NY Meeting Must Have Desired Results

By Orin Davidson
Cricket administration in New York has grown leaps and bounds in recent years.

Competitions have improved in standard and quantity with every passing year, training programs intensify every summer and fan interest is spreading all the time.

Therefore it is not surprising the leaders of the Region are taking a firm step towards overcoming the latest obstacle facing United States cricket.

Tomorrow, representatives from the many clubs affiliated to the national ruling body will meet with officials to sort out and hopefully come to a definitive stand on the potentially explosive constitution crisis that has seemingly developed overnight.

Hats off to the Regional Director Miller, his de facto assistant Kris Prasad and all the other serious minded officials who are contributing to the uplifting of New York’s cricket, for tackling this problem head on, before it is too late.

At the same time it does not necessitate those officials donning their thinking caps to decide the way forward on whether to accept the constitution or not.

The answer is a no-brainer because we have no choice but to vote yes regardless of whether it is best thing since sliced bread or worse than the one it is supposed to replace.

Passage of this very important document brings with it the future existence of United States cricket, because without it there will be no elections and without elections, there will be an inevitable international ban.

The International Cricket Council has made it quite clear that the elections due since last year, has one final chance to be held which happens to be no later than the end of next month.

And whether or not we like the constitution’s contents, there is absolutely no time to object or dither because the future of the game here could all dissolve faster than the argumentative types winning any verbal battle among themselves.

Therefore it is incumbent that the New York leaders make this reality crystal clear to the club representatives expected to show up in large numbers at the Naresa Palace tomorrow.

They must be made to understand that whatever differences they have with the constitution or any other aspect of USACA’s handling of cricket, can be vented on at the elections to be held immediately after the constitution is passed.

They will have the opportunity to replace or retain whichever officials they desire without fear or favor.

Therefore it makes no sense cutting one’s nose to spoil the face in the current situation because without an authentic national ruling body, no one will take it seriously.

Surely one cannot fathom U.S. cricket continuing without any relationship with the rest of the world. No one wants the sport to relapse to a social activity it was before those giant strides in the last four years.

All the youngsters who play seriously and saw Brian Lara and company perform in Brooklyn last summer, now have a burning desire to become stars.

But it will not happen with a banned national body.

Having now taken the lead, which hopefully will produce the desired results, our New York officials could pick up the baton and urge their colleagues around the country to do likewise.

It will be worth all the time, money and energy expended.
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