Many of our members gave performances in 2013 that made them strong contenders for Newcomer of the Year. The Nationals in March, the Regionals in Fall and the Home & Away games gave more opportunities to more members to exhibit your talent, as players on the field and American College Cricket leaders off the field. The nominees were Duane George (Rutgers), Maeez Veqar (Drexel), Nikhil Dutta (Ryerson), Umer Syed (UT Arlington),Rahul Bhanot (UMBC), Prathmesh Jakkanwar (Northeastern), Vivek Jayaram (Harvard), Inder Naga (UT Arlington), Amber Bhargava (Carnegie), Danny Yetman (Harvard), Parth Patel (BU), Sam Selvaraj (Auburn).

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Disappointedly a couple of clubs did not vote for their players. Nevertheless having our stats nearly 100% on Crichq made assessment easier this year – reinforcement of the importance of ensuring all clubs use Crichq in the correct manner.

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Making his American College Cricket debut in 2013 Amber Bhargava of Carnegie Mellon Tartans scored 213 runs with a highest score of 106*, and an average of 71 (batting left handed). He took 11 wickets for 98 runs with his right-arm leg spin. At the North East Championship Bhargava was the MVP, his all round performance being the catalyst for American College Cricket pioneer club Carnegie Mellon to give their strongest performance ever, coming close to defeating Ryerson University.

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What he’ll be remembered for though is his 106* smashed off 41 balls with 4 fours & 13 sixes. 7 of those 6’s came in consecutive balls, and Amber’ 2nd 50 was struck in 9 balls ! As Crichq’s Jamie Paul Lloyd said,  “I was lucky enough to witness Amber Bhargava smash his way to 106* in the American College Cricket North East Championship. It was an innings very similar to one a certain Corey Anderson scored recently. It was not slogging, it was great stroke play, against a bowling attack that seemed really good ! “

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What makes this even more remarkable, is that unlike ICC rules for ODIs & T20’s, American College Cricket does not call wides for balls pitched outside legstump as long as its within about 6 inches of the wicket. The bowlers therefore have more latitude & freedom, and the batsman cannot predict that the ball will be pitched middle to off.

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Being a match televised by TV Asia, the innings had special significance as it was entertainment galore for the viewers, and a great advertisement for the talent of American College Cricketers.

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The 6 ft strongly built 180lbs Bhargava is an MBA student at Carnegie Mellon University, and will graduate in 2014. He said, “I hail from the colorful state of Rajasthan and started playing cricket at an early age. I represented my state junior team for 5 years and captained the sub-junior team for 2 consecutive years. I also played for Central-Zone U-17 team for two years during this time. I was among 25 junior cricketers from all over India to get selected for All India junior national training camp in Mumbai.”

“Apart from playing cricket, I am a self-proclaimed techie. Along with working in the IT industry for 5 years, I have developed applications for smartphones and tablets.” the future MBA said.

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American College Cricket President Lloyd Jodah stated, “Bhargava’s strokeplay was exquisite. Technically, he was extremely proficient even as he struck 6 after 6 out of the ground. Watching him hit 7 consecutive 6’s was beyond thrilling, plus he graced the field with other delightful strokeplay. We’ve had some excellent centuries, and other innings, from our batsmen and Amber’s century on TV Asia represented them all brilliantly.”

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Bhargava said, “American College Cricket is a great platform for anyone who wants to play competitive cricket in U.S. The facilities provided by American College Cricket have been amazing and are on  par with what I use to get back home in India. 

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Amber Bhargava (Carnegie) is the 2013 American College Cricket Newcomer of the Year !

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The American College Cricket National Championship is March 12 – 16,2014 and registration has begun for member clubs.  American College Cricket & TV Asia has so far televised 30 matches since Oct 2011 all over the USA & Canada – the Semis & Finals of the 2014 Nationals will alo be televised by TV Asia sponsored by Coca Cola & Dish Network. Contact Lloyd at Dogevpr2@aim.com for info.