Massiah returns as USA captain

Steve Massiah has been re-installed as USA captain, more than a year after giving up the position, and will lead the team in the forthcoming ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Malaysia.

Massiah, 35, had served as captain for seven years, from August 2006 to September 2013, before stepping down last year ahead of the ICC World T20 Qualifier in the UAE. He had stated in a press release at the time that the move was designed to let him focus on his batting.

A month later, Massiah withdrew from the squad for the ICC World T20 Qualifier and it later emerged that he may have had a rift with the team management. However, Massiah's role as one of the more influential people in US cricket was restored over the past month. According to sources, he had a prominent say in the composition of the squad picked to go to Malaysia for the WCL Division Three later this month.

USACA also announced this week that Robin Singh had been retained to coach the team on tour. Although Singh has a strong coaching record in domestic Twenty20 competitions, most recently as coach of the Caribbean Premier League 2014 champions Barbados Tridents, his record as coach with the USA national team has been underwhelming in competitions staged outside the Americas.

The USA Women's team finished eighth out of 10 teams in the 2011 Women's World Cup Qualifier while men's teams coached by Singh at two World T20 Qualifiers for USA have finished 12th and 15th out of 16 teams. USA also went 3-3 under Singh at the 2012 WCL Division Four in Malaysia, finishing second to gain promotion into Division Three in Bermuda in April 2013. They finished third in Division Three, behind Uganda and Nepal and were coached by Singh's then protégé, former India international Thiru Kumaran.

Former West Indies international Milton Pydanna has joined the USA coaching staff for the first time as one of Singh's two assistant coaches. Pydanna, 64, coached the New York Region team to a share of the USACA T20 National Championship in August. The other assistant is bowling coach Nasir "Charlie" Javed. Former USACA president Akhtar Masood Syed has rejoined the touring party as team physiotherapist while John Wilson, president of the Brooklyn Cricket League, has replaced Shoaib Ahmed as team manager.

USACA has also announced plans for a pre-tournament training camp in Jamaica to be held between October 15 and 20, including two warm-up games on October 18 and 19. USA will leave Jamaica on the October 20 to head back to New York before traveling onward to Malaysia. USA's first match of WCL Division Three takes place on October 23 against Bermuda.