Southern California CA Youth cricketers on five-match tour of Sri Lanka

Saturday, 23 December 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With USA coming into the limelight as co-host with West Indies for the ICC T20 World Cup in June next year, cricket teams from the USA have started to undertake tours to other countries to promote the game in the baseball-oriented nation.

The Southern California Cricket Association (SCCA) youth team is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka from 25 December to 2 January playing five matches down South and in Colombo. It will be their second international tour after going to Malaysia in 2022.

A key figure in the tour party is former Sri Lanka spinner Mumtaz Yusuf who has networked assiduously in establishing himself as the premier Southern California test-level coach from 2000 onwards. An Australian Cricket Academy Level 111 coach and holding an advanced coaching certificate from UK Yusuf was scouted by USA and Southern California Cricket, which eventually led to an interesting 17-year pathway including training West Zone Women’s

Under-19 qualifiers last year which was held in Africa. He is also a former Sri Lanka national cricket selector and coach from 1989-92.

“A tour veteran himself, Mumtaz understands the value of touring cricket for raising teams’ confidence and consistency against good opposition,” says Team Manager and current Youth Director for Southern California Vinay Kulkarni. “There has been a keen focus on youth ever since Mumtaz made it to Southern California. From his base at Smith Murphy field in Orange County, he has developed a number of quality players, instilling cricket discipline and respect for the game.”

“The players selected for this tour are primed to move to the next level. Few have played for the United States Under-19. Some have participated in the US Minor-League cricket, which started three years ago to sharpen competition beyond the SCCA. Minor League teams import wild-card test players with no local league experience. Assuredly, Mumtaz will use his diverse experience and player rapport to produce surprising results on this tour.”

TOUR PARTY: Arjav Patel, Dev Ahir, Siddharth Menon, Yashas Raman, Ayan Desai, Tejas Rao, Keshav Pandit, Dhruv Kulkarni, Joel Mathew, Noel Mathew, Tarun Vadapalli, Manav Patel, Arqam Qureshi, Karthik Tholudur, Coach Mumtaz Yusuf, Manager Vinay Kulkarni, Vinod Menon, Arun Raman.

ITINERARY

Dec 25: Arrival

Dec 27: 40-over match at Seenigama

Dec 28: 40-over match at Galle International Stadium

Dec 29: match at Colts grounds

Dec 30: match at Colts grounds

Jan 2: 40-over match at MCA grounds

Jan 3: Departure