ACF responds to Peter Della Penna Facebook post

American Cricket Federation
Cricinfo's Peter Della Penna has today taken to social media to publicly comment on Cricinfo's editorial policy regarding the American Cricket Federation. He correctly notes that, for a time, Cricinfo consistently reported on ACF's work to promote domestic cricket in America.

This balanced reporting showed the world that America was perhaps not lost to cricket, and that maybe there was hope after all. The stories that appeared in Cricinfo showed that progress was being made, and that a new, exciting day was dawning for our great game in the United States.

Sometime after June 18, however, something changed. Through that date, Cricinfo had shown no reluctance when it came to reporting on the sudden and surprising rise of the American Cricket Federation. In fact, in the six months prior to that date, it had run five separate articles solely focused on ACF’s successes.

But in the almost six months since June 18, Cricinfo has reversed course, declining to publish anything about such game-changing milestones as ACF creating and operating the United States' only successful national domestic league, conducting a flawless national championship event, announcing a new national side program and then an equipment sponsor that will provide complementary gear for the players in that side.

During that same time period, Cricinfo has found fit for publishing nearly forty other articles, some with subjects as mundane as ex-players complaining about their former coach, someone banned in Bangladesh playing in a New York park, and a player hurting his knee in club cricket.

Mostly, however, the picture Cricinfo has painted of American cricket in the last six months is very one-sided, and that side is frankly an ugly mess. We regret that image being projected to the world.

But, it seems that Cricinfo unfortunately has, at this time, decided to ignore the promising, optimistic part of the cricket activity in the United States, for reasons unknown. (It cannot be argued that the ACF blackout is due to its current standing with the ICC, as this was clearly no impediment prior to June 18.)

It seems clear that some kind of a decision was made regarding Cricinfo’s editorial policy vis-à-vis the American Cricket Federation at some point after June 18. Important facts such as the nature of this decision, who made it and what prompted it, however, remain shrouded in mystery.

It also seems unfair for Cricinfo to make such a sweeping editorial decision about its USA coverage without alerting its readers and explaining its reasoning. If the change was due to outside pressure, then just say so. If the change was a decision made by one individual acting alone, then say that, too.

We hope to see the situation change soon, and a more balanced picture, also showing the good side of American cricket, also presented by Cricinfo.

In the meantime, as the United States is Cricinfo’s second-largest market, we feel that its readers are owed at least a small bit of honesty about the process.