The Int'l Cricket Council town hall Saturday in Chicago "has received high praise from many of those in attendance at the day-long affair aimed at developing a strategy to take USA cricket forward in the wake of the USACA's suspension by the ICC," according to Peter Della Penna of ESPNCRICINFO.com. ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson was "very optimistic about the outcomes from both the Saturday town hall as well as a seven-hour meeting on Sunday that was held between the local advisory group and ICC officials." Anderson said, "People were largely focusing on the future and solutions as opposed to maybe the past and why things had become the way that they had become." Penna noted a discussion about the way forward, rather than the past, "may have been facilitated in part by the USACA board's conspicuous absence at the town hall, an indication that they are defiantly digging their heels in to defend their position rather than engage with the ICC and other local stakeholders to be a part of the solutions to fix USA cricket." Anderson confirmed that though there were "several USACA member league administrators in attendance, no one showed up from the 11-man executive board." In contrast, the entire nine-man exec board of the American Cricket Federation (ACF) "was in attendance at the meeting," as was Cricket Council USA CEO & Chair Mahammad Qureshi and other CCUSA staff. The day "featured several discussions from various speakers," including ICC CEO David Richardson and Property Consulting Group co-Founder Dan Migala. Anderson said that "most of the time on Sunday was spent discussing youth and women's development as the cornerstones of the strategy moving forward." As for what the exact strategy will be going forward, Anderson said that Migala "will be working alongside the local advisory group and the ICC over the next several months to formulate it." More town hall meetings "may also be organised around November in different cities" (ESPNCRICINFO.com, 8/31).
