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Zimbabwe squad

Brendan Taylor (capt), Regis Chakabva, Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer (Test only), Kyle Jarvis, Hamilton Masakadza, Shingirai Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Keegan Meth, Forster Mutizwa, Raymond Price, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Prosper Utseya (limited-overs only), Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller

Top-order batsman Stuart Matsikenyeri has made a comeback to the Zimbabwe squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand. Vusi Sibanda missed out since he was ineligible for selection, after declining a domestic contract in favour of playing grade cricket in Australia. There were no other surprises in the 16-member side that will be led by Brendan Taylor.Matsikenyeri played the last of his 108 ODIs in March 2010 before being dropped from the side. He has had a good run of form for the Mashonaland Eagles in domestic cricket, which helped him force his way back into the national squad. “Stuart Matsikenyeri has earned a recall into the national squad as he has done very well in the domestic competitions and is one of the few batsmen who has been consistent,” Givemore Makoni, convener of selectors, said. “He is an experienced and aggressive player.”Zimbabwe Cricket’s eligibility policy for selection provides for exceptions in the case of one-off tournaments abroad in which case a no-objection certificate is issued, such as the one given to Taylor for his foreign assignments. Sibanda, unlike Taylor, declined a ZC contract, which ruled him out of contention.Legspinner Graeme Cremer finds a place in the Test side, but will make way for Prosper Utseya ahead of the limited-overs leg of the tour. The series will comprise a one-off Test starting January 26, followed by three ODIs and two Twenty20s.

It was hard to wipe the smile off Pat Cummins’ face at the end of the first day of this Test, when he had taken one wicket. On the fourth day, his grin seemed as permanent as Hashim Amla’s beard.At 18, Cummins had become the second-youngest man in Test history to take a six-wicket haul, behind Bangladesh’s Enamul Haque jnr. He had been on a hat-trick. He had outbowled his more senior colleagues. Most importantly, he had given Australia a fighting chance of victory in a match that 24 hours earlier appeared to have slipped from their grasp.And all this from a man who began the year uncapped at state level.”It’s surreal to be overseas playing cricket for Australia,” Cummins said. “To be in the position where we can win a game is certainly special as well.”By the close of play, Australia were 168 runs from what would be a series-levelling win. Were it not from the way Cummins bowled either side of lunch, they would have next to no chance.First, there was the outswinger that got rid of AB de Villiers, full enough to encourage the drive and curvy enough to catch the edge. It ended a 147-run stand between de Villiers and Hashim Amla, a partnership that threatened to take the match out of Australia’s reach.After lunch, Cummins struck first ball when a fierce bouncer clipped Vernon Philander’s glove on the way through to Brad Haddin. A yorker accounted for Morne Morkel next ball. As Cummins stood at his mark, on a hat-trick and bowling to Imran Tahir, his aim was simple.”A couple of the guys said Tahir wouldn’t be the worst batsman to bowl a hat-trick ball at,” Cummins said. “I was just trying to bowl it as quick as possible and as full, and at the stumps. Unfortunately he fended it away.”It was a fine ball, for a hat-trick delivery: full and straight. He finished the innings with 6 for 79 when Dale Steyn edged behind. It completed a brilliant debut bowling performance from Cummins, Australia’s second-youngest Test player of all time.It was all the more remarkable considering the expectations that have been placed on Cummins. He entered the match with a reputation that belied the three first-class games he had to his name. Cummins said playing away from home had been a blessing, although it was still daunting at first to bowl to men like Amla and Jacques Kallis.”Just knowing what the batsmen are capable of here, you see them on TV and you’ve heard about them, the big averages come on the scoreboard,” Cummins said. “It is more daunting but once you get into a spell you start to forget about those things.”You’re removed from a few of the pressures that Australia give you and the attention that you get over there. That’s helped, and also having a team that I’m pretty familiar with. We’ve been here for almost a month and a half, so I’m hanging out with the same bunch of guys.”He’ll be hanging out with them for a while yet. Cummins has become a certainty for Australia’s first Test of the home summer, against New Zealand on December 1 at the Gabba. The only doubt is how his young body will handle a full season of Test cricket.That’s a question for another day. For now, Cummins deserves to be celebrated.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
James Pattinson claimed his second five-for in his first two Tests•Getty Images

Phillip Hughes was caught Martin Guptill, bowled Chris Martin yet again, after Australia’s quicks made the most of a verdant Hobart pitch to rout New Zealand for a meagre 150 on a rain-shortened day one of the second Test.The visitors’ abject total was made to look a little rosier by the opening overs of Australia’s reply, as Hughes pushed at Martin’s angle and offered Guptill a catch for the third time in as many innings. Usman Khawaja also eluded two appeals for caught behind, while the debutant Trent Boult worried David Warner a little with his left-arm swing before the showers arrived at 1 for 12.Club team-mates Peter Siddle and James Pattinson had shared eight wickets between them for Australia, Siddle plucking two of the first three wickets as he pitched the ball up with intent. Pattinson’s five maintained the striking impact he had made on debut in Brisbane, and he will be on a hat-trick in the second innings. Mitchell Starc, though still changeable in his line and length, nipped out the other two.Of New Zealand’s batsmen, Dean Brownlie again showed a steady hand in his punchy 56, while Brendon McCullum fought a losing battle in the most treacherous of the conditions. Theirs were rare hold-ups for Australia’s bowlers.Having struggled against seam, swing and spin in Brisbane, the visitors were in dreadful strife on a pitch that offered plenty of encouragement to the bowlers, having already suffered the loss of Daniel Vettori to a hamstring strain during the warm-ups. Their captain Ross Taylor summed up the team’s frustration with an angry reaction to his lbw dismissal.Michael Clarke has won few tosses as captain, but as in Galle against Sri Lanka, had the benefit of winning one that seemed critical to the final outcome. On a pitch as green and dark in appearance as many experienced observers could remember, Clarke gave his pacemen first use of the ball, and they quickly set about tearing apart New Zealand’s fragile top order.Utilising an intelligent full length, Siddle struck in the day’s second over: he seamed one away to clip the outside edge, aided by Martin Guptill’s bat being angled towards wide mid on.Jesse Ryder was promoted to No. 3 but immediately found himself battling against deliveries moving in both directions. Pattinson swung one down the line of middle and leg stumps to pin him in front, but the third umpire Aleem Dar appeared to ignore circumstantial evidence of a faint inside edge in sending Ryder on his way after Clarke had referred the on-field umpire Nigel Llong’s initial negative verdict.Taylor was also lbw, offering no stroke to a Siddle delivery that seamed back sharply towards off stump. He immediately referred the verdict as the ball had seemingly struck him above his back pad, but replays showed a bent right leg and the ball’s predicted path clattering into the off bail. Angry to be out, Taylor expressed his displeasure, perhaps encouraged to do so by a few choice words from the Australian celebratory huddle.A patch of milder cricket followed, McCullum and Kane Williamson fighting as best they could as the hosts momentarily lost their best direction. Starc again swung the ball but could not find the consistency of line he needed, and was a fortunate beneficiary when Williamson swished at a ball curling down the legside only to nick it to Brad Haddin.Pattinson had returned to the attack to replace Siddle, and found the ball of the morning to account for McCullum after 98 minutes of desperate resistance. McCullum pushed forward at an away swinger that was devious in its change of direction and precise in its length, and snicked behind, cursing once he had done so.The next man, Reece Young, was beaten twice in three balls, and to his fourth withdrew his bat too late to prevent it from cuffing the ball onto the stumps. At this point there seemed a chance of New Zealand being bowled out by lunch, but Brownlie and Doug Bracewell survived.On resumption, Brownlie and Bracewell continued to fight under sunnier skies, before Siddle found enough seam to prompt another outside edge, this time held at slip by Clarke. Tim Southee might have been out first ball, Siddle taking the shoulder of his bat then screeching in exasperation as the ball flew at catchable height between Clarke and Ricky Ponting.Southee managed a couple of firm blows, and stayed with Brownlie until he had passed 50 for the second time in the series. Starc returned to the attack to have Southee dragging on, before Brownlie fell in a similar manner to Pattinson and Chris Martin was bowled first ball.The visitors had suffered a serious blow even before play began, losing Vettori to left hamstring tightness that he aggravated during the morning warm-up. His place in the XI was taken by the debutant Boult, meaning New Zealand have an all seam bowling attack.

MS Dhoni has said he is more than satisfied with an inexperienced bowling attack that won the series against West Indies with a match to spare. He refused to be drawn on whether Varun Aaron, so impressive on his one-day debut against England, would be unleashed for the final Test which starts in Mumbai on November 22.”We have been thinking about it,” he said. “But it’s too soon right now. We will see what needs to be done. We don’t want to overuse the bowlers. We will think about it and do what’s best for the side.”Without Zaheer Khan, who is easing back to full fitness, and the out-of-favour Harbhajan Singh, India won both Tests inside four days, and Dhoni said the bowling unit looked balanced. “The fast bowlers look very fresh which means they can bowl a lot of overs. The spinners are also fairly fresh and raring to go and have a bit more energy in the field. They back themselves, which is very important in Tests.”In the last Test match [in Delhi], there was something in the pitch that favoured the bowlers. But in this Test, especially in the second innings, there was not much turn for them so they had to rely on flight and variations.”Umesh [Yadav] is someone who can bowl really quick. But we will have to use him in the best possible manner so that he doesn’t get injured. It’s not always about bowling fast. You have to bowl in the right areas and build pressure. Overall, it’s a balanced bowling attack.”The series win, albeit against opponents who have been poor travellers in recent times, had more resonance for a team that was drubbed 4-0 in England and which kept faith in most of its stalwarts. “England was a bad tour for us,” Dhoni said. “There were several reasons why we did not do well there. It is always good to be on the winning side.”Our batting did not do well in the first innings [of the series]. But after that we have shown improvement. Our fielding has been decent. It still has a long way to go if you compare it to the ODI squad.”The one grey spot in the performance at Eden Gardnes was Yuvraj Singh, whose unconvincing 25 resulted in more questions than answers. Virat Kohli waits in the wings, while Cheteshwar Pujara will be back in action in the next round of Ranji Trophy matches. Dhoni refused to comment on selection issues, but said: “At the end of the day, it’s about scoring runs. It does not matter where you score runs. Yes, he [Yuvraj] is going through a tough phase but it’s important to show confidence in him. We all know he is talented.”One more reason is that he has been in and out of the side. It’s very difficult to back yourself. You have that bit of tentativeness. It’s a bit tough on him. But hopefully he will recover and do well for India.”Dhoni ended the England tour in impressive form and his displays in this series earned him the praise of Jeffrey Dujon, the great West Indies keeper from days gone by, who referred to him as an “excellent package”, a term Dhoni though described him aptly.MS Dhoni praised R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha’s efforts on a pitch he said did not offer much turn•AFP

“It’s a big compliment for me. I am more of a package than a specialist. I’m neither an extraordinary batsman nor a specialist keeper. It’s all about doing things right. It does not matter how you catch the ball, take the edges and affect stumpings. It’s important to score at that point of time when it’s really good for the side. I hope I will be a specialist one day.”This Eden Gardens victory was especially satisfying, Dhoni said, because the pitch didn’t deteriorate markedly as the match wore on. “It was not a track where you can walk in and get the batsmen out. It was tough for the bowlers. In the first session on the third day, there was a bit of moisture and the spinners got a bit of turn.”But after that, it turned out to be a flat wicket and continued to be from that point of time. If we had not dismissed them cheaply [in the first innings] then the match would not have ended this way. It was a very flat track. There was nothing really for the quicks or spinners, especially after the third morning.”I’d definitely like to see pitches where it turns more and the spinners get bounce on a consistent basis. Because that’s what India is known for. Hopefully we will be able to get those kinds of tracks.”India have never won every Test of a series against West Indies, and Dhoni – who insisted that he wouldn’t skip the game – was taking nothing for granted ahead of the Mumbai Test. “We will have to see what kind of pitch we get there. West Indies are a good side. Their bowling line-up is quite good. It’s not that they can’t bat. As you have seen in the second innings, they have talented batsmen. We are expecting a tough third Test.”

Ross Taylor and John Wright, New Zealand’s captain and coach, have praised the exploits of their openers, Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum, who secured a 2-0 victory in the Twenty20 series in Zimbabwe with century opening partnerships.”The opening partnership was outstanding,” Taylor said. “To get over 100 two games in a row sets a benchmark. Brendon and ‘Guppy’ [Guptill] batted sensibly and complemented each other very well.”Guptill and Taylor added 127 in 13.3 overs to secure a ten-wicket win in the first T20 and then put on 120 in 11.1 overs in the second to help New Zealand post 187 in 18 overs.”Both Brendon and Guppy have played really, really well,” Wright said. “It’s an ideal opportunity in this country, because the batting conditions are very good. Their stroke play has been encouraging. We haven’t had a lot of batting outside the top three, but that will address itself in the 50-over format.”Guptill, who scored 40 and 67 in the two T20s, had spent New Zealand’s off-season with Derbyshire and he said there was no rustiness because he had been in touch with the game. “I played a lot of cricket when I was over there [Derbyshire] so there was no stiff legs after the first game so that was quite handy,” Guptill told the . “We started off very well in the first Twenty20 and to back it up with a batting and bowling performance like that [in the second T20] is very pleasing.”New Zealand will begin the one-day leg of their tour of Zimbabwe in Harare on October 20.

Guernsey and Malaysia both claimed victories on the second day of the World Cricket League Division Six tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Heavy downpours at the Selangor Turf Club meant Jersey’s match against Kuwait was abandoned in the 18th over, however, just as Kuwait had the islanders on the back foot at 55 for 4.Guernsey appeared well set to continue their winning ways after opener Lee Savident raced to a 57-ball half-century against Fiji at Bayeumas Oval.After losing GH Smit, trapped in front of his stumps by Waisake Tukana, Savident continued his good work in the company of Jeremy Frith. On a blustery, windswept day the pair added a further 45 for the second wicket before Savident was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Jikoi Kida for 82.After the cloud cover thickened there was a brief stop for rain but that didn’t stop the sides completing the first innings. Frith had another good turn with the bat, reaching 82 with nine fours and a six before having his stumps rearranged by Kitiano Tavo, after which captain Stuart Le Provost’s rapid fifty helped boost Guernsey’s total to 279 for 6.Fji’s reply didn’t start smoothly, and two top-order batsmen had been lost inside the first 10 overs. The innings never recovered, with Frith and Gary Rich picking up two wickets apiece while wicketkeeper Tom Kimber had a good day with the gloves, catching Iniasi Cakacaka, Josefa Dabea Balecicia and Colin Rika and rounding off his day with the stumping of Maciu Gauna. Frith earned his second Man of the Match award of the tournament for his efforts with bat and ball.”Fiji did challenge us early on, their new ball bowlers were fairly tight but when we got past 200 their heads began to drop,” said a delighted Le Provost after the match. “I don’t think we take any opposition lightly and they certainly challenged us. There were great runs from Jeremy Frith again and it was also good to see Lee Savident adding to the total and obviously it’s nice to be able to contribute myself.”Guernsey’s next match is against Kuwait on Tuesday, an opposition the team has not faced before. “We’ve seen Kuwait’s scores, but not seen much of them at all as a side, so we will go look at them tomorrow when Jersey play them in their re-match at Kinrara to get a feel for the side,” said Le Prevost.At Kinrara, hosts Malaysia took on Nigeria, with Nigerian new-ball bowlers Saheed Akolade and Oluseye Olympio keeping the batsmen quiet at the start. Nevertheless, the Malaysian openers put on 73 before Shafiq Sharif departed for 43, trapped lbw by Oluwaseun Odeku’s medium pace.Not long afterwards, a heavy downpour stopped play for close to four hours but the good drainage at Kinrara Oval allowed the teams back on to play a game reduced to 29 overs. Nigeria were set Duckworth/Lewis-adjusted target of 181, but their batting faltered from the start and eventual man of the match Eszrafiq Aziz helped himself to figures of 4 for 27.”I was really pleased with how we bowled this morning,” said Nigerian captain Endurance Ofem. “We kept things tight and things looked to be going really well until the rain set in. Obviously that’s disappointing and we didn’t do well at chasing down the target set with the reduced overs but we have to take the positives and move on for Tuesday’s game.””I think credit has to go Nigeria’s bowling in the first innings, the first 10 overs of the game they had us on the back-foot with some good tight bowling and they were superb in the field too,” said Malaysian coach Thushara Kodikara. “It’s disappointing that we didn’t get a full 50-over game but I was pleased with how my young side performed to restrict Nigeria in the 29 overs. Eszrafiq did particularly well bowling in all the right places to take four wickets and deservedly the Man of the Match award.”At Selangor Turf Club, heavy overnight rainfall resulted in a late start before Jersey lost quick wickets against a rejuvenated Kuwait. The match lasted only 18 overs, by which time Jersey had lost four wickets, before the rain returned. With reserve days in place, the game will be replayed on Monday at Kinrara Oval.

James Foster has committed his future to Essex after signing a three-year deal to end the chances of him joining Hampshire.He had been given permission to speak to Hampshire but has resisted any move away from his life-long club and will remain at Chelmsford. “When another club expresses an interest in you it is tough not to listen, but ultimately I did not want to leave Essex,” Foster said. “I still see playing cricket for Essex as a privilege, and I will continue to give everything to the club as a player and captain.”Paul Grayson, the Essex coach, said: “I am delighted that he is committed to the club and look forward to continuing with the strong working relationship we have together. We have a great opportunity to develop our young squad for the future and I am excited by the prospect of continuing to work with James to achieve this.”It hasn’t been a hugely successful season for Essex who are mid-table in both Division Two of the County Championship and Group C of the CB40 and face a fight to remain in contention for a title or promotion. They also failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Friends Life t20.

Scorecard
Joe Root’s 66 ensured England Lions’ second innings got off to a solid start•Getty Images

A battling tail-end partnership extended Sri Lanka A’s lead to 90 in the morning, but a 98-run opening stand and a composed half-century from England Lions opener Joe Root put the hosts 92 runs ahead at stumps on the third day in Scarborough. The Lions lost three wickets before the close – including a skittish Ravi Bopara for a 21-ball 25 – but reached a position of reasonable safety at 182 for 3.Lions seamers Stuart Meaker, James Harris and Jade Dernbach eventually finished with three wickets apiece as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 389, but not before a stubborn 61-run partnership between Nos. 9 and 10, Sachithra Senanayake and Kanishka Alvitigala, had extended the Sri Lankans’ first-innings advantage after they had started the day on 329 for 8.Root and fellow opener Alex Hales lead a spirited response from the Lions, both men pinging the boundary repeatedly and Hales eventually falling for a 69-ball 42 that included five fours and a six. He fell to offspinner Senanayake, who helped himself to five wickets in the Lions’ first innings and ended day three with two more, Bopara his second scalp.In the meantime Root had brought up a 95-ball fifty, but immediately after Bopara, who had rushed out of the blocks and cracked five fours in his short innings, was dismissed, Root was undone by offspinner Sachithra Serasinghe and Sri Lanka A had found an entry into the middle order with the score at 143 for 3.Lions captain James Taylor and wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter held firm until the close, however, adding an unbroken 39 before stumps.”I’m pleased with the way I played today, overall I think its been a good day for us,” said Root. “I was disappointed with how I got out but we need to come back tomorrow and play confidently from the start and with our bowling attack we’re still looking to get a result.”

ScorecardLeicestershire Foxes snatched a dramatic victory against Derbyshire Falcons at Grace Road to clinch a home tie in the quarter-finals of the Friends Life t20.Chasing a target of 151, the Foxes scored 89 runs from the final 10 overs to win by two wickets with one ball to spare. James Taylor led the way with 53, turning the game the Foxes’ way when he hit three sixes in four balls.Derbyshire had looked favourites for the victory when left-arm spinner Chesney Hughes took career-best figures of 4 for 23 in his four overs, as the home side slumped to 91 for six with only five overs to go.But Taylor turned the game on its head by pulling Steffan Jones for a six over mid-wicket and then clearing the ropes twice more in the next over, bowled by Mark Turner. The over brought the Foxes 19 runs, leaving them to score 18 off the final two overs for victory.Taylor was caught at long-on off the bowling of Jones, ending his 31-ball innings, but Jacques Du Toit saw the Foxes home by hitting 22 off 15 balls, including three boundaries. Leicestershire’s fifth win in a row in the competition cemented their position in second place in the North group. They cannot be caught and will definitely have a home match in the quarter-finals.Having won the toss, Leicestershire skipper Andrew McDonald decide to bowl first and Derbyshire were bowled out for 150 in 19.4 overs thanks to some accurate bowling and sharp fielding.Abdul Razzaq, Harry Gurney and Jigar Naik claimed three wickets each as the Derbyshire batsmen struggled to gain any momentum. Greg Smith top-scored for them with 36 off 35 balls before being brilliantly caught and bowled by McDonald.But the Foxes then lost their last five wickets for 12 runs in the last three overs of their innings with Razzaq taking three for 12, Gurney 3 for 34 and Naik 3 for 27. The Foxes made a brisk start, reaching 37 in five overs before McDonald had a rare failure in the competition and chipped a catch to mid-wicket off Jones for 15.His departure seemed to rock the home side’s confidence as wickets fell steadily before Taylor’s brilliant innings swung the momentum back Leicestershire’s way ahead of an exciting finish.

The USA Cricket Association’s series of Town Hall meetings for its eight member regions concluded earlier this month and while the concept behind the meetings was met with praise, the subject matter – specifically how USACA should spend any potential revenue from its stake in Cricket Holdings America – received a mixed response.”It’s a good thing to meet and talk to leagues. This is the first time something like that has happened,” Ganesh Sanap, who is the president of the Northern California Cricket Association and took part in the Town Hall conference call for the Northwest region, said. “I’m glad it is happening. The leagues are able to hear from the president and the treasurer. But USACA didn’t need to have only a Cricket Holdings America Town Hall. It could have happened way before when the AGM is held or before the AGM. At least once or twice a year, these people need to get together and at least let people hear your voice.”The meetings featured a slideshow outlining a plan for distributing USACA funding in 2012 and 2013. Even though the communication was appreciated, Southwest region women’s coordinator Sandra Ibarra was skeptical of how it will all pan out.”It was basically a Powerpoint presentation that was introducing to all the regions what Cricket Holdings America is all about,” Ibarra, a former USA women’s national team player, said. “I guess it was a way of trying to say, ‘We’re working on something’, but it still doesn’t specify what they’re working on and how it will help cricket in America. How [the money] is going to be distributed, how they’re going to go about reviewing these proposals for money and who is going to be approving and denying them, that’s where I think we’re going around in circles and some people will feel disappointed.”USACA Treasurer John Thickett was the driving force behind organising the meetings and said having an open dialogue for this topic is a positive step forward for USACA. He also said this will not just be a one-off and that as Sanap hoped, more meetings will be planned for later in the year.”I’m very excited that we’re having these Town Hall meetings. We’re planning some different themes for later in the year,” Thickett said. “To get the opportunity to reach out to the top 100 stakeholders, league presidents and boards is important.”But Krish Prasad, the New York regional representative on the USACA board, is having a hard time agreeing with one of the messages put forth in the meetings by Thickett. The treasurer has advocated that 20% of the $2 million in annual funds that USACA is due to receive from CHA should be given directly to individual leagues rather than to the entire region to manage, something Prasad says will encourage corruption.”I don’t think money should be given to the leagues period,” Prasad said. “There are a lot of concerns about that because it’s election time and money is being given to leagues. It makes it look like USACA are trying to buy votes.”Sanap believes the strategy to give money to leagues is only a political tactic and that there’s a good chance the money will never come through.”I don’t think that anybody is going to see that money,” Sanap said. “It’s election-time talk. USACA has never given any money to anyone so why would it give it now? What exactly is USACA’s interest in all these leagues other than votes? I’m calling it as I’m seeing it.”Another concern that others have is that if leagues are given money directly, it could encourage “kitchen-table” leagues to pop up. Paperwork would be filed in order to receive money but no games would actually be played. Thickett concedes that there may have been some dishonesty in the past regarding proper documentation from around the country, but says that anyone who receives money from USACA will be held accountable to demonstrate how the money has been used.”They’re legitimate concerns and I encourage people to raise them. I don’t think people are paranoid for raising them,” Thickett said. “I have a theory that virtually all of the leagues do not fully comply with the constitution. I don’t think there are many leagues that have a women’s or youth cricket mandate. It fascinates me how many leagues have exactly eight teams.” The USACA Constitution states that a league must have a minimum of eight teams in order to become a member.”Part of the presentation talks about compliance. We’re going to start asking regions for budgets, reviews. We’re a non-profit organization. If people have taken money to install a turf wicket and don’t do it, they can go to jail. It’s a pretty serious offense to take money from a charity and not do what they say.”Rather than try to suspend leagues that are not compliant, Thickett hopes that administrators will help them take the correct steps to fall into line.”It’s clearly a rampant part of USACA culture to accuse a league of not existing. Let’s say a league is not compliant. It’s not a good idea to throw them out. It’s better to encourage them to become compliant. Is it worth throwing them out? No.”Despite the objections and concerns raised by some people, Thickett says it is just part of the process and that the initial proposal for how to use the funds is by no means final. He says he will wait for regions to submit formal feedback on the content of the meetings before planning the next step in how to budget the money USACA gets from CHA.”The whole reason to have these meetings is to say this is up for discussion,” Thickett said.