USA Cricket today announced the start of the Men’s Senior & Youth Zonal Trials this weekend, with the first 3 of a total of 14 trials beginning today. The action starts in New York, St. Louis and Seattle to begin the series of trials that will be held across a total of 14 different locations across America throughout October.
The first three trials will be held in St Louis, Missouri at ACAC Park on Saturday 10th (Youth) and Sunday 11th (Men’s); and at Robinswood Ground, Seattle, Washington and Idlewild Park, New York on Saturday 10th (Men) and Sunday 11th (Youth).
Over the past two weeks, all cricket Leagues and Academies around the United States were given the opportunity to nominate players for the Zonal Trials. USA Cricket received over 1,200 nominations from 66 Leagues and 70 Academies during this period.
The recently appointed USA Zonal Selectors considered all of the nominations alongside their own knowledge and previously identified players of talent, and then invited up to 30 players to attend each of the 14 Men’s and 14 Men’s Youth Trials. The process has allowed USA Cricket to identify new talent to be seen and compared alongside our current crop of players, and allowed the selectors to expand the pool of talent currently known and supported within nationwide programs.
USA Cricket Operations Director, Richard Done said, “USA Cricket has been overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm of the Leagues and Academies in nominating their best cricketers through this process. At this point in time, our Leagues and Academies are the lifeblood of the sport and we are committed to continuing to engage with them in growing cricket in the United States. They are both an essential nursery for young up and coming players but also the place where the majority of cricket-lovers get to experience playing the game here. A strong grassroots game coupled with a clear pathway through to Team USA honors will be critical to the success of our representative sides.”
USA Men’s Selection Panel Chair, Michael Voss, added, “During a tough year globally, and the loss of so much of our cricketing schedule, these nominations and subsequent trials will provide a timely opportunity for us to still identify a good blend of new talent and current players. This will allow our coaches to develop specific player improvement programs for players across the upcoming off-season, with a view to best preparing our representative squads for various important global qualifying events scheduled for 2021”.
The trials will take place over a full day and will involve an assessment of fitness and skills both in individual and team scenarios, all of which will be closely observed by USA Cricket representatives and selectors and captured on video for further review. Participants will be allocated into smaller groups in order to meet the COVID protocols that have been developed specifically for these trials and to ensure that they each have a sufficient opportunity to showcase their talent.
The trials are scheduled to continue in 11 further centers across the U.S. through October to early November. The other centers are Connecticut (venue tbc), Edison, Baltimore, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles (venue tbc) and the Bay Area. USA Cricket will issue a further schedule announcement for these remaining trial dates next week.
