Ed Ahmad C'bean Cup Goes International

Debuting last year as a replacement for the discontinued New York Guinness/Red Stripe event, the Ed Ahmad New York Caribbean Cricket Cup tournament has already expanded, entering its second year. This year, the cricketing nations of India and Pakistan, through some resident indigenous players from those nations, will join players from the fourteen Caribbean nations already participating in this premier annual cricket event.

Spicing up this year?s tournament will be those representative teams from India and Pakistan, who will join Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and the Windward Islands. The much-heralded 2003 tournament saw Trinidad & Tobago defeat Windward Islands in the exciting final held at Idlewild Park in Rosedale, Queens, New York.

Soon after the completion of the 2003 tournament, a Select New York International XI comprising players from all six of the participating nations flew out to California to participate in that State?s inaugural Invitational 20-Overs Open Tournament and emerged victorious in that event. The New York players performances underscored the fact that a wealth of cricketing talent exists in the New York metropolitan area, which witnessed some of the top West Indies cricketing talent on display last Summer, led by Brian Charles Lara, among others.

In addition to expanding participation in the tournament to include the cricket rival nations of India and Pakistan, this year?s tournament will also include an Under-19 tournament to run parallel to the senior tournament. The U-19 tournament will see Guyana, India and two representative Rest-of-the-World teams competing in the inaugural youth competition.

The majority of the Under-19 players will be drawn from the New York Junior Youth Development Program (JYDP) and the United States Cricket Academy of New Jersey. These two youth initiative programs are led by Vish Lekhram and Ashok Patel respectively, two individuals and their supporters who have invested a vast amount of resources in supporting the two programs.

The exposure of the participants in the two youth programs to the Ed Ahmad New York Caribbean Cricket Cup?s tournament is seen as an excellent opportunity for some talented youth players, who will be knocking on the selection door of any future USA senior team.