The United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), headquartered at
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, was the national governing body for all cricket in the United States, until it was replaced by
USA Cricket
USA Cricket (USAC) 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, as well as Minor Lea ...
in 2019. The board was formed in 1965.
USACA was an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council until June 23, 2017, when it was expelled following an ICC Board recommendation in April and a Dispute Resolution Committee hearing before
the Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
Michael Beloff
Michael Jacob Beloff, KC (born 18 April 1942) is an English barrister and arbitrator. A member of Blackstone Chambers, he practises in a number of areas including human rights, administrative law and sports law.
Career
Beloff is the son of the ...
QC.
History
The United States of America Cricket Association was started in 1965 with the help of John Marder and was admitted to the International Cricket Conference as an associate member that same year. This was the same group that had been so integral in keeping the United States out of international cricket when formed in 1909. Unfortunately, the administration of the USACA proved unable to administer the sport in the United States effectively. This led to suspensions from tournaments and ineligibilities and has rendered the USACA largely inactive.
The United States was able to participate in the
ICC Trophy
The ICC World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the Cricket World Cup qualifi ...
when the tournament started in 1979. The United States' team saw success in this tournament and continued to improve through 2005.
In July 2009, the USACA announced it was inviting proposals from prospective sponsors, broadcasters and game development partners to help launch the
American Premier League
The American Premiere League (APL) is a Twenty20 cricket league based in the United States. The first league was scheduled to take place between October 6 and October 24, 2009, which was later postponed. The management revamped the brand in 2020 ...
, an
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
style
Twenty20
Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...
league tournament. No American Premier League matches were played in 2010, and in April 2011 no further matches have been announced. The board announced in December 2010 that it had signed a $10 million deal with
New Zealand Cricket
New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand.
New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...
and several strategic investors are stakeholders, creating a new body called Cricket Holdings America to manage all commercial rights for cricket in USA, including Twenty20 rights, in perpetuity
In January 2011, USACA was awarded the top prize in the Junior Participation Initiative category by the ICC America's region in the 2010 Pepsi ICC Development Programme Awards for the
United States Youth Cricket Association's Schools Program.
The USACA supported the American Twenty20 Championship, an American Twenty20 cricket tournament aimed at grooming American cricket players for international events and to spread interest in American Cricket. Its first season was only a 3-day affair, played in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and won by the
Atlantic Division. The tournament was supported by the United States of America Cricket Association, the national federation of cricket in the US.
After not being held in 2012 and 2013, the USACA announced that the tournament would be again played in 2014.
However, in May 2014, the city of
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
terminated its agreement to host the relaunch of the USA Cricket Association National Championships, which were due to be held from August in the brand new $6 million
Indianapolis World Sports Park
Indianapolis World Sports Park is an American sporting complex in Indianapolis, Indiana. The site covers at the former Post Road Community Park and consists of three multi-use fields for the sports of cricket, lacrosse, hurling, rugby, Australian ...
facility. Indianapolis Parks and Recreation director John W. Williams sent a letter to USACA notifying them of the termination and a city official confirmed that the decision includes not just the 2014 championship but the entire three-year agreement which had been signed in September 2013 under former USACA chief executive
Darren Beazley
Darren Beazley is an Australian businessman and sports administrator.
Early life
Darren Beazley was born in Nambour in Queensland, but spent his formative years in Geraldton, Western Australia, where he graduated from high school and later un ...
. In June 2014, USA Cricket Association announced that that year's USACA National Championship would be moved to
Lauderhill
Lauderhill, officially the City of Lauderhill, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census,the city's population was 74,482. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,01 ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
following the termination of the three-year hosting agreement by the city of
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
.
Membership
The USACA had 51 state association members across seven zones (Atlantic, New York, South East, North East, Central West, Central East, West Coast) in the United States.
President of the USACA
Executive Secretary of the USACA
Domestic cricket
The USACA organized the following tournaments:
*
American Premier League
The American Premiere League (APL) is a Twenty20 cricket league based in the United States. The first league was scheduled to take place between October 6 and October 24, 2009, which was later postponed. The management revamped the brand in 2020 ...
(planned in 2009 and again in 2010 but never took place)
*
American Twenty20 Championship
Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, Club cricket, club, intercollegiate and international competition levels with little popularity, with 200,000 players (<0.1% of the population) across the country. Minor League Cricke ...
(took place once, in 2011, with 8 teams participating in a tournament over 3 days, was planned but didn't occur in 2012 and 2013, before having their license cancelled in 2014)
Controversies and expulsion by ICC
The
2005 ICC Trophy
The 2005 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Ireland between 1 July and 13 July 2005. It was an international one-day tournament played over 50 overs per side between 12 Associate Members of the International Cricket Council. It served a ...
represented a chance for the US to re-establish themselves on the world stage and qualify for the
2007 World Cup. A poor showing saw them finish at the bottom of their group, with four losses and a match abandoned due to rain from their five group fixtures. This failure robbed the USA of the prize of full
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
status on offer to the World Cup qualifiers. This failure was compounded on 9 August 2005 when the ICC expelled the US from the
2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup
The 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup was the second edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, a cricket competition for (then) 12 nations from Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. All the games were scheduled for three days and were designated ...
.
The United States of America Cricket Association was again suspended from the ICC and the team was pulled from the
World Cricket League
The ICC World Cricket League (WCL) was a series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams without Test status (i.e., teams of Associate status) administered by the International Cricket Council. All Associate Members of t ...
.
The suspension was due to an internal dispute over a constitution for the USACA. The dispute was resolved in early 2008, and the suspension was lifted on 1 April of that year.
On 28 January 2015, the ICC sent
letterto USACA outlining several infractions and asking for a re-payment of a 200K loan it made to USACA. The letter was a notice of suspension to be realized at the ICC meeting held in April 2015. At the end of the ICC meeting "It was decided that there was a significant amount of further work that needed to be carried out in order to complete a full and proper assessment. In support of this, a Task Force headed by the ICC Chief Executive David Richardson will travel to the USA to meet relevant stakeholders in USA cricket in order to prepare a comprehensive report for further consideration by the ICC Executive Committee and ICC Board at its next meeting."
Since September 2014 the ICC has frozen USACA's funding, the USACA did not have the money to attend the 2015 Pepsi ICC World T20 Qualifier Tournament in May 2015. Ironically, the tournament was being held in Indiana USA.
In June 2017, the ICC voted to expel the USACA when it failed to adopt a constitution that met a number of requirements to improve governance and transparency.
Stadiums
The only
ICC-certified
cricket stadium in North America is
Central Broward Regional Park
Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, formerly Central Broward Regional Park and Central Broward Stadium, is a large county park in Lauderhill, Florida, and the only dedicated cricket stadium in the United States. It is owned and oper ...
in
Lauderhill, Florida
Lauderhill, officially the City of Lauderhill, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census,the city's population was 74,482. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,01 ...
.
The Leo Magnus Cricket Complex
The Leo Magnus Cricket Complex (LMCC) is a group of four cricket grounds located in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The facility is also called Woodley Cricket Field(s) or Woodley Cricket Complex due to its lo ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
is an established
cricket ground
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by strikin ...
with four fields. The city of
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
built what it called a "world-class" cricket field as part of the $6 million
Indianapolis World Sports Park
Indianapolis World Sports Park is an American sporting complex in Indianapolis, Indiana. The site covers at the former Post Road Community Park and consists of three multi-use fields for the sports of cricket, lacrosse, hurling, rugby, Australian ...
. The facility opened in 2014.
Leading cricket grounds in the United States
*
Central Broward Regional Park
Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, formerly Central Broward Regional Park and Central Broward Stadium, is a large county park in Lauderhill, Florida, and the only dedicated cricket stadium in the United States. It is owned and oper ...
in
Lauderhill, Florida
Lauderhill, officially the City of Lauderhill, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census,the city's population was 74,482. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,01 ...
- Hosted 4 T20I since 2010. It only ICC-certified cricket stadium in America
*
Leo Magnus Cricket Complex
The Leo Magnus Cricket Complex (LMCC) is a group of four cricket grounds located in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The facility is also called Woodley Cricket Field(s) or Woodley Cricket Complex due to its l ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
- Hosted five List-A match between India-A and Australia-A in 2000
*
Indianapolis World Sports Park
Indianapolis World Sports Park is an American sporting complex in Indianapolis, Indiana. The site covers at the former Post Road Community Park and consists of three multi-use fields for the sports of cricket, lacrosse, hurling, rugby, Australian ...
in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
- The facility opened in 2014
See also
*
Cricket in the United States
Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, club, intercollegiate and international competition levels with little popularity, with 200,000 players (<0.1% of the population) across the country. United States Youth Cricket Association
The United States Youth Cricket Association (USYCA) is the largest organization in the United States devoted to the promotion of the game of cricket among young people and is an Associate Member of United States of America Cricket Association. US ...
*
Major League Cricket
Major League Cricket (MLC) is an upcoming professional Twenty20 cricket league in the United States. Operated by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) and sanctioned by USA Cricket, it plans to begin play on July 13, 2023, with six teams in major ...
*
United States national cricket team
The United States national cricket team is the team that represents the United States in international cricket. The team was formerly organised by the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), which became an associate member of ...
*
American Premier League
The American Premiere League (APL) is a Twenty20 cricket league based in the United States. The first league was scheduled to take place between October 6 and October 24, 2009, which was later postponed. The management revamped the brand in 2020 ...
References
External links
Official WebsiteOfficial Facebook page
{{Sports governing bodies of the United States
Cricket administration
Cricket administration in the United States
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Sports organizations established in 1965
Cricket in Florida