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2012 Cricket Hall Of Fame Induction
To Join Test greats Basil Butcher And Joe Solomon
By Orin Davidson
After twenty seven years of immensely dedicated administrative work in cricket, John Aaron will finally get his just due.
The former secretary of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) will receive his biggest accolade Saturday (October 6th) when he will be inducted into the Cricket Hall Of Fame in Hartford, Connecticut.
He will join an exclusive batch of inductees this year that includes the famous West Indies batting duo of the 1950s Basil Butcher and Joe Solomon.
One of the most popular administrators in the United States, Aaron has given selflessly to the sport without ever giving the impression he wanted anything in return except to see the sport in the United States, uplifted developmentally.
Apart from serving in a number of administrative positions from club to national level, Aaron has written voluminously on the sport.
Modesty is also, one of his good traits as he felt he was not ready to be thus honored. “I don’t think now was the time, but the Hall of Fame thought different,” Aaron stated.
He was nominated by among others Roy Sweeney and Clifford Hinds and it was instantly accepted by the committee.
John Aaron (left) presents the 2007 Mayor's Cricket Cup to Queens Borough President Helen Marshall after the borough of Queens won the tournament.
Beginning way back in 1985, Aaron served Atlantis Cricket Club out of Queens for a total of 23 years in the capacity as President and Secretary. He went on to give his services to the Eastern American Cricket Association (EACA) league, also in the said two top positions for three years.
Subsequently, Aaron was elected Regional Director for the New York Region on the USACA board, following which he claimed his most exalted position by winning election as secretary of the national ruling body (USACA) in 2008.
Unfortunately Aaron’s commitment, honesty and patriotism was not matched by his colleagues on the USACA board and his tenure was the lone outstanding feature amidst a disastrous period, administration-wise. Two suspensions imposed on United States by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for mismanagement marked a horrendous period. And were it not for Aaron’s work in repairing the damage in negotiations with the ICC, the last suspension could’ve been more lengthy than the 16 months it lasted.
Also noteworthy were Aaron’s negotiations with the ICC that allowed the United States women’s team to field its strongest team which upset Canada in the T20 World Cup qualifying series, that landed them a place among the final 12 countries that played for Associate member positions in the finals, two years ago.
But alas more bungling by Aaron’s fellow Board members wasted the opportunity and denied the ladies the chance to be at their best and they failed to advance, in America’s first attempt.
Aaron’s professionalism was further highlighted when he was the only USACA official to resign when the executive’s term of office expired early in 2011, after continued delays by the President and his minions to hold elections, which were long overdue.
Such was Aaron’s intense love for United States cricket, he ill-advisedly tried to regain his secretarial position and contested a sham election which resulted in him losing a contrived contest determined by handpicked voters. It was a despicable example of the corrupt mindset of powers that be, who did not want him to serve, as he was the only decent presence a gaggle of villains.
Not surprisingly Aaron was quickly gobbled to serve on the steering committee of a newly formed rival cricket ruling body – the American Cricket Federation (ACF) which aims to restore some semblance of decency for the development of United States cricket.
Hopefully the International Cricket Council (ICC) acts soon enough to give U.S. cricket it’s deserved due by separating the good from the bad by identifying the proper body to govern this country’s cricket.
Aaron, a born and bred Guyanese, equipped with a BA in Communications from Hunter College (CUNY) and MA in Management and Technology from New York University (NYU), still manages to hold down a demanding job as Senior College Administrator at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, despite his time dedicated to cricket.
Butcher and Solomon, two of Guyana’s premier Test batsmen who both toured England in the highly successful 1963 series, will headline the list of inductees. They will join others including fellow Guyanese greats Clive Lloyd, Lance Gibbs and Alvin Kallicharran previously inducted. Butcher averaged 47.11 runs in Tests with an aggregate of 3104 while Solomon averaged 34 and totaled 1326 runs from 27 Tests.
The other local inductees apart from Aaron are Jamie Harrison, Samuel Belnavis, Mahamood “Mo” Ally, Dale V. C. Holness, Joseph Buffong, and Andrew Headley. The function will be held at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Hartford.
