Akeem Levar Dodson (born September 6, 1987) is an American professional
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er. From
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...
/
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
, Dodson has played regularly at international tournaments since making his debut, including at the
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York, to a Guyanese father. His early childhood was spent in Guyana and rural
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, but after his family returned to New York City he attended Darul Uloom New York, an Islamic school, where he gained the title '' hafiz'' for his memorization of the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
.Orin Davidson (October 2013) "Dodson Exits Junior Ranks In Grand Style" – New York Cricket. Retrieved April 9, 2015. Aged only 15, Dodson made his international under-19 debut at the 2003 Americas Under-19 Championship, played in
King City, Ontario
King City is an unincorporated Canadian community in the township of King, Ontario, located north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King township, with 2,730 dwellings and a population of 8,396 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
History
...
.Miscellaneous matches played by Akeem Dodson – CricketArchive. Retrieved April 9, 2015. The United States won only a single match at the tournament, finishing fourth behind
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
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, and the
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
. Dodson scored 89 runs from his four matches, the second-most for his team, and also recorded six dismissals while keeping wicket. He retained his place in the side for the 2005 edition of the tournament, again played in Ontario. The United States won all four of its matches at the tournament to qualify for the 2006 Under-19 World Cup in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, although Dodson's four innings yielded only 48 runs.
At the 2006 World Cup, Dodson was the only wicket-keeper chosen in the American squad, and consequently played in all five of the team's matches, which were accorded under-19
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(ODI) status. His 84 runs at the tournament put him amongst the team's three best batsmen, with his highest score being 43 against the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, and the West Indies), the U.S. lost all three of its group-stage matches, but did win a game against
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
in the plate competition (for teams eliminated in the group stages). Dodson's underage career continued at state level in the United States, where he captained New York to victory at the 2007 National Under-19 Championships.
WICB Cup
The Super50 Cup, currently named the CG Insurance Super50 Cup for sponsorship purposes is the domestic one-day cricket competition in the West Indies. It was previously known as the KFC Cup until the fast food chain pulled out of sponsorship in ...
, where the United States were competing as an invitational team. As the West Indian domestic limited-overs competition, matches at the tournament had
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...
status. Dodson played in three out of a possible four games for the U.S., with the other match, against
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, abandoned due to rain. After a
duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
on debut against
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
, he scored 31
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
against
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
, coming in seventh in the batting order. The captain of the U.S. team at the tournament was Jamaican-born
Orlando Baker
Orlando M. Baker (born 15 September 1979) is a Jamaican-born American cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler,
Dodson made only a single appearance for the U.S. team at its next major tournament, the 2008 Americas Division One tournament in
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
. He did not bat in that match, against
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, with Carl Wright preferred as wicket-keeper in the other matches. Dodson spent the 2009 season playing club cricket in England. He spent the season with
Waresley
Waresley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Waresley-cum-Tetworth, in Cambridgeshire, England. Waresley lies approximately south of Huntingdon and south-east of the town of St Neots. Waresley is situated within Hunting ...
, which plays in the county leagues in both
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
and
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...
, and hit three centuries, including a score of 190. Dodson did not appear again for the U.S. national team until July 2011, when he was selected to keep wicket for the side at the 2011 Americas Twenty20 Division One tournament in Florida. There, he scored only 28 runs from his three innings, with the U.S. finishing second behind Canada. Both teams proceeded to the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier, but Steven Taylor and Nauman Mustafa were selected ahead of Dodson as wicket-keepers in the American squad for that tournament.
At the next major competition for the United States, the 2012 World Cricket League Division Four tournament in Malaysia, Dodson made the initial squad, but Steven Taylor was preferred as wicket-keeper for all but one game, against
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
. At the 2013 Americas Division One Twenty20, Dodson played in seven of an eight possible matches, and was second only to Taylor in runs scored. Against
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
in the opening game, he was named
man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...
after hitting 54* from 40 balls. The U.S. won that tournament to qualify for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier in the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, where matches had full
Twenty20
Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...
status. Playing six of a possible seven games, Dodson topscored in two matches, with 27 against
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and 41 against
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
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...
(from only 26 balls), but finished with only 87 runs from six innings as the U.S. lost all but one of its group-stage matches.
In November 2014, Dodson was one of at least six national squad players to publicly criticise the leadership of the USA Cricket Association (USACA), along with Orlando Baker and Timroy Allen. Dodson cited the organisation's "constant refusal to invest in proper team preparation and management", and threatened to withdraw from any USACA-selected teams. USACA responded by stating that it would consider changes to its constitution at the 2014 AGM, with the intention of satisfying player demands. Dodson was recalled to the national squad in April 2015, for the 2015 Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament the following month. He was one of only four American-born players in the team, the others being Steven Taylor,
Hammad Shahid
Hammad Shahid (born December 7, 1991) is an American cricketer who made his debut for the United States national cricket team in November 2012. A right-arm fast bowler who bats right-handed, he earlier appeared for the national under-19 side at ...
, and
Jasdeep Singh
Jasdeep "Jessy" Singh (born February 10, 1993) is an American cricketer who made his debut for the U.S. national side in May 2015. He is a right-arm medium-pace bowler who bats right-handed.Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, mapsize2 =
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
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, e ...
and
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
. He kept wicket only against Bermuda, in the other games playing exclusively as a batsman, as part of a middle order that one writer suggested would "come under the microscope from selectors".
In June 2021, he was selected to take part in the
Minor League Cricket
Minor League Cricket (branded as the Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship presented by Sling TV for sponsorship reasons, and sometimes shortened to MiLC) is an American Twenty20 cricket developmental league for Major League Cricket which com ...
tournament in the United States following the players' draft.