The United States of America, who co-hosted the T20 World Cup with the West Indies, secured their place, but they are keen to prove to the big boys that they can compete with the best.
The United States of America, who co-hosted the T20 World Cup with the West Indies, secured their place, but they are keen to prove to the big boys that they can compete with the best. In North America, cricket has an interesting past. Although the United States and Canada played each other in the first-ever international match in 1844, baseball’s rise to prominence caused cricket’s influence to wane. The United States of America has participated in the non-test nation competitions on multiple occasions since it became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1965.
However, the Americans have never participated in the ODI or T20 World Cups. Their lone big tournament debut came in the Champions Trophy in 2004, where they were soundly defeated in the group stage by Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the fact that Major League Cricket and Minor League Cricket have emerged in recent years, grassroots involvement has increased in recent years due to the growth of strong local leagues and the T20 format.
Although it is too soon to tell if those frameworks will have an effect on the national team, the team has become more competitive as a result of clever use of the qualification requirements.
With genuine confidence restored after defeating Bangladesh 2-1 in the Twenty20 International series, the Australian Stuart Law-coached team enters the event.
After winning the first two games, the Americans rested a number of important starters to give their backups some playing time.
In the group stage, the USA, led by Monank Patel, will have to contend with formidable opponents India and Pakistan in addition to Canada and Ireland.
The group now has some World Cup experience and elite talent thanks to the signing of former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson.
Anderson relocated to the United States in 2020 to play domestic cricket, and because his last game for New Zealand was in 2018, he was entitled to switch in 2022 according to the ‘four-year rule’ that applies in these instances.
Vice-captain Aaron Jones, who was born in New York but grew up playing in Barbados, believes the American team is determined to make a statement during the event.
“We want to show everybody in the world that USA can actually be a cricketing country and obviously be role models for the kids coming up,” he stated to AFP.
Jones is one of several players who have played cricket outside of the United States, and he has been impressed by the standard of the associate level nations.
“It’s all about seizing the chance. Afghanistan is a really good team current now, and they advanced from associate. Ireland clearly came from associate. So the opportunity exists; all we need to do is seize it and show the world our talent,” he continued.
Law has been able to work with a consistent group of players, including pace bowler Ali Khan, who grew up in Pakistan and previously played in the Caribbean Premier League.
Harmeet Singh, a left-arm spinner, representing India in the Under-19 World Cup in 2012, and Miami-born Steven Taylor has substantial experience in Caribbean cricket.
Jones, who was encouraged to join the USA team by Taylor, dismisses the notion that the USA is in the event solely to make up numbers.
“We want to win games.” We aim to provide as much competitiveness as any other squad in the tournament,” he stated.
The shorter version of the game allows for more surprises, something Jones believes his team is capable of creating.
“We’re an excellent team. Obviously, we demonstrated this against Bangladesh, one of the top teams in the world,” he remarked.
“I would not consider it an upset if we defeated Pakistan or India. I’ll simply state that we played better cricket on the day. It is a game of cricket. “Bigger teams can lose as well.”
