Stars & Stripes Cricket Podcast

Emmy Award-winning sports TV director and producer Peter Steep continues his chat about life behind the camera in the world of cricket, including his time working on the Stanford 20/20 tournaments as well as other parts of his career around the world.

Emmy Award-winning sports television director Peter Steep comes on the podcast to talk about his life in cricket behind the camera in charge of various cricket broadcast productions in the USA including the 2015 Cricket All-Stars tour headlined by Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar, and more recently producing and directing the Willow TV premium broadcast of the day for Season Two of Minor League Cricket T20 Championship. Steep shares how he got started in the sports broadcasting industry after moving from Australia to New York in 1988, initially working in golf before moving on to tennis, Olympics and eventually cricket.

Crystal Zins, the 40-year-old Minnesota native who represented Southwest Region at the 2022 USA Cricket Women's Regional Championship in Pearland, Texas, comes on the show to talk about her experiences in cricket. Zins was the only one of the 56 players across four teams at the four-day event not to face a delivery or bowl a delivery in the tournament, after which a Facebook post chronicling that distinction wound up going viral. But Zins still had a glass half-full view of her time at the tournament, and about life and cricket in general which she describes in great depth during this interview that showcases her passion for cricket.

Cricket journalist Jake Perry, co-host of the Cricket Scotland Podcast and author of the books, "The Secret Game" and "Playing with Teeth" comes on the podcast to talk about cricket in Scotland in the context of his two books about the history of the game in the country, including USA's own rivalry with Scotland dating back to the Gentlemen of Philadelphia tours beginning in the 1880s.

Maryland native Lisa Ramjit comes on the podcast to talk about her journey to the USA U19 and Senior Women's national teams. Ramjit made her T20I debut for the USA Women as a 14-year-old against Canada at Lauderhill, Florida in May 2019 before making her USA Women's U19 debut as a 17-year-old against Jamaica on July 5 at Brian Lara Academy in Trinidad in the 2022 CWI Rising Stars Women's U19 T20 Championship.

Scotland Men's captain Kyle Coetzer comes on the podcast to talk about being raised as the youngest of three brothers in a cricket mad family in Aberdeen, the psychology being Scotland's transformation into an elite Associate country since 2015 and the framework behind his own batting success that made him named the ICC Associate Player of the Decade in the 2010s, and his recollections of Scotland's rivalry with USA since they first clashed in 2010.

Yasir Mohammad, the 19-year-old legspinning allrounder who made his USA T20I debut in December against Ireland and has been called up for his ODI squad debut in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup League Two ODI tri-series from May 28-June 15 in Pearland, Texas, comes on the show to talk about his whirlwind USA debut - going from not even being in the T20I squad to getting a callup 48 hours before the first T20I due to a Covid outbreak in the USA squad, flying from New Jersey to Fort Lauderdale and being inserted straight into the starting XI - his cricket journey as a kid born and raised in New Jersey, and his experiences rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in international cricket as part of the Somerset Cavaliers franchise out of New Jersey.

USA Women's captain Sindhu Sriharsha continues discussing her cricket journey, which includes initially walking away from the game for a job at JP Morgan in Bangalore before rekindling her live for the sport following her marriage and relocation with her husband to Northern California. Sriharsha goes on to talk about the challenges of playing in the USA in general, taking another brief break in 2018 for the birth of her son before resuming training, and future goals to achieve with USA.

USA Women's captain Sindhu Sriharsha comes on the podcast to talk about the Fairbreak Invitational T20 tournament from May 4-15 in Dubai, where she will captain the Warriors side in the six-team event. The former Karnataka and India A player also discusses her journey into cricket in Bangalore, where she grew up on the same street as a former India Women's international who helped inspire her pathway into the Indian domestic scene before migrating to California.

Umpire Bryan R. Caine continues discussing his journey into the American cricket scene out of the NYC metro area, including the financial hurdles of trying to turn it into a professional career path and his ambition to umpire ICC level matches and also lets the audience know about which cricketer and umpire he decided to name two of his pet rats after.

Umpire Bryan R. Caine comes on the podcast to talk about his journey into cricket, from growing up playing soccer and lacrosse in Pennsylvania to a brief stage acting career in New York City before finding his way into the New York cricket scene as a match official where he regularly stands in matches across The Big Apple with former ICC Elite Panel umpire Steve Bucknor at the opposite end.

In the second half of the interview with Nate Hays, Emerging Cricket's USA Correspondent, the Maryland native talks about what his family thought of his newfound cricket hobby, what he's enjoyed (and not enjoyed) about covering American cricket as well as a host of other topics.

Nate Hays, USA correspondent for Emerging Cricket, comes on the podcast to talk about his journey into cricket. From growing up in Maryland and playing NCAA Division One baseball at University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Hays didn't discover cricket until his 30s after moving to North Carolina where his job placed him in the same city as one of America's best cricket venues, Church Street Park in Morrisville.

Pubudu Dassanayake, the current head coach of Nepal and former head coach of both USA and Canada, comes on the podcast ahead of the 2022 Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier in Oman which starts on February 18. Nepal is one of eight teams participating in the split qualifier, with USA taking part in the corresponding eight-team qualifier draw in Zimbabwe later this year. Dassanayake talks about growing up in Sri Lanka and playing international cricket for his home country, the decision to migrate to Canada and how that impacted his future career as a coach starting with Canada in 2007, the highs and lows of his first stint with Nepal, taking on the USA role in 2016 where he led USA to ODI status in 2019 but a tenure that was not without its share of controversial moments including his dramatic resignation, and then his return to Nepal for a second stint in charge taking over in December 2021. This is a must listen episode to hear one of the iconic coaching figures in Associate cricket share his story.

Richard Kaplan, the former Mayor of Lauderhill, Florida (1998-2018), continues his discussion about life in the Florida cricket scene and the impact that the Broward County Stadium has had on American and world cricket since it opened in 2008 as the first ICC ODI-accredited venue in the USA.

Richard Kaplan, the former Mayor of Lauderhill, Florida from 1998 through 2018, comes on the podcast to talk about his experiences in the South Florida cricket community. Arriving from Michigan in the 1980s as, "the only white Jewish guy" on a cricket field in south Florida, Kaplan went on to have a major impact supporting the growth of cricket in the area best exemplified by getting approval to build Broward County Stadium, the only ICC ODI certified venue in America. Kaplan talks about the highs and lows of dealing with USACA administrators among many of his incredible anecdotes to paint a picture of the recent history of cricket in south Florida.

USA men's national team left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige comes on the podcast to talk about his journey in cricket. Born in Alabama but raised in Karnataka, Kenjige takes listeners through his time playing university cricket in Bangalore before relocating to the east coast of the USA for work, upon which he rekindled his passion in the cricket leagues of New York, paving the way for an opportunity to try out for the national team in the summer of 2016. That's when Kenjige's journey got even crazier as he went to extremes to balance work and cricket before eventually earning a callup for his USA debut in May 2017 at WCL Division Three in Uganda. If you're looking for an inspirational story founded on incredible work ethic (well, cricket work ethic anyway...), you've come to the right place.

17-year-old batting phenom Rahul Jariwala comes on the podcast to talk about his journey into cricket as someone whose first love was baseball before an advertising flyer for the California Cricket Academy in Cupertino introduced him to the youth cricket scene while growing up in Northern California. The right-handed Jariwala recently finished as the leading scorer at the 2021 USA Cricket Men's 50-over National Championship in Texas, a performance which earned him a maiden callup into the USA Men's national team for the three-match ODI series against Ireland scheduled for December 26-30 at Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.

USA Women's fast bowler Tara Norris continues her discussion of her career arc leading to a debut in October 2021 with the USA national team in Mexico competing in the ICC Americas Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier as well as her continued involvement with USA touring Zimbabwe for the 2021 ICC Women's 50-over World Cup Qualifier.

USA Women's fast bowler Tara Norris comes on the podcast to talk about her journey from Sussex Academy to England U19s, Loughborough Lightning, Southern Vipers, Southern Brave and now... The USA national team. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Norris talks about her family's shuffling across continents before she discovered cricket, and how that's taken her to even more places around the world.

Former 2006 USA U19 World Cup squad member Dunae Nathaniel comes on the podcast to talk about his experiences in cricket as well as his time in the military spending a decade in the United States Air Force in this Veterans Day episode dedicated to all of those past and present who have served America in this US Armed Forces.

Superstar American fast bowler Ali Khan comes on the podcast ahead of his eagerly anticipated return to the USA squad for the first time in more than two years for the 2021 ICC Americas Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier in Antigua from November 7-14. Khan talks about what life has been like since the events chronicled in the 2019 book, "Inside the Selection Room: A Quest for T20 Cricket Stardom", including the economic struggles of a T20 franchise cricketer during the Covid-19 pandemic. Khan also talks about the emotional moment when he found out he would become the first American cricketer signed to an IPL squad after being called up to the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2021 Indian Premier League in the UAE, and the subsequent emotions when he was ruled out of the tournament before he even took the field due to an injury sustained during a team training session.

In the final part of the three-part conversation with former USA U15 national team player and former ESPNcricinfo video editor Jason Fox, he goes into his warts and all memories of life cutting cricket highlights out of the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut during 2014 and 2015 before going on to discuss his family's connection with Mohebullah Archiwal, the subject of Jarrod Kimber's piece from September 2017 in The Cricket Monthly titled, "The Shahid Afridi of Kansas".

Jason Fox, a former USA U15 national team player and former multimedia editor for ESPNcricinfo working out of the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut from 2014-15, continues his chat with host Peter Della Penna discussing the American cricket ecosystem and his initial experiences working out of the ESPN headquarters in the summer of 2014.

Former USA U15 national team wicketkeeper Jason Fox comes on the podcast to talk about his experiences growing up in Wichita, Kansas, and the obstacles that presented both geographically and culturally to learn the sport of cricket and gain access to training facilities to be able to play the sport at a high level.

In part two of the conversation with former Nepal captain Paras Khadka, the Associate legend picks up with the hiring of Pubudu Dassanayake and how that changed the national team's fortunes beginning with an undefeated run - including two victories over USA - at 2012 WCL Division Four in Malaysia. Paras goes on to share his memories of the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, and the road to ODI status including "the Miracle at Windhoek" during 2018 WCL Division Two in Namibia, Nepal's first ODI win in the summer of 2018 against the Netherlands, and Khadka's final home ODI series wrapping up with a 35 all out demolition of USA. Paras also shares the toughest batting and bowling rivals he faced against USA and across wider Associate cricket. Whether you're a fan of USA, Nepal, or Associate cricket in general, there are plenty of gems unearthed in this episode.

In part one of a two-part interview, former Nepal captain and Associate cricket legend Paras Khadka comes on the podcast ahead of USA and Nepal's upcoming ODI tri-series clash in Oman as part of ICC Cricket World Cup League Two to discuss his recent retirement from international cricket, his early days growing up in Kathmandu falling in love with the game, how he nearly gave up cricket just as his international career got underway, and the early days of the intense USA v Nepal rivalry in the ICC World Cricket League including the famous riot match at 2010 ICC WCL Division Five in Kathmandu.

Papua New Guinea head coach and former Italy allrounder Carl Sandri comes on the show to discuss his escapades over the years taking on USA in the World Cricket League and at ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier events while wearing the blue Italian uniform. The former Sydney Thunder player in Australia's Big Bash League also discusses other memorable moments from his career and gives his outlook on how PNG is shaping up ahead of their two ODIs against USA in Oman and PNG's maiden appearance in the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup coming up in October.

In Part 2 of this interview with former USA allrounder Hayden Walsh Jr, he talks about his breakout Player of the Tournament performance to propel Barbados Tridents to the 2019 CPL title, the Hail Mary attempt by USA Cricket to get him to remain a part of the national team setup before ultimately choosing to accept a call-up with the West Indies, his ups and downs which include contracting Covid-19 on the tour to Bangladesh at the end of 2020 before coming back with a career-best performance against Australia in the summer of 2021. Walsh Jr also talks about the hardships of life inside a bio bubble as well as his remaining goals and ambitions in West Indies colors beginning with the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE.

Former USA allrounder Hayden Walsh Jr comes on to the podcast to share his journey from fringe player in the Leeward Islands and Barbados first-class setups, to immediate star for USA upon making his debut in November 2018 on the way to helping lead USA to ODI status in April 2019, to 2019 CPL Player of the Tournament for the title-winning Barbados Tridents and eventually a West Indies callup. Walsh Jr discusses the frosty reception he initially received from USA followers on social media when he was first named in a USA squad, how he won them over with his on-field play, the contrasting rigors of first-class West Indies regional cricket vs. Associate cricket for USA, and also goes into detail about his abrupt departure from the USA national team after rejecting a central contract offer in the summer of 2019. For more on Hayden Walsh Jr's time with USA and his journey from growing up in Antigua to the USA national team, you can also check out this ESPNcricinfo feature written by Peter Della Penna in April 2019, "How Hayden Walsh Jr became USA's Mr. Dependable". Https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/how-hayden-walsh-jr-became-usa-s-mr-dependable-1182247

Former USA U19 representative and current Jamaica Tallawahs squad member Ryan Persaud comes on the podcast to talk about his life growing up in New York and New Jersey as part of a very passionate cricket family, his time in the USA U19 squad at the 2013 ICC U19 World Cup Qualifier in Toronto under then USA head coach Robin Singh, his break from cricket to pursue a film career in Hollywood before coming back to his first love and getting drafted in the Jamaica Tallawahs squad for both the 2020 and 2021 Caribbean Premier League tournaments. From going up against Nitish Kumar and Delray Rawlins at junior international level, to filming movie scenes with Eric Roberts, Nick Swardson, Ron Jeremy and Kayden Kross (it's not what you think!) before teaming up with Andre Russell and Sandeep Lamichhane in franchise cricket, this episode has it all!

Nauheen Chaudhary, a USA Cricket Women's Volunteer Coordinator in the East Bay of northern California, comes on the show to talk about the series of development initiatives she has been involved with to drive youth boys and girls player recruitment for the San Ramon Cricket Association and Dublin Cricket League as well as her ambitions for growing female cricket participation at a national level in her new volunteer role with USA Cricket.

USA Women's national team player Geetika Kodali comes on the show to talk about her journey into international cricket. The 17-year-old California native is the second-youngest player to have been picked for USA at senior international level, making her USA Women's debut as a 14-year-old against Canada in May 2019. She talks about moving to North Carolina to get access to better facilities and be coached by Alvin Kallicharran, her ambitions for a professional cricket career and more.

Todd Myers, Senior Vice President of Global Operations at Willow TV, continues in the second half of a chat with host Peter Della Penna about how much emphasis TV executives place on getting marquee matchups in the knockout phases of cricket tournaments, the overall viewing access of international cricket in the USA compared to other countries and how American administrators can leverage that into bringing more fans into the sport, and also talks about the upcoming launch of the Minor League Cricket T20 franchise tournament which will have more than 100 matches televised or streamed on Willow TV branded platforms.

In the final part of the Don Lockerbie trilogy, the former USACA CEO discusses some of the elements of "Project 15", his plan to get USA into the top 15 of the ICC rankings by 2015 and the opposition he encountered from USACA board members regarding various elements of the strategy; his memories of the famous riot match at Kathmandu between USA and Nepal at 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, and his version of events on what led to his termination as CEO of USACA in November 2010.

After Part 1 ended with the conclusion of Don Lockerbie's experiences as COO of the 2007 ICC World Cup, Part 2 of the interview begins with his initiation into American cricket upon being recruited for and accepting the position of CEO of the USA Cricket Association in 2009. Lockerbie talks through his bizarre and unique experiences in his first year in the job including a very chaotic first board meeting, negotiating a commercial rights partnership deal with New Zealand Cricket, orchestrating the first T20 Internationals on American soil between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Lauderhill, Florida in May 2010, and holding discussions with IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi about staging IPL matches in Las Vegas.

Southern California cricketer Emily Reynolds, one of 14 volunteer women's cricket coordinators recently appointed by USA Cricket, comes on the podcast to discuss how she first got hooked on cricket and her ideas for how to help grow the game in America.

Southern California native John Reid, the first American-born player to represent USA in the one-day cricket era making his debut at the 1979 ICC Trophy in England, comes on the podcast to talk about his experiences in the Los Angeles cricket scene during the 1960s and 70s, living and playing in England for five years in the 1980s, and the greatest crime he ever committed on a cricket field.

Mark Stohlman, the former Mayor of Morrisville, North Carolina, comes on the podcast to talk about how this suburb of the state capital Raleigh managed to put its name on the map courtesy of cricket. Mayor Stohlman talks about his relationship with local resident Alvin Kallicharran, his own love affair with cricket, the backstory to the epic USA v Canada T20 World Cup Qualifier match in September 2018 that drew 2,500 people ending with a pitch invasion from the American fans, and what lies ahead for the turf wicket facility at Church Street Park.

Erica Rendler, the first American-born player to represent the USA Women's team in 50-over cricket, joins the show to discuss her adventures in cricket. A former high school basketball teammate of future three-time Olympic gold medal-winning beach volleyball legend Kerri Walsh Jennings, Rendler was a four-sport varsity athlete at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California and was recruited to play NCAA Division One Field Hockey at Cal-Berkeley. Nearly a decade after her last competitive match, Rendler discovered cricket on a family vacation to Australia and nine months later she was making her USA national team debut in July 2010. Rendler talks through her remarkable journey, including some memorable sledging from South Africa, and discusses what's left in store to accomplish with the USA national team.

South West Region batsman Rehman Dar, the leading scorer of the 2021 USA Cricket U19 National Championships, is this week's featured guest. The Stamford, Connecticut native talks about his brushes with the WWE universe growing up in the town where the sports entertainment behemoth is headquartered. When cricket took center stage in his life, it sparked a family move to Plano, Texas during his freshman year of high school in order to gain access to better cricket facilities in the hope of putting him on the path to represent USA. Despite being picked to represent USA U19 in 2019, Dar sat on the bench all tour. He talks about how that experience fueled his motivation to transform into a leading candidate for USA U19 selection once again heading into the 2021 ICC U19 World Cup Qualifier scheduled for August in the USA.