Ahmed poised to challenge Dainty

Nabeel Ahmed, who resigned as the senior vice president of the USA Cricket Association earlier this month, expressed his intention of standing against Gladstone Dainty for president in next March's elections.

"Nabeel was not happy the way USACA was being run by the president [Dainty] and CEO Don Lockerbie who was sacked with immediate effect hours before a board meeting in Florida last week," a source close to Ahmed told AAP. The report claimed Ahmed enjoyed the support of a "majority of the important members of the USACA who [have] assured him their all out support if he comes forward and contest[s] the presidential elections of the body".

Ahmed's resignation and Lockerbie's dismissal have left USACA once again under the control of Dainty, a controversial figure under whose presidency the US board was described by erstwhile ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed as "dysfunctional". Between 2005 and 2008 it was twice suspended by the ICC and earned a reputation for secrecy and mismanagement.

Ahmed faces a tough battle to unseat Dainty, however, as previous attempts have failed, largely due to the way regions vote and the importance of their not backing the losing candidate which favours the incumbent.