It’s Queens vs. Brooklyn This Saturday!

By John L. Aaron
The 2011 Mayor’s Cup Final kicks off this Saturday, June 4 at 10:00 AM at Seaview Park at 80th Street and Seaview Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

2010 Mayor's Cup champs Brooklyn Cricket League. Photos by Shiek Mohamed

The fourth annual Mayor’s Cup Twenty20 Cricket Tournament finals will see the Borough of Queens represented by an Eastern American Cricket Association (EACA) XI come up against the Borough of Brooklyn appropriately represented by a Brooklyn League XI.

The Queens Borough President Helen Marshall’s XI has won the Mayor’s Cup the first two years it has been staged, while Marty Markowitz’s Brooklyn XI won last year, and will no doubt be looking to repeat the feat. The Borough of Manhattan XI represented by an Under-25 XI won in 2009.  Queens will be aiming for its third championship ring this Saturday with a team led by Karen Ganesh and including players selected from among Tamesh Balwant, Henderson Blades, Adrian Gordan, Telston Johnson, Rocky Kowchai, Andy Mohammed (Vice Capt.), Zaaid Majeed, Prashant Nair, Michael Noble, Carlton Senior, and Clain Williams, with Sew Shivnarine, Coach, and Courtney Legall, Manager.

The final Brooklyn XI will be selected from Mark Audain (Captain), Bilal Ahmad, Adil Ali, Gregory Anthony, Dominic Audain, Romeo Dean, Mohammad Imran, Andre Kirton, Imran Mazhar, Asad Munawar, Mohammad Naeem, Abdul Qayyum, Gavin Smith, Kester Sylvester, (Vice Capt.), and Mohamed Tayyab, with Lance Debarrio, Manager.

Eastern American Cricket Association Mayor's Cup team.

The Queens XI will be sponsored by Golden Arrow Sports Bar located at 107-14 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, NY and EACA president Rudy Persaud.

The Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens earned the right to meet in the finals by eliminating their opponents in fine fashion on their way to this Saturday’s finale, expected to be watched by a large group of cricket fans from the metropolitan area, including New York City Department of Parks and Recreation officials.

Queens I (EACA) defeated Queens II represented by a New York Nassau XI, before defeating Staten Island represented by the Metropolitan District Cricket League. The Borough of Brooklyn I squad defeated Manhattan represented by the Commonwealth Cricket League, while earning a walk-over from Brooklyn II (American Cricket League).

Along the way the Bronx (Combined Under-25), lost to Queens II (NY Nassau) and Staten Island (Metropolitan). Manhattan (Commonwealth) lost to Brooklyn I in one of the final deciding clashes preceding this weekend’s championship final.

This Saturday’s final promises to be one of youth versus guile and experience, as the more experienced Brooklyn XI face off against a youthful Queens XI, missing the likes of veterans Lennox Cush, USA skipper Steve Massiah who enjoyed a century and one fifty in the earlier rounds of this year’s tournament, and Zamin Amin, among the notable and experienced stars from the previous tournaments. However, it would be interesting to see how the Brooklyn big bats handle spinning sensation Prashant Nair, Karen Ganesh, Carlton Senior, and USA pacer Adrian Gordon, just back from training spells in the UK and India.

Newyorkcricket.com will try to broadcast the game via live commentary from Lenny Achaibar and Carl Bennett.