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It was in August of 2023 that Dan Lockerbie started to get anxious.
The ICC had tasked him, a former chief executive of the United States Cricket Association, now venue development officer for the 2024 men's T20 World Cup, to find a suitable venue in New York that could host matches in the marquee event.
Lockerbie, a native New Yorker, had already fished around the obvious venues, including Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, which has 12 existing cricket pitches.
New York City mayor Eric Adams was keen on Van Cortlandt Park as a favourable venue, but the locals strongly opposed the project.
In November 2022 the ICC's head of events, Chris Tetley, rang Lockerbie to shortlist potential venues in the US.
Both men had previously worked together on the 2007 ODI World Cup, which was held in the West Indies.
Lockerbie was the chief commercial officer and venue development officer for that tournament.
He has also been involved with the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA, six Olympics, and is managing director at the Parker Company, a hospitality procurement firm.
Given the International Olympics Committee has added cricket to the list of sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Lockerbie said that city was the first big centre considered.
In December 2022 he visited Woodley Park in Van Nuys, California, one of the oldest cricket venues in the country.
The plan was to create a modular cricket stadium which could accommodate roughly up to 25,000 seats and which could also serve as a potential venue come the LA Olympics.
Source: New York's beautiful monster: how a cricket venue was created from scratch