Thankful For Small Mercies

By Orin Davidson
The upcoming junior team tour of United States cricketers to India planned by the Academy of New Jersey is the latest of a few undertaken by the group that started a few years back.

It has come at a time when players recently participation in the national Under-19 championship, and will provide the lucky ones selected with much needed follow- up exposure to the two games each , the four finalists were offered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In an ideal world one would’ve expected the best players from the competition to comprise the squad to make it truly representative of a United States Under-19 squad.

Unfortunately that is not the case as the organizers have included a number from New Jersey whose team did not qualify for the finals.

Nevertheless, one should not be tempted to jump at the officials’ throats simply because the tour is a private undertaking that does not have any United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) involvement period.

The organizers are funding the trip entirely and they reserve the right to choose the players they desire to expose. That is their prerogative.
At this stage of the game even if USACA had the money to take a team anyplace, the current ICC ban prohibits our national teams from any inter-action with all ICC affiliate countries.
As a result disgruntled New York team supporters whose side crushed all opposition in the national finals, will have to be thankful for small mercies with the selection of three players from the champion Big Apple team and another star from the 2006 squad.

Batsman/wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson, and all-rounder Alex Kirton and Gregory Sewdial who spearheaded New York this year should benefit tremendously from the exposure even though the former two played in India last year in the build- up to the World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Audain who did not feature much this year in competition after graduating to the senior ranks should be better motivated to continue his fast bowling career after his second visit to sub continent.

Sixteen year-old Sewdial has improved leaps and bounds in the last two years and is poised to make the biggest impact among the 16-person touring squad, following his exemplary performance on his debut at the national finals.

One notable omission is Southern California off spinner Abi Rajp, a talented bowler who showed his class at the World Cup, but who like Audain is now a senior but deserves the type of exposure this tour offers.
The pitches in India are mainly flat turners which would better educate the squad on the vagaries of playing on surfaces that have befuddled players from outside the sub continent.

At the same time, the organizers must guard against over- working the U.S. players with a deluge of games during the two-week visit.

It has been an unfortunate feature of previous such tours which if continued could be counter productive.

The players must be given adequate time to recharge their batteries for their general well being and to avoid unnecessary injuries. An itinerary of consecutive playing days must be avoided at all costs.

Not only is such a practice unheard of in international senior competition, but is non existent where juniors are concerned.

All things considered the organizers deserve kudos for providing international exposure our players sorely need.
Orin Davidson Column Homepage