USA – ICC AMERICAS U-19 CHAMPIONS

By Prakash Krishnagiri

Cameron Mirza

Standout performances by Cameron Mirza and Gurpreet Sandhu helped USA win the ICC Americas Under-19 Championships recently held in Florida.

The USA team won all their 5 matches to seal the Championship.  It is their second championship title in the last 6 years.  They won the Championship earlier in 2005.

Cameron Mirza was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament for leading the runs chart for the USA with 193 including a magnificent 118 not out against Argentina in the opening game, where he carried the bat through the innings.

Gurpreet Sandhu was the joint leading wicket taker in the Tournament with 12 wickets, including a mesmerizing spell of 5 wickets for 7 runs against Bermuda.

The USA team was a dominant force throughout the Tournament and it was evident when their bowlers bowled out their opposition for totals of 54, 40, and 50 whenever they bowled first.

Though credit of the success goes to the coach, in this case, Robin Singh, the USA coach hardly had 3 days to workout with the boys before the first game.  A good talk, few tips, self-confidence is all that could have been possible for him to provide for the first game.  From there on his presence has made a huge difference to the team in the way they conducted themselves on the field and performed consistently without any complacency.

Image from cricinfo.com

It is good to see that the new coach starting with a bang.  The Players too seem to enjoy his rigorous sessions.  The USA team along with runner-up Canada join, Afghanistan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Namibia, Scotland, Vanuatu and Ireland in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers to be held from July 28 to August 9 in Ireland.  The top six teams will qualify for the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

The Team has got great talent and with a proper coach in Robin, taking charge of the Team, USA will be hoping to qualify for the ICC U-19 world cup for the second time in a row.

Weekend Cricket Management and Readers congratulate the USA U-19 team and wish them good luck for their World Cup qualifiers.