BUKAD NEWS

Aspiring under-19 cricketers left in a lurch at trials

If you were surprised to find a huge rush for the selection trials of Mumbai Cricket Association’s summer vacation coaching nets in the under-19 section over the last two days, then don’t be.

The MCA’s coaching sub-committee has pruned down the number of centres from 16 last year to eight this year to help churn out the best possible cricketers during the vacation.
It may have been a decision to set up a proper structure, but cricketers who participated and were not picked up for the trials were left complaining as they hardly got a couple of deliveries to showcase their skills.

Take the case of MIC CC, Bandra centre for areas between Bandra and Andheri area. Around 200 turned up for the trials. “I hardly got to bowl only two balls to show what I was capable of. This is not done,” said one of them.

One of the coaches at the centre lashed out at the logic behind having just eight centres. “Two centres have been merged into one. You can’t have something like this as around 200-300 cricket enthusiasts turned out and they hardly got to show their skills.

Last year, there were 16 centres. That was better,” said the coach on condition of anonymity. “You might lose some talented youngsters. Also, you can’t blame the coaches for being rude since we hardly have the time. To pick up 25 from 300 is not a joke,” he said.

MCA joint secretary PV Shetty defended the decision of reducing the number of centres by half. “We have created a pyramid. The U-14 and U-16 age groups have 16 centres each, but we have reduced U-19 to eight and U-22 to two. We have a pyramid so that we can get the cream of Mumbai cricket,” he said.
On the aspiring cricketers being given the cold shoulder, Shetty said: “Different coaches have different style. You can’t blame the coach,” he said.

Grounds where trials were held:
Karnataka SA: Churchgate to Elphinstone (WR) & Colaba to Parel (CR)
DPCC, Matunga: Parel to Sion (CR), Sion to GTB Nagar & Worli to Mahim
MIG Bandra: Bandra to Andheri
Payyade SC, Kandivli: Jogeshwari to Dahisar
Virar-Sainath SC: Nala Sopara to Virar
Boisar-Tata SSL: Vaitrana to Dahanu
RCF Chembur: Chunabhatti/Chembur, Kurla to Ghatkopar & Mankhurd to Panvel
Dadoji Konddeo Stadium, Thane: Dombivli to Badlapur, Bhivandi to Khardi, Vikhroli to Mumbra