Junior Hall of Fame in the pipeline

A Hall of Fame for US Junior Cricket, a project that has been on the drawing board for two years, could be ready to welcome visitors when the International Junior Tournament for Under-15 and Under-11 teams is held in the Bay Area during the Independence Day weekend in July 2008.

The Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Mayor and the city council of Cupertino in Northern California, which is providing space for the exhibit. Officials from other cities in the area, such as San Jose and Foster City, have also expressed interest and promised their support.

The Hall of Fame is expected to house dozens of sterling silver cups and trophies and souvenirs from Cricket Academy tournaments, as well as those earned from overseas tours. Photographs of past tournament winners, a cricket bat donated by Ricky Ponting and signed by the members of the Australian team that won the World Cup, and framed congratulatory messages from Sachin Tendulkar and other figures of distinction in world cricket, will also be displayed. Also available will be newspaper clippings from the USA and overseas, featuring the exploits of the junior squads.

This is the right time for inaugurating for the Hall of Fame, according to Hemant Buch, co-founder and President of the California Cricket Academy. Junior cricketers from all over the world, as well as their siblings and parents, are expected to be at the International Junior Tournament, and opening the Hall of Fame would be a fitting inaugural event.