Disharmony threatens to scupper national competition

Two of the four regions in the Western half of the United States have announced that they will not participate in the US National Championship called by the Dainty-led United States of America Cricket Association. A third is expected to follow suit, leaving the Western Conference without a tournament to hold.

In a message to all League Presidents, the Southwest Zone (Southern California and Arizona) declared that it would not participate in any tournament called by what it said was the "illegal" USACA executive led by Gladstone Dainty. That announcement was followed by one from the Central West Zone (Colorado and Texas), which said it had polled its member leagues and reached a consensus on the issue. The Northwest Zone (Northern California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho) has not yet issued a formal statement, but was expected to follow the lead of its neighboring regions. This would leave only the Central East Zone (Chicago and Upper Midwest) in the Western Conference, with no teams to play against.

The situation in the Eastern Conference is less clear. New York and the Mid-Atlantic region are expected to support Dainty's call for the National Tournament, with the South East region (Florida and Dixie) probably going along with them. The North East region (New England and Connecticut) is a question mark, with their regional director facing problems pulling together a regional team. The chances of a complete Eastern Conference with four participating teams could be no higher than 50:50. Of course, even if it could be held, there would be no Western Conference winner and runner-up to play in the finals, and therefore no national champion in 2005.

There is another troubling aspect to the developing East-West split. The western leagues are heavily dominated by South Asians, while the eastern leagues are predominantly Caribbean (of both Black and East Indian ethnicities). Things have been reasonably tranquil on the cricket field, but the race card is being increasingly played in many political disputes, and this only serves to exacerbate divisions that are beginning to emerge in US cricket.