USA CRICKET LAUNCHES OFFICIAL MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM

In what is a huge step forward in unifying cricket in the United States, USA Cricket yesterday launched the official membership program for the sport within the country, which continues the pathway laid out by the USA Cricket Constitution that was approved in December 2017.

The membership program will be divided into two major categories, Individual and Organizational membership. Individual membership will allow all stakeholders in the cricket community including players, coaches, match officials, administrators, and fans to engage with the new governing body. Organizational membership continues League engagement and involvement in the organization, but also provides the opportunity for individual clubs to join USA Cricket. Organizational membership also includes academies, schools, universities, colleges and other cricketing organizations.

The membership program is the next step in the process to build a world-class U.S. governing body for cricket and will help facilitate a fair and transparent election process that engages the entire U.S. cricket community and unifies the sport moving forward.

Once the election process begins, the new USA Cricket membership will be able to vote on the seven (7) of the ten (10) Board members. The new USA Cricket Board of Directors is expected to be in place by May 2018. In a step by USA Cricket to be as inclusive as possible all membership is free until 30 June, 2018.

A collaborative working approach with the cricket community across the USA was undertaken when designing the membership program. USA Cricket wishes to thank all stakeholders who have contributed over the last year to help achieve a program that has been designed for all within the cricketing community.

Membership in USA Cricket will come with many benefits, that will increase over time, and includes; voting for the Board of Directors, insurance coverage for both individuals and clubs, zonal programs, CricClubs competition management platform access, educational resources, best practice sharing and more.

Patricia Whittaker a member of the Sustainable Foundation Advisory Group said: “This is another significant step forward in making the new national governing body a reality. We are excited to give the cricketing community the opportunity to engage with USA Cricket through the membership program and are certain that the all inclusive and fair approach we are taking will assist the new governing body in achieving the most impact for all involved in cricket in the United States.”

ICC Americas USA Project Manager Eric Parthen said: “Today marks one of the most crucial steps in the process for the establishment of a governing body that will engage everyone involved in the U.S. cricket community. I am hugely enthused by the passion shown by the community in this project and with the launch of the official USA Cricket membership program today, I have no doubt that everybody involved in cricket will look forward to signing up to become involved in the exciting journey ahead.”

More information on the different categories and benefits of membership, and to apply for the USA Cricket membership can be found by visiting the USA Cricket website here – https://www.usacricket.org/membership.

ICC Americas announce new hires including USA National Coach

ICC Americas today announced two significant hires to drive the long term development of cricket in the USA. Former Sri Lankan Wicket Keeper, Pubudu Dassanayake has been named as USA National Coach, whilst Eric Parthen has been appointed Project Manager to lead the implementation of the strategic plan to help grow the sport in the USA.

Dassanayake’s coaching record speaks volumes, having most recently overseen the rise of Nepal from WCL Division 4 to the World Cricket League Championship and competing in the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup. Prior to his work with Nepal, he also coached Canada to reach the 2011 ICC World Cup.

Commenting on his appointment Dassanayake said “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to coach the USA, especially at what is an exciting time for USA cricket. I believe there is a great deal of talent here, it will just require hard work from everyone involved to get the best out of these players and hopefully see US cricket progress to higher honours.

“Our initial focus is on preparing the senior team for the WCL Division 4 event in LA next month. That is the first step on what I hope will be a successful journey.”

Parthen meanwhile is a highly respected sports administrator in the USA with more than 20 years’ experience. He has previously worked in senior roles at the USOC as well as being the Executive Director of USA Boxing and the Chief Executive of USA Taekwondo. He will continue the work with stakeholders across the sport to develop a new constitution and governance structure that the USA cricket community can unify behind.

He said: “I am thrilled to be joining ICC Americas at such a pivotal point in its history. My focus will be on working with the whole cricket family here in the US and creating a sustainable structure to allow cricket to flourish at all levels.

“We recently held a weekend workshop for stakeholders which centered on rebuilding the governance structure of the sport to unify it and provide the best possible foundations for growth. We are now using the insight from that event to assist the development a new constitution for the sport that focuses on governing, regulating, developing and promoting the cricket in the USA at all levels.

“In addition to this work we will also be moving our offices to Colorado Springs to ensure we’re better located to deliver for the whole sport and be nearer to other national sports governing bodies so we can continue to grow and develop as an organisation.”

Wade Edwards has also been promoted to the role of ICC Americas Project Officer and will utilise his knowledge and experience of cricket in the USA to support the transformation programme. Edwards has worked for ICC Americas for four years and has developed an outstanding network of stakeholders across the cricket community in the USA.

All three appointments were made following a competitive recruitment process that attracted a significant number of strong applications from within the US and internationally.