USA Cricket

USA Cricket (USAC[2]) is the governing body of cricket in the United States. USA Cricket operates all of the United States national representative cricket sides, including the men's and women's national teams and youth teams.

USA Cricket
SportCricket
JurisdictionNational
Founded2017 (2017)
AffiliationInternational Cricket Council (ICC)
Regional affiliationICC Americas
HeadquartersColorado Springs, Colorado, United States
ChairmanParaag Marathe
CEOIain Higgins
Men's coach J. Arunkumar[1]
Women's coach Julia Price
ReplacedUnited States of America Cricket Association
Official website
www.usacricket.org

The body was unveiled on September 24, 2017 as a proposed successor to the United States of America Cricket Association, which had been expelled from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in June 2017 due to governance issues. In January 2019, it was approved as an associate member of the ICC.

History

In June 2017, the ICC voted to expel the USACA from the ICC, due to issues with governance of the sport in the United States. Control of the United States national team was handed over to ICC Americas until a new board was formed.[3]

On September 24, 2017 (the anniversary of the 1844 Canada-United States cricket match, and on the heels of a U.S. victory in the Canada-U.S. K.A. Auty Cup), USA Cricket was announced as a new proposed sanctioning body, including a logo unveiled by Denver-based group Adrenalin (using a cricket bat as the main symbol, deeming it to have stronger symbolism with the sport among the U.S. audience than other common symbols, such as the stumps or ball). The new body stated that its goal was to help build popularity for the game among a "mainstream" audience (as opposed to predominantly expats from other regions), with project manager Eric Parthen describing it as a "fresh start" that would "celebrate the past and look to the future".[4][5]

USA Cricket elected its first independent board in mid-2018.[6] In November 2018, USA Cricket put out a request for proposals surrounding the establishment of a domestic Twenty20 league by 2021, with goals to "engage existing fans and grow new ones to support the bullish vision this Board has for cricket in the US", and "support the sustainable development of cricketing infrastructure across the United States" (noting that Central Broward Regional Park was the only ICC-certified cricket grounds in the country).[7] In January 2019, USA Cricket was officially approved by the ICC as its 105th associate member.[8]

In May 2019, USA Cricket announced that it had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a $1 billion investment in its proposed T20 league; ACE's partners include Satyan Gajwani and Vineet Jain of The Times Group, and Willow TV founders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan. ACE will provide investments for the league (including developmental and professional circuits), facilities, and support of the U.S. national teams.[9]

During its inaugural annual general meeting in February 2020, USA Cricket announced plans to launch its franchise-based T20 league Major League Cricket in 2021, stage the inaugural season of its development league Minor League Cricket in 2020, back proposals for cricket to be staged at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and pursue bids to host a future ICC tournament in the country between 2023 and 2031. It was also stated that USA Cricket may attempt to pursue full member status with the ICC.[10]

In October 2020, USA Cricket unveiled a "foundational plan" for 2020–23, including plans to promote youth and women's cricket, primarily focus on T20 (including the launch of Major League Cricket in 2022, delayed from 2021 due to COVID-19), and partner with Cricket West Indies on bids to host ICC events in the United States. The organization plans to initially target its activities towards markets where there is "already significant interest in and passion for the sport". USA Cricket also set long-term goals to reach ICC full member status by 2030.[11][12] It is aiming to qualify for the 2022 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and to "develop a clear and balanced long-term international playing calendar for our national teams that includes more content, played more frequently against competitive opposition."[13]

In November 2020, USA Cricket announced that ACE had leased AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas (which previously operated as the home of the recently folded Texas AirHogs baseball team), with plans to redevelop it as a cricket-specific stadium and as home field of a Texas-based franchise in Major League Cricket.[14][15]

See also

References
  1. "J Arunkumar appointed USA men's head coach". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  2. usacricket (January 22, 2019). "USA Cricket Starts CEO Search". USA Cricket. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  3. "USACA expelled by the ICC". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  4. "New American governing body branded as USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  5. Gladson, J.A.C. (September 26, 2017). "USA Cricket getting closer to becoming a new federation". Times of India. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
  6. "USA Cricket Election Results Announced". USA Cricket. August 3, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  7. "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo. November 27, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  8. "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  9. "USA Cricket receives $1 billion boost to develop T20 league". ESPNcricinfo. May 25, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  10. "USA targets hosting ICC global events in next cycle". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  11. "USA Cricket plan to make country leading nation in the sport". Inside the Games. October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  12. "USA Cricket targets ICC full member status by 2030". SportsPro Media. October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  13. "USA Cricket targets ICC Full Membership by 2030". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  14. "Grand Prairie approves stadium redevelopment plan that could make the city a premier U.S. cricket destination". The Dallas Morning News. November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  15. "Former Dallas baseball stadium to become 'new home of USA cricket'". ESPNcricinfo. November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.