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!
Correction:
USA Cricket Team to play in International Tournament in August, September and October
Heh heh this squad almost sounds like an India B team. LOL!
Today is the first match for the USA.
I will post the scorecard link and recap once the match is over. Here is the schedule for the day's play:
Start and Cessation Times:
First Session 10.30 - 14.00
Interval (Lunch) 14.00 - 14.45
Second Session 14.45 - 18.15
I have received word that the USA are 77 for 1 after 19 overs. They are likely batting first. 77 runs in 19 overs is a semi-healthy run rate of 4.05. If they maintain that for a full 50 overs, that will bring them to a score of about 203 runs. Not a great total, but a respectable one. If they do not lose any more wickets for a while, they will be able to bat more aggressively as the game goes on, and hopefully increase the run rate.
I will continue to update this thread if I hear anything more about today's play.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I will be posting in-match details of the all important USA-Bermuda (Aug 25, today) and USA-Canada (Aug 26, tomorrow) matches in this thread.
When these matches end I will, as I have so far for the first 2 matches, start a separate thread containing the post-match recap article.
Play is scheduled to begin at 10:30 in Toronto. At the moment, there is some concern because rain is in the forecast. The tournament officials are planning to implement the Duckworth-Lewis method if necessary (and it would take a whole other thread to explain how that crazy rule works). Each team must bat for a minimum of 20 overs for the match to be official.
According to a member of the bigcricket.com website who is at the ground reporting, "Now it is to be cloudy with sunny breaks this morning, and then 50% chance of scattered showers in the afternoon"
Whomever bats first may do so for a full innings (max 50 overs), however, whomever fields first may see their innings shortened by rain. The coin toss may play a role in this match, as it may be an advantage to bat first or second depending on the weather conditions. Let's hope our captain Massiah is as good with decisions as he is with the bat.