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Dainty wins re-election as USACA president

Gladstone Dainty has won re-election as USACA president for a fourth term at the USACA general elections held in Texas

Gladstone Dainty will serve a fourth term as USACA president  •  Peter Della Penna

Gladstone Dainty will serve a fourth term as USACA president  •  Peter Della Penna

Gladstone Dainty has won re-election as USACA president for a fourth term at the USACA general elections held in Texas. Dainty tallied 22 votes to defeat challenger Surendranath Gandavaram, a former Atlanta league administrator who fell short with 16 votes.
Dainty's win comes in the wake of USACA being sent a letter by the ICC in January warning the national governing body that it is in danger of a third administrative suspension by the ICC since 2005. The ICC informed USACA that it was cutting off quarterly grant payments to USACA, worth approximately $300,000 per year, until it gets its affairs in order. The withholding of funds could be debilitating since USACA's debt grew from $3 million to more than $4.1 million in its latest tax filings from 2013.
The USACA elections, held last weekend, were once again subject to controversy as at least seven of the 39 voting leagues were made eligible for the first time despite having not gone through the proper USACA membership ratification process laid out in the USACA constitution. Regional elections have also been problematic, with the Atlantic Region and North West Regions engaged in internal disputes as to the legitimacy of their representation.
Incumbent Southeast Regional Director Owen Grey claimed 23 votes to replace Michael Gale as USACA first vice-president. Grey defeated New York Regional Director Krish Prasad, who finished with 14 votes, and former USACA board member Ahmed Jeddy, who claimed just one. Gale did not seek re-election for another term as first vice-president having served since 2011.
Seattle area administrator Faizan Janjua defeated incumbent Rafey Syed, as well as Jeddy, Vincent Adams and Mahammad Qureshi in the vote for second vice-president. Janjua tallied 16 votes while Jeddy was the closest challenger with 11 followed by Syed with seven, Adams three and Qureshi's one vote.
Michigan administrator Sankar Renganathan defeated former USACA Atlantic Region Director Shelton Glasgow and Shuja Khan in the vote for executive secretary. Renganathan claimed 21 votes to 15 for Glasgow and two for Khan. Incumbent Mascelles Bailey did not seek re-election.
In the closest vote, Shakeel Yusuf narrowly edged Atul Deshmukh by 19 votes to 17 to replace John Thickett as USACA treasurer. Former USACA secretary Kenwyn Williams received one vote as did Khurram Syed, a league administrator and former chairman of the Central East Region board. Thickett did not seek re-election because according to sources he is in line to be chosen as the next USACA chief executive, filling a post that has been vacant since the resignation of Darren Beazley in April 2014.
Following the elections, USACA announced that Adams has been appointed to lead an ICC Liaison Committee in an effort to rectify the issues laid out in the ICC's letter to USACA from January, which threatened suspension. Adams' appointment is noteworthy because he is also currently a member of the honorary advisory board to USACA's rival, the American Cricket Federation. Adams works for the US Department of Energy out of Portsmouth, Ohio.
Along with Adams, the other members of the committee include USA coach Robin Singh, WICB vice-president Emmanual Nanthan, Northern California Cricket Association president Sunil Kumar, Washington Cricket League president Shoaib Ahmed and North Texas Cricket Association president Syed Shahanawaz.

Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo's USA correspondent. @PeterDellaPenna