USA Cricket bankruptcy exit plan formulated with new directors and increased ACE funding

A reorganisation plan filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court proposes three independent directors to lead USA Cricket out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) committing $3.145 million in additional financing to keep the organisation operational during its ICC suspension. The plan represents the most concrete step yet toward restoring USA Cricket’s standing in international cricket since the crisis that began in 2025.

Bankruptcy trustee Mark Dennis has named Selina Kaing, Patrick Singleton and Norman Wain as the three proposed independent directors. Under the terms of the plan, all existing USA Cricket director terms would expire immediately once the reorganisation plan becomes effective, at which point the three proposed directors would assume office automatically.

As reported by Cricbuzz, the confirmation hearing has been sought for around January 15, 2027, with a deadline of no later than January 22, 2027. Financing arrangements under the plan are required to receive a court order by January 29, 2027. The ICC observed the director selection process, and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) was also involved in overseeing it.

The three directors bring backgrounds across sport administration, law and corporate governance. Selina Kaing has held executive roles at Google, Marvell, Disney and Nestlé, and has served as chair of the US Fencing Foundation, vice-president of the Board of Trustees and as a board adviser to USA Fencing. Patrick Singleton is a three-time Olympian from Bermuda who played amateur cricket for Southampton Rangers and served on the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission between 2016 and 2020, as well as holding executive responsibilities at the World Olympians Association. Norman Wain spent 14 years, from 2010 to 2024, as chief business and legal affairs officer and general counsel at USA Track and Field.

What does the reorganisation plan establish for USA Cricket?

The plan sets out three immediate priorities for the reorganised body: securing reinstatement of ICC membership, negotiating a definitive long-form commercial agreement with ACE consistent with the economic and structural terms of the original 2019 Term Sheet, and ensuring the organisation meets USOPC recognition governance requirements. The new board is required to work collaboratively with ACE to finalise that agreement.

The $3.145 million ACE supplemental financing is designed to support USA Cricket’s working capital and operating expenses, with the facility extending beyond the Los Angeles Olympics in 2029. Once reorganised, USA Cricket will be required to provide ACE with monthly written status reports on its efforts to regain ICC membership, including material communications with the ICC and the USOPC.

The plan also proposes a board of nine to eleven directors with 33.3 per cent athlete representation. An amended constitution and electoral timeline provisions form part of the broader governance framework being put in place. The Pisike-led board’s handling of the organisation had previously been found inadequate by the court.

The backdrop to the current plan is a sequence of administrative failures. USA Cricket terminated its agreement with American Cricket Enterprises on August 22, 2025. The ICC suspended USA Cricket on September 24, 2025, and the organisation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 1, 2025. Bankruptcy judge Michael E. Romero removed the entire USA Cricket board on January 12, 2026, ruling that the organisation was incapable of reorganising under its existing leadership, and appointed Mark Dennis as trustee.

What is the wider context for USA Cricket’s future?

USA Cricket’s predecessor body, the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), was suspended three times between 2005 and 2015 before being expelled by the ICC in 2017, making the current situation a recurring governance challenge for cricket in the United States. The current crisis has unfolded against a backdrop of significant commercial and sporting momentum that the reorganisation aims to protect.

For American cricket, the stakes extend to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, with Pomona slated to host cricket at those Games. The Los Angeles Knight Riders have established a new venue connected to that Olympic programme. The Washington Freedom broke ground on a privately funded 10,000-capacity stadium in Frederick, Maryland, intended as the franchise’s permanent home. USA Cricket also emerged as World Cup League 2 champions following a three-year campaign, underlining the on-field progress that the administrative turmoil has placed at risk. Crucially, the reorganisation plan must now clear the January 2027 court deadlines before any of these broader ambitions can be pursued under a restored governing structure.