68-464: USA Cricket ( USAC ) is the governing body of cricket in the United States . USA Cricket operates all of the United States national representative cricket sides, including the men's and women's national teams and youth teams, as well as Major League Cricket , which is the highest level of domestic American Twenty20 cricket. The body was unveiled on September 24, 2017, as a proposed successor to
136-502: A 2023 launch due to a "lack of high-quality cricket stadiums" in the United States. It was also announced that the stadium renovations were set to begin the same month, and would last from mid-2022 to summer 2023. With the acquisition of the stadium, Texas United began playing most of their home matches on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas beginning in the 2021 season. The renovations include refurbishment and enhancement of
204-561: A Texas-based franchise in Major League Cricket. In November 2021, the ICC announced that Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket would co-host the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup , with matches expected to be played in both regions. In March 2021, two USA Cricket board members filed a lawsuit against CEO Iain Higgins and five other board members, alleging irregularities in its election process, including
272-501: A clear and balanced long-term international playing calendar for our national teams that includes more content, played more frequently against competitive opposition." In November 2020, USA Cricket announced that ACE had leased AirHogs Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas (which previously operated as the home of the recently folded Texas AirHogs baseball team), with plans to redevelop it as a cricket-specific stadium and as home field of
340-532: A cricket team in 1833, generally accepted as the first cricket club exclusively for Americans. Haverford and the University of Pennsylvania formed a strong rivalry, with the first match played on May 7, 1864, believed to be start of the third-oldest intercollegiate sporting contest in America, after the 1852 Harvard - Yale crew and 1859 Amherst - Williams baseball matches. Haverford and Penn then proceeded to play each other for three consecutive years until 1869, when
408-1089: A few purpose-built cricket grounds in the United States , they include the Germantown Cricket Club Ground and the Philadelphia Cricket Club Ground in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , the Randolph St. George Walker Park on Staten Island , New York ; the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida; and the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex in Van Nuys , California . The Indianapolis World Sports Park in Indianapolis , Indiana , which features cricket grounds,
476-518: A long-term lease for the stadium, which would undergo redevelopment to convert it into a facility that can host domestic and international cricket matches, and a Dallas-area team for its upcoming Twenty20 cricket league Major League Cricket . USA Cricket , the US governing body, also announced that the facility would be used as a high-performance training center. In May 2021, USA Cricket announced that Major League Cricket had been pushed back from 2022 to
544-666: A new Premier Development League (PDL) soccer team, Texas United , which would play home matches at AirHogs Stadium. In 2020, the Texas AirHogs opted out of the American Association season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas , and then terminated their membership in the league in October of that year. On November 17, 2020, it was announced that American Cricket Enterprises had signed
612-590: A new body known as USA Cricket was approved as a new associate member of the ICC, replacing the USACA as the United States' representative. In 2018, the U.S. men's team was promoted to Division Two of the World Cricket League for the first time. In 2019, the United States qualified for the inaugural season of its replacement, the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 , whose top teams will move on to
680-462: A referendum to immediately grant voting rights to members rather than requiring that they be members for 12 months (allegedly expanding the voting base to over 20,000 eligible members) that was implemented despite not meeting the required supermajority , and the organization having indefinitely delayed annual elections that were required to occur at the end of November. The election continued to be delayed as of February 2022. On November 15, 2021, it
748-403: A request for proposals surrounding the establishment of a domestic Twenty20 league by 2021, with goals to "engage existing fans and grow new ones to support the bullish vision this Board has for cricket in the US", and "support the sustainable development of cricketing infrastructure across the United States" (noting that Central Broward Regional Park was the only ICC-certified cricket ground in
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#1732854783174816-411: Is meant to be ours and then we would monetize it, commercialize it and if there is a loss, that's our loss to bear. This was unique in the sense that we were not willing to do it given all the constraints. So we said if this is something you still want to go ahead, you do all of it. We'll front you the cash to pull it off, but you keep all the revenue. But the exposure is also yours." On October 10 during
884-520: Is planning to launch its first season in 2023. In addition, various championships and pathways are being offered for youth cricketers, such as the MLC Jr. Championship . Cricket was played by British colonists in North America by the start of the 18th century. Archived references to cricket played in America date from 1709. A New York newspaper from 1739 contains an advertisement for cricket players and
952-524: Is the growing population of immigrants to the U.S. who come from cricket playing nations . With the launching of the United States Youth Cricket Association in 2010, a more focused effort to bring the game to American schools was begun, with the intention of broadening cricket's fan base beyond expatriates and their children. In addition, USA Cricket has begun offering various championship tournaments for youth cricketers, such as
1020-454: Is within either the Commonwealth nations or the other ICC full member (or Test cricket ) nations. There are at least two historical reasons for the relative obscurity of cricket within the United States. One reason was the 19th-century-rise of the summer time bat-and-ball sport now called baseball, which displaced cricket as a popular pastime. Another reason was that in 1909 when the ICC
1088-589: The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and pursue bids to host a future ICC tournament in the country between 2023 and 2031. It was also stated that USA Cricket may attempt to pursue full member status with the ICC. In October 2020, USA Cricket unveiled a "foundational plan" for 2020–23, including plans to promote youth and women's cricket , primarily focus on T20 (including the launch of Major League Cricket in 2022, delayed from 2021 due to COVID-19 ), and partner with Cricket West Indies on bids to host ICC events in
1156-521: The Civil War that baseball overtook cricket and secured its place as America's game. An army making a brief stop at a location could easily organise a game of baseball on almost any clear patch of ground, while cricket required a carefully prepared pitch. After the Civil War, baseball became a much more organized sport than cricket in America, with more money and competition available to baseball players across
1224-522: The Indian Premier League . It was announced in 2009, but never came to fruition. The American Twenty20 Championship was later held in 2011 as a three-day event in New Jersey between regional teams, to help develop and promote American players. Via the investment arm American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), USA Cricket has sanctioned the domestic T20 league Minor League Cricket , and plans to launch
1292-464: The MLC Jr. Championship . ESPN has been stepping up its coverage of cricket in recent years, buying the cricket website Cricinfo in 2007, and broadcasting the final of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 competition, the 2014 Indian Premier League , English County Championship games, and international Test cricket . In 2021, Minor League Cricket , a professional Twenty20 cricket league sanctioned by USA Cricket , began play. Major League Cricket
1360-528: The Twenty20 league Major League Cricket —during which it hosted most matches. The stadium also serves as a home and training facility for the United States national team , and was one of three U.S. host stadiums during the group stage of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup . The ballpark was constructed for the newly formed Texas AirHogs baseball team; Tulsa-based convenience store chain QuikTrip funded and acquired
1428-625: The USL League Two soccer team Texas United from 2017 to 2019. After the AirHogs folded in October 2020, it was announced that American Cricket Enterprises—the commercial partner of USA Cricket —had acquired the lease to AirHogs Stadium, and planned to redevelop the ballpark as a cricket ground. The $ 20 million redevelopment began in April 2022, and the stadium reopened in July 2023 for the inaugural season of
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#17328547831741496-519: The United States of America Cricket Association , which had been expelled from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in June 2017 due to governance issues. In January 2019, it was approved as an associate member of the ICC. In June 2017, the ICC voted to expel the USACA from the ICC, due to issues with governance of the sport in the United States. Control of the United States national team
1564-456: The naming rights to the stadium, considering it a part of the company's 50th anniversary. In 2013, its natural grass surface was replaced with Matrix artificial turf . By 2016, after the expiration of QuikTrip's naming rights, the park was later referred to as The Ballpark in Grand Prairie or AirHogs Stadium . In 2017, the AirHogs' ownership group Neltex Sports Group established
1632-482: The qualifier for the 2023 Cricket World Cup . On November 16, 2021, the ICC announced that the United States and West Indies would co-host the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup . It will be the first ICC World Cup tournament to feature matches played in the United States - with three venues finalized in New York, Florida & Texas. In December 2021, the United States hosted Ireland in a T20I and ODI series , which marked
1700-588: The 44 years that The Intercollegiate Cricket Association existed (1881 through 1924) Penn won The Intercollegiate Cricket Association championship (the de facto national championship) 23 times (3 shared with Haverford and Harvard, 1 shared with Haverford and Cornell, and 1 shared with just Haverford), Haverford won such championship 19 times (3 shared with Penn and Harvard, 1 shared with Penn and Cornell, and 1 shared with Penn), and Harvard won it 6 times, none after 1899 (3 shared with Haverford and Penn). In July 1895 an international cricket match between Canada and
1768-548: The AGM, USA Cricket's new treasurer Kuljit Singh-Nijjar issued a report stating that it had amassed $ 650,000 in debt by the end of 2021, citing spending higher than budgeted projections, nearly $ 800,000 in "administrative expenses", and falling short of its projection of $ 1.1 million in sponsorship revenue. Due to these issues, the 2022 USA Cricket senior men's and junior national championships were cancelled. Interim board chairman Atul Rai stated that it had resolved its outstanding payments to
1836-492: The American innovation of wicket , a variation of cricket which could be played in an afternoon. However, the natural tendency toward baseball was compounded by terrible American defeats at the hands of a traveling English side in 1859, which may have caused Americans to think that they would never be successful at this English game. By the end of the Civil War, most cricket fans had given up their hopes of broad-based support for
1904-558: The Haverford faculty banned cricket away from their college grounds. From 1875 and through 1880, Haverford College, Columbia College and University of Pennsylvania fielded a varsity elevens, which played a few matches each year against each other and other club teams. In 1881, Penn, Harvard College , Haverford College, Princeton College (then known as College of New Jersey), and Columbia College formed The Intercollegiate Cricket Association , which Cornell University later joined. During
1972-469: The ICC's annual conference due to issues with the association's election process, but that suspension was lifted in March 2006. In February 2006, a competing commercial body, Major League Cricket (MLC), proposed that it replace the USACA as the United States' representative in the ICC, citing its more substantial efforts in developing the sport in the country (especially at grassroots levels such as schools, which
2040-670: The ICC, and was also evaluating candidates for its new CEO. On October 21, Vinay Bhimjiani was appointed as the new CEO of USA Cricket. Later that week, USAC's Nominating and Governance Committee (NGC) announced that they were accepting applications for 3 independent directors. USA Cricket, in cobordance with the NGC, then went on to announce their postponed 2021 elections on November 19, 2022. In their announcement, they released their member eligibility lists and also separately announced calls for 3 board directors. In January 2023, USAC announced Patricia Whittaker , David Haubert, and Pintoo Shah replacing
2108-481: The Ireland series due to cost concerns related to its scheduling and COVID-19 protocols. The series, which cost $ 400,000 to host, was not part of USA Cricket's budget for 2021. Srinivasan explained that USAC "came in far, far below even what we thought they would come short of", and "the way this arrangement is meant to work is they find a Full Member or multiple Full Members to come and we would fund all of that. The exposure
USA Cricket - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-619: The Longwood Country Club in Boston. On the same tour in 1891 Lord Hawke's XI defeated a Germantown CC XI in Philadelphia, which included George Patterson , regarded as America's best batsman, with several centuries to his credit. George Patterson – referred to as America's W.G. Grace – was an American-born cricketer and lawyer by profession, described as brilliant under pressure when facing first-class English sides. It may have been during
2244-551: The Manhattan Construction Company tapped to act as Construction Manager. In March 2022, ACE stated that it expected to complete the project by March 2023, with the stadium being part of a $ 110 million investment into new and refurbished cricket-specific stadiums for MLC, and other ventures such as the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup . Ground broke in April 2022, and construction started that July. The project has reportedly costed an excess of $ 20 million. The stadium
2312-722: The Merion Cricket Club and the Germantown Cricket Club). The eleven-person team cricket familiar with Americans today took root most effectively at the St. George's Cricket Club, founded in 1838. Clubs from the United States (St. George's CC) and Canada participated in one of the first international cricket matches on record in 1844 in Bloomingdale Park in Manhattan. Cricket received a significant amount of media coverage at
2380-525: The USACA had ignored), and accused the USACA of having "the morbid opinion that they do not need any outside assistance whereas the development of the game." The USACA was suspended by the ICC in 2007 for its failure to adopt a constitution and hold elections in a timely manner, and the U.S. team pulled out of the World Cricket League Division Three . The organization was suspended once again in 2015, citing "significant concerns about
2448-687: The United States XXII against the All England XI in 1859 in New York and Philadelphia. Both Wright brothers became renowned in baseball circles after they played for the Cincinnati Red Stockings , America's first professional baseball team. English cricket teams toured American regularly. Richard Daft's England side visited in 1869, when they played in New York and Philadelphia. Then with the spread of cricket to Boston, Lord Hawke 's England XI played George Wright's New England Cricket XI at
2516-727: The United States was played on the Manheim grounds in Germantown section of Philadelphia with six of the United States team being Penn student athletes and, in September of that year, past and then current members of Penn's varsity cricket team played past and then current members of the English cricket teams of Oxford and Cambridge resulting in Penn defeating the Oxford-Cambridge team by one hundred runs. This
2584-468: The United States. The organization plans to initially target its activities towards markets where there is "already significant interest in and passion for the sport". USA Cricket also set long-term goals to reach ICC full member status by 2030. It aimed to qualify for the 2022 Under-19 Cricket World Cup (however, all qualification tournaments were cancelled due to COVID-19, and Canada thus qualified automatically based on previous performance), and to "develop
2652-535: The United States: Pro Cricket was formed in 2004 as a commercial cricket league not sanctioned by the ICC, which played a modified T20 format with changes intended to further increase the pace of the game, including five-ball overs. The USACA, later in partnership with New Zealand Cricket , proposed a T20 competition known as the American Premier League , patterned after competitions such as
2720-500: The country's first-ever home series against a Test-playing nation. The two teams split the T20 series. However, the ODI series was cancelled due to COVID-19 issues. In November 2021, the United States won the 2021 Women's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier , advancing to the global qualifier for the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup . There have been various attempts at domestic cricket leagues in
2788-437: The country). In January 2019, USA Cricket was officially approved by the ICC as its 105th associate member. In May 2019, USA Cricket announced that it had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a $ 1 billion investment in its proposed T20 league; ACE's partners include Satyan Gajwani and Vineet Jain of The Times Group , and Willow TV founders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan. ACE will provide investments for
USA Cricket - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-460: The country; thus, baseball began to poach players and administrators from the world of cricket. It has been suggested that the fast-paced quick play of baseball was more appealing to Americans than the technical slower game of cricket, which at the time was played over a much longer duration than baseball; some attempts were made to nativize cricket in a way that would reduce its length and other perceived disadvantages relative to baseball, such as
2924-451: The elections, sparking further controversy. Following many email co-signers' exclusion from the 2021 elections and USAC's inability to overhaul and "roll back any past improper actions" of the NGC, Nadkarni and Jhamb filed a joint-lawsuit against USA Cricket and members of the NGC. The lawsuit alleged "numerous" violations of USA Cricket's constitution by the NGC and requested that USA Cricket be forced to deconstruct its NGC, which they allege
2992-564: The finals. A few years later, they would win the 2011 American Association championship by winning a decisive game five at QuikTrip Park. The AirHogs folded in October 2020. The AirHogs hosted the American Association All-Star Game on July 21, 2009. The Dallas Desire were one of two teams that were introduced to the women's Lingerie Football League (now Legends Football League ) in 2004. They played two home games of their 2009 season in Grand Prairie. The team then moved to
3060-456: The first documented competition occurred in 1751 in Manhattan. According to William Byrd II 's diary, cricket was played on the slave plantations of Virginia, including on his Westover estate among neighbors and slaves. By 1793, Dartmouth College students were playing cricket on the Green . Philadelphia was the crucible of North American cricket and remains so today. Haverford College formed
3128-757: The five established US facilities for cricket, with it set to host the 2024 T20 World Cup in June and July. The park was built for the Texas AirHogs of the American Association in 2007. They began play (as the Grand Prairie AirHogs) in May 2008 and finished their inaugural season with a final record of 56–40, also winning the Southern Division title before falling to the Sioux Falls Canaries in
3196-481: The following national-level tournaments: Cricket in the United States Cricket in the United States is a sport played at the amateur, club , intercollegiate and international competition levels with little popularity, with 200,000 players (<0.1% of the population) across the country. Major League Cricket is the highest level of domestic T20 cricket currently played in America, with T20 being
3264-407: The format of the game that much of the recent growth in American cricket is occurring in. In 2006 it was estimated that 30,000 people in the United States play or watch cricket annually. By 2017, this figure had risen to 200,000 people playing cricket in 6,000 teams. Cricket in the United States is not as popular as baseball and is not as popular among as large a fraction of the population as it
3332-505: The former Paraag Marathe, Rohan Sajdeh, and Catherine Carlson as independent board directors. This sparked controversy as Whittaker served USA Cricket prior as a selector in 2021, going against USAC's constitution, stating that a person must not have held position in USAC, the ICC, or any national, local, or regional governing and administrative body within 3 years of the date of applicable election. Shortly thereafter, an email co-signed by 21 people
3400-410: The game. Baseball filled the role of the "people's game" and cricket became an amateur game for gentlemen. The United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) previously served as the governing body for cricket in the United States, as an associate member of the ICC from 1965 to 2017. The USACA faced turmoil and governance issues in the 2000s and early 2010s. In 2005 the USACA was suspended from
3468-424: The governance, finance, reputation and cricketing activities" of the organization. However, the U.S. team was still allowed to continue competing in events such as the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier , with ICC Americas serving as an interim caretaker of its cricket operations. In 2017, the ICC voted to expel the USACA, citing its increasing debt and failure to ratify a certified constitution. In January 2019,
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#17328547831743536-439: The group stage of the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup, including the opening match between the United States and Canada; temporary bleachers were installed to double the capacity of the stadium for the tournament. On June 6, 2024, the U.S. team notably upset Pakistan at the stadium in their second tournament match. The following table summarises the domestic Twenty20 centuries scored at the site. Grand Prairie Stadium became one of
3604-459: The league (including developmental and professional circuits), facilities, and support of the U.S. national teams. During its inaugural annual general meeting in February 2020, USA Cricket announced plans to launch its franchise-based T20 league Major League Cricket in 2021, stage the inaugural season of its development league Minor League Cricket in 2020, back proposals for cricket to be staged at
3672-564: The professional competition Major League Cricket (no relation to the aforementioned organization) in 2023. On November 16, 2021, the International Cricket Council announced that the United States along with the West Indies would co-host the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup , making the first ICC World Cup Tournament to take place in the United States. Team USA upset Team Pakistan in the 2024 Cricket World Cup . There are only
3740-516: The sanctioning body. It was concurrently reported that USA Cricket had been removed as an administrative co-host of the 2024 T20 World Cup due to these issues, but that Cricket West Indies would still host tournament matches in the United States. Ahead of the next annual general meeting on October 9, Srinivasan stated that ACE was concerned over USA Cricket's mounting debt, and concerns that players and board members were not being paid despite ACE's agreements and funding. ACE had chosen not to fully back
3808-476: The sport among the U.S. audience than other common symbols, such as the stumps or ball). The new body stated that its goal was to help build popularity for the game among a "mainstream" audience (as opposed to predominantly expats from other regions), with project manager Eric Parthen describing it as a "fresh start" that would "celebrate the past and look to the future". USA Cricket elected its first independent board in mid-2018. In November 2018, USA Cricket put out
3876-426: The stadium's 13 luxury suites and Hall of Fame and Officer Club Rooms, installation of "premium seating experiences" around the field, and the renovation and reopening of the stadium's sports bar facility. Other cricket amenities such as training nets, batting lanes, and outside turf fields are planned to be added in "subsequent renovation phases". Dallas-based architect HKS was retained by ACE for this stadium, with
3944-432: The time. In the mid-19th century, the sport was played in approximately 125 cities in 22 states. Roughly 500 officially established clubs existed and it is probable that in 1860 there were 10,000 boys and men in America who had actively played the sport for at least a season. St. George's CC employed Sheffield native Samuel Wright as its professional cricket playing groundsman. Wright's two sons, Harry and George, played for
4012-475: Was completed in 2014, and hosted the USACA's national championship that year. The game is also played on a number of shared purpose venues, including Van Cortlandt Stadium in Bronx, New York. In 2021, American Cricket Enterprises leased AirHogs Stadium , the home field of the defunct Texas AirHogs baseball team, to redevelop it as a cricket-specific stadium and USA Cricket training facility. The revamped stadium
4080-453: Was completed in 2023 and it was named as Grand Prairie Stadium . The main cricket grounds in the United States include: AirHogs Stadium Grand Prairie Stadium (formerly QuikTrip Park and AirHogs Stadium ) is a cricket ground and former ballpark in Grand Prairie, Texas . Opened in May 2008, it served as the home stadium of the Texas AirHogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball from 2008 through 2019, and of
4148-486: Was formed unconstitutionally. The lawsuit additionally points out other numerous unconstitutional actions, including the appointment of Whittaker as an independent director, a lack of election candidates, and the approval of many ineligible election candidates and voters. As a result, a court hearing was scheduled for the third week of February. The court then imposed a restraining order on the 2021 elections which were set to be held on February 6. The USAC sponsor and sanction
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#17328547831744216-483: Was handed over to ICC Americas until a new board was formed. On September 24, 2017 (the anniversary of the 1844 Canada-United States cricket match , and on the heels of a U.S. victory in the Canada-U.S. K.A. Auty Cup ), USA Cricket was announced as a new proposed sanctioning body, including a logo unveiled by Denver-based group Adrenalin (using a cricket bat as the main symbol, deeming it to have stronger symbolism with
4284-595: Was not surprising as in the last two and a half decades of the 19th century and first decade of the 20th century, Philadelphia was the center of cricket in the United States Cricket had gained in popularity among the upper class from their travels abroad and cricket clubs sprung up all across the Eastern Seaboard (even today Philadelphia still has three cricket clubs: the Philadelphia Cricket Club ,
4352-480: Was originally organized as the Imperial Cricket Conference it was open only to Commonwealth nations and thereby excluded the U.S. from participating in the sport at the highest level. Nevertheless, in 1965 the U.S. was admitted to the renamed ICC as an associate member and the sport grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century. An oft mentioned reason for the growing popularity of cricket
4420-604: Was rededicated by the city on July 11, 2023, and it hosted most matches during the inaugural season of MLC that began on July 13. Following the season, the stadium hosted local Minor League Cricket team, the Dallas Mustangs, for their 2023 campaign . It also hosted the finals of that season, where it saw the Mustangs emerge victorious over the New Jersey Somerset Cavaliers. The stadium hosted matches during
4488-440: Was reported that Higgins had stepped down as CEO, amid internal issues within the organization; the position remained vacant. The lawsuit was settled in May 2022, after board chairman Paraag Marathe announced his resignation, which allowed the elections to move forward and begin on July 8, 2022. Separately, ex-CEO Iain Higgins was given $ 300,000 as part of an agreement to avoid more legal action against USAC. On October 3, 2022, it
4556-399: Was reported that USA Cricket was seriously in debt, had failed to file annual financial reports, and failed to host an annual general meeting in 2020, leading the ICC to suspend funding payments. The curtailment of Ireland's December 2021 series against the United States due to COVID-19 outbreaks (causing only the T20 matches to be played) was reported to have resulted in six-figure losses for
4624-470: Was sent to USA Cricket challenging the constitutionality of the NGC. The email protested and pointed out many instances of USAC constitution violations ahead of the 2021 USAC elections, threatening legal action if the problems weren't resolved. Following the email, USAC excluded email co-signers Sushil Nadkarni , Ajay Jhamb, and others from their final candidates and voter list for the 2021 elections. Additionally, USAC also approved many ineligible candidates for
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