Cricket chiefs to fund US players after national governing body filed for bankruptcy

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has pledged to directly fund the United States national team players, ensuring their continued preparation for next year's Twenty20 World Cup.

This intervention bypasses its suspended national governing body, USA Cricket (USAC), mired in crisis.

USAC was suspended by the ICC in September for governance failures, lack of U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) recognition, and actions damaging to the sport's reputation.

Despite this, the US national teams retained their eligibility for ICC events and their preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

On Monday, the ICC confirmed its readiness to honor USAC's financial obligations to contracted players and fund its performance programme during the suspension.

The council stated it "will not allow the dysfunction of USAC to compromise USA’s participation and competitiveness at global events, or the work of the ICC in cricket’s return to the Olympics."

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This follows USAC's earlier rejection of an ICC loan for salaries; the national body has filed for bankruptcy.

The US men's team is scheduled to compete in next year's T20 World Cup, starting in February.

The US have been placed in Group A alongside defending champions India, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands.

A total of 20 teams will compete in the tournament, which will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka, with the top two from each of the four groups progressing through to the Super Eight stage ahead of the semi-finals and final.

The US hosted the last edition of the T20 World Cup with West Indies in 2024.

They pulled off a major shock by beating Pakistan in the group stages as they made it into the Super Eights for the first time.

However, they failed to progress any further after losing to West Indies, South Africa and England, with the latter going on to reach the semi-finals.