In a major blow to USA’s viability
as a suitable host for top flight cricket, the ICC confirmed on Thursday that
the country is no longer being considered to host this year’s ICC World Cricket
League Division Four tournament. The event is scheduled to include Denmark, Nepal,
Tanzania, USA and the top two sides from 2012 ICC WCL
Division Five, which begins Saturday in Singapore. The sides gunning for
promotion from that event are Argentina,
Bahrain, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Malaysia
and the host nation.
According to an email from
an ICC spokesperson, “The United States was one of the venues being evaluated
for hosting the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 but, as with any ICC
event, it was dependent on the potential hosting nations being able to meet a
series of ICC criteria. Following discussions with USACA it was decided that
the United States
currently cannot meet those criteria and therefore will not be considered as a
host for the event.”
When asked what criteria
USACA failed to meet, the ICC spokesperson responded that a host country “is
required to give a number of cricketing, operational and administrative
assurances” but the spokesperson would not comment on which aspects USACA could
not follow through. It is believed that USACA’s current administrative and
governance issues, specifically the failure to hold constitutionally mandated
elections in 2011, may have played a role in the ICC looking elsewhere for a
host site for Division Four. According to the 2012 USACA calendar of events
released on December 9, USA
and Nepal
were being considered by the ICC to host the event.
During a meeting with ICC
President Sharad Pawar in New York last
summer, former USACA Secretary John Aaron had campaigned for USA to host
2012 ICC WCL Division Four. This past autumn, USACA General Manager Manaf
Mohamed sounded confident that USA would be selected to host the event and he
expected the ICC to make a decision by November to confirm USA as the host, but
no confirmation was ever made public by either USACA or the ICC.
The fact that USA has been
passed over to host the tournament, after seemingly being in the driver’s seat
for the opportunity, speaks volumes of how poor USACA’s current relationship is
with the ICC. The relationship certainly did not improve this past autumn when
USACA failed to meet several administrative deadlines laid out by the ICC in
conjunction with the 2011 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh. It
resulted in a sternly worded letter from ICC Americas Regional Development
Manager Martin Vieira to admonish USACA for failing to properly communicate
with the ICC and for its handling of a standoff between the USACA board and
women’s players over proposed tour stipends.
One of the major components
to hosting a higher level WCL event is having at least three turf facilities
within close proximity to each other. There are three turf facilities in the Fort Lauderdale area – Central
Broward Regional
Park, Brian
Piccolo Park
and Boca Raton CC – as well as three separate turf pitches at Woodley Park
in Los Angeles so the USA would not have failed from that
standpoint. There is also adequate infrastructure off the field in order to
host teams, such as hotels within close proximity to the grounds, as well as
suitable internet network capabilities at the grounds to meet media
requirements. As recently as July, USA
hosted the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in Florida
while USA
also hosted the ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament last February.
If Nepal now has the inside track to host the
event, it will be much more difficult for USA to gain promotion back to
Division Three. In the current WCL cycle which began in 2009, eight out of 10
host countries have finished first or second in tournament play. The only two
who didn’t were the Netherlands
at Division One in 2010, a tournament in which there was no promotion or
relegation at stake, and Botswana
at Division Seven in 2011.
While USA gained promotion from the Division Five
tournament staged in Nepal
in 2010, finishing in the top two again in Kathmandu
won’t be easy. In addition to a young and energetic Nepal
side, USA will also have to
contend with a Denmark team
that took two out of two matches against USA
at Division Three in Hong Kong last year.
Depending on the results of Division Five next week, there is a strong chance USA may have to go up against a very solid Singapore team
as well. Singapore beat USA convincingly by 99 runs in Nepal two years ago and would have advanced to
Division Four in Italy with USA were it not for the unfortunate crowd
trouble on the final day of group play in Kathmandu.
Nepal’s crowds, while enthusiastic, have a track record of
volatile behavior. Crowd violence marred USA’s
win against the hosts in Kathmandu at Division Five in February of 2010
and there was a report of more crowd trouble at the same venue for
last December’s ACC Twenty20 Cup match between the UAE and Nepal. Despite
this, they may get a chance to host a World Cricket League tournament for the
second time in just over two years. Tanzania hosted WCL Division Four in 2008
while other potential participants for the next Division Four – Guernsey,
Argentina, Singapore, Malaysia – have also hosted WCL tournaments in the past.
Meanwhile, the USA
has yet to host one.
Former USACA CEO Don
Lockerbie stated during an interview while traveling with the USA
team in Nepal in February of 2010 that he hoped USA would get a chance to host
a major ICC event in the near future, such as the Champions Trophy in 2013 –
which was eventually awarded to England and Wales – in order to build a bigger
profile for the USA on the global cricket stage. However, if USA is being
passed over to host a World Cricket League tournament, thoughts of hosting a
Champions Trophy or World Cup are a pipe dream and it must also cast doubt on
plans between New Zealand Cricket and USACA to start up an IPL-style Twenty20
league this summer.
