ICC Board suspends USA Cricket Association

The ICC Board has unanimously decided to suspend the membership of the USA Cricket Association (USACA) with immediate effect during its ICC Annual Conference week that concluded here. The decision was made after careful consideration of the findings set out in a recently constituted Review Group report to the ICC Board on the Status and Activities of USACA - a comprehensive document based on input from over 100 stakeholders, including USACA. [caption id=“attachment_2315554” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of International Cricket Council (ICC) logo. Reuters[/caption] The Review Group, in its comprehensive report, had expressed “significant concerns about the governance, finance, reputation and cricketing activities of USACA” and the ICC decided to exercise its power under Article 2.7 of the ICC’s Articles of Association. “The ICC Board has made this difficult decision after careful consideration and in the best interest of the game and all cricketers in the USA. The country has tremendous potential but because of governance, financial and cricketing challenges, the opportunity to grow the game is not being properly nurtured,” ICC chairman N Srinivasan said. “The ICC Board had put USACA on notice in its January meeting this year and had hoped that it would show some urgency to address and improve in the areas that were identified as weaknesses. Unfortunately, the response to date has been inadequate and it has proved necessary for the ICC Board to take further action,” he added. The suspension means that USACA will not be entitled to receive any ICC funding nor will it be entitled to determine whether cricket matches and events staged in the US should have the status of approved or disapproved cricket. However, the ICC Board, in its absolute discretion and considering that the players should not suffer due to this suspension, has confirmed it will allow the USA cricket team to participate in next month’s ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015 in Ireland and Scotland. The USA U-19 team will also be permitted to play in the upcoming Americas U19 Championship in Bermuda. PTI