From King to Massiah � 100 years of the ICC and cricket in the USA

Cricket in the USA has recently been thrust back into the spotlight thanks to a bizarre decision to include the USA, ranked 22nd by the ICC amongst non-test playing nations, in the eight team qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Twenty20, set to be held in the UAE later this year.

With the ICC now keen to capitalise on what they think is the interest in cricket in the USA, it is perhaps worth remembering that they have not always treated American cricket well. In a three part series, we look at a history of the ICC's dealings with cricket in the USA.

Part three � New frontiers

The ICC launched an Emerging Nations tournament in 2000, first played in Zimbabwe and then in Kenya in 2002, when it was renamed the ICC 6 Nations Challenge. The first two tournaments included A teams from Test playing nations, but the third was to be six associate nations. The winners would join the ten full members and Kenya in the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy.

The top five teams from the 2001 ICC Trophy � Netherlands, Namibia, Canada, Scotland and hosts UAE were chosen, but the ICC decided that sixth place Denmark wouldn't be invited because they'd finished behind Ireland in the 2002 European Championship. So of course Ireland, who had also beaten Denmark in a one-day series in 2003 were invited. Well, no they weren't as the ICC bizarrely decided to invite an ageing USA side � several of whom were over 40 � to the tournament instead.

A close tournament, which saw five teams finish level on six points each, saw the USA edge out Scotland by the smallest of net run rate margins to win the tournament and thus qualify for the Champions Trophy where they were set to play against Australia and New Zealand.

In May, first-class cricket returned to the USA for the first time since 1913 when they played Canada in the Intercontinental Cup in Florida. The match would be remembered for a remarkable performance from John Davison as he took 17 wickets to win the match for the visitors � the best return in first-class cricket since Jim Laker's 19 wickets against Australia. The USA then finished as runners-up to the Canadians in the Americas Championship in Bermuda.

Project USA � an attempt to bring ODI cricket to US shores � was launched by the ICC. The ICC smelt money in the wallets of the, often wealthy, cricket fans in the USA of Indian origin who were forking out large sums of money to watch international cricket on pay-per-view television.

A professional domestic league was launched � ProCricket � which had some of its games televised. Despite its status as a rare professional league in an associate member, the ICC, foretelling its future attitude to the ICL, clamped down on the league due to the USACA not sanctioning it � a missed opportunity if ever there was one. The league folded after one season with the San Francisco Freedom the only champions.

So in England in September, the stage was set for the ODI debut of the USA. The ICC were pleased � cricket was being covered on CNN! Though of course they were seemingly unaware that the CNN feed in the USA and Canada was completely different than the CNN feed in the rest of the world and the North American feed wasn't covering the cricket.

And the USA were an embarrassment. The ageing side were the laughing stock of the tournament and were thrashed by Australia and New Zealand. They looked like a pub team playing against the world champions.

The dollar signs in the eyes of the ICC began to drop as they saw the true colours of how American cricket was being run. By January 2005, a leaked letter suggested that Project USA was about to be canned, and it was later that year. The 2005 ICC Trophy was another embarrassment for the USA national side. They finished tenth after losing to Oman in the ninth place play-off, where they showed a remarkable ability to turn a certain win into defeat. They scored 345/6 from their 50 overs and had Oman struggling on 103/5 before losing by three wickets. (Hamish Anthony pictured left during the match)

The organisation, or lack thereof, of cricket in the USA then saw the USA suspended from the ICC, and their place in the Intercontinental Cup given to the Cayman Islands. They were let back in to play in the 2006 Americas Championship in which they were runners up for a third time.

In 2007 they were set to host Division Three of the new World Cricket League in Los Angeles. But concern over their ability to host the tournament saw it moved to Darwin, and then another suspension saw the USA bumped down to Division Five with their replacements, Argentina, going on to finish second in the tournament and gain promotion to Division Two.

Later that year though, the dollar signs again began to come in front of the eyes of the ICC. Whilst they were perhaps more interested in the alleged potential in China (Malcolm Speed was at one point tipping China as a future Test nation), the money in the USA was also attracting them. The first World Twenty20 was being televised in the country! Of course it, like most cricket television coverage in the USA, was on pay-per-view only. Non cricket fans were hardly likely to fork out more than $100 out of curiosity.

The USA found itself back in favour. They participated in Division Five of the World Cricket League in Jersey, and the prospect of a USA v Afghanistan match had the eyes of the media on what would normally be a tournament ignored by them. The USA, still with quite an ageing side, didn't play ball though, and lost their semi-final to Jersey, leaving them in Division Five.

A younger team, captained by Steve Massiah and consisting mostly of players under 30 for the first time in many years, won the Americas Championship later in the year. (right) The tournament was held in the USA for the first time � in Florida � though the organisers were unable to find three grounds with turf wickets and failed to secure ODI approval for the main ground in time for the Bermuda v Canada match to be the first official ODI on US soil.

So 2009 � the ICC's centenary year � started with the USA in a rebuilding phase. No tournaments for the senior side were scheduled for 2009, but cricket was probably in the best position it had been since the days of Bart King. American born players were starting to come through, cricket was being played in more schools and universities, and they had a ground that was capable of hosting ODIs.

And then, during the World Cricket League Division Seven tournament in Guernsey, a bizarre decision by the ICC came to light. They issued a press release saying that the UAE were to host the qualifier for the 2010 World Twenty20 tournament. The six ODI status teams were invited, as were the hosts (and seventh ranked non-Test team) the UAE. The eighth team wasn't the eighth ranked Namibians, but the 22nd ranked Americans. Coming the day after Namibia were relegated from the top division of the Intercontinental Cup despite being runners-up, the decision was particularly harsh on Namibia.

The press release all but admitted that the decision was motivated entirely by money. A cricketing reason was given � the Americas Championship win, but by that reasoning Hong Kong, who beat the UAE in the final of the 2008 ACC Trophy, or Oman, who shared the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup with Afghanistan, should also have been invited. The reasoning is also eerily reminiscent of the reasoning given for them participating in the 2004 Six Nations Challenge.

The decision goes against all the ICC have done to set up a structure for non-test cricket based on merit. A hundred years ago, the ICC treated the USA unfairly. Now they're treating fourteen teams ranked above them unfairly. The ICC obviously hasn't learnt from their mistakes and one has to hope that the USA don't embarrass themselves again. The game is still being run mostly by the same people the ICC criticised in the past, though new CEO Don Lockerbie is a welcome new face.

A later press release from the ICC again showed how far removed from reality they are when it comes to cricket in the USA. Detailing the television coverage for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, it included the line �DirecTV will bring the action to millions of fans in the USA.�

DirecTV charge these �millions of fans� $125 to watch the tournament. Do the ICC really think that this is the best way to promote cricket in the USA? They haven't even been able to persuade their broadcast partners � ESPN STAR Sports � to broadcast highlights on one of the popular ESPN channels.

Cricket in the USA does have potential. But the ICC need to let that potential develop naturally, not force things to develop too quickly in pursuit of money. Will they? History suggests otherwise.