Caribbean Star #44 vol. 4 by Art15.Design2pro

Caribbean Star Newspaper England complete Raza Hasan banned for two years

May 29–June 4, 2015

dramatic turnaround win

aza Hasan, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, has been suspended from playing any form of cricket for two years, having tested positive for a prohibited substance. The Pakistan Cricket Board had conducted dope tests during the Pentangular oneday cup 2015 in Karachi. The sample collected from Hasan was subsequently analyzed at a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory. The results were relayed to the PCB, who banned Hasan on the basis of their anti-doping rules. “During the period of ineligibility, he will not be entitled to participate in any capacity, in any cricket match or activity (other than authorized anti-doping education or rehabilitation programs) authorized or organized by the PCB,” a PCB release said The PCB had notified Hasan of their findings on March 24, and he did have the opportunity to request a hearing within 14 days, but did not do so. The 22-year old Hasan has played 10 Twenty20 matches

England 389 (Root 98, Stokes 92, Boult 4-79, Henry 4-93) and 478 (Cook 162, Stokes 101, Root 84, Boult 5-85) beat New Zealand 523 (Williamson 132, Guptill 70) and 215 (Anderson 67, Watling 59, Stokes 3-38, Broad 3-50) by 124 runs

Raza Hasan played for Pakistan in the World T20 in 2012 © Getty Images for Pakistan, having made his debut in September 2012. He went on to participate in the World T20 later in the month,

where he took three wickets in four matches at an economy of 4.93. His ODI experience is lim-

ited to only one match, and he last played international cricket in December 2014 against New Zealand.

hortly before lunch on Saturday, New Zealand were 404 for 3, building a lead, and England’s new era was heading for a difficult start. At 6pm on Monday, with less than 10 overs of a compelling Test match remaining, Trent Boult upper cut Stuart Broad towards third man where Moeen Ali, stationed there by Alastair Cook but not right on the boundary edge, took a superbly judged running catch to earn England a 124-run victory and complete a remarkable turnaround. Less than a year after falling one wicket short of beating Sri Lanka on this ground England were just beginning to get twitchy as Boult and Matt Henry negotiated eight overs with the ball starting to fall short or wide of fielders. But Broad, from round the wicket, dug the ball in and Boult, who had blocked unconventionally, could not resist playing. That it was taken at a position that needed some astute captaincy was the perfect finish for Cook, who had been so central to England’s fightback with his 162.

USA youth coach Owen Graham dies

wen Graham, one of northern California cricket’s most beloved figures, passed away on Saturday at the age of 48. Known to most people as “OG”, he was a hugely influential youth coach in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the last decade, he has helped develop many of USA’s elite junior players from the North West Region, including Saami Siddiqui and Saqib Saleem, who went on to play for the senior team, as well as Shiva Vashishat, who led USA to the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2010. “Today I lost a mentor, coach, friend, man who has made me the cricketer I am today, man who has impacted my life in so many ways, man who gave me my nickname, man who has taught me the art of captaincy, man who has taught me to have discipline in all aspects of life....I was blessed to have you in my life,” Vashishat posted in a message on social media late Saturday night. Graham had endured a three-year battle with cancer after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2012. He underwent chemotherapy in early 2013 when he was initially cleared. However, the cancer resurfaced and he left California for his native Jamaica at the end of 2014. Graham had moved to the United States in his early 20s and spent nearly half his life playing and coaching youth cricket in the Northern California Cricket Association (NCCA), one

of America’s oldest leagues founded in 1892. Described by former NCCA president Ganesh Sanap as “NCCA’s guiding light”, Graham started the NCCA Junior program in 2002 and was also the founding coach of both the California Cricket Academy and East Bay Youth Cricket Association. A prolific batsman for Caribbean Cricket Club in the NCCA, Graham also had the unique distinction of being one of the key batsmen for the San Francisco Freedom in Pro Cricket, the now defunct US professional T20 league started in 2004. Freedom were champions in Pro Cricket’s lone season, defeating a New Jersey Fire squad featuring former India allrounder Robin Singh and West Indies batsman Ricardo Powell in the final. An eight-team charity Twenty20 tournament named after Graham, now in its second year, was held this weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area to help pay for his medical costs. The event raised more than $20,000 last year and a separate crowdsourcing web page had raised more than $6,000. Sanap said that although players are in mourning, the tournament will continue with the final day’s matches being webcast with a live video stream. Graham’s daughter Adria will also be in attendance at the final to present the trophy to the winning team. “The cricket must go on,” Sanap told ESPNcricinfo. “OG wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”