Aaron Jones will put his friendships aside if he wants to help the USA win the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for the first time. The 28-year-old was born in New York, but his family moved to Barbados when he was young, where he learned how to play cricket.
That meant growing up with players who now play for the West Indies, who will be waiting for the USA when they play their first game in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Group A on July 18. Aaron Jones knows that his team will be the outsider, but he is excited to play against people he knows.
He said, “For me, it’s the same as playing against my friends.” “When I was young, I played with guys from Barbados like Shai Hope, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, and Roston Chase. I also played against guys like Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell. There was a lot of competition and it was a great place to play cricket. Both the first-class game and the club game are very tough.
“We have played against the West Indian team a lot. As a USA team, we have competed in the List A tournament in the Caribbean, so we know what to expect. I definitely want to play hard and win, but I’ll just have to treat it like any other game. It will be a wonderful event.”
Aaron Jones is now back in his home country of North Carolina, and he will be a big part of his team’s first ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier since 2005.
He seems to be adjusting well to the weather in Zimbabwe. In a warm-up game against Ireland, he scored 89, which was the highest score. He thinks that qualifying for the World Cup would show how much cricket is loved in the United States.
“Since we last played at this level in the US, a lot has changed in terms of facilities and money spent on cricket,” he said. “There are more green wickets instead of astro turf and matting, and there are more good players for us to play against.
“The rest of the world doesn’t think of the US as a cricketing country, but there are a lot of Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and people from the Caribbean who all played cricket in their home countries before moving to the US. I would say that only India and Bangladesh have more support, and we just want to make everyone back home happy.”
The USA and West Indies will both host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024, but for now, the batter is only focused on helping his country make history in the next few weeks.
“On this team, I’m the one who holds the batting together, so I’ll be proud to do that and help my team get to the World Cup,” he said. It would be great if our country could grow the sport and send teams to the World Cup. Not just for ourselves, but also so that young people can look up to us when we’re gone. “Leaving something behind is very important,” he said.
How they were able to
The USA came out on top in the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-offs. They won four of their five games in Namibia, which put them ahead of UAE in terms of net run rate and allowed them to qualify for the tournament for the first time in 18 years.
World Cup statistics
The United States has never played in either the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup or the T20 World Cup.
They played their first ODI at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy but lost in the group stage to Australia and New Zealand, who had a lot of big names on their teams.
Keep an eye on
Steven Taylor was a big reason why the USA did well in the play-off. He scored 50 runs against both Papua New Guinea and Jersey, which helped them take control of their group.
Taylor got his first ODI century in June 2022 against Nepal, and he will be excited to play against the same team in Zimbabwe.
When are they going to play?
On June 18, the USA’s first game is against the West Indies. The next games are on June 20 against Nepal, June 22 against the Netherlands, and June 26 against Zimbabwe.
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