NCCA Celebrates 126 Years with Gala Banquet

Established in 1892, the Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA) is a prestigious cricket league based out of the Bay Area in Northern California, USA. Many of the NCCA cricketers were and are part of the US National Cricket Team.

On December 2, 2018 NCCA celebrated its 126th anniversary at Aria Dining and Banquets. More than 350 players and their families were present at the Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony. NCCA President Biju Nair hosted the event with the support of Sunny Moza as the Master-of-Ceremonies, and lots of music and dancing.

It was a rare occasion to see USA ex captain Sushil Nadkarni meeting USA’s current captain and NCCA player Saurabh Netravalkar. NCCA gave special awards to youth players who has excelled in the adult leagues. The first ever NCCA Youth League players and champions were presented with awards by Sushil Nadkarni, Saurabh Netravalkar, Biju Nair, and many other leaders from the Bay Area Cricket community. Mr. Nair presented the annual report of various achievements, matches and tournaments in 2018. It was amazing to see that in 2018 there were 615 matches that were organized by NCCA in the 50-Overs, 45-Overs, 20-Overs and T-10 overs format.

Saurabh Netravalkar, current USA team captain received a special award from NCCA President Biju Nair, while USA Women’s Cricketer Sugetha Kalayanaraman was also recognized by NCCA at the event. The Annual Banquet was well attended by league players, cricket enthusiasts, and a huge representation of youth players. Suraj Vishwanathan, the elected member of the USA Cricket Board of Directors also participated in the event.

Outgoing NCCA president Anuj Patel who served as the Association’s president for the past four years, was also recognized during the banquet. Stanford Cricket Club received the Championship award for 2018 A Division Summer League Game. Neeraj Goel from Tracy Cricket Club received the MVP award again in 2018 for his amazing performance with ball and bat. Overall 50 teams participated in the Summer Premier 2018 One-day league and summer T20 tournament. During the winter season 25 teams participated in the T20 league. The NCCA 2018 season started with a T10 kick-off tournament that included all cricket clubs and leagues in the area, followed by the opening of the summer season. The season ended with the Master’s Tournament followed by the Annual Banquet.

2018 was a banner year for the youth in NCCA, with its first NCCA Youth League started in March 2018, including U11, U13 and U15 categories. Overall 18 teams played across the various age groups, providing a platform and pathway for more than 250 plus youth players. NCCA had their own NCCA Youth team with players U17 years old playing adult league cricket. It provided many opportunities for the younger players to showcase their talent in the senior league games. There were many outstanding youth players who outsmarted the senior players, giving hope, while creating a great pipeline and pool of players.

NCCA is committed to building a pathway for cricket players in the USA.