Former Indian spinner Venkatapathy Raju joins coaching team for ICC Americas Cricket Combine

The pencil-thin bowler of India

Former Indian spinner Venkatapathy Raju will be part of the coaching team for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Americas Cricket Combine which is scheduled to be held in Indianapolis (The United States of America) from September 18 to 27, confirms ICC.

Raju’s international career spanned 11 years, he played 28 Tests and 53 ODIs, including the ICC Cricket World Cups in 1992 and 1996. After retiring from the international cricket, Raju became the part of Indian national team selectors, then was the head coach and Vice President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association, and most recently a Development Officer for the Asia region of the ICC’s Development Programme.

The left-arm orthodox spinner will join a high-quality coaching panel for the Combine which also includes West Indies great Courtney Walsh and internationally renowned American fielding coach Mike Young. The Combine will be coordinated by ICC Americas High-Performance Consultant Tom Evans, and will also include six coaches from Associate and Affiliate member countries within the ICC Americas Region.

“Raju has had a long and distinguished career as an international player, selector, coach and administrator, and is now an important member of the ICC’s development team,” said ICC’s Head of Global Development, Tim Anderson. “It’s therefore great that he is able to assist this important project in the America’s region, in what is an example of the integrated approach the ICC is now taking to assist cricket’s global development.”

During his career, Raju also played league cricket in the USA.

“I played for a couple of seasons, mainly in the Washington and New Jersey areas, and therefore, have already seen first-hand the talent that exists in the Americas Region,” Raju said. “I can’t wait to work with Courtney, Mike and the other coaches to help the players improve their skills, in what really is an exciting initiative for the development of the game.”

In the region of 100 of the best players within the region will take part in the Combine, following which an ICC Americas representative team will be selected to play in the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Nagico Super 50 tournament during January 2016. The best performing players could then receive an opportunity to trial for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

USA Cricket Town Hall Meeting

The ICC will be conducting a USA Cricket Town Hall meeting in Chicago on Saturday 29 August in which important focus will be on sharing information about the current status of cricket in the USA, as well as commencing the development of a strategy aimed at assisting the future promotion and development of cricket in the country.