CEO post presents problems

USACA looks to appoint for the future

Martin Williamson

May 17, 2008

The USACA has set a target of September 2008 for the hiring of a chief executive to oversee the running of the association.

The news comes in the light of new rules being considered by the ICC which will entitle the leading Associates to a considerable increase in funding that could run into more than a million dollars a year. While the USA is, because of its clash with the ICC, not ranked highly at the moment, many believe that could change with its recent reinstatement.

However, one of the conditions that has to be met to make a country eligible for the various grants is that it has to have a CEO. It's a chicken and egg situation, as most cannot afford a CEO without the additional income but cannot get the cash without a CEO.

The main obstacle facing USACA is how to fund such an appointment in the short term. It is not believed that it has any reserves. This year's ICC grants of around US$110,000 will be swallowed by regional tournaments as well as sending the national side abroad to play. The USACA has historically found attraction sponsors and investors extremely hard to come by, and the closeted way it has operated hardly helps its own cause.

It is thought that USACA might be looking to solve that by appointing an unpaid CEO, although it is hard to see why someone would be willing to undertake what should be a full-time job for free. What will also worry those who have been at loggerheads with USACA is that the names of Paul de Silva and Selwyn Ceasar have been touted as possible candidates.

Both men are closely linked with Gladstone Dainty, the controversial president of USACA, and until the March elections both were on the executive board. However, they were replaced as secretary and treasurer by candidates from the rival New Innings team.

There also have to be concerns about how much autonomy a CEO would have. At times, Dainty has run USACA as a one-man operation and it would take a marked change in his approach for the CEO to be anything other than a token post.

Martin Williamson is executive editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

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