In November 2021, ICC confirmed the host countries of men’s white-ball events from 2024-2031. This included two World Cups, four T20 World Cups and two Champions Trophy. The regular hosts Australia, England, India and New Zealand etc. were part of the list of 14 shortlisted countries but the surprise entrant USA, selected as co-host of T20 World Cup 2024 with Cricket West Indies, came as a big surprise.
How and why were USA selected as co-host of a marquee ICC event remains a big mystery. Lack of cricketing infrastructure, no stability in the association, and no proper First Class structure but the USA continues to remain a “co-host” of the 2024 event. Despite News18 CricketNext’s repeated enquiries about the bidding process, selection of USA as co-host and the current cricketing infrastructure concerns, there has been no response from the ICC yet.
CricketNext sought the global cricketing body’s response after our May 4 story highlighted the ongoing mess and lack of preparedness in the USA for the big-ticket event. We reached out to top bosses in Cricket West Indies too regarding hosting arrangements in place with USA Cricket for the World Cup but studied silence continues from all quarters.
The proposal
Sources in the ICC, however, have informed that it was a joint written submission from CWI and USA Cricket which was assessed and approved.
“It was a joint written submission from CWI and USAC as part of a competitive bid process that was assessed by the Board sub-committee with the ICC Board taking the final decision,” said the source.
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Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and former Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt were part of the sub-committee chaired by Martin Snedden.
“Martin Snedden, Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Skerritt were part of a Board sub-committee charged with reviewing all 28 proposals that were submitted to ICC management before making a recommendation to the Board. As part of the process, the ICC wanted to take World Cups to new territories and well-established markets in order to help deliver on the overarching strategic aim of growing the game. All bids provided extensive detail as part of the process,” the source added.
Jointly-hosted World Cups
It will not be the first time that a tournament like the World Cup will be jointly hosted as it has happened numerous times in the past but by nations with proper infrastructure and cricket bodies in place. USA doesn’t make the cut on both counts and, as CricketNext reported on May 4, it hasn’t come as a surprise that all heavy lifting for the 2024 T20 WC is being done by CWI and ICC.
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Even contractually, CWI, as the Full Member (FM) are “fully responsible for the event” and will only have some sort of staging arrangements with the USA, the Associate Member (AM).
“CWI are signatories to the host agreement as the Full Member Board which is standard practice around any ICC event that FMs/AMs jointly host (it’ll be the same for the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup). The ICC runs the event in conjunction with the host in each country – ICC are in the process of setting up a LOC in the West Indies and will do the same in the USA, obviously, USAC have very limited resources which they can’t put a drain on,” added the ICC source tracking developments from close quarters.
Lack of infrastructure
The cricketing infrastructure in the USA is far from ideal to host an event as big as the World Cup. Former interim chairman of USA Cricket, Dr Atul Rai, had said a lot of work needs to be done to get facilities “up to par for an ICC event”.
“Even the one in Florida (Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill) requires a lot of work. Even that stadium, which hosts India-West Indies games regularly, is not up to par for an ICC event. None of the others are capable of hosting a big-time event like the World Cup,” Rai had told CricketNext.
It is reliably learned that ICC is exploring the modular/makeshift venues in the region too and an update on the selected venues is expected in the next few weeks. There are speculations that the USA will be hosting more than 15 World Cup games, including India vs Pakistan, but the current state of infrastructure is likely to cause a major problem.
The pair behind USA’s joint bid with Cricket West Indies
Former USA Cricket chairman Paraag Marathe and chief executive Iain Higgins were the key figures in the joint successful bid for T20 World Cup 2024. Higgins, before taking over the role in USA Cricket, worked in the ICC from 2008 to 2019 as general counsel and also took on the dual role of chief operating officer in 2015.
Higgins helped USA Cricket get the support it needed for the bid to co-host the ICC event with Cricket West Indies. After serving for little over two years, Higgins resigned as the chief executive of USA Cricket on November 15, 2021, a day before the announcement for ICC men’s events post-2023 was made.
Marathe too didn’t last long after Higgins’ departure and tendered his resignation in May 2022. Within a space of six months, USA Cricket lost two key administrators and instability in the cricket body continues.
Right now, USA Cricket remains on the hunt for a new CEO after Vinay Bhimjiani vacated the chair and the cricket body has had two interim chairmen in less than a year.
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