Posted on 07/28/2006 9:15:06 AM PDT by BaBaStooey
United States of America Cricket Association WORLD CRICKET LEAGUE QUALIFIER – AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP
2006 WCLQ SQUAD
Steve Massiah - Captain (New York Region) Jignesh Desai - Vice Captain (Southwest Region) Khawaja Shuja - (Central West Region) Chintan Patel - (Atlantic Region) Abhishek Pawar - (Southwest Region) Akeem Dodson - (New York Region) Sushil Nadkarni - (Central West Region) Niraj Shah - (Central West Region) Carl Wright - (Atlantic Region) Steve Pitter - (New York Region) Fauad Hasan - (Northwest Region) Gowkaran Roopnarine - (Atlantic Region) Lennox Cush - (New York Region) Imran Awan - (Atlantic Region)
Mustaq Muhhamed - Coach Orville Hall - Manager
SCHEDULE -- WORLD CRICKET LEAGUE QUALIFIER – AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIP Aug. 21 CAYMAN ISLANDS vs USA at Maple Leaf C.C. Aug. 23 USA vs ARGENTINA at G. Ross Lord Park Aug. 25 BERMUDA vs USA at Maple Leaf C.C. Aug. 26 CANADA vs USA at Maple Leaf C.C.
The USA is in Division 3 of what is known as the World Cricket League. This division also contains Paupa New Guinea, Uganda, and five regional qualifiers, one of which will be either Argentina or the Cayman Islands.
This series of matches between the North American teams are warmups for the Division 3 Championships. If the USA can finish in the top two of that tournament, then they will move up to Division 2.
The teams in Division 2 are the Denmark, Namibia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and the two best teams in Division 3. The top four teams in the Division 2 championship will move on to the 2011 World Cup Qualifier.
Since the USA would like to qualify for the World Cup in 2011, it is important that they play well in this Americas Championship.
Since the matches are being held in Toronto, it will be easy for Americans who are interested in this sort of thing to attend and watch their national team in action.
Here are the web sites of the two cricket grounds where these matches are being held:
Many of the players on the roster listed above were members of the USA XI who played two very competitive matches with a world class West Indies XI earlier this month in Brooklyn. I will update this thread with additional information as the tournament date approaches. USA! USA!
Can someone explain the scoring system to me? I've never understood what the hell radio announcers in the UK were talking about when announcing results.
Will there be headbutting or doping allowed?
I thought head butting and doping was only allowed for the Polo Team.......
"That was a wicked Googly!"
Its not too difficult. Just like baseball, you hit the ball, then you run.
Working as a 2-man team with the other batsman, you run back and forth between the wickets (which are spaced 66 feet apart). Running from one to the other is 1 run.
The object of the game is to score as many runs as possible, with the winning team scoring more runs. The job of the fielding side (the other guys) is to prevent the runs from being scored, while trying to get you out.
It's got a bat and a ball and that's all I know.
That much I've got. But there's a lot of technical slang, like "overs" and "centuries" that folks need to know (only some of which I know). The scoring announcing in cricket is very confusing to the uninitated as a result.
And then there's the fact that the number of runs scorred might not matter in a test match if it's not finished in time--resulting in a draw--hence the (to my mind perfectly charming) fact that one can 'declare'--end your side's inning early by your team's choice--so that a draw doesn't result by taking up too much time (and keep an eye on the sky, the five days don't get extended simply because you can't play in the rain). (A tie--very rare--is what it sounds like, both sides have scored the same number or runs when the last batsman is out. A draw is a match ending without winnner because it was not completed.)
(The fact that the crucial stategict decision in a test match is when to decide you've scored enough, and be gentlemanly and let the other side have their inning, while charming to me, is probably the main reason cricket has very little chance of catching on in the US.)
Good luck and godspeed to our team, though.
You've actually got a pretty good grip on the game, from your explanation.
The thing I initially thought when I first started watching cricket was that it was pretty goofy that a game could go on for five days and result in a draw. That was before I ever saw one and understood what a draw really meant and how it could affect a series.
In reality, a draw gives a team who doesn't have a chance at winning something to play for. There is nothing more boring than a baseball game where a team like the Yankees is leading 15-1 in the fifth inning. Might as well turn the channel and see what else is on, maybe check back in 10-15 minutes and yup, they're still ahead by about a thousand runs.
The option of the draw actually gives that team losing 15-1 something to play for. Imagine being down by that amount and actually having the ability to prevent the team who just piled runs on you from winning the game! It is the ultimate form of revenge if you think about it.
In the context of a multi-match series, the draw can be extremely important. In last summer's five match series between England and Australia, the Aussies won the first match easily, while England won the second by 2 runs in a thriller.
In the third match, England (batting first) declared, and were leading by 422 runs when Australia began their second innings. Needing either 423 runs to win (a very improbable target), or to bat all day long for a draw, Australia batted defensively, which made it harder for England's bowlers to get them out. But they attacked, and wickets fell all day.
One man stood up to the attack of the bowlers, the Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting, who scored a "century" (which is an individual total of 100 runs or more), scoring 156 off of 275 balls, spending a total of 6 hours, 51 minutes at bat in the middle of the field. Then, with only 25 balls left for Australia to earn their draw, Ponting was out.
In walked Australia's weakest batter, Glenn McGrath. Imagine your favorite baseball team needing a clutch hit late in the game, but no pinch hitters left on the bench, and a pitcher with about a .175 average finds he must bat for himself. That was what Australia faced. McGrath and another bowler, Brett Lee (who is actually a decent hitter, think Bronson Arroyo's hitting performance for the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season) faced the final 24 balls, knowing that if either of them got out, England, the "home team," would take a powerful 2-1 lead in the 5 match series with 2 matches to go.
Lee and McGrath defended the final 24 balls to earn the draw for Australia. In the end, it didn't make much difference as England went on to win the fourth match and draw the fifth, winning the series 2-1. However, at the time, it was a very important result.
I basically initiated myself into the world of cricket by watching recordings of international matches. The terminology isn't entirely familiar at first, but it isn't too hard to pick up as you go along. Some of the announcers, like former Australian batsman Michael Slater, former Indian batsman Sanjay Mandrekar, former Australian legspinner Richie Benaud, and former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott, are very entertaining to listen to.
whats the whole thing about 66 wickets over 4 and all that.
Since its impossible for there to be more than 40 total wickets (for both sides) in a 5-day match, the "66 wickets" example might be a tad unrealistic.
However, what I think you might be trying to say is...
"What does it mean when they say that Australia is 66 for 4?"
The answer is...Australia is batting, and they have scored 66 runs while losing four wickets. Four of their batsmen have got out in the course of scoring 66 runs. Which really isn't a good thing, because the batsmen at the top of the batting order are supposed to score more runs than that. Especially Australia, who are very good at scoring runs. But I'm rambling now.
England currently is in a Test Match with Pakistan. These matches last a maximum of five days. They just finished the second day and it's England 461/9d - Pakistan 119 & 12/0.
Each team gets two innings, has eleven batters and plays two batters at all times. Therefore, when ten men are out, your team is "all out" -- even though one man is not out.
Pakistan was all out in the first innings (yes singular ends in "s") for 119 runs -- a very poor score. Top scorer for Pakistan was Younis Khan with 44. Bowlers for England who did well were Harmison 6/19 and Panesar 3/21. That means Harmison took six wickets (i.e. got six men out) and only gave up 19 runs. If you averaged 19 runs give up per wicket you'd be the best bowler in the world, so 6/19 is outstanding.
England scored 461 runs and only had 9 out -- the "d" means they declared (stopped batting) so that Pakistan would have to bat a bit at the end of today. The lead is so hugh and series that it was good strategery to make Pakistan bat, hoping for a wicket (out) today. Even though there are three days left, if it rains -- no play. Many poor teams have been saved by bad weather.
Cook and Bell scored 127 and 106 runs for England -- both called "centuries" or "tons" (100 runs). Cook outscored Pakistan all by himself.
The 12/0 means Pakistan got 12 runs without losing a wicket. If England can get 10 wickets before Pakistan gets another 330 runs, then the match is over and England doesn't bat again.
Cricket is a lot like baseball in that there are lots of stats.
Correction:
USA Cricket Team to play in International Tournament in August, September and October
Ha ha. This is one-day cricket.
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