Day's Report by Vivek Nair (EC Member)
October 10, 2009
Culver Road Ground, Dayton, NJ

In the Division 1 Championship Finals, Jersey Jaguars came out on top as the deserving winners handing out Piscataway CC their 3rd defeat in as many final appearances. While applauding the NJSBCL Division 1 Champions of 2009, Jersey Jaguars, your heart goes out to the runner-up Piscataway CC who had an unblemished run all the way to the Finals by losing just one game on the way. But then that is how things panned out on October 10, 2009 at the Culver Road ground

The day started with the rain gods threatening to play spoil sport. Thanks to DJ Brian and Kishore for keeping the 100 odd crowd entertained while the arrangements were being made by the organizers while praying for the rain to keep away. Wives, kids and in-laws of the players kept their spirits up while the DJ played out their favorite songs.
The Finals was sponsored by Paradise Biriyani. Mahendra (Blue Aces) an EC member of the league managed the overall arrangements at the Finals venue supported by the rest of the EC team - Mani (The Elites), Abhy (Sreeshti), Vipul (Summerfield), Ranjith (AdroIT), Sachin (Woodlot), Avinash (PCC), Vipin (Invincibles) and Bala (NJ Blues) & Vivek (FriendsXI) who also managed the flow of crowd and parking at the venue.

The Division 1 Finals finally got underway after the introductions of both teams, umpires for the Finals - Vipul (Summerfield) and Dev (Blue Aces) - and the Executive Committee of NJSBCL around 10.45AM. Sri (Josh), Sachin (Woodlot) and Vipin (Invincibles) – all EC members, provided the inside scoops on the players in between the running commentary of the match. Ranjith from AdroIT, another EC member, was as usual the scorer and statistician for the Finals. While the Division 1 Finals got underway news was received that in Division 2 Finals played at Stelton Road ground, Juggernaut comfortably beat Devils11 to become the first, Division 2 Champions of NJSBCL. Like every year, this year’s Finals was no exception and there was a carnival atmosphere at the Culver road ground in Dayton inspite of the cloudy morning. With Piscataway batting and Jersey Jaguars bowling, the audience soon got in to the act by cheering every good shot / wickets that tumbled / fielding

The special invitees / chief guests arrived in batches. Mr. Amit Godbole, Radio 89.3 FM DJ and Mr. Amarnath, who host the cricket show in Radio 89.3 Dhoom FM, were the first to arrive. Avinash Gaje, President and founding member of NJSBCL, took the opportunity during the drinks break of the first innings to elicit few expert comments from Mr. Amarnath of 89.3 Dhoom FM on the way the game is progressing. His insights into what both teams should be doing at that point to gain the upper hand on the game was very thoughtful and am sure both captains – Jatin of Jersey Jaguars and Tejas of Piscataway CC – would have tried to implement those suggestions.

Next to arrive were councilmen Mac Shah and Joe Camarota. During the break between innings, both the South Brunswick councilmen applauded the efforts of NJSBCL in organizing this wonderful event in New Jersey bringing together south asian and west Indian players and families together. They also expressed their solidarity with the cause of starting a women’s cricket league in New Jersey that was put forth by Avinash. Councilmen went to mention that South Brunswick supports the game of cricket and already work has started on building additional two new cricket grounds in the township which would be thrown open to the cricket loving public very soon. The crowd greeted this announcement with cheer. Mac Shah who was running for council encouraged everyone who had registered to vote to come out and vote in favor of him so that he can continue supporting the cricket loving people from the public office. Joe Camarota wanted to spend more time watching the exciting game that was progressing but other commitments prevented him from spending more time there. He wished the league and all the players a wonderful game and day ahead before departing with Mac Shah.

Towards the end of the game, Councilman Rajiv Prasad and Ted Chase of Franklin Township arrived. They were very curious to learn more about the functioning of the league from NJSBCL’s President, Avinash and Secretary, Vipin Bharadwaj. Once the game was over, Rajiv Prasad and Ted Chase as the chief guests distributed the prizes to the winners. The prize distribution ceremony was choreographed by Vipin and had both Vipin and Amit Godbole as the two masters of the ceremony. Vipin started off introducing the chief guests to the crowd that had build up to 250 odd people by that time. Vipin thanked the players, their supporting families and the executive committee members of the league for completing another wonderful season which saw nearly 500 plus games played over 6 months by 52 teams. Avinash, in his address mentioned how the league which started off with 6 teams in 2001, grew to 16 teams in 2003 and 52 teams in 2009 has now been admitted as a potential USACA member, a wing of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
He also mentioned how the league strives to keep its operations simple and maintain itself as a platform for cricket lovers to come together and enjoy a game of cricket and camaraderie even though there is fierce competition between teams in winning the championships.

The awards ceremony started with Devils11, the Division 2 runner-up captain Jaymin receiving the prizes for the team along with the individual team medals from the chief guests. Division 2’s star players of the season were announced next – Best Batsman - Ather Khan (NJ Braves), Best Bowler – Atul Patel (Devils11), Man of the series – Ali Javed ( NJ Braves) collected the coveted trophies. Juggernaut was announced as the first ever Division 2 Champions of NJSBCL and their captain, Deepti Ranjan and his team mates received the 2009 NJSBCL Division 2 Championship trophy from Mr. Ted Chase and Rajiv Prasad.

Then the ceremony moved on to the much awaited Division 1 Championship awards next. Piscataway captain Tejas collected the runner up trophy from Mr. Ted Chase. This was followed by outstanding performer awards in Division 1. Best batsman award went to Pradeep Jeyapaul (Jersey Jaguars), Best bowler award went to Vivek Pandey (Jersey Jaguars) and the Man of the series for 2009 award went to Mital Patel (Piscataway) for his booming batting and sharp bowling through out the tournament.
The man of the match for the Finals, Kush Choksi (Jersey Jaguars) collected his trophy next from the chief guest. This was followed by individual trophies to all the team members of the Champions, Jersey Jaguars.

League had started awarding a Fair Play trophy every year for the past two years and this year that award went to one of the founding teams of the league – Plainsboro Cricket Club (PCC). Vijay Luthra, proud captain of PCC accepted the award on behalf of his team for the sportsman spirit, friendly atmosphere and right attitude displayed through out the season. This year’s semi-finalists, TomsRiver (captain - Ketan Mehta) and MahaCC (captain – Aseem Narula) received the awards for the outstanding performance of their teams this season which saw both of them reaching the semi-finals of an extremely competitive season. Each of the 14 voluntary EC members of the league who spent nights and days over the last 6 – 7 months ensuring the smooth operations of the league were recognized at the prize distribution and presented with thank you awards by the league - Mani (The Elites), Abhy (Sreeshti), Vipul (Summerfield), Ranjith (AdroIT), Sachin (Woodlot), Avinash (PCC), Vipin (Invincibles), Sri (Josh), Bala (NJ Blues), Vivek (FriendsXI), Tarun (Tiranga), Amin (MahaCC) and Jaideep (Mavericks)

The 2009 NJSBCL Division 1 Championship trophy was received from Mr. Ted Chase & Mr.Rajiv Prasad by a beaming Jatin Mehta, captain of Jersey Jaguars whose team even though had some initial hiccups, picked up steam and was rewarded for all their hard work & preparation by the beautiful 2009 NJSBCL Championship trophy.

The awards ceremony concluded after a vote of thanks by Vipin. The awards ceremony was followed by a sumptuous lunch for everyone courtesy of our sponsor Paradise Biriyani Pointe and its owner Guna

The lunch was followed by a friendly 8 over game between the EC members and the Champions, Jersey Jaguars where the Champions beat the EC team in a close game. This brought us to the conclusion of the day's events. League announced a two week 8x8 carnival cricket tournament which will be played on the weekends of Oct 17-18 and Oct 24-25. Thirty teams divided into ten groups will be participating in this 8 –a side, 8 – over tournament over the next couple of weeks

Click here for the Finals Match report...

New Jersey Soft Ball Cricket League (NJSBCL) Executive Committee invites all member teams with their families for the NJSBCL 2009 Championship Finals at the Culver Road ground in Dayton, NJ.


In two thrilling semi-finals games played on October 3rd, PiscatawayCC defeated TomsRiver and Jersey Jaguars beat last year's runner-up MahaCC to reach Division 1 Championship Finals. This is the fourth time PiscatawayCC is reaching the Finals and the very first time for Jersey Jaguars.

In the Division 2 semi-finals, both Devils11 and Juggernaut brushed aside their opponents Jersey Stars and Cricketier to garner a spot in the Division 2 Finals.





NJSBCL 2009 CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS - Division 1

PiscatawayCC vs Jersey Jaguars

Ground: Culver Road ground, Dayton (Click here for directions)
Date: October 10, 2009
Time: 10AM


NJSBCL 2009 CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS - Division 2

Devils11 vs Juggernaut

Ground: Stelton Road ground, Dayton (Click here for directions)
Date: October 10, 2009
Time: 8.00AM


The prize distribution and awards ceremony will be graced by eminent personalities like officials from the township, council, state assembly and prominent media & other celebrities.

Prize distribution to both Division 1 and Division 2 NJSBCL 2009 Championship Trophy winners will be followed by a grand caterered lunch sponsored by Paradise Biriyani to all the players, their families and the other invitees. Please note that alcohol is prohibited in Culver road ground as per rules.

The Championship finals will have audio commentary and a DJ performing live.

All captains are requested to forward this evite link to your teams and ask your team members to confirm their participation for this family event mentioning the approximate number of people who would be attending.

Thanks to all the players of the 52 teams for their participation in making the NJSBCL 2009 season a great success.

Come, encourage your favorite team and have a blast in this exciting & thrilling Championship Finals on October 10 !!!

Click here for the Finals Day Events report!

Trophies will be awarded for the following -

NJSBCL Champions 2009 -


NJSBCL Runner-Ups 2009 -


Man of the Match -


Man of the Series -


Best Batsman -


Best Bowler -