Reborn In The USA ? It's Time To Pad Up!

Tristan Lavalette reports on encouraging news from America where a new administrative board has delivered ODI status for the US

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For cricket powerbrokers, the US has long represented a walking dollar sign. An untapped gold mine. In 2015, ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said the US had “enormous potential”. Recently departed Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland once had the rather ambitious idea of New York’s iconic Central Park to be the venue of a future T20 World Cup.

It makes sense why those invested in the bottom line are enticed by a country boasting the world’s biggest sports market. Despite these grandiose visions, US cricket has largely been a basketcase. A punchline underscored when the USA Cricket Association was suspended for the third and final time in 2015 for a string of governance issues before being expelled two years later.

The US had frustrated on-field, too, despite cricket being strong at the grassroots level fuelled by an increase in expatriate communities from the Sub-continent. The national team had too often underperformed marked by a fractured dressing room infamously known for splintering into ethnic factions.

After historically securing ODI status last week in Namibia, the US team is finally heading in the right direction, mirroring steadier leadership off-field through new governing body USA Cricket.