Things are getting ugly in American cricket and it’s starting at the top. With the LA28 Olympics coming up, the ICC is stepping in to fix things and USAC is in their crosshairs.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is putting pressure on them and the ICC has a plan to change the leadership and fix the mess that is USAC, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics was supposed to be a big deal for the sport in America. It was added to the LA28 list in 2023 because it’s popular around the world, especially in the Indian subcontinent.
As the host country, the USA is supposed to have both men’s and women’s teams. The problem is USAC doesn’t have official National Governing Body (NGB) status from the USOPC which is required for Olympic participation.
The ICC sent a strongly worded email on July 10 outlining a six step plan to get USAC in order after warnings were ignored and the USOPC got frustrated. This plan came from the ICC’s Normalisation Committee led by Jay Shah and was supported by the USOPC.
Step one is a major change to the USAC Board. The current independent directors will be replaced by three new people, one of whom will be a woman. The current board including chair Venu Pisike will have to leave eventually.
Once the new independent directors are in place the rest of the board will have to leave and wait two years before they can run for elections again.
After the board steps down the path to NGB status will open. A complete rewrite of the USAC constitution is also planned. This is a complete change of management from top to bottom.
In an earlier email USOPC official David Patterson made it clear that without a change in the board NGB certification is impossible. He said if USAC doesn’t improve the USOPC might bring in a completely new governing body.
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Patterson said some situations just don’t work out and a change in the board has to mean a change in the whole way things are done.
But not everyone is ready to give up. In a meeting on July 13 USAC chair Pisike said most of the current USA Cricket board members are not ready to resign. He repeated this in Singapore before a meeting with the ICC. Pisike wants to talk instead of making big changes all at once. He thinks replacing the board won’t fix everything. He said the real issue is USAC’s internal problems and there’s no guarantee replacing the board will fix them.
The ICC has made its plans clear but there’s still room for talk. The plan isn’t final but it’s a warning to USAC’s leadership. We’ll see how they respond.
