Which way now for the US's youngsters?

The astounding success of the USA U-19 team in Canada has re-opened debate on a contentious issue -- what direction US junior cricket should take for its own greater good, and that of US cricket?

On one hand, there are those who say that the efforts must begin at the school level. Cricket needs to be introduced at the elementary or junior high (U-15) levels, with programs that would supplement the curricula of US public and private schools. By introducing cricket into the US youth mainstream, the argument goes, many born-and-bred US youngsters who had never been exposed to cricket would develop an interest in the game, and the best of them could participate in high-school level programs and ultimately rise to the U-19 championship ranks. Supporters of this view point to the success of US soccer, which has now developed a groundswell of public support and also added first-class players to USA international teams -- as US soccer went, the saying goes, so should US cricket.

The opposite point of view argues that there already is an untapped pool of youngsters willing and able to take on international challenges. Contrary to popular myth, the argument goes, not all US-born children of immigrants from cricket-playing countries give up on the passions of their parents. Many go with their parents to watch cricket, practice and help out with net sessions and matches, and even start playing at tender ages in senior league matches. Some parents even send their children away to play cricket in their countries of origin, or to cricket academies in Test-playing countries. The great advantage many of these players have over their elders is that they are already citizens, by being born in the USA or to citizen-parents overseas. They are spared years of having to qualify under the ICC residence rules. So, if they are good enough, they are immediately available for duty.

For the moment at least, proponents of the idea of scouring the USA for talented youngsters lurking in the fringes of the senior US leagues seem to have made their point. More than a hundred promising players must have been rounded up across the country to come up with the four zonal teams for the 2004 national tournament. These translated into 25-odd all-Stars, and an overwhelming majority of the 14-player squad that finally made it to the Americas U-19 Tournament in Ontario. Their 4-0 sweep of the tournament confirmed their status as the best by far in the Americas, and also proved the depth of talent that exists in the USA to be tapped by conscientious talent scouts.

Their very success, however, poses a troubling dilemma for the USA. Should future US junior programs be based on developing these first-generation citizen cricketers with ICC-approved residency credentials and the competitive skills required for success in international cricket? Or should resources be committed to developing cricket among mainstream US youth who have never heard of cricket, in the hope that they will gradually acquire the interest and the skills to compete with their overseas peers? There are pro and con arguments for both positions, and several suggestions for synergistic complementarities between the two approaches, as for example in the Major League Cricket (MLC) model. Clearly some real choices need to be made, and it is to the credit of the U-19 cricket volunteers in the USA that the issue has emerged as a live and debatable one.