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Opening batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond scored an unbeaten century to lead England Under-19 to a three-wicket victory against Australia Under-19 at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville. Bell-Drummond made 103 not out off 109 balls, single-handedly leading his team towards the target of 204, which was achieved with 21 balls to spare. Jamie Overton (28) was the only other batsman to make more than 20. Bell-Drummond’s century was his third fifty-plus score in three consecutive innings, having made 55 and 51 in Bangladesh. He kept the chase steady despite England slipping to 46 for 3 and 118 for 5. Medium-pacer Gurinder Sandhu and left-arm spinner Ashton Agar took two wickets apiece for Australia. In the first innings, Australia had done well to score as many as they did (203 for 8) after being reduced to 129 for 7. Nick Stevens made 76 off 78 balls at No. 7 to lift his team. Left-arm medium-pacer Reece Topley and offspinner Sam Wood took three wickets each for England to limit the hosts.New Zealand Under-19 crushed India Under-19 by six wickets after skittling them for a low total at Endeavour Park in Townsville. India were rocked after getting sent in, collapsing to 8 for 4 and then 64 for 8. Baba Aparajith scored an unbeaten 40 to take the score to 123 before the innings ended in 47 overs. Ish Sodhi took 3 for 25 for New Zealand, while Ed Nuttall, Jacob Duffy and Connor Neynens took claimed wickets each. New Zealand also lost three early wickets in their chase, but Joe Carter scored 45 and Nick Kelly an unbeaten 62 to lead their side home in 33.4 overs. Kamal Passi took all four wickets to fall, and finished with 4 for 25 for India.

Lance Gibbs, the West Indies offspinner who once held the world record for Test wickets, has suggested a more vigorous follow-through after delivery as an area in which Australia’s offspinner Nathan Lyon should develop after watching him in action during the first Test against the West Indies at Bridgetown.Lyon and Gibbs spoke in St Lucia earlier in the tour, but at that point Gibbs had not yet seen the younger man ply his trade in a Test. Having observed the five days of the match at Kensington Oval, won so dramatically by Australia on the final afternoon, Gibbs told ESPNcricinfo a certain snap was missing from the conclusion of Lyon’s action.”In the finish of his action he needs to cut his body in half as much as he can, give it everything with each delivery,” Gibbs said. “His line and length is quite good, I could not judge too much about how he varies his pace, but in the finish of his action he seemed to be lacking something.”On the fifth day of the game you should see something as far as spin is concerned, but he didn’t really beat the bat, though he should have been spinning the ball away from the left-handers. If you’re really giving it everything with your whole body, then you’re going to see more spin.”Lyon managed figures of 1 for 113 in 42 overs at Bridgetown, returning only the wicket of Kemar Roach for his efforts. However, his analysis was no worse than that of the West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo, who also claimed only one wicket for the match and was hit out of the attack on the final day, as the part-time finger spin of Narsingh Deonarine was preferred.Mindful of Trinidad’s tendency for sharp turn and variable bounce, the West Indies selectors have bolstered their spin options by recalling the offspin of Shane Shillingford, who Gibbs said would spin the ball harder than Lyon while also varying his pace. Australia must also consider the option of playing the left-arm orthodox Michael Beer as a second spinner, a ploy not resorted to even on the dustbowl of Galle against Sri Lanka last year when Lyon debuted.At times in Barbados Lyon’s front arm did not seem to be leading off his action as strongly as it has on earlier occasions, while other observers have wondered whether his approach to the wicket is too straight. Earlier in the summer, Arthur had said he was working with Lyon on bringing his point of delivery a little closer to the stumps, to accentuate his drift away from the bat.Nevertheless, Arthur and the national selector John Inverarity have both expressed happiness about how Lyon is developing. Arthur said that there remain areas for Lyon to improve, but all would follow given time, offering the reminder that the Adelaide-based offspinner is still a novice in terms of first-class experience.”I’m really happy with where Nathan’s at, he’s worked extremely hard,” Arthur said. “There’s little facets of his game he needs to keep developing, and like any player in our side they’ve all got little facets that we’re continually working on. He needs to do that, but he’s a very good finger spinner.”We must also realise he’s only played 20 first-class games and I think 12 of them have been Test matches, so he’s still learning his art in the toughest form of the game. He’s going to be a very good spinner. We just have to keep monitoring Nathan, but I’m very happy with where he’s at.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Rajasthan Royals’ offspinner Ajit Chandila, who picked up the first hat-trick of the season, said that former India legspinner Narendra Hirwani’s advice before the match gave him the confidence to bowl with the new ball against Pune Warriors on Sunday.Chandila, who played only his second match this season, dismissed Warriors’ top order with Jesse Ryder, Sourav Ganguly and Robin Uthappa falling in his first two overs and Anustup Majumdar in his last. “I asked Narendra Hirwani for his advice as it was an important match,” Chandila said. “He asked me to stick to the basics, bowl in the right areas and stop the batsmen from getting to the pitch of the ball. His words gave me a lot of confidence. I just tried to bowl in those areas and it paid dividends.”Chandila, who ended with match-winning figures of 4 for 13, said that he studied the weaknesses of Warriors’ batsmen before the match which gave him the edge. “I watched the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Robin Uthappa bat in the past, so I knew where to bowl [to them],”he said. “I just tried to bowl in those areas and got the dividends.”Chandila also credited wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami for stumping Ganguly and Uthappa. “Goswami was brilliant behind the stumps. This is a team game and you need the help of your team-mates.”Chandila’s mentor, Hirwani, said that the key to the offspinner’s success was his accuracy. “My advice to him was to keep the batsmen in check by not giving easy runs,” Hirwani said. “He is not a big turner of the ball so I have always told him to try and concede less than 20 runs in his four overs. If he does that then he’ll invariably have at least two wickets to his name.”His biggest advantage is his height. In addition to that he has a long pause in his action, which helps him in getting just that little bit of extra time to see what the batsman is doing and possibly adjust accordingly.”Chandila is a known name in local cricket circles in Delhi, and has been part of a strong Air India corporate side for several years now. Uthappa is his team-mate at Air India, as is Rajat Bhatia, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi allrounder.”He has done well for Air India,” Bhatia said. “Rajasthan Royals must have seen something in him, that is why they have selected him. He did well [on Sunday]; he will need to be consistent in the future.”At the club and corporate level, Chandila is known to be a restrictive and steady bowler who does not turn the ball much. While he has not been able to play much at state level, he is a regular in the grind of local cricket, where at times a team plays a 40-over game and a 20-over game on the same day in the summer heat. But all those long hours spent toiling away anonymously pale before the limelight that the IPL hat-trick has brought for Chandila.

Adrian Barath has called on his colleagues to help restore the pride of West Indies’ cricket in the final match of the Test series against England at Edgbaston.Barath, like the rest of West Indies’ top four, has struggled to deal with England’s seam attack in the first two Tests, but feels the team have shown signs of improvement and now just need to maintain their performance over a whole game in order to win tangible rewards for their progress. England have already secured the three-Test series with victories in the first two Tests at Lord’s and Trent Bridge.Barath has a point, though. Several times in recent Tests, West Indies have earned a position from which they might have gone on to win. Against India in Delhi – where India eventually won by five wickets – and against Australia in Bridgetown – where Australia won by three wickets – West Indies held the advantage after each side’s first innings. Similarly, when England slumped to 57 for 4 chasing 191 to win in the first Test of the series at Lord’s, West Indies had a wonderful opportunity to clinch a rare victory. On each occasion, however, one poor session has cost West Indies dear and allowed their opponents back into the game.”We are getting ourselves into positions to win Tests over the last couple of months,” Barath said. “Where we need to move forward in our cricket is carrying on for five days. Sometimes we dominate the game for three days, but then we mess up in one session. That’s the mindset we’re working upon. That is what Test cricket is all about. It’s not a couple of hours; it’s over the course of five days. You have to be on the money every day, every hour, every over.”It’s important, having not had any wins in the series so far, that we finish well in this last Test. There is a lot at stake. The pride of West Indies’ cricket has been showing some signs of improvement for the last couple of months. It’s about getting a Test win; getting a win against England. It’s definitely nothing impossible for us. We showed at Lord’s where we got those early wickets. If we had carried on getting wickets anything would have been possible. We’re really looking forward to getting a win here and bringing some pride to the West Indies.”The tourists have strengthened their squad in recent days with the call-up of spinner Sunil Narine. While it is asking a great deal of Narine, a man with only six first-class games behind him, to come into the team for a Test debut after only a few days’ acclimatisation, West Indies may well feel they have little to lose and that ‘mystery’ spin is England’s Achilles heel. Narine looked some way below his best in the nets at Edgbaston on Tuesday and it would remain something of a surprise if he displaced Shane Shillingford, a man who took a ten-wicket haul against Australia only two Tests ago. But Narine’s record – both in his limited first-class career and as arguably the leading bowler in the recent IPL season – is nothing short of exceptional. In those six first-class games he has claimed five five-wicket hauls and, in his last three, he has claimed 31 wickets at an average of under 10.Barath, a fellow Trinidadian, knows Narine’s game as well as anyone and feels he has what it takes to be a success at Test level.”He has the ability to be a world-class bowler,” Barath said. “What is good about him is that he is humble and he is always trying to figure out ways to improve and develop new deliveries. Everyone is looking at him on TV, doing their homework and trying to pick him. But he is always working on a new type of delivery. He is always developing something. A spinner of his capabilities will adjust his pace and flight to the conditions.”Everyone has seen him in T20 and he’s obviously made a name for himself even before he’s played a Test. But I’ve played a couple of first-class matches with him this season and it wasn’t easy. Most of the batsmen were really guessing and just sticking their bat out. I was fielding at bat-pad and I had a lot of catches there. It was not easy. Obviously the conditions are different – the ball doesn’t turn as much in England – but by the fourth and fifth day any good spinner will extract spin.”Barath also admitted to some feelings of relief in the omission of James Anderson from the England team. While Anderson’s series averages are relatively modest – he has claimed nine wickets at an average of 26.88 – he has beaten the bat often and proved particularly dangerous with the new ball.”Any opener would say the same,” Barath said, admitting his delight at Anderson’s absence. “He’s bowled well. He is deservedly England’s cricketer of the year. There is no doubt in that when you face him. At Lord’s he was swinging the ball all over the place – both ways – and bowling the best deliveries, but just not hitting the edge. Broad took seven wickets but Anderson looked like he was the one who would have taken seven wickets. He was unlucky.”Barath also welcomed the return of Chris Gayle to the West Indies limited-overs side. While Gayle’s return came, arguably, at his expense, Barath appeared genuinely excited about the depth of West Indies squad.”He’s been in the set-up for years and everyone has respect for Chris,” Barath said. “It’s great to have him back and he’ll lend experience to our players.”Having Chris in our team makes it really solid. The depth in our batting – with Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Darren and Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Andrew Russell – mean that once we get it right at the top of the order and we get going in the Powerplay it would be difficult to say how could we not chase a big score. Or set one. So once we get it right, we have a good ODI team.”

Scorecard
India eased to victory over Ireland in Loughborough, a good beginning for the visitors ahead of tougher assignments ahead. The game was reduced to 20 overs a side. India chose to field and restricted Ireland to 107 for 6. Opener Cecelia Joyce made 35 off 45 balls, adding 67 with her twin sister Isobel Joyce, who contributed 32 off 36 balls. Both were dismissed by the off-spin of Archana Das. Ireland lost five wickets for 21 runs before their innings ended.India lost opener Amita Sharma with the score on seven but there were no hiccups thereafter. Poonam Raut struck a half-century, hitting six fours. She had the support of her experienced captain Mithali Raj, who made an unbeaten 43 in 44 balls. The pair put together a century stand and sealed victory in the 17th over.India will now take on England in two T20s and five ODIs.

Phillip Hughes’ fine form in county cricket has helped win him a call-up into the Australia A side to side to play England Lions at Edgbaston, following an injury to Peter Forrest.Hughes, 23, who is in England playing for Worcestershire as their overseas player, scored a century at the same ground this week and became the first Worcestershire opener to carry his bat in a first-class game since 2008. He is leading the club’s averages in all formats of the game, with a first-class average of 45.12, a T20 average of 100.50 and a List A average of 97.80.Kevin Sims, Australia’s A rehabilitation manager, said: “Peter Forrest sustained a minor side strain in the match against the England Lions at Old Trafford and with only one match remaining we have decided to send him home to prepare for the upcoming season.”Hughes, who has not played Test cricket since December, missed out on the original selection for the A tour, but has continued to work on his technique after it was exposed at the top level. His century against a strong Warwickshire attack this week was his first in first-class cricket since September.His call-up is not such good news for Worcestershire. Sitting at the foot of the Division One table, they are already struggling for reliable batsmen and face an uphill battle to avoid relegation. Hughes will miss their Championship match against fellow strugglers Lancashire at New Road, but should be back ahead of the CB40 game against Leicestershire.The first unofficial Test of the two-match series between Australia A and England Lions ended in a draw. The second begins at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Ricky Ponting has said he is motivated every day by the memories of losing the past two Ashes series in England and he hopes to retain his place long enough to have another chance to win the urn away from home. Ponting will be 38 when Australia tour England next year and having had his ODI career ended by the national selectors earlier this year, he knows that he will not make the trip unless his form over the coming 12 months justifies it.As a Test-only player, Ponting now has plenty of down-time to ponder his goals, and while his colleagues fly out for a limited-overs tour of the UAE this month he will remain at home, working on his game. And visions of Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss and their team-mates raising the urn in triumph at The Oval will not disappear.”It’s one of the biggest motivators I have right now. Every morning I get up and go to the gym and I’m pounding away on the bike or the treadmill, it’s with some of the memories of The Oval still in my mind from the last couple of tours,” Ponting told ABC Radio on Monday. “They’re things that don’t go away quickly.”We’ve been very close over there on the last couple of tours, haven’t quite been good enough and we were nowhere good enough when England were in Australia last time. I think all Australian Test players have a point to prove to England and probably more of a point to prove in England.”But while thoughts of an Ashes redemption are in Ponting’s mind, he knows that he cannot afford to overlook the many contests looming before that trip. His next engagement for Australia will be the Test series against South Africa starting in early November, before three Tests against Sri Lanka, and then a tour of India before the Ashes.There is also the prospect of playing in two more Ashes battles, for back-to-back series have been scheduled for next year, with England to tour Australia barely six months after the series in England. By then Ponting will be 39, and while reaching that point while remaining in the baggy green might seem like a best-case scenario for him, it is not a goal he thinks is out of reach.”It might be easier to sustain now that I’m only playing one form of the game,” Ponting said of the desire to keep playing. “The amount of cricket that I’ve played over the last 15 years is pretty immense, 160-odd Tests and 370 one-dayers… that’s a lot of cricket. Now that I’m not playing that one-day side of things I’m playing a few [Sheffield] Shield games this year, a few Ryobi Cup games, I’ll get a few more Hurricanes games this year, but as far as where do I end, that all depends on how my hunger is and how I’m playing and how my form is.”We’ve got 18 months of some of the most competitive Test cricket that we’ve had in a long time: South Africa in Australia, India in India and then the Ashes, back-to-back series pretty much. It doesn’t get any bigger or better than that for an Australian cricketer. If I can make it through to the end of that, that would be great. If I can play well enough to have an impact on some wins through that period that would be great as well. Really for me all I can focus on now is being right for the start of November.”In Ponting’s favour is the fact that few middle-order batsmen are knocking the door down at domestic level. The national selector John Inverarity has spoken of George Bailey, Peter Forrest and David Hussey potentially being the next men in line for Test cricket but none have dominated in the Shield over the past few years to the extent that their case is irresistible. Ponting said he would accept it if he lost his place to someone more deserving.”If there’s someone out there better than me that is breathing down my neck and pushing me out the side, that’s international sport,” he said. “If there’s someone better than Michael Hussey or David Warner that’s the way it is. You have to be picking the best team to win every game you play. I honestly think if we play the way these guys can play and we just do things that little bit better … they’ll find it hard to beat us – I don’t care who we play.”

James Anderson has said a desire to prove their critics wrong was at the heart of England’s improved performance in the second Test in Mumbai. Anderson, a member of the team that was beaten by nine wickets at Ahmedabad before winning by 10 wickets in Mumbai, accepted that England had “slipped up” in the first Test but felt that the motivation to “prove a point” had inspired them in the second.”The confidence was always there,” Anderson said. “We just slipped up in the first innings at Ahmedabad, which cost us the game. We performed much better in the second innings there and that gave us more confidence moving forward to Mumbai.”The fact is we really wanted to prove a point as well. It was quite easy for everyone to say we were going to lose 4-0 after that first Test, but we kept believing that we could actually cause an upset in this series. We needed a couple of guys to stand up, and we had three or four who really stood up and gave a great account of themselves in Mumbai and ended up winning the game for us. Moving on, we definitely feel like we can keep improving. I know a couple of guys made the majority of our runs at Mumbai, so hopefully throughout the series more people can contribute. Maybe the seamers will take a couple more wickets, too.”Anderson rated the Mumbai win as memorable an overseas victory as he had experienced in his time in the team. Not only did it show that England could bounce back from a dispiriting defeat, but it showed they were coming to terms with their issues against with spin bowling and their issues playing in Asian conditions.”We were written off after the first Test,” Anderson said. “You looked on Twitter and everyone was saying 4-0, it’s going to be 4-0. We knew it was going to difficult. Then we lost the toss on a pitch that should have suited them down to the ground – and we out-batted them and out-bowled them. I thought it was an incredible effort. It’s certainly up there for me as one of the best we’ve ever had.”The victory in Adelaide in 2010 was good. But that pitch had a little bit of seam movement in it, which has been our strength over the past few years. We’re not supposed to be able to play spin, we’re not supposed to be able to play on the subcontinent, and we proved to everyone that we can do it. It feels better than Adelaide. And it even feels better than the Test we won here in 2006. The guys involved – guys like me and Monty Panesar and Kevin Pietersen say it feels better than that. Now we can really use it as a springboard and hopefully push on for the rest of the series.”Anderson also admitted that he had tried to offer some encouragement to his fast-bowling colleague, Stuart Broad. Broad has failed to take a wicket in either of the first two Tests and could well lose his place to Steven Finn for the third Test at Ahmedabad. But, whatever his current form, Anderson remains a believer in Broad’s ability.”It’s difficult,” Anderson said. “If you’re not on top of your game out here, you’re going to go for runs and that’s what’s happened to Broady. But he’s a strong character. He’s been through this before – we’ve all been through it – but he’s a strong enough character to bounce back.”We knew it was going to be tough series for seamers. Anything outside off stump is pretty much a free hit for them. But we’ve got to try to stay positive about it. We know we can still play a part in the series and we’ve got a job to do, even if it’s just holding an end up for a spinner. We’ve still got a job to do.”England fly to Kolkata on Friday where they will be joined by Ian Bell, who has returned to India after a spell of paternity leave, and James Tredwell, who has joined the squad as cover for the two senior spinners, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann. Stuart Meaker, who has been with the Test squad as cover, will rejoin the England Performance Programme squad after Finn proved his fitness playing for an EPP match.

If Nathan Lyon’s growing confidence was summed up by the back-spinner he unleashed to dismiss Jacques Rudolph in Brisbane, his valued place in Australian cricket can be measured by how carefully the national team is building a support network around him.Ahead of the Adelaide Test match, Lyon was advised on bowling by the former Australian spin bowler Ashley Mallett, but not directly. Instead, Mallett had discussions with the senior coach Mickey Arthur, who passed Mallett’s advice along to Lyon and also Steve Rixon, who has been appointed as the designated spin coach to allow the other specialist bowling coach Ali de Winter time to work purely with the pacemen.As the season began, Lyon had spoken of how difficult he had found sorting through a myriad of advice during his first year as an international bowler, whether it had arrived via friends, the media or other bowlers and coaches simply calling him up at random to state what he was doing wrong. Eager for Lyon to learn but equally keen to ensure he is not overloaded with voices, Arthur, Rixon and South Australia’s coach Darren Berry have worked assiduously to make sure Lyon’s path is consistently defined.”We’re filtering it through the people he knows best,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo. “Darren Berry and SA have done a really good job with him, Steve Rixon within my support staff is a really experienced coach and has been very good with him as well. They’ve built a good relationship so he’s been monitoring those messages, and I wanted to have a chat with Ashley Mallett because he’s so knowledgeable on spin bowling and he confirmed what we were doing with Nathan. So I opened up a nice little communication channel there.”I just asked Ashley if he had anything he could mention to me. I’ve designated Steve Rixon within our squad as working with Nathan and I’m really happy they’ve got a good relationship going. Our messages are very consistent with the messages of Darren Berry. Everybody is saying exactly the same thing and that’s the message being delivered to Nathan within our team. That to me is really important, that the players are getting the same messages and not a conflicting message.”No one was more delighted to see an Australian spinner benefit from his expanded repertoire than his captain Michael Clarke, who has shown an instinctive feel for leading slow bowlers from the moment he dived to pouch the sharpest of slip catches from Lyon’s first ball in Test cricket, against Sri Lanka in Galle last year. In addition to knowing the value of spin bowling, Clarke also finds a great deal of fun in it, and the twinkle in his eye when he spoke of Lyon’s variation could only have come from someone who has bowled spin for years himself.”Well, we’re calling it a more than a back-spinner,” Clarke said, grinning. “It’s something he’s worked on and it was nice to see him get a wicket with it [in the] last Test match, so hopefully we’ll see him get plenty more wickets for Australia with balls spinning in both directions.”He can contain if he has to and we can dictate that by the fields we have, but then if there’s an opportunity for Nathan to put more pressure on the [batsmen] I think he’s got the skill to be able to do that as well. He’s bowling well, I thought he came back really well in Brisbane and that shows his character.”I know he wants to do well in front of his home crowd, but as I’ve said to Nathan plenty of times he needs to keep doing exactly what he’s doing, don’t change a thing and he’ll continue to have success at the highest level.”South Africa’s batsmen have now tried several times to hit Lyon out of Australia’s attack in the manner they took to Bryce McGain in Cape Town in 2009, but each time the bowler has responded with better subsequent spells and important wickets. The touring captain Graeme Smith noted Lyon’s importance to this match with a good degree of respect.”Nathan has proven to be a solid performer for Australia. That’s exactly how we view him,” Smith said. “We haven’t taken an arrogant view of him, maybe some other people have. We respect what he is capable of and he will play a role in this game.”

Leighton Greenidge, the president of the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association and regional director of the currently suspended North East Region, has spoken out against the USA Cricket Association (USACA) for the way the Annual General Meeting was handled on December 15 in New York. According to sources, only two league presidents belonging to member leagues in good standing attended the meeting, which took place inside the Hilton Hotel at JFK Airport.Despite the small crowd, several people including Greenidge were denied access at the conference room door to prevent participation at the AGM. USACA has not issued any meeting minutes regarding the AGM and attempts to contact USACA president Gladstone Dainty by phone to discuss the meeting were unsuccessful.According to sources, one of the documents presented at the AGM by Dainty was titled, “A Vision For USACA” and dated September 9, 2008. In the document, Dainty blamed USACA’s lack of a business office as the singular fact that “has stymied the development of the organisation.”USACA had originally announced that the AGM was to take place at the April 14 board meeting in Florida, when general elections were held. Just days ahead of that meeting, the ICC had confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that USACA’s funding grants were temporarily suspended because of its failure to hold an AGM in 2011, one of the core administrative requirements for all Associate members. Dainty was re-elected in a landslide after 32 of the 47 USACA member leagues were barred from voting.Sources claim that internal doubts were raised recently as to whether or not the April meeting constituted an AGM. As a result, USACA announced that the AGM would be held in New York on December 15. However, it is unclear if the meeting can be considered a legitimate AGM if only two presidents from member leagues in good standing were present. Consequently, the Associate funding grants that USACA receives from the ICC could once again be in danger of being suspended.”It is public knowledge that I am not a supporter of Gladstone Dainty’s failed policies and initiatives as it relates to management of cricket in the United States,” Greenidge told ESPNcricinfo. “Having said that, I still have a fiduciary obligation and responsibility to my constituents as president of my league, the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association, and as a Regional Director of the North East Region to represent them and report to them what transpired at that and every AGM.”According to Greenidge, he arrived shortly before the 10 am start time and approached the entrance to the meeting room with USACA board member Krish Prasad. In a scene reminiscent of two previous board meetings from 2011 and 2010, when board members were prevented from entering USACA meetings by off duty policemen or security guards, Greenidge had his name on a list held by a security guard stationed outside the door with instructions to refuse him entry. Prasad was allowed to enter.”On approaching the door to the meeting room, we were approached by a gentleman who asked both of us to sign in on the sign-in sheet provided and to produce some form of photo ID for verification,” Greenidge said. “Upon examination of my credentials, the gentleman, who identified himself as chief of security of that Hilton Hotel, informed me that he had a list of individuals in hand who were not allowed in the meeting and that furthermore my name was on that list. He insisted that I leave the establishment immediately or he would take further action.”Greenidge’s league is currently a member league that was declared one of the 32 member leagues not in good standing after the results of a USACA compliance audit were announced at the start of the year. As a result, his league was ineligible to vote in April’s general elections. However, Greenidge said he didn’t think that attending the AGM in New York would cause any problems because of statements made by Dainty and USACA treasurer John Thickett to ESPNcricinfo on November 22 regarding April’s elections and that all members would be welcome at the AGM.”I would like to state it’s not true the board targeted certain regions,” Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. “The constitution is quite clear about the compliance procedures and the rules are there in the constitution and in the laws of the United States.””No league was sanctioned in any way and USACA has provided a large amount of material to non-compliant leagues to help them to become compliant and offered the services of its staff to also assist them,” Thickett said. “All USACA members are welcome to attend the AGM. On voting matters, all members in good standing are eligible to vote.”While USACA had 47 member leagues under its umbrella in 2011, Dainty stated in a December 13 affidavit that there are currently only 12 member leagues in good standing with USACA. The affidavit was filed in response to a lawsuit filed by former USACA executive secretary Kenwyn Williams.”The cricketing world needs to have a full understanding of the state of cricket in the USA under the current administration,” Greenidge said. “This administration has reduced its membership to 12 leagues while still expecting to receive the same level of ICC funding that they enjoyed when there were 45+ leagues in the association.””This administration claims to be transparent and honest, but the actions of this group are anything but honest. One has to wonder if USACA is really about cricket or something else. No real tournaments, no cricket development or anything that even approaches the mission statement of the organisation. If an organisation is unable to develop simple local and national tournaments, it is unreasonable to expect it to run a tournament with international implications that approaches the standard of the IPL and what would amount to be a $1 billion venture.”