SCCA’s 2011 SEASON STARTED!

Editorial by K.C.S. Rao

Despite all apprehensions about the readiness of the pitches at Woodley Park, SCCA started their 2011 season League matches as scheduled on Saturday, April 2, 2011.   Yes, the grounds man was hired just a few days prior to the start of the league.  The outfield had, in some grounds, ankle high grass and in others enough to retard the smooth traveling of the ball to the boundary.  Perhaps the SCCA thought that ‘something is better than nothing’ and wanted to start the league on the scheduled date.  But, at the same time, they forgot that ‘nothing is better than nonsense’.   Here are some of the written comments by a couple of teams who played on the first day (April 2, 2011) at Woodley:

“Pitch and outfield were nothing like we have seen at Woodley in the past.  Pitch had many uneven spots and the outfield was like playing in a flower garden. Citrus won the toss and chose to bat on an unpredictable pitch”

“Vijayta won the toss and elected to bat in this season opener on a soft and uneven wicket and to top it off on a soggy outfield.”

“The wicket looked hard and flat but there was a tinge of green and the outfield, although recently cut, was still a little long and damp. It was hard work batting in the opening session.”

“On a cool crisp day Vijayta and Hollywood showed that their bats were chilling too. It was all about bowling and fielding on a 2 paced wicket.”

Our interview with other teams that played at Woodley grounds on the first two weeks of the season (16 games) revealed that the pitch was slow and had uneven bounce.  The ball was not coming on to the bat thus restricting the stroke makers from playing the shots.

With the two nets available for practice being what they are, players did not have much practice.  The unprepared wickets added to the misery of the batsmen. 

Needless to mention the effect of inadequate and/or no practice has on the bowlers as well.  No team or a bowler is an exception to this.    In Division I, in the three matches played so far, 112 wides were bowled besides the no balls.  

In Division II, in the six matches played so far, 204 wides were bowled besides the no balls.  A team that practices regularly at Woodley nets bowled 17 wides and 11 wides in their first two matches.  This could be attributed to the poor conditions, particularly at the bowlers’ run up area at these nets prevents them from getting any rhythm going.

Reducing the league from 50 to 45-over game seems to have no bearing as every team is playing more number of overs than the allotted 45-overs with the excessive number of wides and no balls being bowled in virtually every game.

SCCA seems to have got their priorities mixed up in that they hurriedly fixed the roof at the two pavilion stands in Wong and Marder fields.  The priority should have been to fix the practice nets (badly needed prior to the season started) and to prepare the wickets prior to the league started.   It is understood that they have no control over some delays in fixing the existing nets.  An alternative could have been thought of, such as getting the nets between Marder and Wong fields ready for practice by rolling the practice area and putting a coir mat, as a temporary measure.  We only hope that within the next two weeks the wickets and the outfield at all the four grounds will be worthy of playing good cricket.



MEDIA ATTENTION TO LOCAL CRICKET!

Editorial By K.C.S. Rao

Over three decades, if not more, majority of cricket is being played at Woodley Park, in Los Angeles, California.  This is the headquarters for cricket in Southern California.  ESPN, Los Angeles recently appeared at Woodley Park in Los Angeles to portray the cricket played here.  This is a good sign for promoting cricket in these parts.

Thanks to Amar Shah and John Lazar of ESPN, Los Angeles, who took interest in local cricket and came to Woodley Park on two weekends to provide much needed exposure to local cricket.  This segment which can be seen on the following link just introduces Woodley cricket.

LINK: http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/news/story?id=6210816

The video title is ‘Leo Magnus Cricket Complex’.  The Story title is ‘A cricket mecca in the L.A. suburbs’

We wish ESPN becomes the pioneer in patronizing cricket in these parts.  With all the efforts made all these years by the local cricket associations and USACA, we could not attract local (American) kids to play this game.  Media coverage is essential to promote cricket and it is high time the cricket administration at all levels in USA not only realize this but also make sincere efforts to have the media help at all times.

Local cricket administration should contact the local media on all occasions and have a liaison person from their board to educate local media on cricket and provide them input (a narrative and scores) on the games played during the weekend.  This liaison person should ensure that the local press covers local cricket on a regular basis.

In our opinion, cricket in USA will not catch on unless and until we have the media coverage.

SCCA TO START LEAGUE THIS WEEKEND?

Turning to other burning topics of local cricket, SCCA is scheduled to start their league season by this weekend.  Unfortunately, as late as Thursday (3/31/2011) evening the grounds were not made ready to play any game, leave alone league games.   It is understood that the Board of Directors have approved the budget for the preparation of grounds and the nets as early as February, 2011.  Nothing has been done.  Unfortunately, democracy never worked in SCCA. 

Historically, almost all of the Presidents that were elected are sole proprietors (in business terms called as ‘Mama, Papa organizations) and are used to doing things their own way without consideration to the people they serve.   May be this is because these are the people who can devote more time than anyone else working for a major employer. These individuals are not used to following the Rules and Regulations.  SCCA is a registered non-profit organization and come under the jurisdiction of Department of State, State of California.   Non-compliance with the Rules and Regulations stipulated for non-profit corporations may jeopardize its own existence.

There are a few individuals floating around who rub shoulders year after year with whoever is elected as President and try to influence the decision making.  You could see these individuals every year in either the same committee or in other committees.  They discourage any new ideas and delay the progress.

If progress has to be made, the newly elected executive should put their foot down and implement the projects for the benefit of membership at large.

Contrary to rumors floating around, Rec. & Parks department has cleared the bush on the land between the nets and Woodley, for facilitating parking for an event of Department of Prisons.  This has nothing to do with cricket.

Finally USACA has announced that they will hold the election for its officers in October, 2011.  The regional elections, particularly the newly created North-West and South-West regions will be held in April, 2011.  This is a good opportunity to bring in changes both in the personnel of USACA and its administration.

SINGH IS KING !

Editorial By K.C.S. Rao

The appointment of the West Indian born former Indian All-rounder Rabindra Ramnarayan Singh aka Robin Singh as the Coach of the USA Under-19 team, is the only positive move made by the USACA in the  past several months.

With the CEO position of USACA yet to be filled up, I am surprised that President Dainty found time to finalize a coach for the Under-19 side.  Dainty may have just pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Robin Singh has got lot of experience as a coach and an ideal person to coach the young Under-19 side.  Robin has coached the Indian Juniors and India ‘A’ squads in the past.  He also served as the Fielding Coach for the Indian side for 2 years and is currently the Coach of the Sachin Tendulkar led Mumbai Indian’s side in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He has got a lot to offer as an experienced coach and as a former International Cricketer.  His links with the West Indies and India will surely help him in understanding the minds of Cricketers who have migrated into USA from these countries.

Having experienced himself, Robin knows how one can perform in the top level by understanding ones limitations.  Robin, as we all know, is not of the flamboyant all-rounder category.  He was a fighter and work horse who kept on doing the job for India, as a cricketer, by fully understanding his limitations and playing to his strengths.

Under his guidance as a coach the Indian Under-19 side and the ‘A’ side performed extremely well in the International cricket.  The Mumbai Indians have been consistent under his coaching in the IPL and had reached the Finals, last year.

Robin believes in hard work and is surely going to push our Cricketers a lot.  He has experience in identifying players and bringing out the best in them.  The decision to send Cameron Mirza as opener in the first game is an example to this.

There is a talk that Robin might also be assigned the job of coaching the USA team.  For now, Dainty seems to be obsessed with his new staff and his willing to support whatever additional role Robin might be interested in taking up for the cause of  USA Cricket.

Luck always plays a major role in any field for any assignment.  It seems the Lady Luck has embraced Robin in his very first assignment.  Within days after appointment as the coach for the USA Under-19 Team, the Robin coached USA Under-19 Team came victorious in the ICC Americas U-19 Championship with a 5-0 win record. 

A Positive move by the Board and a positive performance by the Team.  Robin has started with a winning note and we wish him the very best and hope he Coaches even our senior side and help USA Cricket perform consistently in the International arena.

SAME WINE IN A DIFFERENT BOTTLE?

Editorial By K.C.S. Rao

This is the question on everybody’s lips when you walk around Woodley Park these days.  May not be said in so many words but in summary this has been the question widely debated.  SCCA elected its 2011 Executive in December 2010 and now we are end of March 2011.  Full three months have elapsed and no tangible progress could be seen.  The new Executive had a promising start but, unfortunately, that’s where it appears to have ended.   The writer is reminded of a saying ‘Promises are meant to be kept and not be implemented’.  How true this statement is when it comes to SCCA’s new executive.  May be it is wrong to say new executive, because the President and one of its vice-Presidents are not new.  They were in the Executive last term.   Two out of Five are from the past year.  That makes the above heading more appropriate!  Not only have they not made tangible progress but they seem to make the past executive look more efficient!

Major issues that needed immediate attention were the nets and the pitch (wickets) on which the league games were to be played.

When you walk around Woodley Park, now-a-days, everyone is questioning about the condition of the two nets.  SCCA Executive, though elected in December 2010 for the term beginning  January 1, 2011, has not done any improvement to the nets except partially filling up the pot hole near the bowlers’ run up area.  The direction of the mat on eastern side of the net was switched in that the batting area no longer shows the wear and tear.  Though the change is cosmetic in nature, it appears to be a welcome change for the die-hard cricketers who are keen on having a practice session.

The net per se is in a deplorable condition in that there is no safe place for anyone to stand and witness the practice session without the ball coming out of the nets and hitting you.  ESPN-2 staff (camera crew and the journalists) was at Woodley recently to cover USA cricket with emphasis on Woodley.   The pictures that were taken by them, particularly the two nets present a sad picture of SCCA’s administration.   Cameraman was afraid to take pictures from behind the nets for the ball could come through the torn net and damage his camera.

It is understood that the Board in its January meeting had approved a budget for fixing the nets with a deadline to complete the assignment by end-February.  It is end-March now and the league season as scheduled is to start in a couple of weeks (Hopefully!).  Nothing has been done to improve the nets or the mat.  So far no grounds man has been hired to maintain the wickets. It is anybody’s guess as to how the league will be played in a couple of weeks.

Assuming a grounds man is hired, at this late stage, what can he do within such a short time between now and the start of the league?

It is reliably learnt that putting concrete all the way (including the bowlers’ run up area) is being considered as an option.  It appears that this requires permission from the City’s Recreation & Parks Department.  Apparently this process takes time.  Under the circumstances, it would have been wiser to maintain the existing facilities by fixing whatever needs to be fixed and work on the long term project (Obtaining City’s permit, laying concrete, etc.) for the future.   It is also reliably learnt that the City, as an alternative to laying concrete, offered to maintain the existing net practice area.  This seems to be a better and viable solution, in that City, with their resources could bring in dirt periodically (may be once a month), put it in the run up area and roll it. SCCA, while working on the laying of concrete, as a long term project, should take up on City’s offer to immediately solve the problem of net practice.

This new committee ventured on the project of the top two divisions of SCCA playing their games in colored uniform.  They should have done more research into it than jumping the gun.  Our contacts in Central Zone of USACA league just informed me that they had tried this and dropped it as most of their 12^th man (substitute) fielding were not in approved colors (mostly used whites).  This became an eye-sore to both the organizers and the audience resulting in their dispensing with this experiment once and for all.

In SCCA’s own backyard, Southern California Winter Cricket League is doing a wonderful job.  It is growing in strength year by year.  Organizer of the Winter League survives only on sponsors.  It is high time SCCA learns some pointers from other successful organizations to be independent in resources and the administration.  So far, this executive is at least showing symptoms of working as a team. It is hoped that they bring in necessary and useful improvements in its administration of cricket in this part of the world!