Bermuda’s status may be changed

BCB chief executive Neil Speight



The International Cricket Councils decision to elevate Ireland and Afghanistan to the World Cup rankings system may yet have an impact on Bermudas position in the Associate game.

As part of last weeks move, the ICC also promoted Kenya and Nepal from Division Two of the World Cricket League to the WCL Championship, despite them finishing third and fourth in this months Division Two tournament in Namibia.

What that means for Canada, who were relegated to Division Three at the same event, and Bermuda, who dropped into Division Four in November after their poor performance in Malaysia, is yet to be decided.

Neil Speight, the Bermuda Cricket Board chief executive who represents the Associate nations on the ICC Board, said he expected the issue to come up at the next meeting of the ICC Development Committee in April. The Division Four tournament is scheduled for 2016.

Meanwhile, it is increasingly likely that the meeting in April will also be another step in the removal of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) as the governing body for the game in that country.

The ICC made two announcements this week that suggest that the cricketing world may have finally run out of patience with the USACA.

The resolution relaxing the obligation that an ICC Member must be the sole governing body was approved, as was the ICCs right to recognise only one governing body in any one territory.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, the ICC voted to send a letter to the USACA requesting certain information be provided about its continued compliance with the ICCs constitution and membership criteria.

An official close to proceedings also said that the ICC had opted not to give USACA any funding for 2015.

I expect them to take final action at the meeting in April, the official said. I would think the letter is a preparatory step to the formal removal of USACA as the national governing body.