The United States men's national cricket team represents the United States in international cricket. The team was formerly organized by the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1965. In June 2017, the USACA was expelled by the ICC due to governance and financing issues, with the U.S. team being temporarily overseen by ICC Americas until a new governing body was established. In January 2019, associate membership was officially granted to USA Cricket. In September 2025, the ICC re-suspended USA Cricket for violations of membership obligations.

A U.S. representative team participated in the first international cricket match, played against Canada, in 1844. For a century and a half, the U.S. national team seldom played against other national teams. It played mostly against Canada (in the annual Auty Cup), or against visiting teams from other countries.

The United States made its international tournament debut at the 1979 ICC Trophy in England; it has since missed only two editions of the tournament (now known as the World Cup Qualifier). After winning the 2004 ICC Six Nations Challenge, the team qualified for the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy, playing its first two One Day International (ODI) matches. In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between the United States and other ICC members after January 1, 2019, have the T20I status. The first T20I to be played by the United States was scheduled against the United Arab Emirates in March 2019.

In the World Cricket League, the U.S. finished fourth in the 2019 Division Two tournament, losing a third place playoff to Papua New Guinea, a match which was designated as an ODI (and thus became the United States' third-ever ODI match, 15 years after their last). This fourth-place finish was sufficient to earn the country a place in 2019–22 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, in which all the team's matches would carry ODI status. The team's first domestic ODI series began on September 13, 2019, hosting Papua New Guinea and Namibia.

In their debut 2024 T20 World Cup game, the United States defeated rivals Canada by seven wickets. During their second match on June 6, the Americans upset heavily favored Pakistan in a Super Over for their second win of the tournament. The United States' shock defeat of Pakistan brought about widespread media exposure and also sparked optimism about the win potentially reflecting a "cricket transformation" in the U.S.

History

Beginnings

Cricket was played throughout the Thirteen Colonies during the period of British America in the early 18th century. Cricket further grew in the 18th century. It is understood from anecdotal evidence that George Washington was a strong supporter of cricket, participating on at least one occasion in a game of wicket with his troops at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.

In 1844, the United States participated in the first international cricket match. This was played against Canada at the St George's Cricket Club Ground, Bloomingdale Park, New York. This first international sporting event was attended by 20,000 people and established the longest international sporting rivalry in the modern era. Wagers of around $120,000 were placed on the outcome of the match. This is equivalent to around $1.5 million in 2007.

Sides from England toured North America (taking in both the U.S. and Canada) following the English cricket seasons of 1859, 1868 and 1872. These were organized as purely commercial ventures. Most of the matches of these early touring teams were played "against odds", that is to say the home team was permitted to have more than eleven players (usually twenty-two) in order to make a more even contest.Alan Gibson, The Cricket Captains of England, The Pavilion Library, 1989, , 4–7.

Decline In spite of cricket's popularity in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the game was supplanted by baseball in the 1850s and 1860s. As interest in baseball rose, the rules of that game were changed slightly to increase its popularity. For example, easily manufactured round bats were introduced to contrast the flat bats of cricket.

Another reason for cricket's decline in popularity may be that in the late 19th century American cricket remained an amateur sport reserved for the wealthy while England and Australia were developing a professional version of the game. As cricket standards improved with professionalism elsewhere in the world many North American cricket clubs stayed stubbornly elitist. Clubs such as Philadelphia CC and Merion abandoned cricket and converted their facilities to other sports.

By 1900, baseball was dominant numerically and culturally in the United States. In addition, when the first international body for the sport, the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) was formed in 1909, membership was restricted to countries in the British Empire. This undercut the popularity of cricket outside the empire and reduced momentum to professionalize cricket in the United States. Whether a more open ICC would have maintained or increased the momentum remains an open question, however. Regardless of its cause, the game did not flourish in the United States the way it did in the British Empire. From the 1880s until the outbreak of World War I, cricket in the U.S. was dominated not by a truly national team, but by the amateur Philadelphia cricket team, which was selected from clubs in cricket's American stronghold – the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

A tour of North America by the Australians in 1913 saw two first-class games (both won by the tourists) against a combined Canada–U.S. team.‌

Philadelphian cricket

The Philadelphian cricket team was a team that represented Philadelphia in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. Even though the United States had played the first international cricket match against Canada in 1844, the sport began a slow decline in the country. This decline was furthered by the rise in popularity of baseball. In Philadelphia, however, the sport remained very popular and from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I, the city produced a first class team that rivaled many kids in the world. The team was composed of players from the four chief cricket clubs in Philadelphia–Germantown, Merion, Belmont, and Philadelphia. Players from smaller clubs, such as Tioga and Moorestown, and local colleges, such as Haverford and Penn, also played for the Philadelphians. Over its 35 years, the team played in 89 first-class cricket matches. Of those, 29 were won, 46 were lost, 13 were drawn and one game was abandoned before completion.See summary of first-class matches here.

John Barton King was a prominent all-rounder during this period. During his career, he set numerous records in North America and at least one first-class bowling record. He competed with and succeeded against the best cricketers in the world from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called "the angler", and helped to perfect swing bowling in the sport. Many of the great bowlers of today still use the strategies and techniques that he developed. Sir Pelham Warner described Bart King as one of the finest bowlers of all time, and Donald Bradman called him "America's greatest cricketing son."

On June 28, 1913, the Philadelphians played the last first-class game on the mainland for more than 90 years. Games were played in the US Virgin Islands in the interim, which is considered as part of the West Indies by the ICC. The team had played an American national side 6 times between 1885 and 1894. The United States team won one of these matches, lost two, and earned a draw in three. Cricket remained a minor pastime in the United States until the mid-1960s, when ICC reforms allowed associate members to join.

Status from 1965 In 1965, Clifford Severn made his U.S. debut at 39, alongside his young brother Winston, in a two-day match against Canada at Calgary's Riley Park as part of the longest running international rivalry in international cricket, now known as the Auty Cup. A year later in the return contest at the C. Aubrey Smith Field in Los Angeles, the USA won by 54 runs.

In 1965, the Imperial Cricket Conference changed its name to the International Cricket Conference. In addition, new rules were adopted to permit the election of countries from outside the Commonwealth. This led to the expansion of the conference, with the admission of Associate Members, including the United States. Today cricket is played in all fifty states.

The U.S. have played in every edition of the ICC Trophy, though they didn't pass the first round until the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands. They reached the plate final of the 1994 tournament, but opted not to play due to prior travel arrangements. They finished twelfth in 1997.

21st century

2000–09

The U.S. finished sixth in the 2001 ICC Trophy, their best performance to date. They have also played in every edition of the ICC Americas Championship, winning in 2002.Timeline of USA cricket at CricketEurope

In 2004, the United States cricket team played a first-class match as part of the first ICC Intercontinental Cup. The matches against Canada and Bermuda were the first in many years. The team won the ICC 6 Nations Challenge beating Scotland, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the UAE on net run rate by 0.028 of a run.ICC 6 Nations Challenge 2004 Points Table at Cricket Archive

Winning the ICC Six Nations meant that they qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 in England. Here the U.S. played their first One Day International match against New Zealand at The Oval on September 10, 2004.List of ODIs played by the USA

The U.S. side was beaten by New Zealand and lost to Australia in the tournament, as well.Points Table from the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy at Cricket Archive

The 2005 ICC Trophy represented a chance for the U.S. to re-establish themselves on the world stage and qualify for the 2007 World Cup. A poor showing saw them finish at the bottom of their group, with four losses and a match abandoned due to rain from their five group fixtures. This failure robbed the USA of the prize of full One Day International status on offer to the World Cup qualifiers. This failure was compounded on August 9, 2005, when the ICC removed the U.S. from the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup after legal disputes prevented them from naming a squad.

The United States made their return to international cricket in August 2006 when they participated in Division One of the ICC Americas Championship in Canada. They finished second in the five team tournament.Americas Division One points table

In 2007 the United States were to visit Darwin, Australia to take part in Division Three of the ICC World Cricket League.World Cricket League Structure A top two finish in this tournament would have qualified them for Division Two of the same tournament later in the year. However, amid internal disputes over the constitution of the USACA, the team was forced to withdraw after the ICC suspended the USACA in March 2007. The dispute was resolved in early 2008, and the suspension was lifted on April 1 of that year.

The team's reinstatement permitted them to enter the World Cricket League in Division Five for 2008 in Jersey. The team made it through the Group Stage tied for first in their division with a 4–0–0 record (one match abandoned),Points tables at WCL5 Official site but lost both their semi-final match with Jersey and their third-place play-off with Nepal.Results at WCL5 Official site

2010–2015