United States national cricket team

The British brought cricket to the Thirteen Colonies in the early 18th century. Cricket further grew in the 18th century.[11] It is understood from anecdotal evidence that George Washington was a strong supporter of cricket, participating on at least one occasion in a game of cricket with his troops at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.[12] John Adams was recorded as saying in Congress that if leaders of cricket clubs could be called "presidents", there was no reason why the leader of the new nation could not be called the same.[13]

In 1844, the United States participated in the first international cricket match. This was played against Canada at the St George's Cricket Club Ground, Bloomingdale Park, New York.[14] This first international sporting event was attended by 20,000 people and established the longest international sporting rivalry in the modern era.[15] Wagers of around $120,000 were placed on the outcome of the match. This is equivalent to around $1.5 million in 2007.[16][17]

Sides from England toured North America (taking in both the US and Canada) following the English cricket seasons of 1859, 1868 and 1872. These were organized as purely commercial ventures. Most of the matches of these early touring teams were played "against odds", that is to say the home team was permitted to have more than eleven players (usually twenty-two) in order to make a more even contest.[18]

In spite of cricket's popularity in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the game was supplanted by baseball in the 1850s and 1860s. As interest in baseball rose, the rules of that game were changed slightly to increase its popularity. For example, easily manufactured round bats were introduced to contrast the flat bats of cricket.[19]

Another reason for cricket's decline in popularity may be that in the late 19th century American cricket remained an amateur sport reserved for the wealthy while England and Australia were developing a professional version of the game. As cricket standards improved with professionalism elsewhere in the world many North American cricket clubs stayed stubbornly elitist. Clubs such as Philadelphia CC and Merion abandoned cricket and converted their facilities to other sports. Some city cricket clubs unknowingly contributed to their own demise by sponsoring auxiliary baseball teams.

By 1900, baseball was dominant numerically and culturally in the US. In addition, when the first international body for the sport, the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) was formed in 1909, membership was restricted to countries in the British Empire. This undercut the popularity of cricket outside the empire and reduced momentum to professionalize cricket in the US. Whether a more open ICC would have maintained or increased the momentum remains an open question, however.[14] Regardless of its cause, the game did not flourish in the United States the way it did in the British Empire. From the 1880s until the outbreak of World War I, cricket in the US was dominated not by a truly national team, but by the amateur Philadelphia cricket team, which was selected from clubs in cricket's American stronghold – the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

A tour of North America by the Australians in 1913 saw two first-class games (both won by the tourists) against a combined Canada–USA team.[Note 1][20][21]

The Philadelphian cricket team, shown here on an 1884 tour of England, were the premier American cricket team for several decades after the US Civil War

The Philadelphian cricket team was a team that represented Philadelphia in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. Even though the United States had played the first ever international cricket match against Canada in 1844, the sport began a slow decline in the country.[22] This decline was furthered by the rise in popularity of baseball. In Philadelphia, however, the sport remained very popular and from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I, the city produced a first class team that rivaled many others in the world. The team was composed of players from the four chief cricket clubs in Philadelphia–Germantown, Merion, Belmont, and Philadelphia. Players from smaller clubs, such as Tioga and Moorestown, and local colleges, such as Haverford and Penn, also played for the Philadelphians. Over its 35 years, the team played in 89 first-class cricket matches. Of those, 29 were won, 46 were lost, 13 were drawn and one game was abandoned before completion.[23]

Arguably, the greatest American cricketer ever played for Philadelphia during this period. John Barton King was a very skilled batsman, but really proved his worth as a bowler. During his career, he set numerous records in North America and at least one first-class bowling record.[24] He competed with and succeeded against the best cricketers in the world from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called "the angler", and helped to perfect swing bowling in the sport. Many of the great bowlers of today still use the strategies and techniques that he developed.[25] Sir Pelham Warner described Bart King as one of the finest bowlers of all time,[26] and Donald Bradman called him "America's greatest cricketing son."[27]

On June 28, 1913 the Philadelphians played the last first-class game on the mainland for more than 90 years. Games were played in the US Virgin Islands in the interim, which is considered as part of the West Indies by the ICC. The team had played an American national side 6 times between 1885 and 1894. The United States team won one of these matches, lost two, and earned a draw in three. Cricket remained a minor pastime in the United States until the mid-1960s, when ICC reforms allowed associate members to join.

In 1965, Clifford Severn made his USA debut at 39, alongside his young brother Winston, in a two-day match against Canada at Calgary's Riley Park as part of the longest running international rivalry in international cricket, now known as the Auty Cup. A year later in the return contest at the C Aubrey Smith field in Los Angeles, USA won by 54 runs.[28]

In 1965, the Imperial Cricket Conference changed its name to the International Cricket Conference. In addition, new rules were adopted to permit the election of countries from outside the Commonwealth. This led to the expansion of the Conference, with the admission of Associate Members, including the United States. Today cricket is played in all fifty states.[29]

The USA have played in every edition of the ICC Trophy, though they didn't pass the first round until the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands. They reached the plate final of the 1994 tournament, but opted not to play due to prior travel arrangements. They finished twelfth in 1997.

USA finished sixth in the 2001 ICC Trophy, their best performance to date. They have also played in every edition of the ICC Americas Championship, winning in 2002.[30]

In 2004, the United States cricket team played a first-class match as part of the first ICC Intercontinental Cup. The matches against Canada and Bermuda were the first in many years.[30] The team won the ICC 6 Nations Challenge beating Scotland, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the UAE on net run rate by 0.028 of a run.[31]

Winning the ICC Six Nations meant that they qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in England. Here the USA played their first ever One Day International match against New Zealand at The Oval on September 10, 2004.[32] The US side was beaten by New Zealand and lost to Australia in the tournament, as well.[33]

The 2005 ICC Trophy represented a chance for the US to re-establish themselves on the world stage and qualify for the 2007 World Cup. A poor showing saw them finish at the bottom of their group, with four losses and a match abandoned due to rain from their five group fixtures. This failure robbed the USA of the prize of full One Day International status on offer to the World Cup qualifiers.[30] This failure was compounded on August 9, 2005 when the ICC expelled the US from the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup.[34]

The USA made their return to international cricket in August 2006 when they participated in Division One of the ICC Americas Championship in Canada.[35] They finished second in the five team tournament.[36]

In May 2007 the USA were to visit Darwin, Australia to take part in Division Three of the ICC World Cricket League.[37] A top two finish in this tournament would have qualified them for Division Two of the same tournament later in the year.[37] Unfortunately, the United States of America Cricket Association was suspended from the ICC and the team was pulled from this competition.[38] The suspension was due to an internal dispute over a constitution for the USACA. The dispute was resolved in early 2008, and the suspension was lifted on April 1 of that year.

The team's reinstatement permitted them to enter the World Cricket League in Division Five for 2008 in Jersey. The team made it through the Group Stage tied for first in their division with a 4–0–0 record (one match abandoned),[39] but lost both their semi-final match with Jersey and their third-place play-off with Nepal.[40]

USA finished second in the 2010 Division Five after losing the final against Nepal and won promotion to 2010 Division Four. They continued their climb in more emphatic style by finishing first in 2010 Division Four, demolishing Italy in the final. They were promoted to 2011 Division Three where they took last place and were relegated to 2012 Division Four. There they finished in second place, and were promoted back to 2013 Division Three. They remained in Division Three after finishing in third place, but were relegated after finishing fifth in 2014 Division Three.

On June 26, 2015, the ICC again suspended USACA, this time because an ICC review "had expressed significant concerns about the governance, finance, reputation and cricketing activities of USACA". This suspension does not impact the National Team playing Matches, but instead cuts off ICC funding and stops USACA from being able to approve any events held in the USA (although the ICC can still approve events held in the United States). This suspension will be upheld until USACA can show the ICC that "conditions relating to governance, finance and its cricket activities" have improved.[41]

In the 2016 Division Four the USA finished second, with a 3–2 record and was promoted to 2017 Division Three. In the 2017 Division Three competition, the USA finished fourth, with a 2–3 record. The third place match was rained out and finished with no result. The USA remained in Division Three.

The U.S. national team, during their tour of the Middle East in December 2017.

On June 22, 2017 at the ICC Annual Conference in London, the ICC Full Council voted unanimously to expel the USACA, following a Board recommendation in April, and a recent Dispute Resolution Committee hearing before Michael Beloff, which concluded in June 2017. This included its refusal to ratify an ICC-approved constitution.[42] In January 2019, a new sanctioning body known as USA Cricket was officially admitted by the ICC as a new associate member.[43][7]

The United States were promoted to the ICC World Cricket League Division Two for the first time, after they beat Singapore in the final match of the 2018 Division Three tournament.[44] In April 2019, after finishing in the top 4 of the 2019 Division Two tournament, the United States qualified for the 2019–22 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2—which offers an opportunity to advance to the 2022 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. All matches in the Cricket World Cup League 2 are played in the One Day International format.[45][46]

• 2010 Division One: Won
• 2011 Division One: 2nd place
• 2013 Division One: Won
• 2015 Division One: 2nd place

• Highest team total: 282/8 v. Scotland on 9 December 2019 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah.[55]
• Highest individual score: 95, Aaron Jones v. UAE on 8 December 2019 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah.[56]
• Best innings bowling: 5/32, Saurabh Netravalkar v. UAE on 8 December 2019 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah.[57]

ODI record versus other nations[53]

Records complete to ODI #4245. Last updated 12 February 2020.

Opponent	M	W	L	T	NR	First match	First win
v. Full Members
Australia	1	0	1	0	0	13 September 2004
New Zealand	1	0	1	0	0	10 September 2004
v. Associate Members
Namibia	2	1	1	0	0	17 September 2019	17 September 2019
Nepal	2	0	2	0	0	8 February 2020
Oman	2	0	2	0	0	6 February 2020
Papua New Guinea	3	2	1	0	0	27 April 2019	13 September 2019
Scotland	2	1	1	0	0	9 December 2019	9 December 2019
United Arab Emirates	2	2	0	0	0	8 December 2019	8 December 2019

• Highest team total: 158/6 v. UAE on 16 March 2019 at ICC Academy Ground, Dubai.[60]
• Highest individual score: 72, Steven Taylor v. UAE on 15 March 2019 at ICC Academy Ground, Dubai.[61]
• Best innings bowling: 4/27, Timil Patel v. Canada on 21 August 2019 at White Hill Field, Sandys Parish.[62]

T20I record versus other nations[54]

Records complete to T20I #865. Last updated 25 August 2019.

Opponent	M	W	L	T	NR	First match	First win
v. Associate Members
Bermuda	2	0	2	0	0	18 August 2019
Canada	2	0	2	0	0	21 August 2019
Cayman Islands	2	2	0	0	0	19 August 2019	19 August 2019
United Arab Emirates	2	0	1	0	1	15 March 2019