The national champion Montgomery College cricket team will defend its Shiv Chaunderpaul Trophy at the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship March 17-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Championship, consisting of 47 matches, will be played by 19 college cricket clubs, plus the University of the West Indies and the USA Under-19 World Cup Team.

"Since winning the 2009 championship it's been an amazing time for my team," said Adil Bhatti, the MC Knights captain. "It's incredible to play cricket and be a part of the college sports scene. Colleges are seeing how cricket can bring positive national and international attention to their school."

The tournament is the premier cricket event in the country and is played in Central Broward Stadium, the United States' only venue approved by the International Cricket Council.

The 20 clubs at the championships are split into four conferences: Northeast, Northwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southern. Each conference has five Cricket Clubs and schedulers matched natural rivals, such as football powerhouses Southern California and Ohio State.

MC is in the Mid-Atlantic Conference with George Mason University, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), George Washington University (GW), and Auburn University.

The Knights will open their play March 18 against GW and face UMBC on March 19. Their third opponent is well-known to MC, the Patriots of George Mason. Bhatti, at a recent practice on the MC-Rockville Campus, said Mason might be the strongest team in the tournament and feels MC can win the title if they can get past their friends from Fairfax.

Matches played by the Under-19 USA Team will not affect the point standings. Team USA will be featured in two marquee matches under the lights at the Cricket Stadium, the first on Friday, March 19, against the defending champs, Montgomery College.

<b>MC Knights Cricket Team Roster:</b>
Adil Bhatti
Sadiq Naseer
Mohammad Kamran
Danish Asghar
Suchit Laheri
Amir Chaudhry
Ankit Sehgal
Udit Sehgal
Raghav Bharadwaj
Umair Dasti
Adil Latiwala
Junaid Yusuf
Basheer Aslam Khan