The 7th Annual US Open Cricket 2015 Tournament came to a premature conclusion when persistent rainfall forced the abandonment of play on Saturday evening and prevented any chance of completing the tournament on Sunday.
Even with a glimmer of sunlight, logistically, it would have been impossible to complete the number of games – 21 – which were scheduled for Sunday. Understandably, after the decision was made to cancel Sunday’s games, a variety of ideas were discussed among the participating teams. The committee met on Sunday morning to determine the most fair and most equitable approach.
After a lengthy discussion, the committee decided to refund the entire $90,000 in allotted team and player prize money. It will be dispersed among the 28 participating champion teams.
We wish to make it abundantly clear that at no time did tournament management attempt to shirk its responsibilities. We have always been forthright and transparent, and we will continue to operate in that manner. Because of the cancellation of the tournament, The US Open Cricket 2015 committee has experienced significant financial losses in media advertising revenue and unfulfilled sponsorship commitments. However, the committee insisted that whatever decision was made, it had to be in the best interest of the participating teams. We would have preferred a different outcome, where all the games would have been completed, but the weather charted a different game plan. We understand the disappointment by some teams, but please bear in mind that we made every attempt to get the games completed; to no avail.
We hope that you can appreciate the difficult decisions that faced us all, as we look forward to seeing you all next year, hopefully, in a sunny South Florida.
Thank you.
Orville Hall
Vice President – Public Relations