USACA criticised over handling of domestic tournaments

USA Cricket Association (USACA) board member Krish Prasad is unhappy over the way domestic tournaments are being handled and does not feel stakeholders are being given an honest appraisal of USACA's current financial situation. Prasad, who represents the New York Region and is also the USACA cricket committee chairman, feels that stakeholders are losing confidence in USACA's leadership because of the organization's inability to properly organize domestic tournaments.

USACA general manager Manaf Mohamed sent out an events calendar at the start of the year detailing the dates and sites for tournaments in 2011. Already, the U-17 national tournament that was supposed to be held from May 27-30 in Orlando has been postponed while the inaugural Twenty20 national championship that is scheduled to be held June 17-19 was shifted this week from Dallas to New Jersey. USACA claims it was moved for budget reasons while local organizers in Dallas claim the switch was politically motivated.

"My biggest concern is our financial embarrassment," Prasad said. "We can't tell regions, yes, you'll definitely have this tournament. Go ahead and make the arrangements. Dallas wanted to make the arrangements and lock the hotels up. I mean you're talking about a month before and we don't have nothing locked up. We don't have one thing locked up for a tournament that's going to be held a month from now.

"First the tournament was set in Dallas and this was done in January. All along we were planning to have this tournament in Dallas. Unfortunately it's been pulled out of Dallas because the president said the hotels were too expensive. To be honest, I don't know who is making the arrangements of where the games go because my say of where the games should go, it doesn't seem like I have any say in the matter. Every time I speak to Manaf, he says well we have to get this approved. I guess all the approval is done by the president and the treasurer."

In Prasad's opinion, the result of all of these changes is that stakeholders don't have much confidence in the way USACA is operating. "Dallas is disappointed with us because we were supposed to have a tournament there. We didn't have it. New York people feel the same way. They asked the question last night [at a town hall meeting]. Why are we not told what competitions we're going to have, what New York region is going to host, or where and who is going to host these tournaments? Why can't we have some time to prepare for it? If you don't have that time, why should people be confident in what you're doing?

"One of the ladies spoke to me yesterday. She says, 'Krish, I have asked you guys several times of your schedule. I have to go to a wedding in the Caribbean. I want to make arrangements to go and come back so I don't miss anything.' I can't give her an answer."

Prasad feels that USACA still operates as if it is broke, in spite of the deal signed with several investors to form Cricket Holdings America and pump revenue into USACA. However, USACA Treasurer John Thickett wants to dispel any worries about USACA's financial status. Thickett says that $1.1 million has come in so far as part of the deal and that $3.9 million more should come in over the course of 2011.

"Part of my job is to make sure we have money to do stuff," Thickett said. "The Twenty20 is a new tournament. We have funding in place right now to cover the Twenty20 going ahead. We've got the Under-19s we're doing some camps for getting ready for Ireland."

Three million of that money was supposed to be delivered through what was labeled as a signing bonus, but that money may not come in until September or October at the earliest. It is contingent upon a stake in CHA membership being sold by one of the investors. An anonymous source is worried that this signing bonus money may never come, particularly as he feels the membership stake that is yet to be sold may depend on the results of USACA elections in October. Thickett denied this speculation in an interview earlier this month.

"We're hopeful to get it done by September or October," Thickett said on May 2. "The elections will be over by October so whoever's coming into power will be handling the money, but there's no linkage between… I'm sure there are people who want to think that or speculate that."

USACA is also supposed to receive 31% of any profits generated through hosting matches between Full Members and selling television rights to matches. However, Thickett admitted on Thursday that profits are not realistic for 2011.

"The LLC is a startup company. It's got to put on events and get revenue," Thickett said. "I don't think we're going to have an international between two Full Members this year. I think it's more likely to happen next year along with the launch of the Twenty20 league. My prediction would be summer 2012. The state of the infrastructure, it's going to take more time to put that infrastructure in. The issue of infrastructure around the country is a big issue."

Prasad hopes that there will not be any more snags with tournaments being staged this year, including the women's national tournament that is supposed to be hosted by the New York Region from July 1-4, but he is not convinced by the messages he's getting from other members of the USACA leadership.

"I guess it's the way we operate. The way we operate is poor governance," Prasad said. "All of this is because we don't have the finances in place. We are not making or putting great importance on these things. We have tournaments planned. The cricket committee puts things together in January. It's there and it just falls by the wayside.

"July 4th weekend, we don't have a definite go ahead for the women's tournament in New York. We've been constantly going through this. Like our director said last night, this is embarrassing. We can't operate like this. This is nothing new to USACA. Maybe they don't have any money. It's embarrassing."