Chairman of Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) Mahammad Ahmed Qureshi (MAQ) has promised that 2019 will be a great year for cricket in the United States.
Qureshi, who is known as the Godfather of cricket in the US has been working decades in trying to bring US cricket up to an acceptable level. The Fort Lauderdale businessman has spent a fortune in cricket development and his organisation CCUSA has done a lot of work, much to the benefit of cricketers from the US.
Qureshi, in his New Year’s day message said : “We look forward to a great year in US cricket and we at CCUSA will be at the forefront of building players up to international level. We had a good year in 2018 and now we are looking forward to an even better year.
“First up with have the USA National Championships Maq T10 tournament from April 26 to 28 at Broward and this will be the first major tournament we are hosting this year. We have decided on this 10-over format since last year, in order to get in many more teams, so a lot more players can get exposure and experience of playing top level cricket. It was a success last year and we want to build on that. I have decided to give everything free for this year’s tournament in an effort to encourage a great number of cricketers to come and play. They are going to get free uniforms, free meals, free registration and free transport, just to name a few things, as we celebrate cricket here in the US.”
Qureshi said that the 11th edition of the US Open T20 tournament will also be special : “Well that is our marquee tournament and we just finished the 10th edition a couple weeks ago. This year we plan to make the 11th edition even better and when we do this it redounds to the benefit of our cricketers.
“We have a lot of work to do this coming year and my team and I have already started to plan and put things in place to ensure that we have a great year ahead.” The man who has gained a lot of respect in business and cricket circles in the US added that he wants to improve conditions at the CCUSA cricket academy. “The academy is very important in the development of the sport and I intend to spend some time in getting it improved, so that all the young ones can go to BRCC and work on their game.
“This year we want to take the path of holistic development and we are looking forward to support from all stakeholders in America’s cricket.”