Ferguson and Cooper keep South Australia alive


ScorecardFile photo – Callum Ferguson top scored with 90•Getty Images

Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper were instrumental in setting Tasmania a target of 300 for victory in Hobart, where South Australia must win to have any chance of making the Sheffield Shield final. The Redbacks began the third day at 0 for 69 and were dismissed in the final over the day for 406, an innings that was based around a 173-run fifth-wicket stand between Ferguson and Cooper.Opener Jake Weatherald fell early for 28 to the bowling of Sam Rainbird, before debutant John Dalton was caught behind for 71 off fellow first-gamer Gabe Bell, the Tasmania fast bowler who finished with 4 for 97 and seven wickets for the match. South Australia’s hopes faded when Bell snared both Travis Head and Jake Lehmann for single-figure scores to leave the total at 4 for 120.But Ferguson and Cooper then settled in for a long stay before Cooper was eventually caught behind for 83. Ferguson had the opportunity to push for his second century in consecutive matches but instead was caught behind off Rainbird for 90. However, there were still plenty of runs to come, with Adam Zampa striking 63 to lift the total to 406.

Nagarkoti's hat-trick fires Rajasthan to narrow win

At Chepauk, 17-year old medium pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti took the first-ever List A hat-trick for Rajasthan that helped them defend 183 for a 14-run win against Gujarat. Gujarat were 152 for 5 – just 32 short of the target – when Nagarkoti made his first strike. They were eventually bowled out for 169, with Nagarkoti having taken 3 for 30 in seven overs. Bhargav Merai (51) and Rujul Bhatt (49) made contributions for Gujarat and shared a fourth-wicket partnership on 90. Apart from Nagarkoti, captain Pankaj Singh took three wickets, while Nathu Singh finished with two scalps.Nagarkoti also came good with the bat as his unbeaten half-century lifted Rajasthan from 54 for 6. Along with Arijit Gupta (69), he helped add 86 for the seventh wicket and finished not out on 56.Manoj Tiwary’s unbeaten century steered Bengal to an eight-wicket win in a chase of 214 against Goa. Tiwary slammed 116 off 94 balls with 13 fours and three sixes as Bengal win with 85 balls to spare. Tiwary’s knock rescued Bengal from early losses, after they were reduced to 45 for 2. Tiwary dominated an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 169 with opening batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran to see his team through. Abhimanyu finished not out on 68.Bengal could have been chasing more had Goa’s batsmen converted their starts. Amogh Desai top-scored with 49, but his dismissal triggered a slide as Goa went from 150 for 2 to finish on 213 for 9. Kanshik Seth, the debutant medium pacer, took 3 for 50 in 10 overs.Seamer Chandrakant Sakure’s maiden List A five-for helped Madhya Pradesh dismiss Mumbai for 134 and canter to an 80-run win. Sakure took 5 for 25 in eight overs and was supported by Saransh Jain, who took 3 for 30 in nine overs. Ishwar Pandey and Ankit Sharma took one wicket each.MP’s innings was driven by Ankit Dane in the first half. Dane struck 46 off 76 balls and held up his end even as wickets fell around him. He was dismissed in the 28th over, after which Sohraab Dhaliwal propelled the score past 200 with his 41-ball 51. Dhaliwal was the last man dismissed as MP were bowled out for 214 in 45.1 overs. Mumbai’s bowlers shared the wickets around, with Shardul Thakur’s 3 for 27 the best figures.

CCC beat ICC Americas to stay unbeaten, Jamaica upend Guyana

Jamaica bounced back from an opening loss to defeat Guyana by 41 runs at Kensington Oval on Thursday. Chadwick Walton propelled Jamaica’s top order with 82 before Devon Thomas chipped in towards the end of the innings with a half-century to get Jamaica to a total of 249 for 8.Shivnarine Chanderpaul underpinned Guyana’s battling effort in reply with his 13th List A century, but received little support – the next best score for Guyana was Anthony Bramble’s 29. Chanderpaul eventually became the ninth wicket, falling for 101 in the 43rd over. In the next over, Jerome Taylor had Ronsford Beaton caught behind to complete a five-wicket haul as Guyana were bowled out for 208.Combined Campuses & Colleges defeated ICC Americas by seven wickets at Windward Park to stay atop Group B. Sent in to bat, ICC Americas ended on 181 for 9 thanks in large part to a 60-run eighth-wicket stand by Timroy Allen (43) and Saad Bin Zafar (25) before both men fell in the last seven balls. Ryan Hinds bowled a stifling left-arm spin to finish with 1 for 19, but fast bowler Keon Harding was named Man of the Match for his 2 for 27, including the wicket of Zafar in the 50th over.Amir Jangoo struck his second straight fifty and formed an 81-run opening stand with captain Jamal Smith to get the chase going. Kyle Corbin (47*) and Cassius Burton (38*) then coasted to the target, adding an unbroken 73 for the fourth wicket to clinch victory with 4.2 overs to spare.

Quiney, Maxwell bash subdues Hurricanes

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe Melbourne Stars delivered a statement in their opening match of the tournament with a clinical seven-wicket win over the Hobart Hurricanes in Hobart.The Stars made the Hurricanes impressive total of 4 for 188 look thoroughly inadequate thanks to a brilliant 43 ball 75 from experienced opener Rob Quiney. England import Luke Wright allowed Quiney to settle with a quick-fire 48 at the top. Glenn Maxwell then finished the job with ease, producing some pure ball-striking after Quiney was dismissed.Earlier the Hurricanes had dug themselves out of a major hole. Ben Hilfenhaus hit off stump twice with his first two balls of the match to reduce the Hurricanes to 2 for 6. They slipped to 3 for 32 when Kumar Sangakkara holed out to long off. Tim Paine and George Bailey then combined for a Hurricanes franchise-record stand of 145 to set a competitive total on a superb batting surface. But it wasn’t enough.A Quiney reminder
Quiney was forced to bat in the lower-middle order for the Stars throughout last year’s BBL campaign. The Stars finished as runners-up using Wright and Marcus Stoinis as openers for a majority of the tournament. Quiney, left out of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield squad this season, has been playing club cricket and second XI cricket. He found some form in the Stars’ practice matches and struck the ball powerfully against the Hurricanes. He was savage over the leg side off both pacers and the spinners. With Kevin Pietersen set to return after missing this game due to family commitments, Quiney reminded the Stars’ selectors of his value at the top of the order.Bucking the bat-first trend
The Hurricanes elected to bat, hoping to continue the momentum they found while setting a total in their tournament opener against Sydney Sixers. Teams batting first had won four straight games in the tournament after the Sixers won chasing in game one against the Sydmey Thunder. It seemed an anomaly given the team chasing won 20 of 35 matches in last year’s Big Bash, including all three finals matches. The Stars went some way to squaring the ledger in BBL06 with a flawless chase.Piling on the Paine
Paine’s 91 from 61 balls was his highest T20 score and his second consecutive half-century of the tournament, following his 63 in against the Sixers. He took his time early but stepped up through the middle over and scored fluently all around the ground. He and Bailey mixed superb stroke-play with excellent running in their record stand.At 32, Paine is a forgotten man in Australian cricket. He has played four tests, 26 One-Day Internationals and five T20 internationals for as a wicketkeeper batsman. But he has not played a single Sheffield Shield game this season because Tasmania have preferred Jake Doran. Paine has had to ply his trade in second XI cricket despite a superior test average to both current test keeper Matthew Wade, and Peter Nevill, who Wade replaced. He also has a superior T20 average and strike-rate compared to both Wade and Nevill, who have alternated in the role for Australia at T20 level as well.Hilfenhaus’ horror hat-trick ball
Hilfenhaus made the perfect start with the ball clattering the off stumps of both D’Arcy Short and Dom Michael with his first two balls of the match. Michael has now faced 10 balls in BBL cricket and has been dismissed four times without scoring a single run. Sangakkara walked out to face the hat-trick ball and could not have got friendlier delivery if he had pre-ordered it. Hilfenhaus delivered a full toss above waist-high wide outside off stump and Sangakkara caressed it through point for four. He also got a free hit next ball as it was a no-ball for height.

Shamsi emerges as potential day-night trump card

Just like Kyle Abbott is not exactly sure when he is going to be able to make the move ball move, Tabraiz Shamsi does not really know whether the Australian batsmen can pick him, but as long as the wickets come, he does not mind the uncertainty.”That’s the theory going around and with theories, you can’t say it’s a given thing because it’s not a proven thing,” Shamsi said at the MCG where his 4 for 72 against a Victoria XI put him in line for a Test debut. “I am really happy with the way I have gone personally against them.”Shamsi was picked for the Test squad on the back of a stellar 2015-16 first-class season – he was joint-second on the wicket-charts with 41 scalps at 19.97 – and performances in shorter formats which suggested he could be a handful. Shamsi took 3 for 36 in his third ODI against Australia in Port Elizabeth last month and was South Africa A’s third-highest wicket-taker in a 50-over quadrangular series in Australia this winter.The talk in South Africa is that Shamsi’s variations render batsmen illiterate and that he was brought on this tour specifically to play in Adelaide. He was seen practising with the pink ball on his own during the Hobart Test and even though it may be harsh on Keshav Maharaj, who also debuted on this tour, South Africa may want to use Shamsi as a trump card in the day-night fixture.Shamsi confirmed the pink ball wears “a lot more than the red ball”, and is therefore more likely to bring spinners into the game. Wristpin with a pink ball has emerged as particularly tricky for batsmen and even though Shamsi is not sure of exactly how difficult it is, he hopes he can prove a handful anyway.”There’s a theory about legspinners and batsmen not picking it,” Shamsi said. “The guys say it’s harder to pick the seam off the legspinners so maybe there is a difference but at the end of the day you have to put the ball in the right areas.”Conceding more than six an over, as Shamsi did in the warm-up match, may not speak much for his disciplines which may be why Shamsi continues to be coy about his chances of playing. It’s almost as if he knows that he travelled as a reserve, or a surprise package, and is focusing more on being part of the Test squad than the starting XI. “That’s not up to me [if I debut],” he said. “I’ve just got to go and do my bit. If it comes I’ll be happy. If it doesn’t, the team is doing well so either way it’s a win-win situation.”Like his team-mates, Shamsi repeated the mantra that South Africa are not merely satisfied with a series win. They want a whitewash too. “We came here to win the series. We’ve done that. Our mission is not over yet. We are going to try and win the series 3-nil.”

ECB extends Saqlain coaching spell

Saqlain Mushtaq will remain with the England team until the end of the third Test in Mohali after agreeing an extension to his deal with the ECB.Saqlain, the former Pakistan offspinner, is currently in the middle of a second spell as spin-bowling consultant with the England side but had originally been contracted to spend just a couple of weeks with the team. He was scheduled to leave the tour after the first Test.But with all three spinners in the England side enjoying an improved performance in Rajkot, it has now been decided to retain his services for a little longer. While there had been some concerns over whether they would be able to extend his visa due to the strained relationship between India and Pakistan, the ECB has confirmed that the issue has been resolved.The ECB has been criticised in recent times – not least by Graeme Swann – for not providing the same level of support to spin bowlers as other disciplines within the side. While batting and bowling coaches travel with the team nearly all the time, the likes of Saqlain and, before him, Mushtaq Ahmed, have been contracted for just a few days a few times a year. Sometimes this has been arranged only a couple of days before games, providing little time for meaningful coaching or improvement.Adil Rashid’s improved showing in Rajkot has, in part, been credited to Saqlain, though. Encouraged to bowl at his natural pace, rather than bowl quicker which has been a feature of recent performances, Rashid gained impressive turn and noted Saqlain’s input on field placement and game plans.

'Not too fussy about batting positions' – Nair

In July, six people drowned and a few others were reported missing when a boat with more than a hundred people on board capsized in a river in Kerala. Karun Nair was on that boat, taking part in a temple festival with his family as thanksgiving for making his India debut. Nair was one of the survivors – he had to swim some distance before being rescued by a group of locals.The incident came in the middle of a mixed few months in Nair’s life. He had just played for India for the first time, during their ODI tour of Zimbabwe, his selection a reward for his consistency both in first-class cricket – he averaged more than 50 after three seasons – and the IPL. He hadn’t really grabbed the chance, scoring only 46 in two innings while opening the batting in fairly low-pressure chases. The lack of form continued through India A’s tour of Australia, but he was back in form at the start of the 2016-17 domestic season, when he was also handed the captaincy of the Karnataka side for the first time.Now, he is part of India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against England. He has been part of the squad before, but this time he is one of only six specialist batsmen included.”I was disappointed with the way my ODI debut series panned out. I don’t think I lived up to the standards I set myself,” Nair tells ESPNcricinfo. “Probably I didn’t grab my chances. But after the tour I decided to put that behind me and look forward to the new season. I didn’t want to sit and keep hoping, but I knew my chances will come sooner than later if I keep scoring runs.”Rohit Sharma’s quadriceps injury means, Nair – who has scores of 74, 54*, 53 and 145 in his first four innings of the new Ranji Trophy season – could get his Test cap in Rajkot on November 9 if India play six specialist batsmen. With Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane entrenched at Nos. 3, 4 and 5, Nair could be in line for the No. 6 slot.”I’m not too fussy about batting positions, honestly,” Nair says. “I’ve been playing up the order in the IPL, so in white-ball cricket, I’ve enjoyed batting up the order. I started off as an opener for my state side in my junior-cricket days and then settled at No. 4. In Zimbabwe, I was asked if I would be ready to open. As a debutant, you can’t have preferences, and it was a challenge I readily accepted.”Having been on the fringes of the Test team, you do think of all this while sitting outside, but eventually it’s about being confident in your abilities and trusting the technique that has got you to this level.”It hasn’t always been the case. A few years ago, Nair was full of self-doubt, which stemmed not from an inability to score runs but an inability to convert starts. Till he was 19, he hadn’t scored a century at any age-group level.”I had a mental block while growing up, but that also made me learn you don’t throw away starts,” Nair says. “Not being able to convert starts made me tougher. I became more attacking. I used to make 60s and 70s and get out. When I started to attack and bat more freely, I realised the 30-40 runs came quite easily. That change in mindset made a big difference. Now, I tend to play to the situation even though I believe I’m an attacking batsman.”The vote of confidence about Nair’s technique came from the India A coach Rahul Dravid, whom he sought out ahead of the home series against South Africa A in September 2015.”Once I got the confidence from him, all my self-doubts vanished,” Nair says. “I was batting within myself initially. I asked him about the areas I needed to work on. It felt reassuring to hear him tell me there was nothing wrong.”Someone like him saying that was of real value, so I’ve never had any batting conversations with him since. He has been very supportive, backed me in pressure situations and given me the opportunity to express myself. At that stage, he had more confidence in me than I did. That sort of gives you a boost from within.”There were signs of Nair having erased that self-doubt when he made a match-saving fourth-innings century in the first unofficial Test. That earned him a maiden call-up to India’s squad, for the third Test in Sri Lanka.Dravid, who has worked closely with Nair while coaching or mentoring India A, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils, picks out his hunger and attitude as qualities that have helped him transition to the next level.”Karun is still a work in progress, but obviously his skills and temperament have got him to this stage,” Dravid says. “He picks lengths early; his instincts as a batsman are solid now.”So where did he see Nair evolve into the batsman he is today?”I think the role change at Delhi Daredevils brought out the best in him,” Dravid says. “At Rajasthan Royals, he was batting behind the main guys like Shane Watson, Steven Smith and Ajinkya Rahane. At Delhi, we gave youngsters responsibility to drive the innings, and let seniors lower down the order handle the slightly challenging situations. He showed his ability to adapt there.”Having been part of the Test squad on two occasions without getting a look-in, Nair says the experience was an eye-opener in terms of what he needed to do to remain in those environs, and he soaked in the feeling of being in the dressing room and chatting with Kohli and the support staff.”It was a great feeling being around legends and future legends,” Nair says. “It felt amazing when they spoke of your domestic performances. That gave me a sense of belonging. Being a part of the dressing room for the first time, I still can’t describe. The Test cap is special and I’ve seen the seniors treasure it. When my chance comes, I’ll be ready.”

Top-order issues have led to downfall – Brathwaite

West Indies T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite has pointed out that top-order issues have been the major worry for them in the two matches against Pakistan in Dubai. West Indies were reduced to 17 for 4 in the first T20, before being bowled out for 115, and were tottering at 19 for 3 while chasing 161 in the second T20. They lost both matches and now the teams move to Abu Dhabi for the third T20 on Tuesday.”The one glaring thing I can see [that went wrong in the first two matches] is the batting, especially top-order batting,” Brathwaite said on Monday. “We haven’t been making the most of the first six overs with only two fielders out. And then it became harder and harder…in the first game we had five wickets down. And then chasing 160 and [being] only 20-odd after the first six, it’s going to be a lot more difficult especially with such huge boundaries. So our top-order batting and the misuse of the first six overs was our downfall in the first two games.”Their top three batsmen – Johnson Charles, Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher – fell for low scores, leaving much of the work for the middle and lower order. While openers Charles and Lewis managed scores of 7 and 10, and 1 and 3 respectivly, No. 3 Fletcher scored 2 and 29. Among all batsmen who have batted in the two T20s, only one – Dwayne Bravo – has scored over 30. Brathwaite said it was the collective effort he was concerned about, and not the performance of any single player, when asked about Andre Fletcher’s form.”It’s about each and every person, not only one single one,” Brathwaite said. “As a batting unit we did not come to the party, we didn’t perform as we wanted to do in the two games. We don’t want to single out Fletcher. He has done very very well for the West Indies in the recent past and if you remember he had scored a match-winning 80-odd against Sri Lanka in the [T20] World Cup. So one or two bad games do not make him a bad player. Fletcher knows what he has to do to be better than he has been in the first two days, so has the top order. It’s about them going back to the rooms, recalibrating, finding ways and means to execute different plans.”West Indies’ biggest positive has been their legspinner Samuel Badree, their only bowler to concede at less than seven runs per over in the series so far. Even though West Indies were defending only 115 in the first T20, he opened the bowling and finished with 4-0-27-1, taking the only wicket that fell. In the second T20, Badree was their most economical bowler with figures of 4-0-24-1. He bowled Pakistan opener Sharjeel Khan on both occasions.”Simplicity [is his strong point], he keeps it simple, he knows his strengths,” Brathwaite said about Badree. “I think himself and Imad Wasim are quite similar, as in they are not big turners of the ball and they probably won’t keep you awake at night but when they get into the game and the way they bowl wicket to wicket – you miss I hit – that’s been successful for Badree, the No. 1 bowler in the world and you can see why.”Brathwaite also reflected on his learnings as captain from the second series he has been leading his team in. He took over from Darren Sammy and won his first series as T20 captain when they beat India 1-0 in the two-match series in Florida last month. Brathwaite said he was feeling more confident with his role as captain with more matches under his belt, even though they were trailing 2-0 in the current series.”I have learnt a lot. So I am not really judging myself and thinking because I want to win the series and make the West Indies fans happy,” he said. “If we can help the fans to continue to enjoy T20 cricket then I’d think I have done a good job. Up until now, we haven’t so it’s up to me to motivate the guys for the next game to help put a smile on the fans’ faces.”I don’t know if it’s more comfortable or more familiar but I’m still new into the job, but that’s not an excuse [for losing]. As we go on, I feel a lot more confidence with things. I don’t know for how long I’ll be in the job for but just want us to do a good job and even get better at it.”The visitors had faced extremely hot conditions in Dubai last week and are likely to face more of that in Abu Dhabi with the highest temperature expected to go close to 40 degrees. Brathwaite said they had not adjusted that poorly but stated it was more likely to be a bigger factor during the ODIs and Tests in the coming weeks.”It is what it is. The heat won’t change, probably it will be hotter as we go into the 50-over as we start early and then Test cricket which will see longer days. So I won’t say it’s easy but you know we have to adjust, we haven’t adjusted that poorly. However, we have completed the 20 overs within the time frame and coming off the field don’t think too many guys were panting. So we seemed fit enough to get through 20 overs with good intensity. The heat is a factor but I don’t think it had any bearing on them getting on to 160 and us not restricting them to 140 or 150.”

'Good to have all the senior guys back' – Simmons

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons has said having more seniors in the T20 side compared to the Test squad is a good feeling as it “makes things easy” for him for the two upcoming T20Is against India in Lauderhill, Florida. As opposed to the inexperienced Test side that lost 2-0 to India, their T20 squad features Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard among other specialist T20 players. They will also play under the new captain Carlos Brathwaite after Darren Sammy was dropped from the side.”It’s good to have all the senior guys back and they make things easy for me because it’s a case of them doing all the work and they know this format inside out,” Simmons said on Thursday in Lauderhill. “So it gives me a chance to just enjoy them freeing themselves out there.”Simmons also said being the T20 champions helped the side’s confidence, comparing them with the 1980s’ Test side, which dominated the longer format for years.”In this context, I think it’s a case where we are world champions and it’s something we have made our own, similar to back in the ’80s when we made Test cricket our own. We always had the team to beat in T20 cricket so from that point of view we’ve got a lot better and all the guys are loving playing it. But it’s a stepping-stone to one-day cricket too.”Brathwaite has played only eight T20Is so far and played only the first of the four Tests against India, scoring 0 and an unbeaten 51. While he had recently said the T20 players were “mature enough” to handle a change in leadership, Simmons said the objective of the new captain and the entire side would be to build on the World T20 win in India.”I think his (Brathwaite’s) main mindset is that we have to continue where Sammy left us and the good work that Sammy did in this position,” Simmons said. “I think that’s the mindset of all players that we have to continue the work we did in the [T20] World Cup and before that.”Even though their T20 squad is vastly different from the Test side, Simmons said there would be an “easy” transition in the dressing room because the T20 side has broadly remained the same since the World T20, which they won without Narine and Pollard.”Yeah, it could be a bit different but I think there’s only three players here who played in that [Test] series,” Simmons explained. “So it is not that much of a transition because the three players know how to play this and one of them was the best player in the World Cup, you know, batting wise. I think we are easy with that transition.”We still prepare for the two days here the same way we would have prepared before. It’s just that the Indian team has been together for longer but we are over here preparing and we will do that over the next two days.”Simmons also emphasised on the kind of impact players like Russell and Narine could make in the shortest format. Russell recently struck a 44-ball 100 packed with 11 sixes and played a crucial role, along with Gayle, in taking Jamaica Tallawahs to their second CPL title. Narine took 14 wickets in the CPL with an economy rate of 5.55, and also finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tri-series against South Africa and Australia in June.”I don’t think there’s much to be said about Andre,” Simmons said. “From what he’s on the pitch, he just gives everything over there and he’s always going to be our main player for us. Once he starts, with either bat or ball, we are in a position of winning.”I haven’t seen the surface properly yet but Narine played here for Trinidad & Tobago in the CPL and he has done well and adapted well. So I’d like the same from him.”Their squad will also be bolstered by Johnson Charles, the second-highest run-scorer in the CPL, Andre Fletcher, Lendl Simmons and legspinner Samuel Badree, the No. 1 ranked bowler in T20Is, who had injured himself in the World T20 final. Simmons stated that beating India in T20s, just like they had done in the World T20 semi-final in Mumbai, was going to be a bigger motivation than their T20 ranking, which is third currently behind New Zealand and India.”It (ranking) is motivation but I think, as in Mumbai, just to beat India because that’s always going to be the team to beat in T20 cricket because they’ve commanded the format for a long period. So winning against India is always going to be high on the agenda. Where we get after that, we are happy at that.”The only thing that we are doing is that we will prepare as best as we can because India is going to be coming looking for revenge for the semi-final loss and we have to make sure that we are ready for whatever they bring to us.”Simmons was also asked about the recent discussions the WICB held with the players during the WICB/WIPA Players’ Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and he barely commented on that, but sounded more excited about the coming matches at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill.”I was there, and I’m happy that discussions were held,” he said. “It’s not about holding discussions; it’s about where you go from there. Let’s see where it takes us.”This is an awesome stadium, awesome! Looking at the CPL, the wicket seemed to be very good too. So if the wicket is as good as it was in CPL in a stadium like this, we are in for a treat over the weekend.”

'USACA will not be expelled in June' – Anderson

The USA Cricket Association’s status as a suspended Associate member is expected to be upheld but without going to the next step of expulsion at the upcoming ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo during his recent meetings held in the USA, the ICC head of global development Tim Anderson stated that USACA needs to be given a fair chance to meet reinstatement conditions that were laid out to them last year before a final determination is given.”USACA cannot be expelled at this year’s annual conference,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo in Colorado Springs where the ICC are in the process of shifting their Americas office from Toronto. “I think that is an important point to make that a suspended member is still a member. There will be an update to our board at our annual conference meeting at the end of June. I know the community at large is very interested in this topic. USACA as our current member needs to be given sufficient opportunity to meet those reinstatement conditions.””Some of the conditions have changed over the last 12 months including the requirement to develop a new constitution for US cricket which is now sitting with the US cricket advisory committee to consider that. Things have changed over the course of time so we need to appreciate that because we’ve changed things, USACA needs to be given appropriate time to assess that.”According to the ICC’s Articles of Association, article 2.6 section B states that expulsion or cessation of membership following a period of suspension can only occur “upon the requisite resolution being passed at [Annual] Conference following a proposal notified in writing to the Chief Executive prior to 31st December in any year for consideration at Conference in the immediately following year, such proposal being made and seconded by Full Members.”No such resolution was put forward to the ICC board by the end of 2015. Anderson sent out an email to the US cricket community on Thursday informing them that USACA has until December 15 to meet reinstatement conditions, chief among them to ratify a new constitution. If USACA does not, it would leave 16 days for a board resolution to be proposed, setting up USACA for potentially being expelled from membership in June 2017.On the topic of the constitution, Anderson held a meeting with the 10-person Sustainable Foundation US advisory group last weekend in Colorado Springs in which members of the US Olympic Committee were also in attendance. Developing a constitution that fits in with USOC guidelines is something Anderson said is a priority for the Sustainable Foundation group going forward.”We’re all aware of the disjointed nature of the community at this point in time,” Anderson said. “Having a constitution that is able to secure the future of US cricket and bring all parties together is absolutely fundamental to the game’s successful future here. So as part of the reinstatement conditions as they currently stand, we’ve put together an advisory group representative of a broad spectrum of US cricket and other experts that over this weekend were considering what a unifying constitution might look like and what principles and fundamentals should be included to bring US cricket together.”One of the elements of that was whether cricket should be a member of the USOC. The USOC has a number of mandatory requirements for its members to have in their constitution. Rick Adams, one of the senior executives of the USOC, attended that meeting and gave some background on what the USOC is about, what benefits it can offer sports in America and how being part of the USOC has some obligations not just in terms of constitution but other things as well. The general view of the group is that it’s right for cricket to be a part of the USOC and therefore the mainstream American sports family.”Among the constitutional guidelines required to meet USOC statutes are athlete representation on the USACA board as well as independent directors. Those were included in a series of recommendations produced by TSE Consulting in a governance review in 2013, but were eventually rejected for inclusion in a proposed new constitution at that year’s USACA Annual General Meeting.As for a timeframe for when a new constitution might be presented to USACA for ratification or rejection, Anderson hopes that it can be accomplished within the next one to two months. Anderson said though that although ratifying a new constitution is the number one condition for reinstatement, it would not be the sole determining factor in USACA’s suspension potentially being lifted and that the other 38 terms and conditions must be met as well.”USACA will be requested to consider the adoption of a proposed constitution in order to meet that reinstatement condition,” Anderson said. “But at this point the [ICC] board’s position is that USACA needs to meet all the reinstatement conditions in order to be reinstated as an ICC member. It doesn’t meet all those reinstatement conditions right now. It continues to be suspended but it has more time to work on those things.”