The USA Cricket Association has announced over the weekend that it has offered central contracts to four players and intends to offer up to 20 more contracts in the next two to three months. The declarations were made by USACA president Gladstone Dainty and former USA coach Robin Singh during a series of speeches and presentations made at the USACA T20 National Championship in Florida this weekend.USA captain Steven Taylor, allrounders Timroy Allen and Timil Patel, and Trinbago Knight Riders batsman William Perkins were the first four players offered central contracts by the USACA. Dainty stated in a speech to the players on November 19 that the contracts were worth $48,000. It is not known if any of the players has accepted the offer yet but according to multiple sources, USAs players were advised by ICC Americas officials last month to decline any offer made by USACA after rumours of potential contract offers had circulated. A battle for control of the selection process for USA national teams is not unprecedented. In 2005, a dispute over USA squad selections between USACA and the Council of League Presidents resulted in USA being kicked out of the Intercontinental Cup and replaced by Cayman Islands. USACA was suspended soon after, the first of three administrative suspensions over the course of the next decade.In September, ICC Americas staff, currently administering USA cricket in a caretaker role, hired former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Pubudu Dassanayake as the new USA coach ahead of WCL Division Four in Los Angeles, which USA won to gain promotion to Division Three. Robin last coached a USA side at 2014 ICC WCL Division Three in Malaysia, when USA finished fifth and were relegated to Division Four, but he is still listed on the USACA web site as their mens national coach.However, under USACAs current suspension, the ICC has made clear that it has assumed complete control over USAs operational affairs including national-team selection. Dassanayake is expected to continue leading USAs preparation for Division Three in Uganda next year. USACA has until December 15 to ratify a new constitution that has been approved by the ICC. Failure to do so may see a resolution put forth by December 31 leading to USACAs potential expulsion as an Associate Member at the next ICC Annual Conference in June 2017.In a speech delivered on Sunday, Robin said he had put together a list of players from which 20 would receive USACA contracts in early 2017. Robin emphasised that the contracts were made possible by the $70 million investment deal announced last month between USACA and Philadelphia businessman Jay Pandya, who was subsequently announced as the new owner of the CPL franchise St Lucia Zouks.Were going to consider all of these people going forward to give contracts, Robin said after the list of 29 additional names for consideration was unveiled. Hopefully in the next year or two, we want to actually give out about 20 professional contracts and we want to make it as clear as possible. We want to make sure people are actually committed to the game. Ill put out a list of commitments and requirements that I expect, and theres going to be some very tough lines.The USACA list of 33 players differs in notable ways from the 30-man national squad announced by ICC Americas evaluators in July. Among those that have been included in the USACA list of potential contract recipients are several players with first-class experience overseas including former India U-19 and Mumbai medium pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, Carlitos Lopez and Roy Silva. The only players who were part of USAs Division Four and Auty Cup squads from October not included in USACAs proposed contract list are Srini Santhanam, Hammad Shahid and Abdullah Syed.In the next three months, were going to make sure there are a lot of games played, Robin said. Its not only for the people who are on this list. I will call people outside the box and I think its necessary. If people are injured, or not available, or not honest enough, we will remove them from the list because its not my money. We are playing with other peoples money here and I think [Pandya] has made a serious commitment to take the game forward in this part of the world, and I think, as cricketers, you owe it to yourself to give yourself the best chance.Pittsburgh Penguins Gear . PAUL, Minn. Wholesale Penguins Jerseys . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/ . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Pittsburgh Penguins Shirts . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Cheap Penguins Jerseys . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15.SAN FRANCISCO -- The way things are going for the Pittsburgh Pirates these days, even when they dig themselves into a hole theres still hope.You start winning a few games, regardless of what the score is, if its early we know weve got a chance to make something happen, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen said.The Pirates made something happen against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.McCutchen had two hits, including a two-run homer, pinch-hitter Matt Joyce had a key two-run single, and Pittsburgh rallied from a four-run deficit to complete a three-game sweep of the Giants with a 6-5 victory.Thats us, McCutchen added. Thats what we do.The Pirates won their fourth straight game and sixth in seven. They remain a game behind St. Louis, which beat Houston 8-2, in the race for the NL wild card.I think this last week or two has really been fun for us, Joyce said. You can definitely tell guys are playing with that intensity and you can tell theyre hungry.McCutchens homer, his 17th, capped a six-run rally in the fifth inning that chased Giants starter Matt Cain (4-8).Cain had allowed one hit and had faced just one batter over the minimum with a 4-0 lead going into his disastrous fifth inning, when the Pirates scored six runs on four walks, three hits and a hit batsman.His first pitch to McCutchen was an 89 mph fastball over the middle of the plate, and the Pirates center fielder pounced.Pirates starter Ivan Nova allowed four runs and six hits in four innings. He struck out five and allowed no walks. Nova, who won his first two starts since coming over in a deadline trade with the New York Yankees, was lifted for Joyce after Cain hit David Freese to start the fifth and then walked three straight batters.Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of his decision to pinch-hit Joyce wasnt a reflection on Novas performance.How do you know youre going to have another shot with the bases loaded? Hurdle asked. You take a shot when the bases are full and see what can play out.Nova is 2-0 with a 4.41 ERA in three starts with the Pirates. He hasnt allowed a walk in 16 1/3 innings with his new team. We like his stuff, Hurdle said. It was a tough day to be a National League pitcher. In the American League hes probably still pitching.Jeff Locke (9-7) pitched a scoreless fifth.Tony Watson survived a scoreless ninth after the Giants loaded the bases with no outs for his seventh save in eight tries since taking over Pittsburghs closers role.The Giiants, who on Tuesday fell out of first place in the NL West for the first time in 97 days, lost their fourth straight.dddddddddddd They fell to 9-21, the worst record in the majors since the All-Star break. They dropped 1 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, who beat Philadelphia on Wednesday night.Were taking some blows right now but its a tough club, its a resilient club, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.They came out and did some good things today. Were creating some good chances and opportunities.The Giants failed to capitalize when it counted most.After inducing Buster Posey to ground into a run-scoring double play, Watson got Brandon Crawford to fly out to shallow center and McCutchen made a game-ending running catch.Posey was 3 for 5 with an RBI double to lead the Giants. Crawford was 2 for 5 with a double, a triple and three RBI and Angel Pagan was 3 for 4 with a double as he extended his hitting streak to 15 games.BEST WESTERNThe Pirates are 25-8 on the road against the NL West over the last two seasons and are 22-11 against the division this season. This has been key for us the last couple of years, coming out here and taking care of business, McCutchen said.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Tyler Glasnow, on the DL since July 24 with right shoulder discomfort, threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and is showing progress, Hurdle said. ... C Chris Stewart, out since July 2 with knee discomfort, had his third scheduled rehab game with Double-A Altoona rained out on Tuesday.Giants: Bochy had Posey in the lineup for a day game after a night game after the All-Star catcher missed two consecutive games with lower back tightness. I dont want him going out there if theres any risk of making it worse, he says hes fine, Bochy said. ... 1B Brandon Belt dropped to the ground after fouling a pitch off his right knee in the fifth inning but stayed in the game.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Gerrit Cole will pitch the series opener against the Marlins on Friday. Cole is 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA in three starts since pitching his first career complete game against Seattle on July 27.Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner will pitch the series opener with the Mets on Thursday. The All-Star threw seven shutout innings against Baltimore in his most recent outing to snap a streak of five winless starts in which he was 0-3 and the Giants were 0-5. ' ' '