USA Cricket New Inning Awards Announcement

 The best of the best in American cricket for the fifth year running with the 2014 USA Cricket Awards.  The awards are once again being presented by New Inning Foundation, an organization that has supported cricketing excellence since its founding in 2011. 

USA had mixed fortunes on the field of play in 2013 and the dry spell continued for most part of 2014. In fact, there were no national tournaments in any format during the first half of 2014.   A rain-affected national T20 tournament kicked off activities for the year in August.  Internationally, USA U17 team participated in an ICC Americas High Performance Match Play Camp in Bermuda that same month.

This tournament ended on predictable lines with USA losing both their games to Canada and winning their games against Bermuda.

In October 2014, USA saw its fortunes slide at the ICC WCL Division Three in Malaysia where it ended up in 5th place and was relegated to 2016 ICC WCL Division Four.  That brought to an end the abridged calendar of tours and tournaments for USA.  Once again, off-field shenanigans dominated the news.

Even if USA’s cricketing stock was down during the year, several of USA’s players stood out for making significant contributions to the national team. Players are once again being saluted for their commitment to give it their all and represent the United States with distinction. DreamCricket.com and New Inning Foundation are proud to recognize these players for their accomplishments.

Speaking about the awards, Ram Varadarajan, the founder and trustee of New Inning Foundation said, “For five years now, the New Inning Awards have been celebrating the passion, excellence and dedication of US cricketers. Regardless of how 2014 turned out, several players gave their best and it is our duty to recognize the tremendous talent and positive contributions of these individuals.   In keeping with the awards tradition, we are also honoring off-field contributions in the world of cricket. Thanks to DreamCricket.com for this very thoughtful initiative.”

Kranthi Bayya, CEO of DreamCricket.com said, “Presenting the USA Cricket Awards is one of the ways in which we have been giving back to the American cricket community.  The awards are in their fifth year now and Ram Varadarajan and his New Inning Foundation have been supporting us from the very beginning.”

To be a part of the select group of players who played for USA in international competition is a remarkable achievement, the award winners are chosen as a way to pay tribute to all the hard work and sacrifices they make on the way to being America’s most valuable cricket ambassadors.

In light of the limited number of tournaments played during 2014, there will only be four player awards for the year – Best Newcomer, Best Junior Cricketer, Best Bowler and Best Batsman.  Each player award will comprise of a plaque and a DreamCricket.com PavilionShop gift certificate worth $200 sponsored by New Inning Foundation.

In addition to the player awards this year, there will be a series of other awards to recognize significant contributions made off the field including the Shekhs Aravind Spirit of Cricket Award, the Bart King Lifetime Achievement Award, the Best USA Cricket Photo Award, the Best League Award and the Best Ground Award.

The winner of the Best US Cricket Photo Award will receive a PavilionShop gift certificate worth $200.  The recipients of the remaining non-player awards will receive a plaque sponsored by New Inning Foundation.   Just as in the previous years, the non-player award recipients will be determined by a panel of judges.

The player awards have been decided based on a combination of factors including statistical achievement, delivering under pressure and giving one’s best effort to represent USA in 2014.

The players were judged on their performances in USA’s international commitments including the ICC WCL Division III Tournament in Malaysia, USA U17 Tour of Bermuda and ICC Americas U19 at the WICB Regional Tournament in Guyana.