Patience is running out in the international community with the continuing failure of the USA Cricket Association to fulfill obligations which followed the implementation of a new constitution and fresh elections in March.

In those elections, Gladstone Dainty, who many hold responsible for the tattered reputation of the USACA and its suspension from the ICC in 2006, was surprisingly re-elected as president, although almost all of those most closely linked with him were booted out of office. Hopes the new members of the executive would be able to bring order to the USACA have already disappeared.

Despite a brief charm offensive in the weeks ahead of the March elections, the hallmarks of the old regime - a lack of accountability, a virtual media blackout, poorly-organised events - have resurfaced since. The new executive has not met and attempts to convene meetings have proved fruitless. The next one is scheduled for November but few believe it will actually happen.

Three-and-a-half years ago Malcolm Speed, at the time the CEO of the ICC, said "the governance of USACA appears to have reached a level that is dysfunctional". There is a suspicion that things are rapidly approaching that state again.

However, while for now the ICC has remained silent on the matter, its policy being that a democratically-elected board has to get its own house in order, the USACA has failed to fulfil a major commitment, namely to appoint a full-time chief executive by October 1. At that date, the terms of employment had not even been agreed as that can only be done at an executive meeting. Rumours abound that one of those voted out in March could be parachuted in to strengthen Dainty's position.

While it might suit Dainty to let things rumble on, it is unlikely the ICC will be so relaxed. The lack of appointing the CEO could mean at the least all funding to the USACA will be cut off - that is in the ICC's own rules for Associates - and with the increases due next year and additional high-performance grants, that will runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, given Dainty and the USACA's poor track record, it is possible that another suspension could be on the cards.

Yet again, Dainty's lack of action and poor control is risking vital funding and the USA's international credibility and exposure. Those who voted for him last March should be asking themselves why they did so when it was pretty obvious this old leopard was not about to change his spots. Not only that, those members of regions that voted for Dainty should be asking their representatives to explain why they acted as they did.

If people are waiting for the ICC to step in, by the time it does it will be too late. It is, again, down to stakeholders to act. To be precise, the non-Dainty-aligned executive has to insist on a meeting regardless of whether Dainty attends and to start grabbing the USACA by the scruff of the neck. They outnumber Dainty and now they need to turn their guns on him.

A cricket course was recently held in Assumption High School, Lesotho, conducted by Graham McMillan and was attended by nine people. At the end of each module, participants were expected to conduct roles explained during the course and the systems introduced to them with regards to admin systems; basic strategic planning process; effective club admin system; understanding of basic accounting procedures; budget and a cash-flow projection; basic principles of marketing and communication; basic fundraising strategy as well as a basic understanding of dealing with sponsors.

In addition, an academy for juniors was held between September 16 and 18 in which Under-13 and Under-17s participated. The group were reported to be “very enthusiastic”, but a number of problems were discovered.

Their basic fielding was poor, due to no opportunity to practice on smooth outfields. And only about seven boys were identified to possess the necessary skills in which to progress. “I feel that no confidence has been created in an initial softball cricket programme,” McMillan said. “If they are introduced to softball cricket, and at the appropriate age group (i.e. six to ten years), then the boys will be taught the basic batting skills and these would be reinforced in the three years after in a continues yet safe softball programme.”

“Thabiso Mohapi was head and shoulders the best cricketer. Watching the game on Saturday morning, the keeper could not stop his balls and batsmen opted to get out of the way of the lightening bolts and run byes!”

Comments (0) | Lesotho

Rare turf wicket spotted in Papua New Guinea

Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in Papua New Guinea

Turf wickets are rarer then hen's teeth beyond the Test world, but Papua New Guinea are the proud owners of a brand-new grass wicket in Kimbe.

Comments (1) | Papua New Guinea

Vanuatu receive funding boost

Posted 1 week, 1 day ago in Vanuatu

The Vanuatu captain Mr. Andrew Mansale recently received VT123,000 (US$1,094) from the National Bank Vanuatu, along with an array of NBV polo shirts and caps from NBV's Managing Director Andy Cottam. The contribution was generously donated to assist with the running of the Vanuatu Cricket Association children's beach cricket carnival.

Comments (1) | Vanuatu

November 7, 2008

Maben to coach China

Posted 1 week, 4 days ago in China

Mamatha Maben, the former India women's captain, will coach the Chinese women's side in the lead-up for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, which includes cricket among the 41 sports to be played. "I have just got the contract and I will leave in probably ten days' time," Maben, a qualified Level 1 coach, told the Hindu. "I will be handling their senior women's team as well as the age-groups. It is also time to move on as I have been playing cricket for about 20 years."

Maben's first assignment will be the Asian Cricket Council's Under-19 Women's Championship in Thailand in December. "Each and every person, no matter what her role, is very important to the team. As a captain, I tried to motivate my team. I think that's my strength. I talk to the girls about the effects of positive thinking. I believe it makes a difference." Maben has also worked as a journalist in the past.

Comments (0) | China

November 4, 2008

Namibia: we need more money

Posted 2 weeks ago in Namibia

The chief executive of Namibia Cricket, Laurie Pieters, has blamed Namibia's inferior professional setup for their defeat against Ireland in the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup on Sunday.

"We are obviously disappointed that we did not win the cup because that was our intention," Pieters told Namibia Sport, "but the fact that Namibia is not in the ICC's High Performance programme had a lot to do with it."

The top six Associate member countries each received US$350,000 over the past year under the ICC's High Performance programme. A small sum in the grand scheme of things but, for Associate cricket, this amounts to relative riches. Namibia, on the other hand - who are ranked in the top ten of Associates - only received US$50,000 from the ICC over the past year.

Click here to read the full story

Comments (4) | Namibia

October 30, 2008

Aberdeenshire named club of the year

Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago in Scotland

Aberdeenshire lifted the Magners Club-of-the-Year award last night at the Scotland National Cricket League ceremony. Huntly CC and Kinross CC share the honours for the CMYK Junior Club of the Year.

Steven Knox, Sean Weeraratna and Cedric English took the individual honours for the Scotland Premier Division.

Jan Stander celebrated his recent call-up to the Scotland squad by winning two awards in the Second Division whilst also accepting the championship flag on behalf of Stoneywood Dyce.

“It has been a very competitive year in the SNCL with all three divisional champions not sorted out until the final couple of weeks of the year. There have been some excellent team and individual performances which gained due reward tonight,” said Roddy Smith, the chief executive of Cricket Scotland.

“Grange, Aberdeenshire and Stoneywood Dyce are very worthy winners of the three league titles whilst Aberdeenshire were a clear winner of the Magners Club of the Year for their efforts on the field, with junior cricket and their hosting of one day internationals for the first time.”

Comments (0) | Scotland

October 29, 2008

Cricket Fiji general manager eyes grassroots

Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago in Fiji

Martin Shaw, Cricket Fiji's general manager, is aiming to lift the image of the sport in the country. Fiji finished last in the ICC World Cricket League Division 4, which was won by Afghanistan. Their players have often faced charges of indiscipline; the ICC is currently conducting an investigation into an incident where a player was found in a pool of blood during the recent tournament.

With the ICC having increased the funding for Fiji, Shaw is targeting the grassroots. "There is a lot of work to be done over the next few years to lift cricket in Fiji and to where we would like it to be," Shaw told the Fiji Times. "We need to be more active in the schools with our development officers to ensure that junior players have an opportunity to learn to play cricket.

"We also need to educate teachers who then should be able to run cricket programs in their schools. We need to increase the pool of qualified coaches and umpires so that our club competitions are strengthened.

"With regard to elite cricket, we have to put in place a proper development program that identifies players from a young age and assists them in developing their skills from a junior level right through to senior international cricket.

"We are fortunate that starting from 2009 we will receive increased funding from the ICC," he said. "However, we will still need to raise our own income through sponsorship in order to achieve what we would like to achieve."

Comments (3) | Fiji

October 27, 2008

Hinnavaru Hiriya begin Cyprea Cup defence with win

Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago in Maldives

Tony Munro

	Nexus batsman Ahmed Hassan Sobir drives © Cricinfo Ltd.

Defending champions Hinnavaru Hiriya have started their title defence in convincing fashion by winning their first match in the 45th annual Cyprea Cup Maldive Islands national tournament by an innings and 44 runs last week.

The win was set up by a first-innings century from Mahmood Riyaz, which allowed Hinnavaru to declare at 228 for 6 before Nexus themselves declared at 81 for 9 to avoid giving Hinnavaru a bonus point.

Nexus were then asked to follow on but were all out for 103. Mahafooz Mohamed, who was the destroyer in the first innings with 4 for 30, followed it up with 3 for 33.

The Cyprea Cup is the main tournament on the Maldive Islands' cricket calendar and features the country's best players as well as professionals from Sri Lanka who are flown in for the event.

Players whose teams didn't qualify for the tournament can play for one of the four teams. Four teams, the winner and runners-up from the previous year's Cyprea Cup and the top two teams from the limited-overs tournament play two-day qualifying matches before a three-day final.

Most cricket activity in the Maldives centres on the capital, Male, although it is also played in the southern most island, Addu Atoll. Offu beat MS Helping Hand in the first game of the tournament on October 17-18. There are six qualifying matches in total before the three-day long final is played from December 4-6.

Comments (0) | Maldives

October 26, 2008

Twins in new-look Cayman Islands squad

Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago in Cayman Islands

Tony Munro

Pearson Best, the 44-year-old batsman, will lead a new-look Cayman Islands team in the ICC Americas Division One tournament to be played in Florida from November 24 to December 1.

Best replaces Ryan Bovell, who has led the Caymans since 2004, in what their coach, Theo Cuffy, said was a “change of direction”. "He [Best] is a transitional leader who will bring to the front our next couple of guys to take over in the not-too distant future."

The Barbados-born Best has been the Cayman Islands' best batsman since they began playing in ICC competitions from 2000. He has hit one century, 116 not out against Argentina in 2006, and three half-centuries.

Meanwhile, player availability issues mean eight new faces will be blooded in Florida. In the squad are a pair of twins, who could become a commentator's nightmare. Both are allrounders, although Kevin Bazil bowls medium-pacers and Kevon Bazil offspinners. It's not known if they are identical.

Cayman Islands: Pearson Best (capt), Kevin Bazil, Kevon Bazil, Ryan Bovell, Marlon Bryan, Kervin Ebanks. Steve Gordon (vice-capt), Ainsley Hall, Alessandro Morris, Ricardo Roach, Ramon Sealy, Troy Taylor, Michael Wight, Omar Willis. Coach - Theo Cuffy.

Comments (0) | Cayman Islands

October 24, 2008

Canada and USA invited into WI competition

Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago in Canada

Canada and USA have been invited to take part in the as yet unsponsored West Indies domestic one-day tournament which starts on November 13 in Guyana.

Comments (6) | Canada

ICC Americas tournament in Florida

Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago in USA

The ICC Americas Division One tournament will be staged in Florida from November 24 to December 1, with the new Broward County stadium hosting some of the matches.

Argentina, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Suriname and USA will take part.

In the last competition in 2006 in Canada, Bermuda beat USA in the final.

Comments (1) | USA

USACA leaves competition in limbo

Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago in USA

While many hoped the USA Cricket Association elections last March would herald a new era of openness and progress, the reality is that it seems to have slumped back into its bad old ways with little communication between it and its stakeholders.

The most recent high-profile event, the USA Senior National Tournament, should have started on October 10 but nothing seems to have happened and nobody knows when and if it will happen.

USACA’s unexplained failure to appoint a new chief executive is also threatening to affect the amount of funding it receives from the ICC.

Comments (14) | USA

Argentina set to conquer Americas

Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago in Argentina

Tony Munro

Argentina player-coach Hamish Barton expects an improved showing at next month's Americas Championship in Florida thanks to the experience gained from the World Cricket League.

"We have played a lot more international cricket through the WCL and the players have
gained invaluable experience so we are looking to be a lot more competitive this time around," Barton said.

And last year's WCL Division 3 tournament in Darwin would have been hugely beneficial to Argentine confidence not just because they were finalists, losing to Uganda. They beat the Cayman Islands in the semi-finals, their first ever win over their regional foes, who they face at the Americas Championship on November 27. The tournament runs from November 25 to November 30.

Argentina will field two debutants in Florida - Barton, who is from New Zealand, and David Mauro, an allrounder. Mauro spent last season as coach of the Chilean national team and although originally from Argentina, played in New Zealand in 2006-07.

Argentina: Esteban MacDermott (capt) (Lomas Athletic), Alejandro Ferguson (vice-captain) (Belgrano Athletic), Hamish Barton (player/coach) (Hurlingham), Agustin Casime (St Albans), Pablo Ferguson (Belgrano Athletic), Donny Forrester (Belgrano Athletic), Tommy Francis (St Albans), Diego Lord (Lomas Athletic), David Mauro (Lomas Athletic), Esteban Nino (Belgrano Athletic), Lucas Paterlini (St Albans), Pablo Ryan (Lomas Athletic), Gary Savage (Hurlingham), Martin Siri (Lomas Athletic); Team Manager - Derek Culley, Fitness trainer/Physio - Martin Sacchetti.

Comments (0) | Argentina

Florida tournament attracts overseas interest

Posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago in USA

Cricket Council USA has announced that 31 teams have registered to take part in its $100,000 US T20 Cricket tournament which takes place next April in Florida.

The teams that have registered come from as far away as Canada, West Indies, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Australia, as well as from within the USA.

Comments (0) | USA

October 21, 2008

Ireland need consistency - ICC

Posted 4 weeks ago in Ireland

Ireland's impressive form as an Associate has lifted their hopes of one day qualifying as a Full Member nation. However, the ICC's high performance manager, Richard Done, has issued a warning against complacency while calling for greater consistency if Ireland - and, indeed, other Associate nations - are to challenge the world's elite.

Click here to read the full article, and leave your comments in the form below.

Comments (1) | Ireland

October 20, 2008

Botswana's ever-expanding interest

Posted 4 weeks, 1 day ago in Botswana

Cricket in Botswana continues to grow at an impressive rate, and the sport will be introduced to the people of Maun - the country's fifth largest town, with 30,000 people - next week.

The drastic improvement and progression of the Botswana Cricket Association (BCA)’s developmental programme has now captured the interest of important sports and societal figures, such as the vice chairperson of the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC), Dr Nomsa Mbere, who braced the event to support the BCA’s efforts and award the winners their prizes.

“I am quite impressed by the efforts of these personnel from the BCA, for its evident that they are determined to bring Botswana together through cricket. I am sure they have even used their personal finances for the teams to have gotten this far. The teachers should also be up for mention because of their spirit of volunteerism,” said Mbere.

Girish Ramakrishna, treasure for the BCA told the Sunday Standard that they will be introducing cricket to Maun residents as of next week.

“Interest level in cricket in Botswana has grown tremendously and so has the performance of the young cricketers as we have witnessed today,” said Ramakrishna.

Comments (7) | Botswana

Namibia crash to seven-wicket loss

Posted 4 weeks, 1 day ago in Namibia

By Tony Munro

Western Province 146 for 3 (Ramoo 46*, Klazinga 2-28)
beat Namibia145 (S Burger 63, Schalkwyk 5-30) by seven wickets

Scorecard

Namibia lost their opening game of the South African Amateur Provincial One-Day Challenge match against Western Province by seven wickets in Windhoek, a day after beating the same opposition by 301 runs in their four-day match.

Namibia were brought crashing down to earth as Western Province eased home to their target of 146 with 13 overs to spare. The home team's innings never really got going once Gurshwin Rabie removed the openers with only eight on the board; Jan-Berrie Burger was dismissed for a duck off the third ball and Louis van der Westhuizen was caught behind for 1.

While Sarel Burger held firm, scoring 63 from 73 balls, including nine fours, all around him floundered. Gerrie Snyman and Tobias Verwey were the innings’ joint second-highest scorers with 18.

Verwey gave the innings a late flourish with four fours in his 15 ball-innings to remain unbeaten when Namibia were bowled with 16 overs unused. Shadley van Schalkwyk did the damage for Western Province taking 5 for 30 from eight overs.

Despite a brief hiccup when Louis Klazinga nabbed two wickets in four overs, Western Province got home comfortably, with South Africa Under-19 batsman Romano Ramoo smashing 46 from 51 balls.

Comments (0) | Namibia