United States national cricket team

The United States men's national cricket team represents the United States in international cricket. The team was formerly organized by the United States of America Cricket Association, which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1965. In June 2017, the USACA was expelled by the ICC due to governance and financing issues, with the U.S. team being temporarily overseen by ICC Americas until a new governing body was established. In January 2019, associate membership was officially granted to USA Cricket.

A U.S. representative team participated in the first international cricket match, played against Canada, in 1844. For a century and a half, the U.S. national team seldom played against other national teams. It played mostly against Canada (in the annual Auty Cup), or against visiting teams from other countries.

The United States made its international tournament debut at the 1979 ICC Trophy in England; it has since missed only two editions of the tournament (now known as the World Cup Qualifier). After winning the 2004 ICC Six Nations Challenge, the team qualified for the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, playing its first two One Day International (ODI) matches. In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between the United States and other ICC members after January 1, 2019, have the T20I status. The first T20I to be played by the United States was scheduled against the United Arab Emirates in March 2019.

History

Beginnings

Main article: History of United States cricket

Cricket was played in the Thirteen Colonies during the early 1700s when British America was a group of colonies. The game grew in popularity during that time. It is believed that George Washington liked cricket and even played a game with his soldiers at Valley Forge during the American Revolution. John Adams once said in Congress that if leaders of cricket clubs could be called "presidents," then the leader of the new nation could also be called that.

In 1844, the United States played in the first international cricket match. This match was against Canada at the St George's Cricket Club Ground in Bloomingdale Park, New York. About 20,000 people watched this first international sporting event, which started the longest rivalry in international sports. Bets of around $120,000 were placed on the match, which is worth about $1.5 million today.

Decline

Even though cricket was popular in the 1700s and early 1800s, it started to lose favor when baseball became more popular in the 1850s and 1860s. Baseball's rules were changed to make the game more fun, like using round bats instead of flat bats.

By 1900, baseball was the main sport in the United States. When the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) was formed in 1909, only countries in the British Empire could join. This made it hard for cricket to grow in the United States. From the 1880s until World War I, the main cricket team in the U.S. was the amateur Philadelphia cricket team from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Philadelphian cricket

Main article: Philadelphian cricket team

The Philadelphian cricket team was a team from Philadelphia that played first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. Even though the United States had played the first international cricket match against Canada in 1844, cricket started to become less popular because baseball was getting more attention. But in Philadelphia, cricket stayed very popular. From the late 1800s until World War I, the city had a strong team made up of players from four main cricket clubs: Germantown, Merion, Belmont, and Philadelphia. Players from smaller clubs and local colleges also joined the team. Over 35 years, the team played 89 first-class matches. They won 29, lost 46, drew 13, and one game was stopped early.

John Barton King was one of the best players for Philadelphia. He was a great bowler and set many records. He played against top players from England and Australia. King helped develop new bowling techniques that are still used today. He played for Philadelphia when they toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908.

On June 28, 1913, the Philadelphians played their last first-class game for over 90 years. Games were played in the US Virgin Islands during that time. Cricket stayed a small part of the U.S. until the mid-1960s when ICC rules changed to let more countries join.

Status from 1965

In 1965, Clifford Severn and his brother Winston played for the U.S. in a match against Canada at Calgary's Riley Park. In 1965, the Imperial Cricket Conference changed its name to the International Cricket Conference and allowed countries outside the Commonwealth to join. The United States became an associate member. Today, cricket is played in all fifty states.

The U.S. has played in every ICC Trophy, but they didn't get past the first round until the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands. They reached the plate final of the 1994 tournament but chose not to play because of travel plans. They finished twelfth in the 1997 ICC Trophy.

21st century

2000–09

The U.S. finished sixth in the 2001 ICC Trophy, their best performance so far. They also played in every ICC Americas Championship, winning in 2002.

In 2004, the United States played a first-class match as part of the first ICC Intercontinental Cup. The matches against Canada and Bermuda were the first in many years. The team won the ICC 6 Nations Challenge by beating Scotland, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the UAE.

Winning the ICC Six Nations meant they qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in England. There, the U.S. played their first One Day International match against New Zealand at The Oval on September 10, 2004.

The U.S. lost to New Zealand and Australia in the tournament.

The 2005 ICC Trophy was a chance for the U.S. to qualify for the 2007 World Cup. But they finished last in their group, with four losses and one match canceled due to rain. This meant they lost the chance to get full One Day International status. This problem got worse on August 9, 2005, when the ICC took the U.S. out of the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup because of legal issues.

The United States returned to international cricket in August 2006 by joining Division One of the ICC Americas Championship in Canada. They finished second in the five-team tournament.

In 2007, the United States was supposed to go to Darwin, Australia for Division Three of the ICC World Cricket League. Finishing in the top two would have moved them to Division Two. But because of disagreements about the USACA's rules, the ICC suspended the USACA in March 2007, and the team had to leave the tournament. The issue was fixed in early 2008, and the suspension ended on April 1.

The team joined the World Cricket League in Division Five for 2008 in Jersey. They tied for first in the group stage with a 4–0–0 record (one match canceled), but lost both their semi-final match with Jersey and their third-place play-off with Nepal.

2010–2015

The U.S. finished second in the 2010 Division Five after losing the final to Nepal and moved up to 2010 Division Four. They did even better by finishing first in 2010 Division Four, beating Italy in the final. They moved up to 2011 Division Three but took last place and were moved back down to 2012 Division Four. There, they finished second and moved back up to 2013 Division Three. They stayed in Division Three after finishing third, but were moved down after finishing fifth in 2014 Division Three.

2015 suspension

On June 26, 2015, the ICC suspended USACA again because of concerns about how it was run, its finances, and its cricket activities. This suspension did not stop the National Team from playing matches, but it stopped the USACA from getting money from the ICC and from approving events in the United States (though the ICC could still approve events there). The suspension would stay in place until USACA could show the ICC that things had improved.

In the 2016 World Cricket League Division Four, the United States finished second with a 3–2 record and moved up to Division Three for 2017. In the 2017 Division Three competition, the U.S. finished fourth with a 2–3 record. The third place match was canceled due to rain and had no result. The United States stayed in Division Three.

2017–2023: Transition to USA Cricket, Cricket World Cup League 2

On June 22, 2017, the ICC voted to expel the USACA because of governance and finance issues. In January 2019, a new organization called USA Cricket became the new associate member of the ICC.

After beating Singapore in the final match of the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, the United States moved up to Division Two for the first time. In April 2019, after finishing in the top 4 of the 2019 Division Two tournament, the United States qualified for the 2019–22 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2—a chance to move to the 2022 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. All matches in the Cricket World Cup League 2 are played in the One Day International format.

As of 2019, all ICC members were allowed Twenty20 International (T20I) status. The United States played its first T20I match on March 15, 2019, against the United Arab Emirates at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai.

In November 2021, Ireland agreed to play a five-match limited overs series against the United States in December 2021, before its ODI series against the West Indies in January 2022. This was the first time the United States hosted a series with a Test nation. The series started with two T20Is; after a slow start, a strong performance by Sushant Modani and Gajanand Singh helped the team score 188 runs. With Ireland falling short by 26 runs, the United States won its first international match against a Test nation.

Ireland split the T20I series in the second match; batting first, the team scored 150, but the United States fell short by nine runs. The series was supposed to continue with ODI matches. But on December 28, 2021, the ODI series was canceled after many delays due to COVID-19 issues.

In December 2022, USA Cricket announced that Jagadeesh Arunkumar was released as head coach of the men's national team.

2023–present: T20 World Cup, World Cup League 2

The United States took part in the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off. They qualified for the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualifier by beating Jersey by 25 runs, marking their first appearance in the ICC World Cup Qualifier since 2005.

After beating Canada 4-0 in April, the United States played the Bangladeshi cricket team in a 3-game T20I series for the first time. The United States won the first match by 5 wickets, their first victory against Bangladesh in any format, and secured their first series win against a full member team in the second match by 6 runs.

These games were practice before their debut at the 2024 T20 World Cup, which the United States co-hosted with the West Indies. In their first World Cup game, the United States beat Canada by seven wickets. In their second match on June 6, they upset heavily favored Pakistan in a Super Over for their second win of the tournament. The United States' surprise win over Pakistan got a lot of attention and gave hope that cricket might become more popular in the U.S.

The team's last group stage match against Ireland was canceled due to rain, and both teams got one point. This result meant the United States finished second in their group and moved on to the Super 8s (instead of Pakistan, Canada, and Ireland) and also qualified automatically for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup.

On February 18, 2025, during a 2024–2026 Cricket World Cup League 2 match against Oman in the 2025 Oman Tri-Nation Series, the United States achieved the lowest total successfully defended in a men's ODI, with 122 runs.

Tournament history

Main article: United States at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Main article: ICC Champions Trophy

Main article: Cricket at the Summer Olympics

Stadiums

The United States has a few special places where international cricket games can be played. The two main ones are the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida and Moosa Stadium in Pearland, Texas. Other good cricket spots include Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina, the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas, the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex in Los Angeles, California, and the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Coaching staff

Coaching history

The United States men's national cricket team has had several coaches over the years. Here are some of the coaches and the years they worked with the team:

• 2012–2014: Robin Singh
• 2015–2016: Nasir Javed
• 2016–2019: Pubudu Dassanayake
• 2019–2020: James Pamment (interim)
• 2020–2022: J. Arunkumar
• 2023–2024: Kevin Darlington (interim)
• 2024: Stuart Law
• 2025–present: Pubudu Dassanayake

Current squad

This section lists the players who have been part of the United States national cricket team recently or in the last two years.

Key

• S/N = Shirt number

Correct as of February 20, 2026

Captains

Main article: List of United States national cricket captains

Eight players have led the United States national cricket team as captain. The first was Anil Kashkari, who held the role until 1979.

Richard Staple was the first to lead the team in a One Day International in 2004. After he retired in 2005, Steve Massiah became captain. Sushil Nadkarni also led the team during the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.

Neil McGarrell was named captain in 2013 for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. He had previously played for the West Indies and made his U.S. debut against Canada in 2012.

Steven Taylor became captain in 2016 and led the team to win the WCL Division four title in Los Angeles. He later stepped down to accept a professional contract.

Saurabh Netravalkar took over as captain in October 2018 after Ibrahim Khaleel was removed from the role. Monank Patel became the captain for T20I and ODI formats in October 2021. In May 2024, Patel was named captain for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, but Aaron Jones took over when Patel was injured during a match.

Records

International Match Summary – United States

Last updated May 16, 2026

One Day Internationals

• Highest team total: 361/3 against Canada on September 24, 2024, at United Ground, Windhoek.
• Highest individual score: 173*, by Jaskaran Malhotra against Papua New Guinea on September 9, 2021, at Al Amerat Cricket Stadium, Muscat.
• Best innings bowling: 7/32, by Ali Khan against Jersey on April 4, 2023, at United Ground, Windhoek.

ODI record versus other nations

Records complete to ODI #4962. Last updated May 16, 2026.

Twenty20 Internationals

• Highest team total: 230/3 against Canada on April 9, 2024, at Prairie View Cricket Complex, Houston.
• Highest individual score: 101*, by Steven Taylor against Jersey on July 11, 2022, at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo.
• Best innings bowling: 5/12, by Saurabh Netravalkar against Singapore on July 12, 2022, at Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo.

T20I record versus other nations

Records complete to T20I #3713. Last updated February 15, 2026.