Lockerbie ousted as USA boss

Don Lockerbie has been relieved of his position as chief executive of the USA Cricket Association with immediate effect hours before a board meeting in Florida, according to sources inside US cricket.

The news comes a little over a week after the resignation of Nabeel Ahmed, the first vice-president of USACA.

While nobody was prepared to confirm the report, it follows several months of increasing concern that Lockerbie's bullish promises about changes he was going to make to the game in the USA had come to nothing.

The board's finances remain a concern, and despite official denials it is widely believed the ill-fated tournament in Florida in May featuring New Zealand and Sri Lanka landed USACA with considerable losses.

Lockerbie had a reputation of being someone big on talk but far more reluctant to address media inquiries about the more questionable aspects of USACA's operations.

He took up his role in April 2009 and quickly unveiled ambitious plans to turn US cricket professional and stage an IPL-type tournament in the country. But despite strong support from the ICC his plans failed to materialise, and in recent months there has been growing discontent within the USA which appears to have cost Lockerbie his position.

While few will lament his departure, it does raise the grim spectre of the USA sliding back into the murky shambles that led to its suspension from the ICC in 2005.