The 3rd Annual Burlington Cricket Club fundraiser tournament ‘BCC Cup 2006’ just concluded successfully last weekend at the Locke School grounds in Billerica, MA. The Infosys team won the tournament played between 27 teams with eleven players per team, sixteen overs a side, with hard tennis cricket balls at the Mitre Grounds in Burlington and the Locke School grounds in Billerica over two weekends.

The tournament was organized by a successful collaboration between the Burlington Cricket Club (http://www.burlingtoncricket.org ) and the Next Generation Foundation (NGF - http://www.nextgenfoundation.org ). BCC is a not-for-profit group of cricket enthusiasts who play cricket for fun and keep a game alive and kicking in the Greater Boston area. NGF is a Greater Boston based registered socio-charitable 501 (c) (3) public charity organization with the primary goal of supporting the education of underprivileged children in India, irrespective of individual religious or social affiliations.  Funds raised from this tournament will benefit the non-profit charitable activities of NGF.

The event was carried out with a huge amount of strategic teamwork between the BCC and NGF teams, and the clock work like perfection of the tournament organization was made possible by the hard work put in by a lot of volunteers. The involvement and single-minded dedication put in by everyone involved towards the dual causes of cricket and NGF’s charitable causes paid off in the smooth flow of the events during both the weekends ending in a grand finale. The players played their own part by being very professional and highly enthusiastic towards the cause, while having a lot of fun playing the game.

The event was attended by about 500 people, including the 300 players, making it one of the biggest Indian sporting events in the Greater Boston area.  Each of the 27 participating teams paid an entry fee of $100, to contribute to the cause. In addition, various local businesses contributed generously to the tournament’s worthy cause by sponsoring the tournament with great enthusiasm, helping the BCC-NGF team to raise over $8000.

Platinum sponsors for this year’s tournament included: Advans Technologies, Princeton Properties, SolveIT and Patni Computer Systems. Quest Software, Mr. Amaresh and Sadana Mahapatra and Family, Mr. Puran Dang, the CEO of Minuteman Technical Services, Inc. and family, and Dakshin Restaurant were the Gold Sponsors.

Waltham XI scored the highest run rate in the league matches with a net runrate of 7.35. The Infosys, Philips CC, Grumpy Old Men and Baba Lowell teams made it to the semi-finals. Infosys secured the distinction of the highest number of runs made by any team in the tournament, by scoring 129 runs in their match against Sultans. Mr. Santosh of the Grumpy Old Men was adjudged the 'Man of the Match' twice in the tournament. Raidu of the Philips teams scored the highest individual runs in any match in the tournament, striking 45 runs playing against South Zone. Hitesh of Waltham took the highest toll of wickets in a match, claiming 7 wickets of the UML team.

The Grumpy Old Men and the Infosys teams were the finalists. Infosys was the winner of the BCC Cup 2006.

Mr. Ajay of the Infosys team won the 'Best Bowler of the Series' having claimed 13 wickets. He also ended up with most awards on the final with two 'Man of the Match' awards and the 'Best Bowler of the Series' award.

Mr. Jason of the Infosys team won the 'Best Batsman of the Series' having scored 97 runs.

Vidya Ramanathan from SolveIT, who were very generous to be our Super Platinum sponsor with a donation of $1500, gave out the Man of the Series trophy to Mr. Raidu of the Philips team who made 88 runs and claimed 8 wickets in the tournament.

Mr. Puran Dang, Founder, President and CEO of Minuteman Technical Services, Inc., and a very well respected and socially active personality in the Greater Boston area was invited to be the chief guest. He has gracefully donated a tidy sum to the tournament and distributed all other awards to the distinguished players of the series.

For more details about NGF's programs, BCC's activities and the tournament, please contact Karthik - ksharma423@gmail.com, Pramit Makoday - mpramit@yahoo.com, or Ganesh Davuluri - ganeshd@gmail.com. Visit the organizers’ websites at http://www.burlingtocricket.org and http://www.nextgenfoundation.org

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