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The Canadian Cricket Association congratulates the newly elected members of the USACA

The Canadian Cricket Association wishes to congratulate the newly elected members of the USACA Executive

The Canadian Cricket Association wishes to congratulate the newly elected members of the USACA Executive. At the meeting held in New Jersey Saturday June 7th the following were elected, by the Board of Governors representing the various Regions of the USACA.
President: Gladstone Dainty
1st Vice-President: P.K. Guha
2nd Vice-President: TBE
Secretary: Bobby Refaie
Treasurer: Selwyn Caesar
Most of these members are experienced leaders of the USACA and we in Canada look forward to continued productive working relationships with USACA to promote and to foster the growth and development of cricket in all of the Americas.
Canada and the USA are the two largest Associate countries and share some of the same headaches because of vast territory and funding shortfalls. Regrettably, neither Association at the moment has been able to obtain appropriate funding from private or from public channels.
Neither country has at present a National Coach or essential coaching cross-country framework. By contrast, Argentina, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, all smaller countries physically and numerically, have in place cricket offices and National Coaches and receive both public and private sponsorship support.
Canada and USA also share the honour of staging the first International Cricket Match, the K.A. Auty Trophy which predates the Americas Cup of Yachting fame,for example.
We in Canada look forward to immediately working to revive and stage the Auty Trophy game in 2003 and/or 2004. Discussions will continue in the next week at the ICC Meetings in London.
Canada is also interested in hosting one or two 'A' team games in 2003 and 2004 and will discuss with the USA, the Full Members and ICC High Performance the feasibility of staging these fixtures.
MCC has also planned a tour of the Eastern USA in 2004 and Canada will pursue the continuation of similar tours to Canada either for regional and/or for cross-country fixtures.
Canada will also attempt to revive International cricket fixtures such as the Sahara Cup between India and Pakistan or similar fixtures. Of major interest will be an Asian XI vs a Rest of the World squad.
The Sahara Cups managed by IMG/TWI were critical to the building of turf wickets, the successful and best ever staging of the ICC Trophy 2001 and qualification for and participation in the 2003 World Cup. Canada won one game, against all odds, and with more off season fitness and preparation, would certainly have done better. The performances of the Canadian team even with the huge disadvantage of a lack of offseason training is a testimony to the potential of the players and the game.
We must now take steps to realize our great potential, even against a stacked deck or against all bettors.. The time for all people truly interested in working together as a team, to promote Americas and Canadian cricket, to come forward and to work positively and together for that growth.
New turf pitches in every major cricket centre can as planned be put in place so that International fixtures can be played on turf rather than on artificial surfaces. We must however also solve the problems of funding and maintaining the turf wickets for ICCT 2001. Unfortunately, unless corrective measures are taken now, we will lose many of these turf pitches in 2003.
Two new indoor facilities have opened their doors in addition to the World Cup Indoor training site at Qasra Sports. The task is huge, but we do need cross-country indoor facilities, and cricketers need to support them, if playing skills are to be maintained and upgraded.
Discussions continue on the fine tuning of an International sized outdoor facility with the option of installing lights for day-night fixtures. Funding for lights and a turf square will need to be vigorously addressed, as we expect that the basic or bare-bone facility will be available within a year at most.
In the USA, similar facilities are on the drawing board especially in Florida. Several municipalities and groups are actively working to build stadia in preparation for hosting some games in the ICC World Cup in the West Indies in 2007. Both the ICC and the WICB have shown considerable interest in the promotion of cricket in the USA for the 2007 World Cup. USACA will have a very busy and hopefully productive next two to four years.
Our best wishes to builders and promoters of the game in Canada and in the USA.