USA Cricket has named Kevin Darlington and Asif Mujtaba as the new Under-19 coaches for the men and women team.
Currently, several Youth and Zonal selectors are being appointed in the United States. USA Cricket then decided to step up the performance of their international youth teams by naming two new Youth and Under-19 coaches for their team. With that, they have appointed former American cricket player Kevin Darlington to be the coach of the men’s youth and Under-19 team. They also appointed former Pakistan batsman Asif Mujtaba for the women’s team.
Talking about his recent appointment, Darlington says, ‘There is a lot of work to be done. Our guys play a lot of 20, 30 and 40-over cricket here in the USA. We will have to get our batters bat for longer periods in the middle. Have them enjoy the art of spending time at the crease. I want to invoke professionalism in these kids right from a young age. Be it hitting 200 balls or having a spot bowling session every other day’.
Chair of the Cricket Committee Sushil Nadkarni was also pleased with the board’s decision as he says, ‘We are delighted to have appointed two high-quality coaches from an outstanding field of applicants and shortlisted candidates. Kevin will bring a huge level of cricketing knowledge and insight to the role, and I know from having played with him that he has an immense amount of enthusiasm, skill and talent’.
‘Asif will bring a huge wealth of international experience as he becomes our first-ever Women’s Youth Coach. He also has prior experience with the Senior USA Women’s team and we have a major focus going forward on expanding the quantity and quality of Women and Girls cricket’, he added.
Aside from being a former USA player, Darlington has also worked as an assistant coach to the USA Men’s team from 2018 to 2019. Looking back on his playing career, the 48-year-old has 30 first-class games with Guyana before moving with the national team.
Meanwhile, Mujtaba is well known for more than twenty years of coaching experiences with USA, Pakistan, England, and Bangladesh. As a player, he had spent 22 years in first-class cricket. Within those years, he also played 25 Tests and 66 ODIs for Pakistan. To further understand cricket as a sport, head over to Betwala.
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