While the US might not be a major player on the field -- it would probably rank just outside the top ten Associates if it ever managed to take to the field -- but it does control one of the game's biggest and potentially most lucrative markets. It also is home to one of the most dysfunctional and unaccountable boards, the USA Cricket Association, and it is its ongoing shenanigans that have twice caused the ICC to suspend it from the international game.

A fortnight ago, in Washington, the two factions claiming to have the right to run the game in the USA met with Ken Gordon, the WICB's president, acting as peacemaker. The irony of Gordon, head of a board under fire from almost every side and millions of dollars in debt, being asked to sort out someone else's dirty linen caused more than a few wry smiles. But the two-day sit-down ended with a brief statement that the two sides had agreed to work together to resolve their problems.

The announcement was hardly a hold-the-front-page moment. For one thing, although there are thousands of players in the USA, and millions of fans, the USACA has almost no affect on anything they do. As one administrator told me, it could disappear tomorrow and nothing would change. The other issue is that both parties agreed not to say anything. To anyone.

Secrecy has been one of the major gripes against the USACA. It says almost nothing to anyone, and the tiny ruling group has been known to shut out its own directors if it sees fit. So while those who cared might have hoped that a deal would herald an era of transparency, they were instead given a familiar wall of silence.