Eastern American Cricket Association
The EACA 2012 T20 Blitz fixtures have been set and will take place this Sunday, September 23 in The Cage at Baisley Pond Park, Jamaica, NY. The double-header match-up will see host Richmond Hill clashing with Atlantis Cricket Club at 11:00 am, while 2012 Power40 Zone “A” champions Everest/ACS will be visitors and rumble with Meten-Meer-Zorg immediately after. Both matches are expected to draw a sizable crowd and will be supported by live ball-by-ball commentary from the broadcast duo of Carl Bennett and Lenny Achibar, while newyorkcricket.com will carry live scoring of the matches with a feed from Kerk Higgins at The Cage.
Commentary and scoring team, (l-r) Carl Bennett, Lenny Achibar, Kerk Higgins and Shiek Mohamed. Photo by Sham Ali
Following the conclusion of the EACA’s Power40 Zone finals for Divisions A & B, the 16 teams were divided up into four groups – Group A featured Atlantis, Arsenal, Long Island United and Phantom, Group B saw Meten-Meer-Zorg, East Side Warriors, Liberty Sports and All Stars do battle. Group C housed Everest/ACS, Falcons, Hillside and Camelot, and Group D entertained Richmond Hill, Victory, Big Apple and Enmore.
Atlantis reached this year’s T20 Blitz semi-finals defeating Phantom, Arsenal, and Long Island United along the way, while Richmond Hill defeated Big Apple in a nail-biter, with Richmond Hill scoring 104 and bowling Big Apple out three runs shy of a victory. Richmond Hill then went on to beat Enmore and Victory to earn the semi-final berth against Atlantis this Sunday.
In the run-up to the other semi-final also slated for this Sunday, Everest/ACS defeated Hillside and Falcons, while earning a walk-over from Camelot to advance to the semi-final against Meten-Meer-Zorg. The latter got to the semis by defeating All Stars and East Side Warriors, before romping over Liberty and maintaining an unbeaten record similar to the other semi-final qualifying teams.
With the semi-finals now all set, it is left to be seen which of the two teams from the EACA’s leading four clubs will advance to the finals. Whatever the outcome, cricket fans in New York are in for a real treat of top-class cricket at the urban cricket warfare arena – The Cage, this Sunday. As one fan, jokingly stated, “Fans driving to the match are advised to park at least two city blocks away from The Cage, so as to avoid possible damage to their car windshields, resulting from small red 5-1/2 ounce projectiles being launched from the blades of English willow.”