No progress for filling CEO position

Comments: 2 | Text size: A | A

	Gladstone Dainty, President USACA, has said that applications for the vacant CEO position will be sought via advertisements by March 1 © Peter Della Penna Enlarge

More than three months after USACA CEO Don Lockerbie was relieved from his position, there still has not been any noticeable progress made in terms of filling the vacancy. In a recent interview to ESPNcricinfo, USA Cricket Association President Gladstone Dainty has stated that his organisation would like to place an advertisement, calling for applications for the vacant CEO position by March 1.

"We won't hire by March 1, but I'm hoping we will advertise by March 1," Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. "We are waiting on some important information before this board meeting so hopefully we'll have it and get everything approved and then advertise the position because we want to make sure the board is comfortable as a whole with some of those duties and responsibilities [the position includes]."

Dainty had told ESPNcricinfo in December that he hadn't accepted any resumes or interviewed any candidates since Don Lockerbie was relieved as CEO on November 19 and cited the holiday period as a reason for the delay. "I would hope within the next 60 days or so we could have that done. I think that's going to be a priority in the beginning of the year," he said. Nearly two months into 2011, the search for a replacement is no further along than it was at the end of 2010.

USACA was supposed to have a board meeting on January 15 in New York, presumably to discuss the CEO vacancy and establish dates for USACA's general elections, but the meeting was cancelled and is yet to be rescheduled. Nothing has been announced since then regarding the elections, with the exception of USACA Secretary John Aaron saying on January 6 that voting would be held "sometime between March 8 and November 30."

The organization quietly hired Manaf Mohamed at the start of the new year to fill a newly formed full-time position as General Manager. Mohamed had been serving as a USACA board member and vice president of operations. Dainty was unsure whether or not any other full-time positions would be added besides filling the CEO's position.

"I don't know that we'd hire more full-time staff, maybe other than a coach," he said. "It could be Robin [Singh], it could be whatever. We're not through with that, but I know that for what we're expecting in terms of funding, we need an intensity of effort within the regions and our youth programs. So whether we'll be hiring full-time people or a number of part-time people, I think that's maybe for the CEO or the board to decide, but I know that we must hire more people to do the job."

Robin Singh recently coached the USA Under19 team to an undefeated 5-0 win to claim the ICC Americas U-19 championship and Dainty said that should USA qualify, Singh is committed to continue in the same role for the team all the way through to the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup. In addition to his involvement at the junior level, Singh's role could expand to oversee other parts of development in United States cricket.

"Because of his vast experience and his abilities, we will work with him to accept additional responsibilities preparing all of our teams," Dainty said. "For starters, we'd ask him to evaluate our players across the board. Seniors, juniors, etc., we'd start from there."

When asked if Singh will take over the men's national team coaching duties, beginning with the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 in July, Dainty did not give any specific details.

"I foresee him doing anything he wants to do when it comes to the teams," Dainty said. Asked if that meant Singh has agreed to coach the men's team as well, Dainty responded, "I'm not saying that. It's something he might want, but what I'm saying is if it's something he wants to do I can see myself supporting it wholeheartedly."

Dainty refused to shed any light on the reasons behind Lockerbie's dismissal. "I'm going to say what I said before; everybody keeps asking me … it's not only USACA, but employers customarily do not comment about personal issues," he said. "My thing more or less is that the Lockerbie situation is old news. We've got a lot of problems to solve more or less than to be going and dealing with Lockerbie. Lockerbie is part of our history and at this particular time I don't see Lockerbie as part of our future."