make this a big project but it didn’t get required approval. However it was clear the role cricket could play in American relations with countries like Pakistan & Afghanistan, just as Ping Pong Diplomacy had in the 1970s with China.
Later a former Navy Seal, Nick, who went back to college, played American College Cricket for Penn for a couple of years and developed a friendship with Lloyd, & served as a reminder of the possibilities. So when Husnain Bashir, a 2019 College Player of the Year, became a US Marine, it was only natural that starting a Military Cricket Team was discussed.
“Initially we talked about starting a US Marines team, and I told Husnain if we were able to, the team could play in Nationals – since the Army & Navy have teams that play College football. However I knew getting enough cricket players in the Marines would be improbable to start so I said we can make it a joint forces team – US Military in general, including members who were no longer active – I even knew a few of them. Husnain “recruited” the players, getting replacements when injuries, or call of duty, prevented a few from playing. Definitely challenging for Husnain getting such a team to play in Nationals, but he met the challenge and the the team turned out to be a strong one.
The team has players who served in all the branches except the Coast Guard – Army, Navy, Air Force, US Marines as well as US Navy Seals (he injured & didn’t actually play).
Cricclubs sponsored the uniforms, and as a further recognition the Military Team was scheduled to play all of their matches in magnificent Broward Stadium, an internationally certified cricket Stadium. To me just getting the US Military on the field would have been enough of an achievement but instead they played really well, and only lost to UF Gators in the Final Four. To be clear, this team was not put together by the State Dept or Military authorities, it was an American College Cricket effort and is the first step in striving for official recognition by Military authorities but already we have British Army Cricket interested in coming to USA to play our US Military Team. So next up is probably a Military cricket tournament.
In brief chats with members of the team it was clear they appreciated the opportunity to be a part of a ground breaking effort like this, playing in the Stadium and being recognized as cricket players and men who served their country. US Marine Husnain Bashir has made an indelible mark in US cricket history, and hopefully it’ll be seen as such in US Military history as well.”
For media inquiries, or more info Contact Lloyd @AmericanCollegeCricket.com . We’d be happy to supply Photos & videos.
US Military vs Arkansas State – USM wonASU 120 all out; Herrera 3 wickets for 14 runs, Bashir 3 for 25.US M 123 for 5 in 19.2 overs. A close game. Dekate 3 for 38.
US Military vs UT Arlington – USM wonUSM- 184/6, Harrison 56, Dutchin 31UTA- 130/7 , Bollina 59
Toronto Met vs US Military – USM wonTMU- 161/6 , Sajjad 74 USM- 164/5 in 17 overs, Herrera 70*, Wadsworth 53
Semis- US Military vs UF Gators – UF wonUSM- 162/5 Mitchell 69UF – 163/3 in 18.2 , Gangwar 81, Vignesh 56*
