USA Cricket Files Chapter 11, Pauses ACE Hearing

USA Cricket filed for Chapter 11 minutes before a preliminary-injunction hearing with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), pausing the Colorado proceedings and marking the first known instance of an ICC member board declaring bankruptcy. Bankruptcy schedules show modest assets and unsecured claims of just over $500,000 and list several senior player contracts as executory contracts now under Chapter 11 oversight that could face delays or renegotiation. USA Cricket said the filing was meant to secure governance reforms, address the ICC suspension and correct an allegedly inequitable 50-year ACE agreement while positioning the body for preparations toward the LA 2028 Olympics. ACE condemned the timing, accused USA Cricket of avoiding the injunction and acting for political motives, and said it had offered to continue payments if USA Cricket agreed to a voluntary preliminary injunction — an offer USA Cricket declined. The filing follows months of pressure from the ICC and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee for board resignations and reports that several directors walked out of a Sept. 30 meeting in protest.