USACA Elections Must Be Priority Over Constitution

By Orin Davidson
Just when it was felt that United States cricket was on the rise, the disastrous news of the country facing another ban from the International Cricket Council is both shocking and revolting.

Surprising it is because no thought the world ruling body would take such strong offence to the non staging of executive elections presently here in America.

The whole sordid situation is also revolting as it comes less than three months after our national team resumed international competition after a similar ban imposed for more than one year in the dreaded 2005/06 period.

At the current stage of things one would’ve thought the ICC had ended its vested interest in United States affairs after it seemed to wash its hands of this country after canceling the much heralded Project USA assistance program two years ago.

Based on recent developments it was felt the world ruling body did not care much any more because the meager funding disbursement continued while we heard of plans to develop other countries cricket.

With stories filtering though of the ICC’s intention to fund programs in distant China, the U.S. was made to feel like the black sheep of the family of cricket nations.

The reality is though is that the ICC is not about to tolerate anymore tardy behavior by the officials here, after shooting off the e-mail on Thursday, demanding that the long due elections are held by December 31 or else face another banning and God knows what other penalties are in store.

Nevertheless, whatever sympathy one might have for the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), one cannot help but conclude it has no one to blame but itself for the latest predicament.

The cause for the sad state of affairs is its implementation of the new constitution.
USACA which was mandated to stage the executive elections by the ICC before the end of 2006, but sought an extension to approve the constitution which was bluntly rejected, hence the warning.

The reality is that USACA officials dithered around with the drafting of the constitution for several months before it was released more than eight weeks after the projected deadline.

Whether this was the authors’ fault or USACA’s, it is not known, but it was the national body’s responsibility to get it sorted out on time, knowing that elections were due this year.

As a result USACA has no choice now but to cancel all constitution plans until the elections are held and avoid the ICC axing us once again from much needed international team competition.

It is not rocket science to conclude that the survival of our cricket depends on the support of the fraternity especially the world ruling body.

At this stage the interest of the nation’s game must be USACA’s priority and not the egos of individuals.

It is understood that USACA is pondering its next move, but that should not require a long argumentative caucus.

The decision is easy.

Forget the constitution now and start immediate plans for that vital election.
Orin Davidson Column Homepage