USA CRICKET

USA Cricket - ACE announce first steps towards realising the American dream

by Smit Patel • Last updated on

USA Cricket held its first Board of Directors meeting in presence of the newly appointed CEO Iain Higgins © Getty

USA Cricket held its first Board of Directors meeting in presence of the newly appointed CEO Iain Higgins on November 22 in Santa Clara, California. The board ratified some key decisions and plans in an all day event. Cricbuzz takes a closer look at some of the key outcomes of the meeting and the subsequent announcement of a media release earlier today.

Commencement of the new Minor League T20

USA Cricket and their commercial partner American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) are all set to start a semi-professional city-based 'Minor League T20' in 2020. The league will act as a feeder stock of quality domestic players that may be ultimately drafted in the Major League T20, which is supposed to be a far bigger spectacle comprising of some international stars starting 2021. It is understood that the initial season will have six teams from NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago.

Cricbuzz learns that the players might be given contracts and stipends which will be a significant first in the history of domestic cricket in the country. The Minor League T20 will be a major boost to the overall cricketing landscape of US cricket and aid player development with all the games being played on turf wickets in a season spanning around 4-6 months. The league might also employ current first-class cricketers from overseas to help raise the level of competition and build an environment whereby they can pass on their experience to the homegrown young talent. The authorities plan on having all games live streamed with expansion plans already in place of having around 22 teams by the 2022 season.

Besides the Minor League, USA Cricket will also hold their own domestic competition. It is understood that it will be a 50-over competition among the six different board recognised geographical regions starting in 2020.

Overhaul of the national selection panel

The current national men's selection panel comprising former West Indies cricketer Ricardo Powell, ex Pakistan international Asif Mujtaba, Michael Voss, Amer Afzaluddin and Jatin Patel may well be on their way out as the board seeks to 'review the roles and responsibilities of the selection panel after the expiring of their term'. The announcement comes ahead of the news of USA Cricket planning to hire a director and manager of cricket operations as it is highly likely the new incumbents may want to bring in fresh ideas and perspectives on the policies and yardsticks for national selections.

Besides this, the Board will look to hire a new full time head coach for the men's team after the conclusion of the Dubai leg of the World Cup Cricket League 2 in December. It is still unclear whether the interim head coach James Pamment will be available to be appointed as the full time head coach owing to his commitments as a fielding coach with the current IPL champions Mumbai Indians.

Setting up Governance committee to get board elections underway

The Board of Directors appointed a Governance committee to hold board elections after a considerable delay to get the election process underway. The committee has been asked to come up with a time-line of hold elections for the post of male player director and individual director in a swift manner.

© Cricbuzz

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