ICC Suspends USA Cricket’s Membership

The International Cricket Council has suspended USA Cricket with immediate effect as a member, however it will not impact the national team’s participation in the T20 World Cup starting in February in India and Sri Lanka or the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The ICC cited “repeated and continued breaches of its obligations as a ICC member” for USA Cricket, including the inability to implement a functional governance structure and lack of progress toward achieving National Governing Body status with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

The ICC and USOPC in July pushed USA Cricket to do a full reset of the organization. All independent directors of the board at USA Cricket have been urged to resign immediately as part of a leadership change throughout the organization, reported the Times of India recently. Cricket is among five new sports added to the LA28 program and needs to have a recognized NGB.

“The suspension is an unfortunate but necessary step to protect the long-term interests of the game and the ICC’s top priority remains ensuring that the athletes and the sport itself are not impacted due to the suspension,” the international federation said in a statement. “The management and administration of USA national teams will temporarily be overseen by the ICC and/or its designated representatives to ensure continued support for the players and maintain momentum towards Olympic inclusion.”

USA Cricket was placed ‘on notice’ at the 2024 ICC Annual General Meeting for non-compliance and given 12 months to remedy that non-compliance. On account of continued non-compliance, USA Cricket was to be considered for suspension at the 2025 AGM, during which the ICC kept USA Cricket ‘on notice’ before this week’s vote via a virtual meeting.

The ICC Normalisation Committee has outlined steps required of USA Cricket, including “demonstrable and specific changes to USA Cricket’s governance structure, operations and overall status in the Cricket ecosystem.”