USACA Reign of Error

(Just The Past Three Years of)
USACAs Reign of Error

As seen through the pages of:

(Including many interesting quotes from American cricket leaders!)

Preface:

National elections delayed. A national championship played on a field littered with broken
glass and drug paraphernalia. Regional election results blocked. A national championship
cancelled. A board member suspended for being critical of the organisation. The board's
website mysteriously going offline for a month. Players dropped for a World Cup Qualifier
after fighting with the board about stipends

National elections rescheduled. An off-duty cop used as a security guard to keep
suspended board members out of a board meeting. A captain arrested for alleged mortgage
fraud. The further delaying of national elections. Threats of a lawsuit from a presidential
candidate. National elections rescheduled again. The postponement of a national
championship

The events of the last year would seem bizarre, perhaps surreal, under most
circumstances, for the majority of governing bodies in world cricket. For the USA Cricket
Association, it's par for the course.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/552110.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

July, 2011:

Former team manager Imran Khan has criticised the USA Cricket Association (USACA)
administration, calling its president Gladstone Dainty and the board of directors
incompetent and blaming them for the national team's failure to advance from ICC WCL
Division Three to the top echelon of Associate cricket.

"The people in charge have completely failed," Khan, who was USA's manager from 2008
until the tour to Hong Kong in January, told ESPNcricinfo. "Don't blame the team. They're at
the low level. It starts right at the top. These guys have proven their incompetence."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/523428.html, retrieved 7/16/2014
August, 2011:

In a manoeuvre that has stirred up tension among cricket administrators across America,
USA Cricket Association board member Shelton Glasgow has declared null and void all
regional elections that have taken place in advance of October's USACA general election.

"Officially, I was only informed that [Glasgow] was the compliance officer from a letter that
the president wrote in support of Mr. Glasgow's actions," (USACA Executive Secretary John
Aaron) told ESPNcricinfo. "The board never met and appointed him, nor did the president
advise the board in writing or any other manner as far as I know that Mr. Glasgow is the
compliance officer.

September, 2011:

The rumbling discontent within US cricket about the way the USA Cricket Association is
being run continues to grow with reports that a number of its board members are at odds
with Gladstone Dainty, USACA's president, over the way he is operating.

Dainty has been a controversial figure for a number of years, and it was on his watch that
the USA was twice suspended from international cricket because of what the then ICC chief
executive Malcolm Speed labeled its "dysfunctional" operation.

Through active and crafty politicking Dainty has managed to remain in office when his
track record would have appeared to have fatally damaged his standing. He has often relied
on a small group of associates on the USACA board to support him, but now he is again
under attack.


September, 2011:

John Aaron has been suspended as the secretary of the USA Cricket Association by
Gladstone Dainty, the board's controversial president, for what Dainty claimed were
"comments damaging to the good standing and well-being of USACA".

In a move which brings into the open the battle between Dainty and those seeking to make
him accountable, he claimed he had consulted "many of the USACA board members", he
told Aaron he was suspending him "immediately and indefinitely".

October, 2011:

"I am not one to get involved in USACA politics but folks how do you sit by as the game that
you love is being destroyed on a national level and by extension a regional level?," (New
York Cricket Region Lester Hooper) wrote in a letter to league presidents around America.
"President Dainty's unilateral decisions will eventually cost us a price that we cannot
afford." Hooper also wrote a separate letter directly to Dainty to protest the suspension of
USACA secretary John Aaron.

October, 2011:

Pressure is mounting on the USA Cricket Association to get its internal affairs in order
following a strongly worded mail from ICC Americas regional development manager Martin
Vieira over its recent handling of the USA women's team. It has also been rapped for its
failure to meet an ICC administrative deadline in the build-up to next month's ICC Women's
World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh.

"If USACA is not concerned let me be frank and say the email below from David Thorley is
an absolute disgrace to the Americas region," Vieira wrote in an email dated October 12. He
further admonished USACA over their failure to hold a proper line of communication with
officials at ICC headquarters in Dubai about the status of the women's team. "The region's
image is being tarnished by the poor communication coming from your national
association."

February 2012:

Among those leagues that have been disqualified are some of the oldest and largest
leagues in America. They include the New York Metropolitan and District Cricket
Association, Eastern American Cricket Association (NY), Commonwealth Cricket League
(NY), Cricket League of New Jersey, Northern California Cricket Association, Southern
California Cricket Association and Midwest Cricket Conference. Two regions, the South
West and North East, had all of their leagues ruled ineligible.

"This is a big farce," USACA board member Krish Prasad told ESPNcricinfo on Monday
night. "I hope that something happens or someone looks into this to clear it up. This is the
total destruction for United States cricket and an embarrassment.

"[USACA president Gladstone Dainty] didn't want Eastern American on that list because
Eastern American has been challenging him for [what] he's been doing and he knows that's
not a vote for him," Prasad said. "So if it's not a vote for him, then why put them on the list?
He puts just about every league that would support him and vote for him. That's how these
lists came about."

April 2012:

Ram Varadarajan, presidential candidate for USA Cricket Association, is taking what he
calls a "historic fight" to court on Thursday in a bid to overturn February's decision by the
USACA board of directors to ban 32 of its 47 member leagues from voting in their general
elections. Varadarajan, along with the California Cricket Academy (CCA), filed a lawsuit last
month in a bid to reinstate the voting rights of those leagues which were barred from
voting.

April, 2012:

The ICC has suspended its Associate funding grants to the USA Cricket Association due to
poor governance, sources have confirmed to ESPNcricinfo. USACA last received ICC
funding, which is distributed on a quarterly basis, in the fourth quarter of 2011 but did not
receive any money for the first quarter of 2012.

"It is correct that USACA have not received any 2012 grants as they don't meet the
Membership criteria," an ICC spokesperson said via email. "Meeting all Membership criteria
is a funding policy requirement to receive grants. The reason they don't meet the criteria is
that there has been no AGM [Annual General Meeting]."

April 2012:

USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty and other incumbent members of the
board are favoured to win re-election today in the USACA general elections. A lawsuit
seeking a preliminary injunction for the elections to be delayed was dismissed in the
District Court in California on Friday.

It means that 32 out of 47 USACA member leagues who had their voting privileges
stripped by the USACA board in February will remain unable to take part in the election.
The majority of the 15 eligible leagues are supporters of Dainty. Consequently, they are
also highly likely to favor treasurer John Thickett and vice presidents Michael Gale and
Rafey Syed who have all reportedly sided with Dainty in recent board decisions.

April 2012:

The news that Gladstone Dainty has won a landslide in the USA Cricket Association
elections is about as surprising as Robert Mugabe emerging victorious in this year's
presidential elections in Zimbabwe. Even Mugabe would give a respectful nod at the way
Dainty managed to ensure many of those opposing him were either denied a vote or
effectively totally maginalised. Only 15 of the 47 leagues were deemed eligible to take part
in the elections. Many of those shut out had recently vociferously opposed the way USACA
was operating.

Dainty has overseen a period of unrivalled and bitter infighting within USACA. He refuses
to engage with the media or with groups within the US who do not support him and has at
times appeared to run USACA as something akin to a personal fiefdom. Board meetings
have become increasingly rare and many key decisions have been taken by him acting
alone.

The shambles he has overseen is well documented. Two unprecedented suspensions of
USACA by the ICC are history. A high-profile chief executive - Don Lockerbie - was hired
amid fanfare and then fired less than two years down the line by Dainty. The reasons for his
dismissal are, like so many operational issues within USACA, still shrouded in mystery.

All the incumbents were returned to the board in the elections despite having overseen
several years of shabby inefficiency.

Whatever the ICC, USACA and Cricket Holdings claim in the coming days, this is not a
victory for democracy. It is another sorry episode in the wretched mess that is US cricket.

October, 2012:

Internal disputes have cropped up between the members of USA Cricket Association
regarding the management of the association's website, usaca.org, as shown in emails
obtained via sources by ESPNcricinfo. An email from USACA first vice-president Rafey Syed,
the man who runs usaca.org, was sent on September 17 to three members of USA's
management team at ICC WCL Division Four in Malaysia to admonish them for not sending
any information/content for him to post on the website. Syed left USACA executive
secretary Kenwyn Williams and interim chief executive Nabeel Ahmed off the email but
cc'd the rest of the USACA board.

October, 2012:

USA Cricket Association (USACA) treasurer John Thickett has asked president Gladstone
Dainty and the board to consider suspending executive secretary Kenwyn Williams and
investigate his role in a protracted and angry exchange with journalists and stakeholders
on the official USACA Facebook page. Dainty, according to emails obtained by ESPNcricinfo,
has asked other board members to give their input on the issue before making a decision,
and at least one other senior official - vice-president Michael Gale - has criticised Williams'
actions.

November 2012:

Former USA Cricket Association executive secretary Kenwyn Williams has launched legal
action for damages against the board, seeking in excess of $1.5 million for what he claims is
action which exposed him to "public contempt, ridicule, aversion and disgrace".

December, 2012:

The other country in a mess is the USA, but that is almost entirely down to poor
governance and endless bickering. The announcement of a professional T20 competition
starting in 2013 briefly ruffled feathers, especially in England, during whose season it
would take place, but it soon became clear that the USA Cricket Association, which stands
to benefit financially from the venture, was too intent on infighting and disqualifying most
of its own stakeholders from participating in highly criticised internal elections to be able
to push the concept. By the end of the year the USACA was not only an international
laughing stock, largely thanks to the actions of its own executive secretary, but were
turning off investors in droves.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/review2012/content/story/598758.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

December, 2012:

Darren Beazley, former general manager of business development with the Western
Australia Cricket Association, has been confirmed as the new chief executive of the USA
Cricket Association. He will take up the post in February and will be based in Florida.

Tim Anderson, the ICC's global development manager, and a member of the sub-
committee tasked with finding a suitable candidate, expressed hopes that Beazley would be
able to bring a greater sense of professionalism to cricket in the United States and satisfy
ICC ambitions for growth in the region.

August, 2013:

The USA Cricket Association announced on Tuesday the appointment of former England
Under-19 and Canada coach Andy Pick as USACA High Performance Manager in a move
aimed at helping the USA form a more professional administrative cricket structure. Pick
has been serving as the ICC Americas High Performance Manager since 2009 and will still
be partially employed in that role as he splits his workload between the ICC Americas office
in Toronto and USACA's headquarters in Florida.

February, 2014:

(Nottingham bowling coach Andy Pick) resigned as high performance manager for the USA
Cricket Association in October after only two months in the job, complaining of power
struggles and a lack of professionalism and saying he was not prepared to put his personal
and professional reputation at risk by staying in the job.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2014/content/story/716299.html, retrieved 7/16/2014
October, 2013:

Andy Pick - "In my brief time there, it became obvious that certain people are not ready for
change and structure and are determined to maintain control even if it holds back cricket in
the USA and I was not prepared to sacrifice my personal and professional reputation
working for these people.

There are still people holding things back and affecting the way that things need to be
doneThere has to be some sort of structure and there isn't."

February, 2014:

New light has been shed on the USA Cricket Association's financial status with the
revelation that the organisation was more than $3 million in debt at the end of the 2012
financial year, a 59% rise in debt compared to 2011. One of the major contributing factors
to the mounting debt was a series of legal battles that resulted in more than half a million
dollars paid to the board's defence lawyers in 2012.

Spending on domestic competitions, used to prepare and evaluate players for the national
team, also dipped sharply. USACA spent $112,505 on domestic tournaments in 2010, the
last year that full-fledged national U-15, U-19, men's and women's championships were
held. That figure dropped to $76,000 in 2011 and was down to $46,487 in 2012 when
USACA's only domestic championship was a single 50-over match between Eastern and
Western Conference teams in Florida that November.

May, 2014:

The official governing body of cricket in the USA could be facing suspension from the ICC
after seeing its tenuous grip on control of the sport in the nation slip further.

Under ICC rules, Associate membership is dependent upon a board proving that "they are
the sole recognised governing body for cricket in the country." But dissatisfaction with
USACA, the official board, has seen around a third of the country's senior hard-ball leagues
sign up to the rival organisation, the American Cricket Federation (ACF) instead.
Switzerland was suspended from the ICC in 2012 in similar circumstances.

To further weaken USACA's position, their chief executive, Darren Beazley has recently
quit with frustration at the board's failure to accept governance reform being a
contributing factor. The organisation is believed to be around $3m in debt and if the ICC
withdraw their funding - currently believed to be around $400,000 a year - it is hard to see
how USACA could survive.

May, 2014:

The city of Indianapolis, Indiana has terminated its agreement to host the relaunch of the
USA Cricket Association National Championships which were due to be held from August
21-24 in the brand new, $6 million World Sports Park facility.

Indianapolis Parks and Recreation director, John W Williams, sent a letter to USACA
notifying them of the termination on Friday 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.

In the letter, Williams cited a breakdown in communication with USACA following the
announcement of Beazley's resignation in March, a lack of information on qualifying events
to determine the players and teams who would actually be participating, and an inability
for USACA to work with the city to identify and secure sponsorships for the event as
reasons for terminating the agreement. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard's office stated in a
press release that city officials had gone "months without adequate communication that
was jeopardising the success of the tournament."

June, 2014:

One thing that stood out in the termination letter written by Indy Parks and Recreation
Director John W Williams to USACA on Friday was the city's frustration over USACA's lack
of communication. It is one of USACA's hallmarks in its decade of leadership under
Gladstone Dainty. The president and his cohorts are known for their opaqueness, routinely
ignoring requests for basic information.

So two years after USACA disbarred 32 member leagues ostensibly for not paying
membership fees, any league can now be a member without paying a dime to the parent
organisation. It's part of a desperate scramble to prevent members from jumping off its
rudderless ship and joining the American Cricket Federation (ACF).

June, 2014:

Where has USACA advanced the cause of cricket in the United States in the last 10 years? I
don't see the future with USACA at this point, not with their present leadership there,"
(Lauderhill, Florida Mayor Richard Kaplan) said. "I don't know why the ICC would want
USACA to continue being the sanctioning authority because it just can't do it. I don't
personally see another city in the United States wanting to work with USACA to promote
cricket. They did it to us and now they did it to Indianapolis.

July, 2014:

In another blow to USACA's organisational abilities, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has
cancelled the Under-17 cricket tournament that was scheduled for July 22-28 as part of the
AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa. The decision was made earlier this week after no
players or teams were registered by the June 23 deadline, 30 days ahead of the start of the
event.


July, 2014:

What is it like without friends? How does it feel when you have frittered away the
currencies of goodwill and credibility?

Fresh off a relationship that went sour with the city of Indianapolis and now having to
contend with a city that does not want to do businesses with it, USA Cricket Association
(USACA) is in a good position to answer the questions.

Mayor Richard Kaplan isn't a fan of USACA, and he is happy to let the world know it.

"USACA has burned its bridges locally and do not have the financial resources to do what
they are meant to do promote cricket in the country. I hear that the International Cricket
Council (ICC) may suspend USACA; that is probably the best thing that can happen to
cricket in the country."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/lauderhill/fl-mcf-sillypoint-0709-20140712,0,7232986.story,
retrieved 7/16/2014

August, 2014:

Just three days out from the USA Cricket Association National Tournament, no
arrangements have been made for USACA's incumbent selection panel to come to the event
in order to evaluate talent for the country's next international assignment in October - the
ICC WCL Division Three in Uganda.

ESPNcricinfo also learned that many first-choice players from the eight regional teams
were forced to withdraw from selection after initially being picked for the national
tournament due to high costs associated with traveling on short notice to Florida and
needing to cover the costs personally. USACA delayed the announcement of finalised
tournament rosters for the eight-team event until late Friday night, just six days before the
first matches will be played at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill.


August, 2014:

A pair of consolation matches between the second and third place teams from each group
at the USACA T20 National Championship were cancelled after players from all four teams
decided they did not want to play the games.

The two consolation games would have featured South West against Atlantic and North
West against North East. However, all four teams decided to opt out of the matches and
instead sat to watch the tournament final or drove back to the team hotel.

August, 2014:

Gladstone Dainty, president of the USA Cricket Association, has said the reason USACA was
unable to hold a domestic national tournament for the last three years was because the
organisation has "been busy participating in ICC events".

Prior to this weekend's USACA T20 National Championship, there had not been a national
domestic championship at the men's level since June 2011 in New Jersey. USACA has also
not been able to organise a women's national event since July 2011 while junior
tournaments also experienced a three-year gap until an under-15 National Championship
was held in California in June. An under-17 national tournament which was due to be held
at the AAU Junior Olympics last month in Iowa was canceled by the Amateur Athletic Union
after no players or teams registered.


August, 2014:

A scheduled vote to ratify a revised constitution of the USA Cricket Association and other
governance recommendations has been postponed yet again. The cause of deferment was
the absence of a quorum of voting of member-league presidents at the USACA Special
General Meeting on August 16 in Florida.


August, 2014:

The USACA board is moving to eliminate the ICC's administrative requirement for a chief
executive from its constitution in what is being presented as a cost-cutting manoeuvre by
multiple sources.

October, 2014:

USA's previously scheduled five-day preparation tour to Jamaica ahead of ICC WCL
Division Three in Malaysia has been scrapped. USA's squad was supposed to leave for
Jamaica on October 15 for a five-day camp including two warm-up matches prior to going
to Malaysia, but according to USACA board member Krish Prasad, no tickets were ever
purchased and the tour was cancelled due to USACA's poor financial situation.


October, 2014:

Well before USA took the field in Malaysia for the start of ICC World Cricket League
Division Three, there were warning signs that the tournament could end up more as a
charade than a celebration for the side. USA's relegation might seem jarringly sudden for
some but it was more than a year in the making.

A proper selection camp in September, something USACA stated they intended to hold,
would have caught these issues before the team departed. Instead, USA's 14-member team
wound up with arguably 10 fit men on tour, a massive handicap in WCL's structure of back-
to-back matches. The 30-degree Celsius heat and 80% humidity in Kuala Lumpur only
exposed USA's below-average fitness levels.


November, 2014:

Former USA captain Orlando Baker has criticised the USA Cricket Association
administration, saying USACA president Gladstone Dainty and coach Robin Singh are
responsible for USA's recent relegation to Division Four of the World Cricket League.


November, 2014:

Two of former USA captain Orlando Baker's team-mates have publicly backed up his
criticism of the USA Cricket Association leadership headed by president Gladstone Dainty
and coach Robin Singh, and have asserted that they will join Baker by not playing for USA
until the situation changes. The two players, Timroy Allen and Akeem Dodson, say they are
fed up with USACA's lack of support for the team.


November, 2014:

Two of USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty's longtime allies, Atlantic
Region administrators Sheldon Mollineau and Shelton Glasgow, have come out strongly
against USACA vice-president Michael Gale's claim that the solution to USACA's current
problems is to ratify an amended constitution. Instead, they are withdrawing their support
of the Dainty administration and are calling for all leagues to reject the proposed changes
that are up for a vote at the coming weekend's AGM.


November, 2014:

A highly anticipated vote on a revised constitution has been deferred for a second time
this year after a motion was passed at the USACA AGM for league presidents to come up
with further revisions to the draft document. It means the document may not be ratified
until January at the earliest but could be as late as March and may result in USACA's general
elections for 2015 being pushed back.


March, 2015:

Gladstone Dainty has won re-election as USACA president for a fourth term at the USACA
general elections held in Texas... Dainty's win comes in the wake of USACA being sent a
letter by the ICC in January warning the national governing body that it is in danger of a
third administrative suspension by the ICC since 2005. The ICC informed USACA that it was
cutting off quarterly grant payments to USACA, worth approximately $300,000 per year,
until it gets its affairs in order. The withholding of funds could be debilitating since
USACA's debt grew from $3 million to more than $4.1 million in its latest tax filings from
2013.
The USACA elections, held last weekend, were once again subject to controversy as at least
seven of the 39 voting leagues were made eligible for the first time despite having not gone
through the proper USACA membership ratification process laid out in the USACA
constitution. Regional elections have also been problematic, with the Atlantic Region and
North West Regions engaged in internal disputes as to the legitimacy of their

representation.


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USACA Reign of Error

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(Just The Past Three Years of)

USACAs Reign of Error

(Including many interesting quotes from American cricket leaders!)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/552110.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/529526.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/534247.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/536183.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/555596.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/review2012/content/story/598758.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/599220.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/742281.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/story/750315.html, retrieved 7/16/2014

North West Regions engaged in internal disputes as to the legitimacy of their

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