Well done Peter. You are absolutely right about USACA and MLCUS. Over the years USACA under the so called leadership of Mr. Dainty has done nothing for any kind of cricket. MLCUS is also nothing but the big talks. They will promise you sky but you get nothing. I am from Houston and I really admire your efforts and dedication to start the cricket club at grass root level. We have recently started going to some of the local schools and introduce the cricket with the help of one of their teacher and hope to spread it further. yes we all are guilty of not reaching at grass root level and just serving the ex-pat from our home countries. Only way cricket will succeed by reaching the American kids at school level. I hope I can contribute more to cricket. We need some more people like you to open our eyes. I don't know how I can help but let me know what are your needs and how I can help. I am far away in Texas but I am very happy to read your story. Keep it up, Do not give up.

This is nothing new. I have started a junior cricket academy three years ago and received same cold response from USACA, SCCA, MLCUS ( which died few monts ago) and Cricinfo ( Mr.Das ). I have built my own Cricket field and none of the representatives from any cricket associations, ever came to see waht kind of junior program I have. We have now trained about 50 kdis , who are playing cricket. We participated in National US under 15 tournament and one of the players who made the highest score in tournament was never selected by selection group for national under 15 team. My feeling is that all these associations are not interested in youth cricket and are busy fighting with each other over the sport which is not even has any foothold in native Americans. There are many schools who want to start cricket at their schools, but no parent organization is there to help the young kids. It is a shame.

Looks like you should be helping the USACA, cause
they certainly can't (or won't) help you.

It's a shame. This kid is great, but he could be greater with some decent help.

Peter,

It is indeed heartening to see your efforts for the game. I have played some cricket in the Midwest region and I can tell you first hand the leagues are hard strapped as far as finances go. Most State level leagues are run by the season fees received from the cricket teams and limited donations from sponsors. It's not easy to get support for artificial pitches (like matting or turf wickets). I suggest you should email and/or call all management people listed on the Arizona Cricket association website http://www.azcricket.com/ with your request. Please include a link to this blog so they know people around the US (infact around the world) have noticed your predicament. Maybe for starters they can loan you an extra pitch or a cricket ground to play in. If you can show prove to them you have young players coming in regularly they might be willing to help you even more. I know this would involve a bit more effort but I am sure it will be worth it.

Regards,
S. Fawad Masood Raza
Minnesota

Keep up the good work: its amazing that you've gone so far. If you have any senior clubs in your vicinity, I assume they would be ready to help. Or they should be. At any rate, don't hold your breath expecting USACA to help. It's an organization whose only purpose, as currently constituted, is to serve the interests of its officers.

Dam...good job, 12 and already started a cricket club! You have a lot to give to cricket.

It is great to learn that kids are playing Cricket in USA. Peter is a brave and patient young man. Keep it up. But as far as Cricket in USA is concerned I think that it will not get a kick start even in the coming 5-6 years or never.

hi peter,
glad to see someone else trying to teach the other kids at school cricket. I started a cricket club at my high school (brophy) in phoneix. had a few good years and got some games in with another school from prescott. i am currently in university now at ASU, but would be happy to help you out. so send me an email at bmslaven@hotmail.com.
Great job and keep it up.

Brett Slaven

I am 14 years old and I am the captain of my club in Southern California. My team is 90% junior players under the age of 15. So far no one has done anything to help with the club. No matter what my team does, we are stopped by some one, some where. My team also took part in the U-15 National Tournament in San Jose. The tournament was held to select players for the USA team, but no one was selected from there.

Hey peter, if you're interested my team would like to host your team for a tournament in Southern California. We have a true cricket field with clay pitches. Visit my team's website at
www.citrusvalleyjuniorcricketacademy.com

I dont know if it will help, but i have forwarded your letter to the australian newspaper and the courier mail, which is queensland's newspaper. Good work, keep your efforts up! as long as you and your teammates enjoy playing cricket it is worthwhile

Hi Peter,
It is really heartening to hear your story especially in a country where most of the ppl have never heard about cricket. Maybe you should dash off a letter to the ICC(International Cricket Council) who is governing the US organisations and provides them with funds. Or you could try approaching the Asian Cricket Council(ACC) or even the Indian Cricket Board(BCCI), I hope they will be able to help you. All the very best to you and I hope to see a competitive cricket team from the US (made up of American citizens) soon

there is no help for cricket players in usa currently. there is no encourgement for youth. i am 18 and moved to usa from india two yaers ago. there is no cricket teams in high school. even if you have 11 players the high school won't let u create a team. they have special notice borad on their fields saying that NO CRICKET ALLOWed. cricket in highschools is very important. it is gonna take few yaers to make international team. many basrball players are intersed in cricket. second thing is there is no cricket on tv i mean on local channels. only dish tv shows cricket and that is payperview. there is no scholor ship program for cricket players. we went to u19 championship in folrida by plane and usaca didn't pay us a penny to buy tickets for u19 team. cost us 10,000 $$ we play cricket for enjoyment we know there is no future for us in cricket. may be for kids. we gotta do something seroiuly to make it this happen. HOPEEFULLY ICC WILL READ THIS.

hi kid just want to say that i have nothing but respect for you. you don't need USACA and MLCUS. just keep up the good work and tell everyone about cricket

Very well done Peter. YOu have shown that that USACA needs to learn about cricket administration from you and not the other way around. I hope that you do succeed in your mission and don't give up soon. Wish you all the best. Look and learn USACA, your 12 year old management needs to take some cricket administration classes from this 12 year old respected cricketer

Have clubs in the US tried to establish direct links with clubs in other countries? Sort of 'sister clubs' kind of thing. Schools already do this sort of thing so there's no reason cricket clubs can't. There might be the occasional opportunity to host a junior player or two on a school-based exchange each year. Try contacting overseas clubs directly, and go through the school exchange organisation/s as well. Established clubs in the major cricket countries, even small ones, are great at small-scale fundraising which might not get you a pitch installed, but would certainly get you enough money for bats, balls, pads, and stumps. And hosting a couple of good juniors from overseas every so often could really help your cricket improve.

Have you talked to any of the companies (particularly in the UK) that specialise in installing artificial pitches? Perhaps they might come to the party.

Good luck Peter. As one of the other posters said; don't give up. You've shown a lot of persistence, and that is the only thing that will get you there. The USACA certainly doesn't seem capable.

Oh, and as an Australian I'm heartened to hear that Kookaburra did the right thing.

Good job Peter. Please contact us and we can help you out on the equipment front.

Kranthi
Pavilionshop.com

I agree a ZILLION % on this. My help is there for you all the way. If needed please let me know. I will do anything to make this a sucsess.

Pete, you are an American, and it shows. Americans just do. You write exceptionally well for a 12 yr old, and I am so proud of you. This is exceptional that you started in 2005 at 10 yrs old. I caution you not to be sucked in by propaganda from anyone. Let cricket stay above the politics and other.
At 12 years of age, I too, was an instumental in starting a cricket club, (in the WI), where cricket was king at the time, and could not get help. My older brothers, their friends, and the community eventually joined in and so a wonderful club was borned.

I am also a founding member of a cricket league in the Midwest. I currently instruct a (semester), 1-credit cricket course, at the U of Minnesota - the only known accreditted course in the country, to our knowledge. Credit for initiation of this course goes to Nadir Bhudwani.

Lesson from my instructions - Americans can be good cricketers. I look forward to going to the classes, just to see the progression of the students(men & women). This is one of the most rewarding experience of my journey.

We are doing our best to maintain the adult leagues, but have not done a sufficient job at the youth level(almost none at women's). I will take your letter as a cue to emphasize at our league meetings. The USACA has made this a point in the New Constitution to mandate youth and women's programs by 2010.

Let's look at positives and how we can work together on. Your remarks emphasize the need for a fully functional Youth Organization.
Please email me at: charles.peterson@yahoo.com.
I, too, want to extend an invitation to your team to visit us in your summer hot months, when you are not play.
Continue the good work!

Best regards,

Cp

I am the captain of the USA's under 15 team. Peter , i totally agree with you !

Hey Peter, Your initiative is amazing. I guess you are in the right way. You tried your best for assistance but never gave up and are still fighting. You have the spirit of a true champion. It s schocking to hear, In America the land of plenty there is such struggle. I recently read a report that a texan Millionaire (forgot his name, has taken interest in cricket and is investing millions in West Indies). May be a short mail to him prove worthwhile. Peter, in the meantime I will forward your note to my freinds who love cricket and lets see what can/might happen. I will also try to contribute something to your worthy cause. Keep fighting champ and never loose faith. Just keep the faith my young freind.

All USA junior cricketers: Just want to clarify that we are ready to offer significant discounts to junior cricketers. Only some members of the NJ Junior Cricket have availed these discounts so far. FYI: We are also opening soon in California.

Kranthi
PavilionShop.com

Your efforts are indeed worthy of praise. Help, in the context you speak about, simply means funds and that is scarce for most cricket leagues in the US. As regards logistical support, I am sure you will have received a fair amount, had you been geographically located in or nigh a major cricket playing city.
I could not be certain of your reason for expectation from USACA in the first place? It seems a little strange that you decided to approach USACA instead of Arizona Cricket Association and or clubs based in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe, first.

One approach that I have witnessed working (to varying degrees) is approaching schools with a view to offering cricket as an alternative sport.

There is no grass roots program at school level, Yet for cricket to grow and succeed that is essential. If a few like you embark on efforts that are near and dear to their hearts, that may get noticed and the missing link may fall in place. Till then, I am afraid your only hopes are individuals and not organizations.

I have been the vice- captain of the USA under 15 team. I live in Florida. USACA, with no surprise, is doing nothing to promote youth cricket here even though USACA saw the potential in me and Brandan Dunbar here a few months ago. With a bit of support USACA can help us youths get to the top level if done right now. Please USACA, help us. With your help, youths like Brandon, me, Peter, and Imran Sadick can prove ourselves and be key players for the United States.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments, especially those from other U-15 captains. Also, whoever posted the comment as Mr. Cricket, I am trying to form a team that would be willing to play you in the summer. I would like to talk to you about possible dates, so could you email me a cricket@cricketamerica.net. I assume your name is Salman Ahmed, the 711 famous opening batting pair.
Thanks
Peter Whitehead

Peter, there are a few Australian and Indian cricket clubs in the Phoenix area. You could try seeking help from them.

Keep up the good work, kiddo.

I am Peter's father and I would like to reply to Answer Shahabuddin's comment. Peter did the rounds to approach everyone he could regarding both financial and logistical support. To be quite honest he did approach the Arizona Cricket Association and their associated clubs and he received the same fob-off that he received from the USACA. Most of the people playing in the cricket teams here in the Phoenix metro area are by definition casual players and thus have jobs, but there was no support for Peter and his goals. A shame in that for USA cricket to thrive we have to develop homegrwon players and not continue to rely on expatriates. A few weeks ago I met up with the webmaster of the AZCA in Tucson quite by accident and we have had a little moral support since then, but these kids are still playing in a vacuum. We practice Monday afternoons and how nice it would be for one or two of the players from a Phoenix cricket club to appear to help coach them. I have not played cricket since I was in junior school in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and I am a little rusty. I have had one parent help, he hails from the UK (Leeds) and his help has been invaluable, but he cannot be there each week. So in short I have kept Peter's eyes on the goal especially when all those who should have been assisting were failing him and cricket miserably. I spoke at length over many months to Bernard Cameron of the MLCUS who promised ths sky and then weasled out of any help. Peter continues to be focussed on promoting a youth cricket team at his school, but right now it is a club and our rules from the school district limit who we can play as cricket is not a AIA sanctioned sport. I have been continued to be impressed by Peter's determination and he is continuing to look at further options.

peter and chris,send an email to the following lady , rhonda@kellyholding.com , who works closely with allen stanford. he is the texan who pumped money into caribbean cricket and 20/20 cricket. i lived in the states for 5 years and have seen first hand the mess made of the development of cricket by the those in charge.however it is a great sport and with your determination im sure you will reach your goals.
keep yourselves in the media - and keep writing letters . if you are interested in " twinning " with our under 15 and u17 teams let me know and we will exchange info
charlie

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Please participate in the national U-11, U-13 and U-15 tournament taking place in SF Bay area starting June 21st. Visit www.calcricket.org/nationals for more details.

Hello, I was the State Development Officer (Massachusetts)for MLC. I can only speak for myself and how I was treated by MLC. They were excellent to deal with and accomodated every request I made of them promptly. It is really a shame how USA cricket has been on a downward spiral. My feeling is that if USA cricket was handed over to MLC last year, things would be much better presently. I think Peter Whitehead's misfortune was that that MLC did not have a SDO in Arizona. I know if a similiar request was made of me in Mass, he would have had all the guidance and assistance that he needed as well as Cricket sets. MLC provided me with JR.Cricket sets whenever I requested them. I did most of the legwork but MLC provided the assistance I needed. I think when you compare USACA to MLC in just about every catagory, MLC wins hands down. Hopefully MLC makes a comeback now that USACA appears to be out of chances with the ICC. An organization is only as good as it's workers and as far as I could see, I was basically the only SDO doing anything. Here is one small example of the many things I accomplished. http://www.mlcus.com/content/story/0023.htm. I took this position extremely seriously because I love this great game and wanted it to succeed in the USA. In my area MA,RI,VT and NH, there is huge potential and an SDO could truly be a full time job. I did this while working 50-60 hours a week, raising a family and playing my "rookie" season for a cricket club. I can proudly say that a whole lot of people found out about the sport of Cricket during my tenure with MLC and it was 100% a great experience. If given the chance and most importantly,the FUNDING, an organization like MLC, will do alot of good for USA cricket. Very important to know as well is that like Peter, I nagged USACA (EB & BOD) to let me help out in any way, gave them suggestions etc and never got the courtesy of a reply from anyone. MLC contacted me within 1 hour of my initial inquiry. I realize states like CA & TX are doing many good things on a much larger scale and they should be proud. However, USA has been banned by the ICC and it is a complete disgrace to every USA cricketer. But in reality, all of the accomplishments in the USA have had nothing to do with the USACA, so keep up the good work everyone!!! That is just my 2 cents, take it for what it is worth.

I am in total disagreement about MLC being able to help out. MLC and USACA are two different roads that at the end of the tunnel merge together in terms of their support and promotion to cricket. We have many times tried to contact MLC for IL cricket and have no replies at all. We need a fresh cricket body in the USA that cares about the people that play cricket and not an association thats only wants to create a big name with no deeds. Peters story is probably one of tha many crisis that we have in this country. If only we had a helping cricket organization.

Somebody strike a medal for this kid!!!!

Although I am unable to attend Peter's Cricket Club weekly meetings, as a fellow classmate of Peter's, I am amazed at his passion for the little recognized sport of cricket, and his ability to move teens from across our campus to share this same passion. His will and perseverance has given the issue of youth cricket in the USA some very deserving attention. Not only does young Peter have a lot to give to cricket, I believe that with this kind of initiative, he has the potential to give a lot to the world.

Whatever you do they are all about money because its hard but not impossible to bring cricket up in USA

These guys will never do anything, want to play cricket play in India or your home country not in these countries where u will not have any support

Simply outstanding that kids like Peter, Ricky and the under 15-US Captain is speaking out in unison. It's a shame when organizations like USACA and local cricket leagues does nothing for developing the next generation of cricketers. They now have to look overseas for help.

I have 15-20 youths in my league learning the game that are Americans and not from a "cricketing background". USACA did not respond to my numerous letters for assistance. We are struggling to have fundraisers to purchase gears, grounds fees, etc. Like Peter, we will succeed because of our love of the sport.

The officials at USACA should individually decided if they are still focused on what matters.

Bravo Peter!!!
I hope boys and girls in the USA, those holding American passports aged 5 and above get interested in the sport of cricket.

I am a overseas player wanted to play cricket in USA any help to come there.I have played 1st class cricket and international cricket for my country.
I am a right handed leg break bowler and a top oreder batsman from Nepal.

Hi Peter,

I'm a qualified coach and umpire and live in South Africa where I coach cricket to players from the age of 6 to 18 years. There will always be hiccups with governing bodies, but I think you have done great. I wanted to coach cricket in the USA but couldn't get any response on my e-mails that was send to USACA. If you ever want to tour South Africa, feel free to contact me and I would help to organize your tour and for games to be played in Pretoria (Capital of South Africa). Send me an e-mail and I could give you some hints on how to establish your own league.

I play for a club in Arizona and I feel that cricket in the valley is growing. If you think, you did not get a response from ACA, just drop in your contacts here. I can forward that to the ACA chairman. Additionally, visit www.azcricket.com for contact details.

hey bring Cricket Tournaments In USA,I have played international and under 15,17 and 19 Levels for my country.I wanted to play cricket in USA and coach cricket their.I have never wanted to get paid.I would really wanted to help peter to set up his club or any other cricket clubs in USA.if anyone interested.than kindly respond me via mail
loveuera@rediffmail.com. I would love to help to settle up the cricket in USA.their are many ways to uplifting of cricket.

Отлично написано. А это все на основе Вашего личного опыта? :)