Alex Amsterdam Shines In EACA Back To Back Wins

By Kerk Higgins | Photo Gallery
The Eastern American Cricket Association (EACA) recently played two games in the 2015 Bedessee sponsored NY Inter-League Tournament, and thanks to Alex Amsterdam’s brilliant batting the EACA won both games.

In their first game, the EACA played against a New York U-23 Select XI at Baisley Pond Park aka The Cage. In Queens, EACA won the toss and decided to take first knock on a nice sunny morning, but they were immediately in trouble as they lost three quick wickets, but that was the last success for the U-23 team for the next 11.2 overs. Amsterdam and Michael Noble did a fantastic job in repairing the damage that was done by the bowlers. The two Atlantis batsmen batted well together with a partnership worth 128 off 68 balls and included 11 fours and 8 sixes. At the end of their 20 overs, EACA had scored 177 for 7. The main scorers were Amsterdam (66), Michael Noble (60) and Terrence Madramootoo chipped in with 21. The wicket-takers for the younger team were Derick Narine (2/7), Altaf Habibulla (2/27) and Rafeek Nazeer (2/33).

In their attempt to achieve their target of 178, the U-23 team lost their second wicket with the score on 11. The EACA bowlers continued to bowl well and apply pressure on their opponents, the only batsman that was looking comfortable was Randall Wilson. At the end of their 20 overs, the U-23 boys could only manage 146 for 4 with Wilson batting through the inning for a well-played 66* He was supported by Trinston Carmichael who made 29. In the bowling department, Michael Noble, Chris Patadin and Keon Lake each took one wicket apiece.

In their second game of the day, EACA travelled to Erskine Cricket Ground at the Gateway Plaza Mall in Brooklyn, NY, to take on New York Metropolitan Cricket League (NYMCL). As they did in their first game, EACA choose to bat first. They got off to a flier as the two openers, Dominique Rikhi and Richard Ramdeen brought up the team’s 50 in 18 balls. At the rate they were going, I thought I would have witnessed a record breaking total.

However, after such a great start by the EACA openers, the NYMCL bowlers pulled things back in the middle overs, bowling so well that the EACA batters only scored 70 runs off the next 11 overs. Knowing that they needed to up the tempo, the two EACA US national players, Alex Amsterdam and Karan Ganesh took control of the game with some aggressive hitting, both batsmen played some beautiful shots to all parts of the ground. After their allotted overs, EACA totaled 214 for 6 with Ganesh (55*) and Amsterdam (53) being the main contributors. For NYMCL, the wickets went to Barrington Bartley (2/32), and there was one apiece for Delon Moffett, George Adams and Sadique Henry.

With 215 as their target, NYMCL sent out ICC record holder wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson and former Jamaican and West Indies youth player Tristan Coleman. Dodson didn’t last long, he was headed back to the pavilion with the score on 11. ICC Combine trials selected, Javein Thomas joined Coleman and the two Westbury teammates did a great job of rotating the strike and picking up the odd boundaries. With the partnership worth 84, and the batsmen needing to up the run-rate, Coleman got a straight one from Ganesh and lost his off-stump.

After the loss of Coleman, NYMCL couldn’t get another partnership going. Needing to score at almost 15 runs per over, they sent in George Adams, who is known for his big hitting. After hitting three maximums and scoring 21 off 13 balls, he hit one down the throat of Rikhi at long off and that was the end of any hope for the NYMCL. When the umpires lifted the bails, NYMCL was only able to get to 147 for 8. The top scorers were Coleman (53), Thomas (38) and Adams. The EACA’s bowling was led by Keon Lake (4/21), supported by Karan Ganesh (2/40) and Alex Amsterdam (1/13).

The tournament now moves on to the play-off stage. EACA will play American Cricket League (ACL) and NYMCL will come up against the New York Select U-23 boys.