USACA blames ICC for non-payment of players

Three weeks after returning home from the World Twenty20 Qualifier in Ireland, each player from USA's 15-man squad is yet to receive nearly $2000 in stipend payments that were promised to them ahead of the tour. The news was initially reported by ESPNcricinfo on Monday after learning of the situation from multiple players in the squad.

However, the USA Cricket Association is laying blame on the ICC for what it says was a broken promise to take care of the players while the board is under ICC suspension. USACA officials were due to meet with ICC chief executive David Richardson and ICC general counsel Iain Higgins in New York on Tuesday to discuss a variety of issues related to the suspension, including finances, and the ICC claims it never agreed to pay the players. USACA vice-president Owen Grey has pointed the finger squarely back at the ICC.

"Ask the ICC why they refuse to pay the players," Grey told ESPNcricinfo on Monday. "You suspend a nation and you said the players must not suffer. You're supposed to pay the players and you decided that yes you're going to pay the players and then you renege. So go ask Ben Kavenagh, David Richardson and Tim Anderson. You hear that a nation is suspended and the ICC wants it both ways.

"The ICC told the manager John Wilson up in Dublin that they sent the money to USACA to pay the players which is a bloody lie. The ICC got the request about the stipend for the players through [USACA liaison] Vincent [Adams] to Tim Anderson, Ben Kavanagh, Faisal Hasnain and David Richardson. They were supposed to pay the players. They didn't do it. They said they sent the money to USACA which is a lie."

ESPNcricinfo reached out to ICC officials late Monday to get their version of events relating to the stipend payment. An ICC spokesperson responded on Tuesday, stating that though USACA did make a request, no agreement was ever made by the ICC to provide a supplemental stipend beyond the $60 a day that all players from each of the 14 teams received from the ICC as meal money during the tournament.

"The ICC didn't agree, and is not in a position to pay the USA players," the ICC spokesperson said. "USACA was advised of this several weeks ago. In saying this, despite USACA's current suspension, the ICC remains committed to providing the best players in the USA with opportunities to compete internationally. It is for this reason that the USA was allowed to compete in the recent ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and the ICC Americas U19 Championship, while USA players have also been selected for the upcoming ICC Americas Combine."

On Sunday, USACA announced a national $100,000 tournament in Florida to be played by the best clubs of USACA member leagues. However, Grey was adamant that the tour stipend payments for the 15 USA players should come from the ICC and not from any other funding sources.

"The players are out $27,000 as we speak, which should have been paid before they left Dublin last month," Grey said. "The pay scale was $60 per day for dinner and a $100 stipend. In 2013, when we weren't suspended, USACA paid the players $120 a day plus they got $50 dinner money from the ICC for the same tournament in Dubai. The meal money was increased $10 a day this year so we said fair is fair, pay them $100. So the players are out $100 per day which is $1800 per player."