| MICC-Cavaliers Cricket Club's of Minnesota |
| History of the Minnesota Internationals and Cavaliers MICC It is not by accident, the Minnesota International Cricket Club is the only cricket club that has participated in all of the past thirty- two seasons of the Minnesota Cricket Association. As a founding member of the MCA, the MICC takes cricket very seriously, we believe in strong organization, strive to build strong sustaining relationships and our members are welcomed into a family. And always the MICC must have fun. The internationals began as one branch of the cricketers from the Caribbean, who showed up every Sunday at Lake Nokomis, in South Minneapolis. This was summers in the early ‘70’s. The families would arrive around noon for a West Indian style picnic with all types of foods, drinks, music and cricket gear. There were folks from all over the Caribbean – Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, St. Kitts, Dominica, Montserrat, etc. We had an entire cross section the Caribbean there. The youths would go swimming; the ladies talked and cheered or took walks around the lake. So many players began showing up it made it difficult to get a meaningful game in, so the inevitable occurred. Groups began to organize into separate clubs. One fledgling team loosely organized around the name ‘West Indian Cricket Club’. Some of the members included, Roland Ragoonanan, Brahme Singh, Sharma Bacchus, Mitch Singh, Charles Peterson, Ed Lue, Joe Valmond, Donny Robinson, Leo & Woody Ramroop, Moti Singh, Allan Daley, Butch Sharma, Ragoo Ragoonanan and some others. Donny was our first captain. The team played matches against the other groups, they also toured Mankato and St. Cloud to engage the Caribbean Students at those schools. We held our first fundraiser at the small American Legion at the corner of Nicolet Ave & 35th St in south Minneapolis. Funds were used to purchase equipment and a mat. MICC was owner of the only cricket mat in the Twin Cities. Joe and Ed flew to London to purchase equipment for the club. There were now two to three clubs in the Twin Cities, one each in Mankato & St. Cloud. In 1975, talk about a cricket league began to surface. MICC members took active role in the formation of the league, in 1976. Four teams formed the MCA/TC. While the other clubs organized around cultural and national themes, the West Indian Cricket Club, striving for inclusiveness, changed its name to the Minnesota International CC to reflect a broad welcoming club. The ‘International’ part of our name continues to reflect the same source of pride it did then. MICC won the two MCA tournaments (40 overs & 25 overs) in the inaugural year of 1977, with strong contributions from Joe Valmond, Ed Lue, Michie Lue, Tony Lue, Charles Peterson, Sherman Valmond, Donny Robinson, Leo Ramroop, Jerry Steele, Gerry Edwards, Fred Ho-a-lim, Ragoo and Ralston Browne. We played at two home grounds that year, Martin Luther King Park (42 & Nicollet) and McCrae Park (48 St & Chicago) in south Minneapolis. Over the years, our members have hailed from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Canada, Bermuda, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, England, Australia, South Africa, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Montserrat, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, Us Virgin Island, USA, Holland, Bangladesh, and St. Kitts. We have won many championships and always provide a competitive challenged even when out matched. In 1979, founding member, Joe & Jasmine Valmond moved to Milwaukee. He initiated the Milwaukee Minnesota reciprocating annual cricket tour. The tour lasted for over fifteen years. This was a family event and the reciprocating hospitality of families resulted in many lasting relationships which continue today. In 1993, Charles Peterson & Rennie Francis convinced the MICC to sponsor the USA Cricket Invitational (USACI) with the goal to establish an annual challenge. This tournament took the place of the Milwaukee tour that was winding down. The thought was to stage a tournament with appeal to the US public, while maintaining the cricket component. Eventually the goal is a tournament that will attract large sponsorships to rival the PGA Masters. Teams from Canada and throughout the USA were invited. The USACI experimented with reduced overs, bowling from one end, time limits to permit maximum matches on limited grounds and other forms that are now common place in the 20/20 format. The USACI continues as the longest continuous active cricket tournament in the USA. Cavaliers The Cavalier CC formed in 1983, with the Ram family seven brothers and uncles as the nucleus of the club. In 1985, Don Ram, a founding member collapsed at the ground and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the emergency. Don was a body builder. This was a severe shock to the cricketing community. The team changed its name to Don Ram’s Cavaliers in honor to Don. Many of the original Ram’s family drifted away from the club. New members decide to change the name to Windians. After a few successful years, the club began to flounder and was at the brink of dissolution. Tulsie Sookdeo and Remy Ramadhar were finding it very difficult to maintain the club. Seeing this, the leadership of the MICC and Cavaliers entered into talks and finalized a deal to link both teams for the 2002 season. This was the first attempt at an A team & B team in MN. The arrangement has been very beneficial to both organizations and their members over the past six years. The value of a less competitive team, has offered opportunity for many a cricket learner to play. The hallmark of the MICC-Cavaliers is, at the end of the day, "win or lose", they are the last to leave the grounds. But lo, not before ‘renewing the camaraderie & health of most all those around’ conducting the match post mortem, the last bang of the dominoes, and being too tired to wine to a soca, reggae, a chutney, ragga, bangra, or rap. Alas the BBQ grill now out, the members are ready to heed the final notice of the friendly woman park police officer- ‘the park is now closed’. I |
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| Important Dates: 1972 Cricket picnics at Lake Nokomis 1973 West Indian Cricket Club formation – continues summer cricket picnics 1976 Founding member of the Minnesota Cricket Association (MCA) of the Twin Cities Minnesota International CC name adopted 1977 First MCA League Champions First MCA 25 over Champion 1979 Milwaukee – Minnesota Annual reciprocal Tour initiated 1983 Cavalier CC formed 1985 Don Ram (founding Member of Cavalier CC) died at the cricket Ground at Fort Snelling 1986 Cavalier CC changed name to Don Ram’s Cavaliers to honor Don Ram 1993 USA Cricket Invitational Cricket Tournament started & continues as Annual event 1996 Canadian Tour (Regina, Edmonton) initiated 19XX Cavaliers MCA Champions 1998 Annual Columbus Day Cricket Tour to Fort Lauderdale initiated 2000 Don Ram Cavalier CC adopted new name of Windians CC 2002 Windians CC (formerly Cavalier CC) & MICC joined hands Windians CC revert back to Cavalier CC to honor the legacy of the founders 2003 MICC MCA League Champions Championship to be updated for both teams |