West Indies board struggles to break through

US no closer to being readmitted to the fold

Will Luke

May 17, 2007

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Nearly three months after the ICC charged West Indies with the responsibility of helping to resolve the bitter infighting which led to the USA Cricket Association being suspended from world cricket, Cricinfo can reveal that no progress has been made.

With the ICC's AGM due at the end of June, a mere six weeks offers scant time in which to make any headway into resolving the situation, leaving USA facing an indefinite period in international isolation.

"We've had some preliminary discussions with some people in USACA and a meeting with the president a few days ago," Bruce Aanensen, WICB's chief executive, told Cricinfo. "We have come up with what we feel is the best approach to [help] the United States. While we have been given this mandate by the ICC, we can't simply walk into another country if they don't want us there. And therefore we are trying to break some ice, to find out the best way to find a resolution to this problem."

The ICC suspended the USACA at the beginning of March after hotly-disputed elections and a controversial new constitution left two factions claiming to control the game. In one corner USACA, headed by Gladstone Dainty, in the other the rival Council of League Presidents.

The ICC asked the WICB to intervene and the USA will not be considered for readmission to the fold until the West Indies board are satisfied all is well. But, as Aanensen implies, there is little they can do until the USACA become more transparent.

"Gladstone Dainty is merely [on] one side of the fence; the USA factions and leagues are on the other, and we just want to get both parties to agree," Aanensen admitted. "We have been asked by the ICC to help. We would like to come in and hear [from] all parties concerned to understand the issues involved, and then move to help them resolve them.

"It is actively on our agenda," Aanensen said. "We are trying to sort an agreement, within a month at the latest, to talk to all parties to see how we can help."

Will Luke is a staff writer on Cricinfo

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