By VINODE MAMCHAN
Chairman of Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) Mahammad Qureshi has come out in praise of former CEO of USA Cricket Iain Higgins for his efforts to bring World Cup cricket to America.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) at their annual general meeting in Dubai this week announced that USA Cricket and Cricket West Indies (CWI) will jointly host the 2024 World Cup. Qureshi, who has done a lot for the development of cricket in the United States, said he was thrilled by the fact that the tournament is coming to America.
“Congratulations to all American cricketers and cricket lovers. Our entire cricket group including friends and family after 20 plus years of effort in growing cricket in USA, we are finally seeing success as the 2024 World Cup will be in USA in a joint effort with West Indies Cricket. Let’s celebrate this moment and share it with everyone. Let’s put together a special thanks to the ICC and Cricket West Indies (CWI) along with the CEO of USA Cricket Iain Higgins for their tremendous effort to bring a world cup to the USA.”
Qureshi said his last meeting with Higgins earlier this year left him with a lot of hope and he has come through for American cricket. “The last meeting I had in Florida with Higgins he said to me that he was working hard to bring some World Cup games in 2024 to USA and he did it.
“A special thanks to Iain Higgins and thank you for working together with us during your tenure. Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) and everyone in USA cricket did great amount of work to bring this cricket dream to USA with the 2024 World Cup.”
Qureshi said staging the World Cup in the USA will lead to a massive dose of motivation for young people to take up the game. “As we would have seen in other countries before, by staging the World Cup there is so much benefit in terms of getting the future generation involved. It is the necessary shot in the arm that USA cricket needs at this point in time.”
