The New England Cricket Association (NECA) just finished off their ‘hard Tennis ball’ cricket season. A total of 18 teams contested for the final spot. Similarly, ‘hard ball’ Massachusetts State Cricket League (MSCL) was not too far behind closing on their season finale.  A Week earlier the junior league – mainly comprising of second generation kids under 16 – completed their season.

Cricket is now becoming increasingly popular in Massachusetts. However, cricket is not new to Massachusetts, the cricket tournaments goes back to the 1867, and was played for 30 years in Needham just a few towns away from Shrewsbury. The team Albion Cricket Club (see photo) was ranked third in the cricket tournaments played at the time. This time period can be likened to the movie ‘Lagaan’ where the British brought their favorite sport with themselves where ever they ended up in; South Africa, Australia, India and of course United states. The sport left the locals in awe when they couldn’t figure out why the men in white would hit balled up stitched red leather hurled at them and then run back and forth between three wooden stakes in the ground.

Nitin Vaidya, wrote on Aug. 31, 2014, "In recent decades [cricket] has undergone a resurgence fostered by immigrants from countries of the British Commonwealth. There are at least 32 teams of skilled amateur adult cricket players registered with the Massachusetts State Cricket League (MSCL) and an additional number that are part of the New England Cricket Association [NECA]."

NECA members have been organizing and playing league cricket for over 11 years. The main organizers of the league who have stuck together since its inception are: Ganesh Chandrasekaran Iyer (MCC2), Bala Sadagopan (ECCH), Gopinath Chari (SCC), Ram Sundaram (TechPro) and Raghuvir Leelasagar (MCC).

Ganesh seen here with his 76 year old father was proud and jubilant for another reason - his team MCC2 won the league championship. His father Mr. Chandrasekiran, was equally proud of his son’s victory.   

MCC 2 hosted ECC Hoickers at the Shrewsbury Municipal Ground on Sunday September 14th for the 2014 NECA finals. MCC 2 won the toss and decided to field first. The team followed on the heels of the umpires; Onomitra Ghosh (MCC 1) and Raj A (SCC) as they placed the bails on the wickets.

Opening for ECCH Avinash and Satish played rather steadily for 3 overs before Avinash was bowled by Deepesh for 7 runs and Satish (5) who got caught by Rohit on Anil's fine delivery. Shiva joined in but could not go beyond 8 runs. Bharat who has been declared the MVP for the Hoickers, unfortunately ducked out on Deepesh's pacer as Anil made the fine catch. Saurabh and Dayakar tried their best to salvage the team, before the former was bowled by Anand for 5 runs and the latter managed 14 runs before he was caught and bowled by Deepesh. Rajeev scored 4, Maha was runout, and earlier Srinash was caught by Anand bowled by Deepesh - don't get ahead of me - Yes, Deepesh proved to be the best bowler for MCC2.

Hoickers scored 70 runs at the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs. MCC2 appeared to have a reachable target of 71 runs to win the match. The opening batsmen partnership between Anil and Srikant was quite effective, between the two they managed to put 25 runs and a few extras on the scoreboard. Anil was caught by Siva and bowled by Anudeep for 9 runs. Srikant lost the race between him and the ball as it was thrown toward the wickets which Srikant was dashing for, but not before contributing 16 runs. Monit caught by Satish was dismissed rather early by Rajeev for a duck. Chirag who wanted to give his other team mates a chance to bat decided to retire content with 13 runs to his credit. The team nominated Ganesh to play in his stead and remained unbeaten for 2 runs, as did cnu. The fastest scorer was Rohit who got 22 runs in 22 balls faced, but was run out. MCC2 reached the target of 71 runs in the 16th over with four wickets in hand – jo jeeta wohi Sikander.

The cheerleaders also enjoyed the game and each rooting for their team in style and quite entertaining. Ankit of MCC1 cheering so loud was probably heard the next town over. Chants like ‘Focus Focus Pressure Pressure .. Enjoy your game’- amused and engaged the spectators long enough and at the end were treated with a victory dance performed by Ankit (see photo)

Youth League 12/12 - Nitin Vaidya in his report captured the youth cricket activity as such: “Playing in the league were 5 teams from across Massachusetts: [Eagles Youth of Wrentham, Challengers Youth of the Attleboro area, NECC Cubs of the Grafton area, Youth of Lexington and Commonwealth Youth of Shrewsbury].

Over the course of four weekends in August 2014, the Shrewsbury cricket team played a total of six matches.  The performance of the Shrewsbury youngsters proved exceptional. They achieved victory in the final match. Commonwealth Youth Shrewsbury cricket team comprise of: Aashirwad Deochakke,  Aarya Virmani,  Anirudh Iyer, Arin Gupta, Arnav Mankad,  Gaurav Savant, Kartikay Joshi, Maurya Virmani, Muhammad Ibrahim, Ninad Vaidya,  Puneet Joshi, Rayyan Syed, Rishon Katoch, Lokesh, Ranjan, Zain Ali – Coached by Aswani Virmani

In an award ceremony, Kartikay Joshi was declared best batsman and player for Shrewsbury:

Muhammad Ibrahim was declared the best bowler for Shrewsbury.”

The team’s debut in the semi-finals can be attributed to Rayyan Syed score of a much needed 33 runs for his team total of 93 runs and Rishon Katoch with his fine bowling hat-trick.

“Thus, amazingly, the Shrewsbury team members have become undefeated champions in this year’s MSCL’s Youth” – jo jeeta wohi Sikander.

Indian Society of Worcester, in September also organized a cricket game during their picnic gathering in Dean Park, Shrewsbury. Three teams had already formed; Sandeep Gandhi sent a request to NECA to provide 5 players so that he may form the 4rth team. Yours truly of Shaheen XI responded to the request in the blink of the eye and helped to add members to the fourth team. Sandeep Gandhi captained the team, added 30 runs to his team score of 109 runs and won the match – jo jeeta wohi Sikander.

MSCL - Hard ball Cricket 40/40 and 20/20 Stats:

Bikram Singh’s Boston Gymkhana 'A' won the MSCL Div-I  40/40 championship at the Franklin Field defeating Commonwealth 'A'. It was a genuine team effort- every individual contributed. Both teams had made it to the finals defeating some premier clubs, reported Saqib Syed..

“Boston Gymkhana's nemesis of umpteen encounters Commonwealth 'A' awaited, formidable opponents. Trophy laden, winner of umpteen Div-I Championships, smart, experienced and playoff savvy CCC-A.  Laden with legendary MSCL cricketers Ali Rana, Qasim Butt, and Fazal Alam. Former Gymkhana veteran Saqib Syed was also playing for Commonwealth 'A' with a broken hand.

In the MSCL Div 2 championship, Challengers beat UMass Dartmouth in the finals, and Div 3 Championship, star studded Cavaliers beat New England Royals….. Jo Jeeta wohi Sikander

MCSL T20

Boston Gymkhana ‘B’ also wins the T20 division 1 Championship in belligerent fashion!

Semis  -  CCCA scored 169/5 in 20. Hashim Khan 100(61)

BG-B chased in 18.3 overs. Pratik Dudhane 63(31), Avinash Varma 38(24), Srikant Mokka 33 (15)

Finals – BG-B batted first and scored a mammoth 233/1. Srikant Mokka 107(66), Pratik Dudhane 68(32), Avinash 34(22).     

Conway CC 166 all out, Bruce Blackwood 77 (32), Shawn Blackwood 45(32)

Thus in both 40/40 and 20/20, Boston Gymkhana prevailed on top – Jo jeeta wohi Sikanadar

A few Notable NECA 2014 Tournament Stats as provided by the respective teams:

Speedsters: This year, Speedsters made it to the Play-offs of NECA 2014  and it was a good team effort and everyone did contribute significantly towards its journey.

Sai Teja Kota scored 100 runs and picked up 12 wickets in this tournament for Speedsters

We had 5 wicket hauls from Rohit Sharma, Sohail Khan and Sai Teja Kota.

BGSC: Aakash Shah and Raja Kolli are the MVP's for BGSC this season.

Raja Kolli - 119 runs and 7 wickets in 4 games. He topped the batting charts with 119 runs at an average of 59.5

Aakash Shah - 103 runs, 10 wickets in 7 games.

Prashant Patel is the highest wicket for BGSC with 11 wickets in 7 games.

ECCH made it to the finals of NECA 2014 by riding on team spirit showed by each and every individual in the team. However, there were a few players who stood up and helped rally the team around them to make this distance.  

“Bharath is the MVP of ECCH. He scored 168 runs in the season which included a very valuable 55 not out in the pre quarter’s game against NECC Lions. He consistently scored runs and enabled others around him to play well. His fielding has been an asset to the team and that’s evident from some of the most spectacular catches he has taken in the tournament.  

Saurabh is the vice captain and wicket keeper of the team. He has been instrumental behind the wickets taking 31 catches over the season which is a record for ECCH. I am sure its some kind of record in NECA as well. Along with his wicket keeping skills he has scored 140 runs next most to Bharath for ECCH.

Rajeev (23), Srindah(16), Rahul(14) and Dayakar(12) have been the go to bowlers for ECCH this season.”- Bala on behalf of Rajeev Captain ECC Hoickers

SCC – Gopi “Batting MVP - Anil Dhingra - Anil had a great season for SCC in 2014. He scored 174 runs at an average of 17.4 and was the highest run scorer for the team. He consistently played a long innings and helped the team win many games. His highest score was 33 NO against MCC-2 during a league stage. Most opponents were very keen in getting his wicket.

Bowling MVP - Dhruv Desai - Dhruv was fantastic all through the season. He was genuinely fast on SCC's home ground and was literally unplayable. His best bowling effort came in the SF where he had figures of 4-2-2-2. Earlier in one of the league games, he had figures of 4-3-1-0”

NECC LIONS: Chandra Shukhija: “During NECC Lions game against ECCH, Naren from Lions got a hat trick. He finished with figures of 4 overs 18 runs 5 wickets. Hat-trick turned match on its head. Lions went on to win the game.”

MCC2: Ganesh:

1. Dipesh Sharma, captain of MCC 2, led the pack through the playoffs. He finished with 20 wickets just in the playoff games.

2. Mohit Vaze, MCC 2 wicket keeper took 8 catches in the semi-finals match.

3. Yashwanth scored 48 runs in one playoff match

4. Rohit Reddy scored 48 runs in one of the regular season matches.

Shaheen XI:  One of the new teams – made it to the playoffs - enjoyed the game  – Capturing each moment in commentaries published in Lokvani and New England Indian News that can be searched under the author: Tahir Ali

Best Batting Average: Syed Najeeb 129,  Atif 110, Shujaat 106 (Captain)

Best Bowlers Wickets/Econ: Zakir Ali 16/3.26, Umair 12/3.33, Omer 12/4.88, Shujaat 12/5.05

Highest catches: Zeeshan Ibadat  (25)

NECA All Star Game:

NECA champions MCC2+MCC1  also played against  ‘All star team’ comprised of best players from the rest of the 16 teams:

All Star team score 107/8 in 20 overs. MCC scored 84/9 in 20 overs.

The partnership between Chetan (Captain SCC) and Syed Najeeb (Shaheen XI) proved very effective as they scored 39 and 24 runs  respectively, contributing significantly toward ‘All Star’ team.     All-Star team won the match by 23 runs…..Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander.

Cricket celebrities in Town  Amongst players: Former Pakistani Cricketer Yousuf Yohana visited Massachusetts – Shaheen XI and MSCL and other players participated in the celebration. Photo shows Najeeb shaking hands with Youhana, as Fazal Alam and Shujaat look on.

Indian Team player Suresh Raina was in town – photo shows Suresh with yours truly.  Both Lokvani and Indian News reported the news. Anil and Ranjani also visited the venue. Upendra Mishra of New England Indian News sums it up as:

Issue Date; July 2014, Posted On 7/1/2014: Indian Cricketer Suresh Raina is in Boston and will meet and greet cricket fans and enthusiasts at 7:00 pm on Thursday/July 3 at restaurant located at 1000 Boston Turnpike (Route 9) in Shrewsbury, MA, said organizer of the event Tahir Ali.

Raina is visiting Boston to visit a family friend and touring the United States, Ali said, adding that there is no entrance fee and everyone is welcome to meet and greet the Indian cricketer. "I just want Suresh to get a proper tribute and maximize participation," Ali said. "I just do not feel it proper to have a hindrance between the national hero and his fans. Suresh also was gracious enough to agree with me on this. So we are on the same page."

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