ICC suspends Project USA

The ICC has announced the suspension of their Project USA initiative, which was aimed at developing cricket in the United States, because of concerns about the governance of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA).

Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, said that the issues had not been dealt with in a satisfactory manner: "The ICC is not satisfied that the USACA is meeting its obligations to review and restructure its governance to meet the needs of Project USA, and as a consequence Project USA is now suspended."

Speed added that the future of the three-way initiative between the ICC, the West Indies Cricket Board and the USACA would now be discussed by the ICC Board.

"We have witnessed the unseemly and public debate surrounding the USACA elections," said Speed. "At this stage we are not able to recommend to the ICC full members that they participate in Project USA given the unsatisfactory state of governance in the USA. I will now be preparing a report on the status of this project for consideration by the ICC Board at its next meeting in March."

The initial phase of Project USA began in 2004 with a feasibility study into hosting one-day internationals in America, to raise funds for the development of cricket there.