We are going GREEN so decided to go for e-magazine

U.S. National Junior Cricket tournament June 25th to 28th

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Contents

Message from the CEO of the USA CRICKET ASSOCIATION Message from the tournament Chairman - CCA Letter to Chairman from the founder of CCA Message from Superintendent of Cupertino Union School District Message from John Thickett from Tusker Group Message from Nabeel Ahmed, First Vice President, USA Cricket Association” The Selection Conundrum by R Jagannathan A Day on the Green by Nikhil Trivedi Cricket and by Roshan Varadrajan The True Nature of Cricket by Mihir Deo Video Analysis for Cricket by Ramky Crossword by Rutvij Bhise 429 Lenox Avenue, USA CRICKET Suite P-405, Miami Beach, ASSOCIATION FL 33139 USA DONALD LOCKERBIE, T +1.305.537.3764. Chief Executive Officer F +1.305.675.3346 M +1.305.335.7172 E [email protected] www.usaca.org

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CEO

17 June 2009

Dear Players, Coaches, Officials, Supporters, Families and Fans,

Let me be the first to congratulate each of you for participating, attending and supporting the U15 National Championships and to warmly welcome you to Cupertino, CA.

USA Cricket is extremely excited about the talent pool we have in our developing youth programs, leagues and regional teams and with our fine coaches – we are indeed assembling the finest corps of players from throughout the country for this tournament. As CEO of USA Cricket – I am proud to know that our U15 teams have been working very hard to achieve their right to compete to become National Champions.

Following this championship, our national selectors will be developing our U15 national team that will compete against the best teams in our region of the world later this summer in New York. The best 14- players will form this team and I trust each player has come to Cupertino with the talent, drive and ambition to show off your skills and knowledge of the game to be selected.

Please enjoy your time in northern California and let me also extend a great deal of gratitude to our hosts in the North West region who have developed a fine Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and corps of volunteers to make this tournament a super event.

Once again – good success to everyone.

Best regards,

Donald Lockerbie Chief Executive Officer USA CRICKET ASSOCIATION

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

June 21, 2009

Dear Cricket Lovers,

Welcome to the 2009 US National Junior Cricket Tournament. The wait is over and the action begins now. This is the fourth year in a row; USACA has trusted CCA with the responsibility of hosting National Junior Cricket Tournament. The popular feature of webcasting will again attract thousands of cricket fans all across the country and from many other countries as they flock to watch their favorite U-15 and U-13 players in the finals. Additionally, this year there will be live score updates of all games and RSS feeds, which, fans and followers can subscribe to. Please be sure to share the link (URL) with your family and friends (www.calcricket.org/nationals). It is free and available to watch anywhere in the world. The opening ceremonies, the Banquet etc. are all designed to provide great networking opportunities to make friends, and catch up from previous tournaments for returning players and officials.

The journey we started five years ago, leading to annual National Tournaments, has progressively produced higher quality of cricket and this year is no different. The winds of youth cricket so started have become a big storm packing lot of steam in terms of cricketing skills. I am pretty confidant the ambitious goal we set a few years ago to prepare young players in America to win U-19 Cricket World Cup, will be a reality very soon. This is possible with the support and encouragement from the USACA and the Western Region. This one of a kind platform is launching pad and is providing great opportunities towards achieving that goal. I am proud of the great success of this tournament and the avenues it is opening up for young and talented young cricketers in USA.

We have set high standards for the quality of the games and the tournament. There have been tremendous efforts for fund raising, organizing and hospitality with a great focus on flawless execution. We are blessed with a large, dedicated pool of volunteers who have worked tirelessly for a long time, many a times even sacrificing their personal priorities. This tournament would not have been possible without the phenomenal support of volunteers, active support of sponsors, officials and many local cricket clubs who are helping with ground, umpiring and many other ways. We thank them all sincerely.

Personally, it has been my pleasure and privilege to serve in the capacity of the chairman for this tournament. I wish all the success to the young cricketers. It is going to be a feast for next four days for all the cricket players and cricket lovers to play, watch and enjoy good quality cricket.

With Best Regards,

Vijay Pradhan CCA - Tournament Chair To

Mr. Vijay Pradhan Chairman, 4th National Junior cricket tournament committee

Most admired CCA Volunteers and Tournament chair Mr. Pradhan,

Kinjal and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your outstanding commitment, tenacity and sincerity to deliver extraordinary tournament year after year for last 4 years! In normal circumstances, event of this magnitude is arranged every two to four years to maintain and improve quality of the event. However, you have taken up a challenge to organize it in one place with significant enhancement every year. This is no small task and we want to congratulate you for dedicating yourself with smiling face. You are all wonderful hosts and your contribution to growth of cricket in USA is immense!

This year was in particular a challenging one. Economy is not doing well and we are all asked to do more than normal to sustain and survive in this economy at our work place. We also want to welcome guest teams as they have made lot of sacrifice to participate in this tournament by traveling from different parts of the country.

We want to recognize our tournament committee members Mr. Manaf Mohammad, USACA Vice president who took care of team invitation, funding and player registration for U-15. Mr. Ajay Athavale who managed sponsorship, Mr. Raju Joshi who as operations chair took care of volunteer assignment and game logistics, Mr. Das who is working on eMagazine content, Mr. Hitesh Dholakia who is revising our tournament web page to incorporate live score update and team profiles, Mr. Ashok Patel of USA Cricket academy of New Jersey who is advising us on tournament planning and sponsorship and Mrs. Uttara Athavale, who is in charge of food committee.

We want to thank all our sponsors who continue to support our cause by making financial commitment even in these tough times. Without their support we could not have taken up challenge of organizing this event.

Lastly, we want to thank USACA Cricket committee for providing California Cricket academy opportunity to organize U-13 and U-15 National Junior Tournament.

Warm Regards,

Hemant Buch, Chairman of the Western Region, USA Cricket association and founder of California cricket academy

Kinjal Buch, Founder of California Cricket academy Superintendent Phil Quon Board of Education Anjali Kausar Ben Liao Josephine Lucey Gary McCue Cupertino Union School District Phyllis Vogel 10301 Vista Drive • Cupertino, California 95014–2091 • (408) 252–3000 • Fax (408) 253-7845

June 8, 2009

2009 California Cricket Academy 10307 Bret Avenue Cupertino,CA 95014

Dear Friends:

On behalf of the Cupertino Union School District, I would like to congratulate the California Cricket Academy (CCA) for hosting the US National Junior Cricket Tournament for the fourth consecutive year in Cupertino. I have noted with pride the success of this tournament which has brought Cupertino national recognition these past 4 years.

This four-day tournament will be held from June 25 through June 28, 2009 and will bring many athletes, parents and community members’ closer together providing an excellent opportunity to instill sportsmanship, while promoting cricket as an exciting sport.

I anticipate that a number of our students will be participating in this annual event organized by CCA. The district applauds the lessons of teamwork and healthy competitive spirit that will be fostered by this tournament. The district offers congratulations for the efforts of the members of the 2009 CCA for envisioning, organizing, and implementing this event. I wish you all of the best and hope that you have a successful tournament.

Sincerely,

Phil Quon Superintendent

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Equal Opportunity Employer Mr. Nabeel Ahmed, First Vice President, USACA

Cricket has come a long way and has also carved a niche for itself amongst the cricket playing nations, including the United States of America. I always had this vision that US cricket with a blend of youth and experience players should be placed on the international cricket map, therefore, now we need to adopt a more assertive role in cricket and ensure the game is left in good shape for future generations.

After regaining my post of first Vice President of USACA, it has given me the opportunity to administer my future plans. As being part of USACA my main focus is to develop and promoting the youth cricket and have chalked many plans to promote cricket at Nabeel Ahmed grass-rout level in USA. Aimed at encouraging young people to become involved in the game, these programs have enjoyed enormous success in the past, and even better results are expected in the future. Therefore, I ensure our youth cricket players nationwide that in the years to come they will a have plenty of new opportunities to develop and bolster their cricket talents.

I would also like to congratulate all of you at California Cricket Academy for your wonderful efforts in giving opportunity to young cricketers at the grass root level. I personally feel that it is extremely important for young budding cricketers to get the right direction on the cricket field and proper guidance, and by giving them the proper guidance and opportunity to play cricket in a good environment, you have taken a very positive step and I am quite sure that you will continue to do this wonderful job in future. The Selection Conundrum R. Jagannathan

One of the most challenging tasks in any team sports is selecting a representative team whether it is a team that represents a region as small as your local neighborhood or a team that represents a region as large as your country.

Built into the act of selecting a team is a feeling of elation for those who get selected and one of disappointment for those who don’t get selected. Who hasn’t experienced seeing someone selected who we have felt is undeserving and someone dropped who we have felt deserving. Who hasn’t conversed on the fairness and unfairness of team selection? Who hasn’t questioned the integrity of the selectors and the transparency of the selection process? At the core is how reality meets with our personal sense of fairness. It is more often than not an experience laden with strong emotions, positive and negative.

This article is not as much about principles of selection (which we all know intuitively) but about how the process of selection is viewed and example is when there is room for three spinners in experienced from different perspectives and what the team and even if the region has five high-quality their respective responsibilities are through this spinners, only three will make it and the ones who do process. will be ones who complement each other – leg spinner, off spinner and a left arm spinner for The primary goal for a competitive example. This further gets complicated organization whether it be the by those who are all-rounders who USACA or NWR is to bring glory to offer multiple skills in one player. Just because kept for ’s ODI the country or region by winning, team a few years back doesn’t mean that he was the failing which bring honor to the best available keeper then. It was just that the selectors felt that they wanted a very good batsman region by competing as hard as who can keep competently instead of a very good possible. The focus is on the team and its ability keeper who can bat a bit so that they can include an to compete and win and much less on the players that extra batsman or bowler. In effect, the selector make up the team. The glory of winning is seen as experience of selection is like the experience of belonging to all of us and not just the organization or solving a jigsaw puzzle – what are the pieces and the team or the individuals who make up the team. how do they come together without getting too The expectation in team selection is that it will be so attached to individual pieces. driven by the goal of winning that inherent in it will be a keen sense of fairness in who gets selected and The team coach, who is usually appointed by the who doesn’t. region’s organization, is tasked to take the team that has been provided and make it highly successful. The selector having been tasked by the organization While a coach can often be a selector, many times he to put a “winning team” together is driven by team or she isn’t part of the selection process. The composition, team leadership and team chemistry. In selecting players, the selector has not only to coach sees the team as a set of consider the individual’s strengths and weaknesses individuals, who may or may not but also how the player will fit into the team. For example, a team usually carries one -keeper have played together, who have to and even though there may be many deserving be molded into a singularly focused keepers, only one will make the final cut. Another unit that competes at a high level. The Selection Conundrum R. Jagannathan

The coach prefers a team of individuals who can put validated, recognized, and appreciated. If a player is aside their egos and insecurities (everyone has not selected, he or she feels disappointed, possibly them!) and work well together to a team of superstars aggrieved and in some cases very upset. Their who don’t easily get along and operate with a “me reaction almost always has to do with how first” attitude. In this regard, the choice of is individualistic they are. Team players take inclusion critical – it has to be someone who brings the team and exclusion in stride – their feelings of personal together, who is respected for his or her leadership, gain or loss is second to the feeling that the team who they are willing to play hard for and who is seen comes first. Individualistic players see inclusion as as deserving of being in the team just on individual an entitlement and see exclusion as an outrage. merit. Most of us are in between these two extremes.

The player’s experience of selection is the most The player’s family and friends feel just as strongly. emotional. If the player is selected, he or she feels They feel proud of the player when selected and dismayed when not. Many times the focus is on whether the player has the privilege to be part of the team and accepting that team comes before player. Other times the focus is much more on the player and not on the team which certainly sends confusing signals to the player of which comes first – team or player?

Whether it be the organization, selectors, coach/captain, players or player’s families and friends, thinking of team before individual is always essential to the team’s success. For the organization, it means having transparency in the selection process. For the selectors, it means having integrity in the selection process. For coach and captain, it means having the view that each and every player no matter how small his or her contribution is equally valuable. For the player, it is recognizing that being part of the team is a privilege and not a right and that inclusion and exclusion are part of all team sports. For the player’s supporters, it is recognizing that a player can learn just as much about cricket and life by participating from outside the boundary as from inside.

As this year’s tournament unfolds, you will find that teams (inside and outside the boundary!) that overachieve, more often than not, are aligned strongly with the “team first” value and teams that underachieve usually are less cohesive and more individualistic with different agendas.

Selection is a difficult process. It can be made less difficult if the different stakeholders have a common inclusive goal and even much more difficult otherwise. Nikhil Trivedi A Day on the Green (NCCA Captain – Colts U-11)

“Crack”, the bails of the wicket came down flying as I gave up their time to help us learn, understand and started my first encounter of the game of Cricket at excel the game of cricket. My heroes for Cricket are the NCCA tournament in Cupertino. This is the first two Gujrati cricket players who come from India, my year my team and I participated in the tournament in daddy and my grandfather. Even though, they fled to which I had lots of fun hanging out with my team America, they continued to play cricket in San mates as well as the other team members. I think it is Francisco. These two very experienced players nice that in the US, the awareness to the game of helped me understand to excel my skills in Cricket Cricket is quickly expanding into various places. since I was four years old and look where I am Back in the days where my Daddy and Grandfather now…a captain of the Colts!!!!! I can not wait for the were playing Cricket for the state of Gujrat, Cricket next upcoming tournament in Cupertino where my was only introduced to the eastern part of the world skills will be tested with other players in other Cricket leaving the people of the west unaware of this teams! spectacular game! Now the tournament was not only fun for us, but we faced many challenges along the way such as facing the strong Canada Cricket team. Cricket Haiku This was also a learning experience for the several Raman Nelakani players on our teams to practice batting, fielding and Hot midsummer breeze bowling. I am so glad and lucky to have very kind Swinging ball, excitement shouts- coaches such as Owen Graham (Coach OG) who Saturday cricket Cricket and Sachin Tendulkar Roshan Varadarajan

(I would like to dedicate this poem to Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar)

A man who I aspire to be like My role model My god A true genius both on and off the field

The sport that is loved by many The sport that is not hated by any The sport that takes skill and passion The sport that is played in fashion

We all love to watch this game Here ethnicity doesn’t matter Come and play The more the merrier

This game unites us all This game will never have a downfall In this game Sachin Tendulkar is the best He can easily over power the rest

This player is a one of a kind He is not a very common find When he comes to bat, the crowd will cheer They know he will play with no fear

He hits sixes over the top Even the Aussies can’t make him stop He whacks Lee McGrath and Warne too No matter who you are, he’ll trash you

The Aussies aren’t the only ones who die When Tendulkar comes to bat Pakistan Sri Lanka and New Zealand all start to cry He flicks for six that never stop

That is one thing that has taken him to the top When the ball hits his bat, it goes for four In almost no time at all the opponent is no more This man stands out above the rest

He is undoubtedly the best There has been competition from Lara, Ponting, and Gilchrist too But Sachin Tendulkar, I have always backed you He loves the game and plays with his heart

And for me that is what sets him apart

-Roshan Varadarajan Your number 1 fan The True Nature of Cricket Mihir Deo

People often ask me the following question: “Why do thinking about if you are in danger of getting a B in you even play cricket? It’s not like its going to lead you your math class, you are focusing on getting a 50 or anywhere.” This is a question that has often dogged taking 5 wickets. The beauty in cricket lies in the fact my playing of cricket, and oftentimes I have taken this that it doesn’t matter what you are outside of the field. comment seriously and actually decided once upon a A stressed out student at school can come to the field time to quit cricket. Where was this leading? I had no and score 100 runs without blinking an eye. A man clue myself. It seemed that cricket was a never with problems within his family can come onto the ending spell of playing games and in the end not field and take 5 wickets. It doesn’t matter who you really getting anything contributing to your future. are, or what you do, the fact that you play the game However, the more I pondered this question, I for the love of the game makes you a better person. realized with time that cricket does in fact contribute It helps relax you and makes you a calmer person to your future. Whether you are the greatest cricketer outside the field, as the field helps you become a in the world, or whether you are just starting off as a better person outside the field, though not the other student of the game, it impacts your future and who way around. The true nature of cricket does not lie in you become. Cricket isn’t just a hobby that you play the ideals and ways of the game. The true nature of on spare weekends, when you have nothing. It’s a cricket is not how many runs you make, how many passion and utopia where you forget that the stresses wickets you take, whether you are a fantastic fielder, of work, school, and friends even exist. Not many or a person who barely knows how to play the game. people realize that cricket is a necessity in life. A The true nature of cricket is that one can come in the place where you can release yourself from the world field and play his heart out, no matter what is and onto a field is necessary for everyday life. From happening in the real world. Video Analysis for Cricket Ramky

All athletes require feedback to improve on their skills complete practise session and enables the coach to .Traditionally it has been oral feedback given by the provide better feedback .The next generation coach with naked eye observation .Research says practise session will be more with a solution that oral feedback coupled with video feedback focussed approach customised for each individual hastens the skill acquisition process .The retention .The focus points for each individual will be clearly level also increases dramatically. Video feedback laid out and lot more gadgets like video analysis and also breaks down the communication barrier and robotic bowling machines will be used .Coaches helps the coach enhance his coaching levels need to use these tools judiciously which can help the .Currently 90% of the coaching is with naked eye and cricketer acquire skills faster .Video is a powerful coaches do not use video cameras. medium and the coaches need to prepare the minds of the players by highlighting the positives .

The process for video analysis can be out lined as 1. Initial screening - The player needs to be observed under different situations ,angles and different days .The coach cannot come to a conclusion just because the player does not play correctly in a single net session .He must observe during nets sessions ,match sessions and if the player is committing the same error . 2. Analysing how and why it happens - After the initial observations the coach sits and analyses the root cause of the problem .Identifying the root cause will be difficult if the coach has not done the screening right . 3. How to fix it ? finding the right solution – The above two points are very important and will be the base for the coach to find a proper solution .Lots of Practise Sessions coaches are able to figure out the first two points but are not able to go beyond that .Finding a In a typical cricket nets session a coach handles solution for the problem and planning a about twenty players .There will be a couple of nets remodelling program is a very critical aspect . and each bastmen will play about 10 minutes .The 4. Communicating with the athlete - The coach may coach is expected to watch all the balls played by have great knowledge and may have played at the both the batsmen and provide feedback .He is also highest level but his effectiveness will be expected to watch all the bowlers and also ensure determined by the way he communicates. that the net is managed efficiently .At the end of the communication or imparting knowledge in the right batting session the boys remove the caps and go to manner will help the player to understand the the coach for feedback .The coach provides the analysis of the coach .The coach must be able to feedback based on whatever he has seen .But it is get the buyin of the player for the remodelling to be almost impossible for the coach to watch all the balls successful otherwise it will be a wasted effort . with him handling the bowlers as well as net management .Hence he provides his feedback based on the balls he has seen and is more likely to have missed out a lot of information .

Next Generation practise Sessions

Coaching has become a science and has moved from being experienced based. Coaches are on the lookout for tools and gadgets which enhance their coaching levels .More and more coaches will implement video based feedback system .Feedback is best imbibed when given immediately and the video cameras at the Practise sessions records the Tusker Group’s Value Proposition

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Dedication - Consistency - Know-how With best compliments from:

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USA Cricket academy & D&D International LLC California Cricket Academy thanks the wonderful team of volunteers from Intel for their fantastic contribution and support.

Thank you Chandra, Vina, Kishore and Pradeep!!!

You are terrific." California Cricket Academy thanks the following individuals for their generous contribution.

Thank you Sheetal, Srinivas Kankanala, Alok, Vimal, Das, Ajay, and Sayantanee

With Best Compliments from

Ramu Chakravarthy Vice President- Investments

UBS Financial Services 64 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025-7079 Phone 650 289 7020, Fax 650 289 7060 email [email protected] With best compliments from

Cupertino Bakery, to CCA R. J. Haas 12226 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Saratoga, CA 95070 Telephone (408) 725-0300, Fax (408) 725-0316 Quality Home Constructions Since 1979 www.rjhaashomes.com With Best Compliments from

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of Citrus Valley Cricket Academy

C R O S S W O R D by Rutvij Bhise

ACROSS DOWN 4 Played with a bat, ball, and team spirit, this game was 1 Another name for fast bowling invented in England 2 When the polished side of the ball creates air 6 He turned a young Tendulkar away from a fast- friction, the ball ____. bowling camp in India, advising him to work on his 3 The unoffical t20 league in India batting. 5 India's bitter rivals in international cricket 8 This Sri Lankan off- spinner had an immeditate impact 7 Lalit Modi is the owner of this organization on the team duing his debut 9 Sehwag hits this shot with ferocious power 10 To signal the end of the day's play, the umpire says 11 The most famous of this lot was perhaps Dickie Bird "That is ___" 12 Eric Hollies bowled this batting guru for a duck in his 13 The most- winning World Cup team last Test innings 18 The first bowler to take 10 wickets in a match 13 and England play for these every two years 21 This bowler nearly ripped through India's batting 14 The 1996 World Cup was held here order in 1976. Was it because of Vaseline? 15 This leg- breaker is famous for playing under extreme 22 Mecca of Indian cricket injury 23 He was credited with the invention of the flipper 16 This man was the Sachin of the West Indies 24 This city's cricket ground's former name was 17 This tournament is held every four years Salisbury CC 19 This charismatic allrounder once played a gritty 25 Trevor Chappel will be remembered for this innings of 175* to save India from a World Cup 27 He died mysteriously during the 2007 world cup elimination 28 Perhaps the best known publication in cricket, it was 24 This city's ground was the site of the first Test and founded in 1850 the first ODI 29 This magical figure is a target for many a batsmen 26 The______Lewis method 32 Has the highest number of wickets in 28 Sandeep Patil hit him for six boundries in an over 33 In T20, this is used to break a tied game 30 Arguably the best batsman in the world today 35 Turf wicket 31 Primary scoring unit in cricket 37 's favorite ground in India 34 Gavaskar scored a magnificient 221 at this ground in 38 An Englishman donated a plot of land that was 1979. Some say it was the best innings by an Indian turned into this historical ground ever. 39 Original Little Master 36 In T20, a no ball is followed by a free ______(plural) Snapshots of 2008 tournaments

Snapshots of 2009 tournaments