Website tug-of-war highlights problems

The battle for control of the USA Cricket Association took another bizarre twist over the weekend with allegations that control of the official website had been seized by Gladstone Dainty, the board's beleaguered president.

The website, which had grown marginalised in recent months and had refused to report anything at all detrimental to the board - for example, it totally ignored the scrapping of Project USA - disappeared altogether on Saturday. On Tuesday it resurfaced, but as a flat page with all old articles and links removed. The only information it carried was details of officials appointed at a board meeting in Dallas on April 9. That meeting was, according to opponents of Dainty, unconstitutional and irrelevant.

Bobby Refaie, the USACA secretary who was suspended by the board, slammed the refusal of Dainty to accept he had been defeated. "He has not only refused to acknowledge the results of the elections," he wrote, "but also has since then continued to abuse and misuse his power as the president."

Rumours also circulated that Dainty is preparing to go to court to protect his position, which Refaie described as "desperate", adding that "the tragedy of the situation is that may be current regime is utilising USACA club dues and ICC funds to hire attorneys to intimidate board members and ICC."

What is clear is that the bulk of stakeholders inside the USA have grown tired of the infighting and inefficiencies associated with the Dainty regime. The recent meeting of the Council of League Presidents produced a series of action points, and at the moment it and not the USACA seems to have the backing of the masses.

It is, however, equally clear that the old guard are not prepared to go down without a fight.