The future is bright ...

Pranav Pradhan collects the Best Bowler in the Under-13 age group © GCricinfo

Calling an event perfect might sound like hyperbolic excess, but there really is no other word that can be applied to the US National Junior Cricket Championship in Cupertino in late June. Under cloudless skies without even a wisp of cloud all weekend, afternoon temperatures at a comfortable 75 degrees, and scenic grounds with well-manicured outfields framing prepared turf wickets, there were few blemishes to be found anywhere in the arrangements--and a lot to see.

In Cupertino that weekend were over 200 cricketers aged 10 to 15, hailing from all points of the compass--from the Eastern seaboard, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Toronto (Canada), Michigan and California. Many of them had never played on first-class grounds before, and seemed overawed by their surroundings. But as they realized they were to play against kids of their own age group, their inhibitions quickly disappeared. These were replaced by a fiercely competitive spirit, as they played their hearts out all through the tournament.

Over thirty 25-over matches were played in eight separate venues, with hourly updates sent to a central data bank and re-published on the CCA website. The finals were broadcast live, and were apparently picked up in England, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Some five to ten thousand persons were estimated to have watched the finals in North America alone--only the World Cup tournaments had attracted as many watchers.

This was the largest tournament to be staged on North American soil. And it put little Cupertino firmly on the map of world cricket, as the future home of a Junior Cricket Hall of Fame to be built by the city in the next few months. The CCA intends to maintain this momentum in the years to come.

On a wonderfully sunny Sunday afternoon, a strong crowd of cricket enthusiasts jostled for space along the boundary flags on the Santa Clara Cricket Ground. The event was the championship match in the Under-15 category of the second US National Junior Cricket Tournament conducted by California Cricket Academy. As the crowd waited in silence, Mital Patel of New Jersey Select XI ran in to bowl to Mihir Deo of CCA All Stars. The ball passed wide of the batsman, the umpire declared it a wide, and the rest of the CCA All Stars team ran in to congratulate their batsman.

Actually, the U-15 final had turned out to be a tame affair. Early in the morning, the Select XI from the Eastern seaboard had won the toss and elected to bat. With star batsman Greg Sewdial, along with C Mirza and Mital Patel in good nick, they expected to put up an imposing total in their allotted 25 overs, and make All Stars sweat through the chase. But the Cricket Academy All Stars had other ideas.

The top-half of Select XI collapsed under a fantastic opening spell of controlled and sustained seam bowling by Arsh Buch and Raman "McGrath" Nelakanti. In his second over, Raman cut a ball back towards Mirza who returned a dolly to him. Arsh from the other end trapped danger-man Greg Sewdial leg before. Then spinner Pranay Suri joined the party, and helped hasten the Select XI's end.

For a team that played so well in the earlier rounds leading up to the finals, Select XI's final score of 72 was nothing but disastrous. A target of 73 runs was never going to challenge the champs. Select XI had to dig deep into their bag of tricks to pull off a win.

But that was never going to be. All Stars started their innings with characteristic flourish with captain Akash and Adhiraj Watave getting 27 runs on the board in fairly quick time. Adhiraj and Akash left in quick succession leaving Mihir Deo and Pranay Suri to do the honors, which they accomplished with surgical precision.

Of the eight that participated in the Under-15 category, The CCA All Stars were clearly above the rest. There were a couple of takeaways from the Under-15 group - Sewdial and M Patel of Select XI, Jagannathan, Deo, A. Buch, Nelakanti, Suri and Watave of All Stars, and S Ahmad and S Niazi of Citrus Cougars. All these players have enormous talent and players to watch.

In the Under-13 category, CCA Lords defeated their opposition in every one of their preliminary matches. Their top order had the capability to amass huge runs (247 for 3 in 25 overs was their best effort) while their bowlers took care of their opposition in every instance.

In the Under-13 finals against Citrus Mustangs, captain Roshan Varadarajan, won the toss and elected to bat. Lords put up an imposing score of 183 for 3 in 25 overs, with opener Sagar Joshi clocking 41 runs. Roshan remained unbeaten with a quicksilver 33, while left-hander Vikram Valluri kept him company with a stylish 43. With the exception of captain Shakeel Ahmad, Citrus Mustangs never really put up a fight and were all out for 61.

In the U-13 competition Pradhan won the Best Bowler award, walking away with 16 wickets in five matches. He bowled a tight line, and was stingy with runs as well. On the batting front, Joshi demonstrated grit, competence and consistence, scoring an average of 40, and won the Best Batsman award. Man of the Tournament and captain of Lords, Varadarajan played 3 excellent innings, was useful with the ball, and took a couple of fantastic catches in the close-in position. Shakeel Ahmad of Citrus Cougars and Anirudh Mayasandra of MMCA are the other players to watch among the U-13s.

If the Under-15 and Under-13 finals were relatively mild affairs, the Under-11 final between Toronto Cricket Academy and CCA Jaguars was a completely different story. Winning the toss, TCA scored 132 for 3 in their allotted 25 overs. A Sayyid once again scored 67 not out., and was ably supported by M Patel (29 not out). The Jaguars bowling lacked the bite and Asad Sayyid scored freely, hitting them all over the park. Chasing a target of 133 is imposing at any level of junior cricket. TCA Director Brian Hale was quite sure that the game was in their bag.

The Jaguars, however, set about their chase with clinical efficiency. Mohak Buch (21) started aggressively and plundered 21 in double quick time. When he left, partner Hersh Solanki (32), captain Neil Tagare (27) and Akhil Ghirnikar (8) destroyed the rest of the TCA attack and reached the target of 133 in only 20 overs.

There is a lot of raw talent in the Under-11 age group. Sayyid of TCA was by far the best of the lot, showing fantastic cricketing sense, application and technique. Other batsmen to watch are Solanki and Tagare of Jaguars, allrounder M. Buch and bowler Vaidyanatha, who had an impressive haul of 14 wickets in this tournament. Vaidyanatha also won the Sportsman of the Tournament award for his gesture of wanting to share his Man of the Match award with his team-mate Hersh Solanki.