This week the USA national team made an ignominious exit from the ICC Trophy in Ireland after failing to win a single game in the 12 team tournament.  With so much at stake for the top five finishers, including:

-          a chance for a place in World Cup 2007;

-          ODI status for the next four years;

-          and ICC funding to the tune of US$ 500,000

the USA failed to get pass the first round. It was a disappointing performance from a team that only a year ago had earned a place in the Champions Trophy alongside the 10 test playing nations.

So where did it all go wrong?  ICC Chief, Malcolm Speed puts it this way: "We have seen numerous sporting organisations in various states of disarray throughout our period of involvement as sports administrators.  We have never seen a sporting organisation that combines such great potential and such poor administration as USACA.  From our observations much of the blame for this lies with the current office bearers of USACA, including yourself [Galdstone Dainty].  We question whether the current administration of USACA can play any constructive role in taking the game forward in the United States”, the statement concluded.

But USACA’s incompetence alone does not explain the whole story. The ICC also shares part of the blame for turning a blind eye to the steadily deteriorating situation in USACA cricket administration. Two years ago, at a meeting in New York with ICC representatives, Matthew Kennedy and Martin Vieira, I pointed out that the intransigence of USACA was effectively thwarting any meaningful initiative to promote the game in the USA. [Pictured right: Martin Vieira, Linden Dodson, Vish Lekhram, Sham Samaroo and Matthew Kennedy]. In fact, in the last four years, amidst widespread allegations of impropriety and mismanagement of US cricket, the ICC continued to indulge the USACA administration of President Gladstone Dainty. [For its part, the ICC maintains that the administration of US cricket is an internal matter over which ICC has no jurisdiction]. At the start of 2005, the ICC continued its efforts to reach an agreement with the Dainty administration on Project USA. Project USA was an ICC initiative to develop US cricket that was first touted in 2002 as a reward to the Atul Rai administration for significant strides made in the development of the game locally. And even though Dr. Atul Rai would be ousted in the 2003 election following serious allegations of electoral impropriety, the ICC nevertheless continued in good faith to seek agreement for Project USA with an increasingly intransigent Dainty administration.  Finally, in March 2005, the ICC had had enough, and terminated Project USA – the same week that the Dainty administration suspended USACA secretary, Bobby Rafaie. According to secretary Rafaie, his suspension was a result of his refusal to support the Dainty administration’s decision to arbitrarily disqualify three (3) candidates from the 2005 election for directorship.  One of the candidates, Mr. Polam Veman Reddy, from Southern California, would subsequently be elected to the all-important position of Chairman of USACA’s Council of League Presidents, with the right to sit on the Board of Directors. But the Dainty administration, adamantly, refused to recognise his election.

In an effort to address this impasse, the Council of League Presidents (CLP), and a majority of Board members met in Dallas on April 16, 2005.  Attending the meeting were the presidents of 19 of the 31 member leagues of USACA who represent over 70 % of all member clubs of USACA. The league presidents reaffirmed their commitment to Mr. Reddy as the legitimate winner of the election for the position of Chairman, Council of League Presidents, and recognised him as their representative on the USACA Board of Directors. This decision was subsequently communicated to the ICC. Citing that this was an internal matter for the respective parties to resolve, the ICC elected not to intervene, but offered the services of its arbitration committee if the parties so desired.  Polam Reddy and the Council of League Presidents (CLP) unconditionally agreed, but the Dainty faction declined. The ICC then withdrew its offer, and from that moment it was unclear who the legitimate governor of US cricket was. With the ICC Trophy less than 2 months away, the question naturally arose – which of the two bodies would be recognised by the ICC for the purpose of selecting the national team?  In May, the Dainty faction announced their team to participate in the ICC Trophy. The CLP contended that it was not consulted, and appealed to the ICC. The ICC ruled that USA would only be allowed to participate in the tournament on condition that both parties in the dispute agree to the team that was selected. 

The ICC’s decision was a Pyrrhic victory for the CLP who now found itself in a no win situation. If the CLP agreed to the team, it meant acquiescing to a team, most of who were selected for their loyalty to the Dainty faction rather than their cricketing prowess. On the other hand, if they challenged the selection, as is their right, in accordance with the ICC ruling, they risked the possibility of the US not participating in the tournament, and forfeiting the chance for a place in World Cup 2007. Understandably, the CLP elected to put the interests of US cricket first. It agreed to the team that was selected even though the selectors ignored nominations from two-thirds of all the US regions, and the appointment of team officials smacked of rampant cronyism and nepotism. Not surprisingly, that team was eliminated after failing to win a single game in the 12 nation tournament.  

In June, the ICC ruled that USACA would not be allowed to participate in the annual general meeting slated for later that month.  The ruling said, “As a result of several of the matters that have been raised in recent correspondence, ICC is unable to come to a clear view as to which party should be recognized as the legitimate governor of USACA."   Unfortunately for US cricket, It was too little too late. That the ICC was well aware of the situation, for some time now, is evident from Malcolm Speed’s comment in February. If the ICC was of that opinion in February, then why did it wait until June to act?  Back home, now that the US is eliminated from participation in World Cup 2007, it is time for new leadership and a fresh start.

Sham Samaroo

New York

Columnist and Host of America's first weekly cricket TV program - Cricket! Our Game