Canada match to go ahead as scheduled

The ICC has refused a request from the Canadian Cricket Association for their Intercontinental Cup match against the USA to be postponed. The three-day game is due to take place in Florida between May 28 and 30.

The CCA made the request at the beginning of April, arguing that it had not had enough time to prepare. "We have proposed that the fixture be pushed back to the end of July or possibly September because we will not be ready in May," explained Ben Sennik, the CCA's president. "We need some time to breathe and give our team the best possible chance to compete and win."

Sennik had been keen for the national trials - scheduled for early June - to take place before the match, explaining that they would then be in a better position to select their strongest team. The ICC expressed their disappointment at the request, but agreed to look into it nonetheless.

"There is a legitimate reason to consider postponing the games because both countries season would have just started by the time May month end comes around," said Martin Vieira, the ICC's regional development manager for the Americas.

Canada met the USA in the Six Nations Cup in Sharjah in March, and lost by six wickets. And while the fortunes of the USA are on the up - they won that tournament and so qualified for September's ICC Champions Trophy in England - those of Canada are in decline. They lost every game in Sharjah, and their Under-19 side returned from the World Cup in Bangladesh without a win.