USACA vouch to continue fighting after being expelled by the ICC

The USA Cricket Association (USACA) is definitely not pleased with the way ICC expelled them as the Associate member governing in America. In the recent ICC meeting, the supreme board of cricket decided to expel USACA for not meeting the requirements and guidelines set forth by the ICC. The President of the USACA Gladstone Dainty urged the members of the cricket board to continue their fight for the right against the mighty global body.

As per the quotes in ESPNcricinfo, he noted that they are disappointed with the vote out at the ICC meeting but is not surprised with the call. He revealed that the ICC wants the cricket bodies of the countries to follow the way they guide them to. They only want to replace USACA with another cricket body in USA that will dance to the tunes of the ICC. Dainty conceded that USACA tried to meet some of the needs and demands of the ICC but the global body failed to acknowledge them and ended up expelling them.

“USACA is disappointed by the vote of the ICC membership to expel USACA but not surprised. The ICC has spent years trying to find a basis to expel USACA and replace it with an organisation the ICC controls,” Dainty quoted.

“The ICC tolerates no dissent. They made it clear that if USACA did not do as the ICC wanted and adopt a new constitution exactly as written by the ICC, USACA would be expelled. This week the ICC made good on that threat, with the backing of an arbitration process governed by rules the ICC wrote and an arbitrator it picked and paid for,” he added further.

The largest untapped market

He went on to allege that the ICC is only keen on exploiting the market in the ICC. This is their main agenda in trying to take complete control of the proceedings in cricket in the US. He remarked that in the recent times, the ICC has been showering huge sums of money on America. They realise that the biggest untapped market for cricket in the world is in the United States.

“The US cricket community is diverse and noisy – two things the ICC does not understand and cannot tolerate. The ICC is spending $2.4 million this year to set up a new national governing body – that is 8 times the annual budget the ICC previously allotted for USACA. What are the ICC’s motives all of a sudden to throw so much money at the US? The only purpose of this money is to buy loyalty, to stifle dissent and to ensure that the ICC staff – few of whom look like, or even come from, the US cricket community – remain firmly in charge of US cricket,” conceded the USACA president.

“The USA is the largest untapped market for cricket in the world. The ICC wants to make sure that the ICC and its powerful Full Member nations control and profit from that community – at the expense of those of us who are actually here,” he added.

Continue to fight

Earlier, the USACA has threatened to drag the matters to the court against the ICC. Dainty did not directly speak about the same recently. However, he has vouched to continue the fight of the USACA for the sake of the Association and for the sake of USA cricket.

“USACA will continue to fight for the US cricket community and its diversity. We urge all members of the US cricket community to do the same – to insist that those who lead US cricket going forward reflect our diverse community and are committed to US cricket – and not the ICC and its allies,” he concluded.