CLNJ: Color kit

At the recent Cricket League of New Jersey (CLNJ) AGM some very productive and to an extent ground breaking decisions were made such as the passage of the motion to use pink balls for the 2014 season.  I for one am extremely excited about the ruling, but in my opinion, the Execs and the BOD once again took a beautiful thing and put a blemish on it. The blemish I refer to is the allowance of teams using either white or colored clothing at their own discretion.

I believe that a league which prides itself in being organized and well maintained, there should be some sort of uniformity when it comes to dress code as well. I say this not just for the sake of argument, but have witnessed the eye sore of a game in which one team played in whites and the other in colors in a local tournament last year.

I hope that the Execs and BODs look further into this matter and make the correct call of mandating teams to either play in color OR whites as this will aid our league games not to look like street “pick up” games .

League of Champions

New Jersey is home to 4 major cricket leagues, Cricket League of New Jersey (CLNJ), Millennium Cricket League (MCL), Garden State Cricket League (GSCL), & The New Jersey Cricket Association (NJCA).Some might say that having too many cricket leagues may dilute the talent pool etc. but I say why not use this to our advantage and have our own “Champions League” or may I dare say “League of Champions” ;)

Imagine a small tournament in which the 40 over champions from all the 4 leagues compete to be called the best club in NJ. I believe that if something of this nature may take place it will only help us to promote the game in our state and help us to identify the cricketing talent that NJ has to offer. I understand that USACA has these so called “inter-league tournaments” every year which is supposed to serve the same purpose as I mentioned above, but let’s face it, USACA has done nothing in the past and doesn’t appear to be doing anything in the future for except a few leagues and individuals.

It is about time that we as a state take matter into our own hands and all the 4 major NJ leagues come together to showcase our talent via organizing such a grand tournament. I am sure that we have plenty of resources on and off the field that we can utilize and execute a great & successful “League of Champions”

Noman Iftikhar: From Shalwar to Limelight

Our Trip to Florida last week was a memorable one to say the least. We went to watch cricket. But the weather was something we could just dream about, living in New Jersey has SOME downfalls. So we ended up watching less cricket and doing more sightseeing and fishing.   I have no regrets about it what so ever because not only we had an awesome time but also I got to see what made my trip worth it and it was Noman Ifthakar doing what he does the best on field, watching him getting emotional after winning and thanking Allah while prostrating after winning the final of US Open before joining his teammates who were dancing and screaming for joy was a sight to see.   It made me think about the days when he started and how far he has come, from the suburbs of Jersey to Florida.
All of us had faith in him and always knew he has the talent even on the days he showed up in white shalwar for league games :) he has struggled in life to achieve what he got. It makes all of us immensely proud to call him our team mate and more importantly a good friend. What I saw on that field not only gave me a glimpse of  Noman's future but also showed me that he is in a good place in his life now. All I can do is smile and feel a little smug about the intuition that I always had about him being an extraordinary cricketer and a good kid:)

Congratulations!! Well done Nomi! Well done!

Pink Ball

A lot of leagues in the United States are opting to use fluorescent pink balls instead of the traditional red or white claiming that it provides better visibility; and as we play on make shift grounds with trees and houses as backdrops, it will negate the need of sight screens to an extent. 

Of course, with any change come concern, resistance and debate. We can sit here and discuss the obvious points such as quality of the ball, the excessive swing or the lack of it etc, but I will like to bring up another angle and will love to hear from the” weekend warriors” aka USA club cricketers especially the ones aspiring to play at the higher level

Is this change (pink balls) very short sighted? How will this affect the players who strive to play at a higher level in the long run? ICC doesn't plan to switch to fluorescent balls just yet, are we doing these aspiring USA cricketers a disservice?

Syed Ahmed