Revamped squad selection and the subsequent results, as well as the administrative groundwork the ICC has done to boost the game in the country, provide a glimmer of light at the end of a long tunnel for USA
Peter Della Penna04-Nov-2017When the Auty Cup resumed in 2011 after a 17-year hiatus, the identities of the two national organisational setups were reflected in the respective squad selection for Canada and the USA.Canada, at that time, still had ODI status with centrally contracted players, and picked a full-strength side and dominated the visitors. USA, an amateur setup with ODI aspirations but limping around under the muddled administration run by USACA, haphazardly cobbled together a squad comprised of whoever answered their phones in the week before the team was sent off to Toronto for a shellacking on a winless tour that also featured sizable losses in T20s to Afghanistan and Trinidad & Tobago.That debacle now seems like a lifetime ago as a new era in American cricket started to take shape this autumn. First came the victory in the Auty Cup to break a barren 26-year run. Then came the announcement of the new administrative identity orchestrated by the ICC, which will be known as USA Cricket.Over the last two-plus years, since the ICC has taken charge of the organisational affairs while USACA was suspended and the subsequent restructuring in the wake of USACA’s expulsion, many surveys have been sent out to solicit feedback from people across the USA cricket community. One question stood out among the initial series of surveys that has served as a fundamental chicken or egg question for US cricket: are good cricket teams a product of good administration or good administration a product of good cricket teams?Under USACA, it was far easier to disprove than prove these theories. No matter how good the players were, poor tournament results always came to USA teams hindered by the incompetence of their administrators. One former USA captain resorted to gallows humor about team preparation, saying he was readying himself for “another Jamaican ghost tour”, a frequent USACA promise that never panned out ahead of whatever was the next ICC qualification event.While the results across each of USA’s national teams haven’t done a 180-degree turn overnight – the men, juniors and women all failed in their attempts this year at advancing along their respective World Cup qualification pathways – the Auty Cup selection and performance has shown there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. ICC staff have spent many months laying the groundwork for success and while identifying the best talent was the chief priority initially, that has taken a backseat to positive attitude and chemistry to find success in the overall mission for advancement.That new philosophical mindset was underscored by quotes from selection chairman Ricardo Powell when announcing the squad for USA’s upcoming December tour to the UAE and Oman. It was also harped on by coach Pubudu Dassanayake before and after the Auty Cup success. It should leave no doubt that regardless of the number of runs and wickets accumulated, the so-called intangible qualities such as work ethic and attitude are being given more emphasis at the selection table going forward.In the past star mentality took precedence because the second tier of talent was never good enough to challenge seriously for places. It was prevalent under the captaincy of Steve Massiah, who led the team from 2005 until 2014 and was USA’s all-time leading scorer in one-day cricket. In spite of his prolific scoring, he developed a reputation within playing circles for the poor influence he imparted on younger talent. Among the current generation that influence could be seen on Timroy Allen, Steven Taylor and Muhammad Ghous.Allen is USA’s biggest matchwinner but there have been question marks placed over his commitment over the years. He retired in 2013 at age 26, then, after coming back as vice-captain at the end of that year’s World T20 Qualifier, he made himself unavailable for selection for USA until the World Cricket League Division Four last year due in part to various clashes with team management. He was USA’s best player at Division Four last year, but had his worst tournament in national team colours earlier this year at WCL Division Three in Uganda.Taylor is a once-in-a-generation born-and-raised American talent who has an eye for a career with West Indies, owing to his parents’ Jamaican heritage. However, his indiscipline with the bat has cost USA more matches than he’s won for them and such careless shot selection meant he was dropped from the Guyana Amazon Warriors line-up after just two games this summer despite fetching a handsome $30,000 price-tag at this year’s Caribbean Premier League draft.Ghous, meanwhile, rarely batted above No. 11 in most USA teams but put himself at No. 6 at one of the first opportunities after taking over as captain in 2015. At that summer’s World T20 Qualifier, he was the target of thinly veiled criticism from a senior team-mate after bowling himself for just two overs for nine runs against Namibia while everyone else was getting hammered. Since being dropped in 2016, he had been given several opportunities to work his way back into the squad but no-showed twice after receiving invitations to USA trials, most recently in August after his plane tickets were already purchased by the ICC Americas staff.All three players are now on the outside looking in and may be there for some time yet because the broader USA squad depth has finally started to outstrip their usefulness as evidenced in the most recent Auty Cup. Among the players who stepped up in their absence are ones who would not be considered great by any stretch, but good ones who buy into the team-first concept frequently espoused in recent interviews by Dassanayake.Those good players – a trio of Patels in Japen, Mrunal and Nisarg – were able to produce positive results for the team with key contributions at significant moments. As the squad uses experiences like the Auty Cup and the upcoming tour to the UAE and Oman to patiently gear up for some key events in the 2018 calendar – including the next WCL Division Three expected for late in the year and the start of qualifying for the 2020 World T20 – they are the kinds of players who are being rewarded with opportunities to grow and, hopefully, shine.Shepherded by a cagey and savvy veteran like Ibrahim Khaleel, greatness is being coaxed out of sensationally gifted talents like left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige, the kind of player who can be a cornerstone for USA to build around for the next decade. Even though he only made his national team debut in May, the 26-year-old Kenjige has commanded a tremendous amount of respect within the squad in a relatively short space of time not just because of his skillset both with the ball and through his aggressive fielding but more importantly through his unfailingly positive attitude and unflinching commitment to fitness and training.While Dassanayake and Powell’s USA selection panel deserve a large amount of credit for piecing together the puzzle for a winning side, an unsung hero to the general public but one frequently cited by the players as a secret to team success is outgoing USA high performance manager Tom Evans. The Australian has done yeoman’s work to build the framework for a sustainable winning culture, chiefly with implementing regional and national talent-identification programmes over the last three years, before heading home in September to accept a role with Cricket Victoria.The new logo introduced by USA Cricket embodies the changing face of cricket in the country on and off the field. As the last vestiges of USACA are being scrubbed away from American cricket’s organisational and operational affairs, the same is occurring on the field with the makeup of the national teams – and better days likely lie ahead for both.
