July 6, 2011
The selections for the US T20 senior side and U19 side are done and dusted. They have been critiqued here and elsewhere. There have been some shocking exclusions and a few strange inclusions, with a lot of speculations on the reasons behind these. But there are also many deserving players who have been selected, presumably on merit but one can never tell as little is known on how selections work and how selectors think.
Much is at stake as the US senior and junior sides get ready to participate in international tournaments in July and August. For the senior side, the goal is to finish in the top two to qualify for further T20 competition leading to the T20 CWC in 2012. For the U19 side, the goal is to finish in the top six of the ten teams that will compete so that they can qualify for the U19 CWC also in 2012. Neither of these goals should be considered gimmes.
In a few weeks, we will get a chance to reflect and analyze how these teams did and, in turn, how the coaches and selectors did. Until then, lets enjoy watching, hearing and reading about our national teams' performances and lets hope that their campaigns are successful.
Showing posts with label T20. Show all posts
Showing posts with label T20. Show all posts
June 18, 2011
USACA's 2011 T20 tournament: A muddling, puddling event
It was sunny and warm in Plano, Texas the weekend of June 18/19 which was supposed to be the site of USACA's first T20 tournament. Thanks to extraordinary changes effected by Munaf Mohammed, the USACA operations czar, the tournament was moved abruptly to New York. Reasons for this sudden venue change were never clearly explained but clarity has never been the strong suit of the always-secretive USACA of the last decade. One vacuous explanation was that hotel rates were too high ($90/night with a hot Texas breakfast included) but at least they didn't need a bullet-proof cashier window like the ones in East Orange, NJ where our finest cricketers are lodging.
The first day of the tournament (on Friday) was washed out and the picture of a puddle-ridden field with grass high enough to hide a cricket ball framed the bungling that USACA routinely seems to get away with.
There was some action on Saturday but only after the brave among the cricketers proceeded to remove pieces of glass (that once cradled cheap beer) all over the alternate not-so-puddled cricket field. Think about sliding to stop a boundary and instead cutting yourself silly. It was confusing as well to follow these matches from afar as none of the changes to the tournament format were announced by USACA on their website. But for Dreamcricket's live coverage, it would have impossible to know who was playing who, when and where even if you lived in NJ.
Four ~15-over "group" matches were played Saturday (CER bt NWR, NYR bt SER, SWR bt CWR, NWR bt SWR) while four more "group" matches were played on Sunday (NER bt SER, ATL bt NYR, CWR bt CER, ATL bt NER). The teams with the best records in the Western and Eastern conferences played the final (a 12 over per side affair) and the Atlantic region came away winners.
The selectors (yes, all of them) watched the rain, the glass picking, and the cricket to soon select a team that will play first against its Americas peers in Florida in July. Assuming the US do well, they will go to the UAE to play against other wannabes to gain the right to be on the field at the World Cup T20 tournament.
The first day of the tournament (on Friday) was washed out and the picture of a puddle-ridden field with grass high enough to hide a cricket ball framed the bungling that USACA routinely seems to get away with.
There was some action on Saturday but only after the brave among the cricketers proceeded to remove pieces of glass (that once cradled cheap beer) all over the alternate not-so-puddled cricket field. Think about sliding to stop a boundary and instead cutting yourself silly. It was confusing as well to follow these matches from afar as none of the changes to the tournament format were announced by USACA on their website. But for Dreamcricket's live coverage, it would have impossible to know who was playing who, when and where even if you lived in NJ.
Four ~15-over "group" matches were played Saturday (CER bt NWR, NYR bt SER, SWR bt CWR, NWR bt SWR) while four more "group" matches were played on Sunday (NER bt SER, ATL bt NYR, CWR bt CER, ATL bt NER). The teams with the best records in the Western and Eastern conferences played the final (a 12 over per side affair) and the Atlantic region came away winners.
The selectors (yes, all of them) watched the rain, the glass picking, and the cricket to soon select a team that will play first against its Americas peers in Florida in July. Assuming the US do well, they will go to the UAE to play against other wannabes to gain the right to be on the field at the World Cup T20 tournament.
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