American Cricket Champions League
By Matt Becker
On a hot morning at the picturesque Nichols Park Basin cricket ground in Gilbert, Ariz.,the Arizona Scorpions of the Arizona Cricket Association took to the pitch in their opening match of the inaugural ACF Champions League.
They had won the toss and elected to bat – and bat they did – with a fine half century from opener Ajay Bhatia and a cool 79 from specialty batsman Siddhartha Dutta. It was a positive start for the newly formed club in the newly formed league – and it was a sign of more good things to come.
The Scorpions went on to defeat their opponents from the Southern California Cricket Association handily that day, and they won their second match of the young tournament as well, which put the team in firm control of the Southwest division.
AZCA chairman and club manager, Rod Gohil, credits his team’s fast start to simply having a team full of talented individuals who can deliver on the pitch with both the bat and the ball. Players such as all-rounders Fawwad Latif and Satwant Singh who currently rank 1st and 4th, respectively, in the MVP points table. Gohil also mentions that the Scorpions have a good balance of youth and experience, which has helped them succeed so far this season.
Gohil recruited his team from the ranks of the AZCA – and any player who had played for any AZCA related team in recent years was eligible for recruitment – therefore this is the first time many of these players have competed on the same team together. However, Gohil does point out that “(t)he players know each other very well as they have played with and against each other over the years so there is a lot of mutual respect and admiration.”
And a great deal of that mutual admiration exists because of the culture of the AZCA cultivated by Gohil, who started the club when he moved to Arizona in 2000. “When you join ACC you not only join one of the premiere cricket clubs in Arizona, but you are joining the ACC family.” This spirit of family, sportsmanship and camaraderie surely have had an impact on the Scorpions’ positive start, and allowed the unfamiliar teammates to gel on the pitch.
The team’s home ground is a real sense of pride for the club, as well, and provides a true home for their extended cricketing family. Nichols Park Basin rests 30 feet below street level and is surrounded by trees. The ground also features the only natural turf wicket in the Champions League tournament, and the wicket is kept in tip-top shape in order to provide entertaining cricket for all players, whether they are AZCA members or from a visiting club.
Of course, there are challenges the team has to face as well. Normally, the AZCA plays its matches during the winter months, but due to the scheduling of the Champions League matches during the summer, they will have to play their home matches in the blistering Arizona heat. This handicap will affect their traveling opponents, too, of course, and so safety for all competitors will be of the utmost concern during the especially hot days.
Another obstacle is the lack of funding which prevents the AZCA from helping players out with travel costs. For their upcoming match in southern California, for instance, players will carpool and split gas money and hotel costs. Gohil is hoping that future sponsors will be able to help offset the financial burden players and team officials are forced to bear, and he is working hard to make those sponsorships a reality.
But despite these challenges, with their mix of talented players who consider their club a family, the Scorpions looked poised to qualify for the league finals. And Gohil agrees, saying his team are “well placed”. However, he also describes their next two matches as “crucial” to the team’s chances, and expects both opponents to give his team a tough time, especially since both games are away from the Scorpions’ home ground. “We are going to have to perform and fire on all cylinders to go home with wins,” Gohil said.
Arizona plays the Southern California Cricket Association on June 18 and the Orange County Cricket Association on August 2. The Champions League finals take place in Florida this October.
