After success in Italy, US now sets sights on Hong Kong

Clayton Lambert is your typical coach. He is never satisfied and is always looking for perfection.

When the United States senior men’s cricket team won the International Cricket Conference Division Three Championship in Bologna, Italy, Lambert, the squad’s coach, celebrated the win and after a few days he had already turned his sights to Hong Kong, the next stop for the American team.

In Hong Kong, the US team will face Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Denmark, Oman and Italy in the ICC Division Three Championship where the top two finishers will advance to Division Two and the top four will compete in a qualifier for the ICC T20 World Cup.

It is a very important tournament for the US and the Americans have every right to feel buoyant after their victory in Italy.

But Lambert looks at it differently. He would prefer to arrive in Hong Kong as an underdog rather than a team bordering on cockiness after a tournament victory. It all comes down to the mindset of the players.

Lambert, a former Test player with the West Indies, told cricketusamag.com in an interview that he had still not sent in his report after the tournament triumph in Bologna to the United States Cricket Association, but said that he felt there were certain areas where the team could improve.

“One thing is the speed by the fielders in the inner circle where the quick single runs can be eliminated,” he said. “There is always room for improvement. Nothing is perfect.”

Lambert praised the US team’s skill level and said that it should be in Division One. While he was pleased with this facet of the team he added that “there will be hiccups” along the way.

He also singled out middle order batsman Aditya Thyagarajan for his performance in Bologna.

Lambert said that Thyagarajan “gets us out of trouble. He did well.”

“Every team needs that one player to get it out of trouble and he did it for us in Italy,” he said. “I remember when Australia would get in trouble Michael Bevan always seemed to deliver. Every country has that type of player.”

Lambert was happy with the US team’s win after it had finished second a couple of times.

“The team has been a work in progress for the past three years. Every player in the squad is now familiar with the role they are asked to play,” he said. “And everyone knows each other.

“I think that when we play together as a team we play at our best.”

Another plus has been the US team’s ability to perform under pressure. This is a part of the game that coach’s love to see players and the team perform at a high level when it comes down to the crunch.

“In the past three tournaments we have got ourselves in must win situations and we have performed well,” said Lambert.

“Over the years we have been batting our way out of trouble. Now we know that we have been there and done that.

“And the history of this team shows that we lift in fielding and our bowlers defend the score we have made.”

It is enough to make a coach happy, well, at least until the preparation begins for the next tournament