Cricket Letter
Time to right the many wrongs in U.S. cricket

April 22nd, 2010 (9 Comments)
Dear Editor,
The following cricket issues need the public’s urgent attention. As usual I will try to be factual and fair.

1. Its been now some time since the last men’s tour has elapsed. Yet, no summary of reports or USACA’S evaluation has been forwarded to the stakeholders. Then there is another tour that will take place next month.

(a) It appears that there is a great deal of bias against certain players in the USA squad, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Clain Williams, Glenroy Hall. Baker is the best cricketer on the team, both in cricket knowledge and playing ability. He was the MVP of the 2008 Americas Cup in Florida when USA defeated Canada. Despite being sent in to bat at # 8 he had the second top score and took five wickets. In the preparation for the Dubai/Nepal trip, he was rarely given the ball to bowl. On the trip he was used as a bowler and then as wicketkeeper when Carl Wright got hurt. He was moved up from # 8 to open the inning only by the intervention of an invited foreign official.

(b) Bartley is arguably the best all rounder in the USA and a brilliant fielder. He is a left arm spinner and a right hand batsman. While most teams were playing three and four spinners, the USA was using one spinner and four fast bowlers and using one of the fast bowlers to bowl spin. Why was he left off the team? Personal animosity?, or is he being blackballed because he returned from the Guyana tour to New York to take care of an emergency with his son.? Recently, one player flew back home from the Dubai/Nepal tour and rejoined the team at a later date. Is he going to suffer the same fate?

Why was money spent to send Williams and Hall on tour if they were not going to be used? Why were they selected in the first place? Isn’t it a shame that they had to sit and watch while other players failed and failed and failed and failed.

(c) The same team was used for the two warm up games in Dubai. That was a poor strategy on the part of the captain and the coaching staff. What it meant is that since you only saw 11 players perform you would have to use the same 11 for the first competition game and probably, the second.

(d) There was a different batting order for each game. This showed a lack of cricket knowledge and a lack of confidence in the players. A fast bowler made a half century batting at # 9 and was promoted to # 5. A fast bowler bowled one spell fast and the other spin. The handling of the bowlers left much to be desired.

(e) Money was wasted to take a 41 year old player to Florida for preparation only to find out that he was not eligible.

(f) Only in America is a captain allowed to be a selector. I wonder who selects the captain? If USACA were your company wouldn’t you demand that an employee be successful in one position before adding another?

(g) Our cricket officials represent USACA and are held to the same Code of Conduct as the players which means no crude or abusive language, cursing or fighting among themselves, especially in public. They should not deliberately embarrass players or criticize players to their team mates.

(h) The father of Akeem Dodson recently wrote an article and it is reported that one of the cricket team officials, in response, stated that Akeem would never play for the USA as long as he held that position. Who made that official, God and who gave him the authority to decide who plays for the USA? What a world this would be if we penalized children for what we believe is the misdeed of their fathers.

Akeem, 22, is the poster boy for cricket development in the USA and there should be articles about him in every cricket publication. To all the pundits and hypocrites who talk about homegrown players, here is one right before your face. BORN IN THE USA, a college student, a left hand upper order batsman and wicketkeeper, learnt his cricket here, represented the USA at the U/15 level, represented the USA at the 2006 - U/19 WC., represented the USA at the senior level, plays league cricket in England. If cricket were your personal business, who would you want working for your company, Akeem or that cricket official?

Stakeholders, you are the referees of our cricket, not spectators. If you want to get to the truth and not “sweep things under the rug”, do not rely on a few self serving reports, talk to the players and the official from New Zealand. At the very least a tele-conference call with the team should be arranged. To get a report on the performance of the officials, you have to talk to the players. That is the only way, your questions will be answered.

We have been down this path before. Many stakeholders have given up, while others keep prodding along. Proper governance demands that “the dog wag the tail and not the other way around”. Remember, if you continue to do things the same way, you will get the same results.

Clifford S. Hinds


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Comments
To Mr. Youth Cricketer: I suspect that you have the best interest of US cricket at heart, as do most of us. But before jumping all over Mr Clifford Hinds and accusing him of \"non-factual information\", you do need to get your facts in order. Mr Hinds has been on the inside of US cricket for quite some time, and as such, still has \"friends in high places\". I have a few friends there as well. So I can tell you that when the preliminary list was put together, Akeem Dodson\'s name was NOT among the 28.It was only after the \"big guru\" in New York was confronted about it, he said \'we\'ll put him on\", with no explanation as to why Akeem\'s name was not there from the beginning. I am aware that you would not be privy to such information, so you really need to be careful when making such inflamatory comments, and recognize that you could be defaming one\'s character in the process. I can tell you from my own personal experiences, there are some \"not-so-honest\" folks who are running cricket in the New York region. As you mature, and become more intimate with these folks, you will begin to understand what I\'m talking about. Hopefully, by then, these folks would be long gone from US cricket, thus allowing objectivity to reign once again.
Posted by Orlan on April 25th, 2010

To cricket selector why was not Kumar Nandalalal selected for trial has he forgotten cricket by selector our sitting on def ears oops i forget he not playing for massiah team, selector take note this guy massiah is vindictive person just remember massiah and kumar nandalal was best pal before the fall out please selector correct this mistake massiah must get bench thank you.
Posted by Cricketer on April 25th, 2010

People in the loop know that Dodson was not in the original 28 and was added after the backlash started coming down from the public. I was at Gateway yesterday to see the trials. Neither Carl Wright nor \"Jucie\" were present - does that make Dodson an automatic pick to wicket keep? Dodson from his time at the middle yesterday proved he is as good a batsman as any present at the trials and should make that team as an upper order batsman if that team is selected on merit. Cricketers know Dodson is one of the best out fielders in USA cricket. It must be hard to be born in Queens New York and be discriminated against by West Indian and Asian immigrants. Americans must not be cricketers.
Posted by Roy Singh on April 25th, 2010

Mr. Hinds: Isn\'t Akeem included in the 28 players called to trials?? Mr. Davidson article was released prior to the announcement of the 28 players invited. I guess many of us in NY loves the corruption and \"backbiting\" within the New York Cricket Region. Why publicize an article if it contains non factual information. Yes, we all know that USACA have many issues, but exposing our talented youths to such negativity serves no purpose in furthering their cricketing and personal careers.
Posted by Youth Cricketer on April 24th, 2010

Hi Youth Cricketer:
No one is saying that Dodson has to be in the final USA 14 but to leave himj out of the 28 was deliberate. Carl Wright hurt his left hand and is not available for wicketkeeping duties. I agree that Roopnarine is a very good cricketer. Caribbean people have fought against discrimination in this country for 100 years and we are not going to accept it from within.
Posted by Clifford Hinds on April 23rd, 2010

Massiah must be removed as captain. All this ineptitude and down right illegal activity is taking place on his watch probably because he is part and parcel of these activities. Massiah is at best a limited batsman, a very poor leader, an average fielder and lacks the capacity to inspire. Just like some of the New York players on his team reported to their local cricket leaders on their return from Dubai regarding the abuse of the civil rights of Dodson; if Massiah was a proper leader he would be similarly outraged. Unless discrimination is the policy of New York Cricket Region, Massiah should be removed as captain of New York then Captain of USA if those actors have the interest of USA cricket at heart.
Posted by Roy Singh on April 23rd, 2010

As for the fitness requirements of the camp, players are expected to be able to complete a set of eight benchmarks to prove their strength and conditioning. Failing to meet the standards does not necessarily mean a player won’t be selected though. According to multiple sources who were at the December training camp in Florida used for selection for the February senior squad tour, players were expected to complete an approximately 1.5 mile run in 10 minutes and 30 seconds which was a major component of a fitness test. Only Akeem Dodson and Ryan Corns finished in the allotted time and neither player was selected for the tour.

According to a document obtained through a source, the eight fitness goals to be completed for this camp under the specified limit for players at the camp are as follows:
2 miles in 16 minutes
400 meters in 70 seconds
100 meters in 16 seconds
60 meter shuttle run in 12 seconds
40 meter backward run in 15 seconds
25 pushups in 1 minute
15 sit-ups in 1 minute
15 jumping jacks in 30 seconds
Posted by Roy Singh on April 23rd, 2010

I am all for the youths, and Akeem made the 28, but will he make the final cut? We have two other very good wk./batsmen in Carl Wright and Roopnarine Gowkarran. I always strive to see the best team selected regardless of age. No doubt Akeem is an excellent young cricketer.
Posted by Youth Cricketer on April 23rd, 2010

Totally agree.there are other regions that do exist? need a big change
Posted by Denis Stuart on April 23rd, 2010