Nabeel Ahmed, a USACA presidential candidate. Photo by Shiek Mohamed

I implore President Dainty to call an emergency meeting and get all the folks mentioned above on a platform and do some serious brain storming. The people who genuinely want USA cricket to prosper at a national level need to stay, and those individuals with personal agendas should step aside.

It is the time to work together and protect the future of USA cricket. We need to come out of likings and dislikings and just focus on the growth and stability of USA cricket.

We have a golden opportunity to determine the shape of the LLC, but I am concerned that, at this time, things appear to be moving in a direction which can put the entire process in jeopardy. Most of the difficult work is done and now it’s time to get our act together. However, if we continue to move in this direction, we run the risk of seeing the entire process fall apart before our eyes.

Mr President, this is the time to take a strong and bold step to protect all the hard work which was put into the LLC project. As a former member of USACA board member, who resigned on principle, I am prepared to do whatever is needed to protect the future of US cricket.

I urge all and sundry, once again, to take this process seriously, and let’s save USA cricket before a legal battle ensues.

Guyana National Stadium. Photo: windiescricket.com

The Test will now be played at Windsor Park in Dominica. The dates (April 23rd to 27th) are unchanged.

The change in venue is as a result of the situation in Guyana owing to the Government of Guyana’s push to take over the management and governance of cricket in the country.

The Guyana Cricket Board which is the agent of the WICB and the legitimate cricketing authority has been prevented from undertaking the necessary tasks needed to ensure the successful hosting of the match.

West Indies face Australia in five Digicel One Day Internationals, two Digicel Twenty20 Internationals and three Digicel Tests in the Digicel Series 2012. The series runs from March 16th to April 27th.

Digicel Series 2012 – West Indies v Australia – Schedule

Digicel ODI Series
Friday, March 16 – 1st Digicel ODI – Arnos Vale Cricket Ground
Sunday, March 18 – 2nd Digicel ODI – Arnos Vale Cricket Ground
Tuesday, March 20 – 3rd Digicel ODI – Arnos Vale Cricket Ground
Friday, March 23 – 4th Digicel ODI – Beausejour Cricket Ground
Sunday, March 25 – 5th Digicel ODI – Beausejour Cricket Ground

Digicel Twenty20 Series
Tuesday, March 27 – 1st Digicel T20I – Beausejour Cricket Ground
Friday, March 30 – 2nd Digicel T20I – Kensington Oval

Monday, April 2 – Wednesday, April 4 – Australia 3 day warm up game (venue & opposition TBC)

Digicel Test Series
Saturday, April 7 – Wednesday, April 11 – 1st Digicel Test – Kensington Oval
Sunday, April 15 – Thursday, April 19 – 2nd Digicel Test – Queen’s Park Oval
Monday, April 23 – Friday, April 27 – 3rd Digicel Test – Windsor Park

City of Lauderhill mayor Richard J. Kaplan and Mahammad A. Qureshi.

The City of Lauderhill and CCUSA signed a new five year agreement for the continued commitment to the promotion, growth and development of the game of cricket. The Lauderhill Maq T20 Intl. Night Cricket Tournament has over the years established a professional set of rules, a refined format and partners in the business community, avid participants, media attention, sponsors and spectators.

Cricket Council U.S.A., Inc. (CCUSA) is a sports and entertainment management company, and like Lauderhill, is firmly committed to developing cricket throughout the United States.  CCUSA has its roots firmly planted in Broward County, and received world-wide plaudits for its U.S. sports history-making MAQ T20 International Tournaments – that started in 2008.

As a tournament partner CCUSA wishes to continue its close cricket relationship with the City of Lauderhill, the only municipality in all of North America with a multi-purpose stadium that is ICC Sanctioned for International Cricket. CCUSA and the City of Lauderhill have enjoyed noted success over the years with its joint sponsorship of the Lauderhill MAQ T20 Intl. Night Cricket tournament.  The tournament has become a vital community component of the Lauderhill’s Family Sports Night at the Lauderhill Sports Park, as the games are being staged along the City’s Netball Competition and CASA’s Premier Soccer League.  The tournament will be played every Saturday evening with the finals at the Central Broward Regional Park on April 21, 2012. (This may exclude nights the park is closed or on holiday weekends.)

Through the endorsement of the South Florida Cricket Alliance and Florida Southeast Cricket League, the Lauderhill Maq Intl. Night Cricket tournament has achieved the reputation as one of the USA largest and most-popular night tournaments.

This year the First Place prize will be sponsored by the Lauderhill Mall – located on State Road 7 just north of Sunrise Blvd. You know the jingle…. “You can get it all…at the Lauderhill Mall.” The Lauderhill Mall has a plethora of unique stores and offers some of the best Caribbean food in South Florida.

Opening game for the LAUDERHILL MAQ T20 INTL. NIGHT CRICKET TOURNAMENT is scheduled for Saturday, February 4th, at 5:00pm with Barbados vs. India, follow by defending champions Trinidad & Tobago vs. Team Lauderhill at 8:00pm. For information, please contact Jeff Miller at 561-361-1700 or visit our website at www.cricketcouncilusa.com.

Speaking on Thursday, Dr Ernest Hilaire, Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, said this season promises to be an exciting one for the region’s best players and the passionate spectators across the Caribbean.

“The Four-day First-class competition is an important and integral part of the WICB’s annual calendar as we seek to develop high-quality players to represent the West Indies at the international level. The first-class season has a strong tradition across the region dating back to the 1800s. As we enter the 2012 season we expect more competitive contests between the seven teams. We urge the players to play in the true spirit of the game as they are ambassadors for our beautiful game,” Dr Hilaire said.

”This year we have decided to re-introduce the PINK ball, which met with the approval of players and fans back in 2010. The PINK ball adds a new dimension to the season and is sure to bring added excitement and entertainment. We see it as part of the way forward as we look to broaden the spectator base and prepare our players.”

Dr Hilaire added: “We saw large turn-outs during the recent successful hosting of the WICB Caribbean T20, and we expect that level of interest to continue. At the WICB, we aim to bring the game back to the fans and we believe the format of having day-night cricket in the four-day tournament is one way to generate public interest and create a win-win situation for all our stakeholders.”

Jamaica skipper Tamar Lambert. Photo: windiescricket.com

Speaking after Thursday’s full training session and team meeting, skipper Tamar Lambert said the talk in the team and around Jamaica was about showcasing their dominance in the region’s premier cricket competition.

“Our preparations have been very good … I would say spot on. We are ready to go! We will be looking to go all the way and win the Cup again this year and make it five consecutive titles. We are aware that it won’t happen just like that. We know it won’t be easy. We know the other teams will be looking to beat us and take away our title, so we have prepared well and will look to be dominant,” said a confident Lambert.

Jamaica start the 2012 season on Friday against Windward Islands at Sabina Park. First ball is 10 am (11 am Eastern Caribbean Time). This will be followed by two more home matches at Sabina Park against Barbados (February 10-13) and Leewards (February 16-19), before they go on the road.

“Playing our first three matches at home could be seen as an advantage but in recent years we have played extremely well away from home, so it not a big factor for us. No matter where we play we will look to stick to the basics and play our brand of cricket, which is built around our experienced players, who have done the job very well for us for many years,” Lambert said.

“We have Brendan Nash back in the team and he has been playing really well. Chris (Gayle) is with us for the first match and we expect big things from him. We have the experienced spin pair of Nikita Miller and Odean Brown, who have won many matches for us in all formats, and we count on them to do the same again. We also have (Andrew) Richardson, who will use the new ball. He is back now and is one of our best bowlers. I expect him to do the job again for Jamaica.”

In the other first round matches, Guyana face Leeward Islands at Windsor Park in Dominica, while Combined Campuses & Colleges take on Trinidad & Tobago at the 3Ws Oval in a day/night match using the PINK ball.

Kevin Pietersen one of the many nominees. Photo by Shiek Mohamed

All the major cricket nations are well represented in the nominations with cricketers including Kevin Pietersen, MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting all nominated for at least one award.

England, otherwise, dominate the nominations, with six players spread out over the four categories – Test batting, Test bowling, ODI batting and ODI bowling. Stuart Broad features in both one-day and Test bowling lists.

Since the year also hosted an exciting World Cup, 13 of the 20 one-day nominations come from performances in the tournament – including Kevin O’Brien’s fastest World Cup century that helped Ireland achieve a historical win over England, five-fors by Dale Steyn and Wahab Riaz, and Ricky Ponting’s gritty century in the quarter-final defeat to India.

The awards, which celebrate the game in the past year, will be announced on February 20, and will be based on votes by a jury of former players – Ian Chappell, Sanjay Manjrekar, Geoff Boycott, Martin Crowe, Kepler Wessels, Ian Bishop, Ramiz Raja and Russel Arnold – and the game’s leading writers. Previous winners of the award, first established in 2007, have included Virender Sehwag (twice), Dale Steyn, Shahid Afridi and Kumar Sangakkara.

In addition to the jury’s selections, the Reader’s Choice Award gives ESPNcricinfo users the opportunity to have their own say and vote on the best cricket performances of the year from the list of this year’s nominees – with the winners also announced in February.

• Test batting nominations: CLICK HERE
• Test bowling nominations: CLICK HERE
• ODI batting nominations: CLICK HERE
• ODI bowling nominations:  CLICK HERE

“The ESPNcricinfo Awards celebrate the very best performances in world cricket over the past year. We want fans to tell us what they think by voting in the Reader’s Choice Award and gauge their views against those of our panel of some of the leading voices in cricket worldwide,” said Tom Gleeson, digital media vice-president, ESPN International.

Clive Lloyd is being sought to appear as a special guest at the next Friends Of Former Guyana Cricketers (FFGC) fund raising event. Photo: windiescricket.com

The event will be a dance scheduled for April 7th  and  the FFGC is  hoping to have Lloyd, who captained the West Indies  for most of its superlative streak of success during the 1970s and 1980s, appear to sign autographs and have photo opportunities with attendees.

Lance Gibbs and Joel Garner, two other famous West Indies players, are also been targeted by the group to appear as they plan a star-studded guest list. Another member of the West Indies Dream Team of the 1980s Michael Holding was  listed but he will be unavailable at the time.

The FFGC  will also have a Breakfast Morning preceding the dance on February 26 as plans are being fast forwarded  to honor its first recipient, the former Guyana opening batsman, the late Andrew Lyght.

Originally planned for last year, the trip to Guyana was postponed and will now be held in July.

It will coincide with the Demerara Cricket Club’s 100th anniversary celebrations after the FFGC event  was accepted as part of  the club’s  week of activities. The group, which comprises a number of  ex Guyana players including Milton Pydanna,  Sydney Matthews, Ray Joseph, Derrick Kallicharran, Terry Etwaroo and Leslaine Lambert, will stage two limited overs  against selected teams of Guyana based players to mark Lyght’s contribution to the Guyana team. He was also a lifelong DCC player.

A special Andrew Lyght award will be made available by the FFGC for an outstanding DCC player annually at its presentation awards. A monetary donation will be given to Lyght’s family and other benefits in the player’s name for DCC players are being worked out by the group.

The FFGC group will spend one week in Guyana, leaving on July 13 to return on July 21st. Members have until April to confirm their participation for the trip and interested cricket fans from around the United States are invited.  Contact with the FFGC can be made by dialing telephone numbers 917-573-8078 or 718-840-7600.

The hard-hitting Kieron Pollard. Photo: windiescricket.com

Pollard is in the Trinidad & Tobago squad to face Combined Campuses & Colleges in the opening round at the 3Ws Oval at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. First ball in the day/night match on Friday is 3.30 pm (2.30 pm Jamaica Time). According to Pollard the match will be “special” as it will be played with the PINK ball under lights.

“I am excited to be on the Trinidad & Tobago team for this weekend. I have never played a match with the PINK ball before so for me this is something special. It has a special feel about it. There is great expectation among the team members. I have played a lot with the white ball and with the red ball but this (PINK ball match) is something very new for me and that makes it quite exciting,” said the 24-year-old Pollard.

“A few guys in the team have played with the pink ball before but this is the first day/night first-class match for me and I’m really looking ahead to the experience. We had a couple of training sessions with the ball but there has not been much movement for the bowlers, so it could favour the batsmen. For me, it is just a matter of making the adjustment and play it as I see it. I’m looking to start with a bang!”

Pollard made his first-class debut for Trinidad & Tobago against Barbados back in 2007. In his career he has so far played 21 first-class matches with 1,274 runs at 37.74 per innings. He has three centuries with a highest score of 174.

Just nine days ago the Trinidad & Tobago players were celebrating their capture of the WICB Caribbean T20 title which earned them a place in the Champions League for the third time. Pollard was the centre of attention as he won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.

“I enjoy playing all formats of the game — T20, 50-over and the two innings version, I enjoy it all. I had a job to do in the Caribbean T20 and I was happy with the way I played and the way we played as a team. Winning was our focus and we were happy to achieve our goals and objectives,” Pollard said.

“I am confident we can make a smooth transition from the T20 format to the four-day format. We are a close unit and we play for each other. As a professional you are expected to switch from one format the next and perform at the high level. Once we get out on the field and start to run around in the white clothes I am sure everything will fall into place.”

The other matches this weekend will be day matches. Defending champions Jamaica will face Windward Islands at Sabina Park, while Guyana take on Leeward Islands at Windsor Park in Dominica. Barbados have drawn a bye.

Sandra Ibarra in action in the 2011 Women's National Conference. Photo by Shiek Mohamed

Her duties will include recruiting and liaising with coaches and community volunteers, organizing the program’s sessions, seeing that each program’s material needs are met and visiting each site regularly to ensure that the programs run smoothly. Of course, she’ll also be spending some time putting her Level I credentials to use as well.

Sandra shares the USYCA vision of grassroots development and outreach to new demographics, and looks forward to her new responsibilities.

“I am delighted to take on this new leadership role with USYCA and join forces with (USYCA President) Jamie Harrison to share our passion for developing cricket in the US,” said Ibarra. “The first thing I learned from Jamie, and the thing I admire most, is that he has a ‘can do’ attitude, and I commend him for what he has accomplished in such a short time.”

For USYCA, Sandra’s addition to the team is a major coup.

“USYCA feels truly fortunate to have someone of Sandra’s talents and experience working with us, and more importantly working with the youngsters who will come out to play cricket this summer,” said Harrison. “The success of these new programs is vital to our mission, and I feel reassured knowing that Sandra will be at the helm.”

With summer only months away, Sandra is eager for the launch of these groundbreaking programs.

“Now that I have relocated to the Maryland/DC area, I can see to it that USYCA’s efforts introducing cricket kits into the schools here are taken to the next level,” Ibarra said. “As a pioneer in US cricket, having played for the US Women’s team and now becoming an ICC Level 1 Certified Coach, putting my efforts to begin turning these kids into champions will be a very rewarding experience.

“We have a lot of potential here in the US; it is just a matter of putting in some extra effort to see it through. I have a vision of where I see this sport in America’s future and working with our youth is the right way to start.”

Courtesy of: http://usyca.org

With regard to the WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament the Executive Committee took the following decisions:

1.   The Guyana matches in the first four rounds of WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament will no longer be played at the Guyana National Stadium.

2.   The Guyana Team will play its first and second round WICB Regional 4 Day matches at Windsor Park in Dominica.

3.   The venue(s) for Guyana’s third and fourth round WICB Regional 4 Day matches will be decided and announced at a later date.

The Board will announce its position with regard to the 3rd Digicel Test of the Digicel Series 2012, West Indies v Australia scheduled for the Guyana National Stadium after discussions with other stakeholders.

The WICB reiterates that the Guyana Cricket Board is the sole authorised governing body for cricket in Guyana.

The WICB restates its full support to the Government of Guyana’s Interim Management Committee functioning as an advisory body. The WICB will not recognize or approve any entity other than the GCB as the authorised governing body for cricket in Guyana.

The WICB deeply regrets the undue delay by the Government of Guyana in responding to CARICOM. The WICB appeals to the Government of Guyana to allow the GCB access to its offices in order that it can proceed with the management of cricket in Guyana.

The WICB is concerned that given the actions of the IMC the Guyanese players are being unnecessarily affected in the lead up to an important regional tournament.