Hemant Buch to run for USACA vice president

Hemant Buch, the former regional director of the recently dissolved Western Region of the USA Cricket Association, will run for first vice president of the USA Cricket Association (USACA). The position is currently vacant after the resignation of Nabeel Ahmed, who is running for president of USACA at the organisation's next general election in 2011.

"My main goal will be to help build [a] united, more effective board, establish basic policies and procedures for cricket operation, discipline and dispute resolution," Buch said in an email in which he confirmed that he will run for the position.

The North West Region men's team, which fell under Buch's Western Region umbrella, won the Senior National Championship last month in Florida. The North West also won the 2009 Under-19 National Championship and had four players from that team go on to represent USA at the 2010 ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. The regional team will be attempting to defend the U-19 national title at the 2010 Junior Nationals, scheduled for December 28-30 in Los Angeles.

Buch was the recipient of an ICC Development Programme Award in 2006 when he was named Best Volunteer for the Americas Region. He has played a major role in the development of youth cricket on the west coast with the formation of the California Cricket Academy (CCA) in Cupertino in 2003. In addition to the success of the men's and U-19 teams, the North West Region has won the national championship at the U-15 level in each of the last three years with most of the players on those teams coming through the CCA.

Buch has also utilised strong political ties with the BCCI to arrange tours to India for CCA players to get more experience.