Chaos threatens to rip USA apart

Any lingering hopes that recent elections would be the first step towards a new beginning have proved overoptimistic with even more confusion following the recent poll. If anything, the chaos within the USA Cricket Association which was one of the main reasons for the ICC abandoning Project USA has worsened in the last fortnight.

At the heart of the almost farcical events of recent days is the refusal of the old board to accept the election results. The decision of the old board to disallow three candidates from standing is the main contention. Opponents of the board say that the action was illegal as the necessary number of members did not make the decision. It also seems that the ban, which was on a minor technicality of dubious validity, was announced after the election had taken place.

The decision appears to have been largely at the behest of Gladstone Dainty, the USACA president. Dainty has been universally blamed for mismanagement of the board, and even the ICC have made clear its lack of respect for the way he has handled things.

Assuming the election results stood - and to an outsider there seems no reason they should not - then Dainty would have been clearly outnumbered on the new board. But in refusing to accept the results, he has maintained his majority. That group, which includes one candidate who lost and one who didn't even seek re-election, is due to meet on April 9 in Fort Lauderdale.

Meanwhile, a week later an alternative board is scheduled to meet in Dallas. That consists of the three anti-Dainty Board members who were re-elected in 2005, three of the Dainty holdovers who were re-elected, one new unknown or uncommitted member, and the old anti-Dainty Board members.

In theory, then, there should be six members in common between the old and the new boards. This is not so, because the three "old" anti-Dainty Board members have been consistently boycotting Dainty's meetings since February 2005, on the grounds that the old board expired in January and should not be meeting until after the elections; the three surviving Dainty members of the Board are unlikely to attend the Dallas meeting, preferring instead to go with Dainty and the old group on the grounds that they are all board members since their defeats were, in Dainty's mind, illegal.

Dainty and his supporters have been roundly condemned in recent weeks, a situation exacerbated by the ICC's actions. But they are clinging to power.

The real confusion will come to a head soon as both groups are likely to claim the right to pick the squad for the forthcoming ICC Trophy in July. It is unlikely that the two groups will agree on the composition of the team, especially the coach and manager. There is also the possibility that regions which back one faction will not allow players from their area to represent the other faction.

That would drag the ICC, reluctantly, into the fray. It has no time for Dainty, but equally does not get involved in domestic matters. It is possible that it might throw things back at the USA and say that until they get their act together, they will not be allowed to send a side to Ireland.

It is hard to see why Dainty continues to battle on when he is increasingly unpopular and has few supporters. But battle he does, and the chances are that this could end up in the courts. Yet again, the only loser will be cricket in the USA.