USA Cricket has officially been launched with branding and new social media accounts ©USA Cricket

Cricket in the United States has taken a step closer towards the creation of a new national governing body with the launch of the USA Cricket brand.

Branding and the new USA Cricket social media platforms, which have also been launched, are said to represent "a new chapter for the sport" in the US.

It is the first step towards getting a new governing body up and running, until which time the sport will continue to be delivered by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Americas USA project team and local advisory groups.

The United States Cricket Association (USACA) was officially expelled as a member of the ICC in June.

The decision, which was taken by the ICC Board, came after the USACA was suspended in 2015.

The USACA had been suspended by the ICC three times since 2005.

They had twice managed to earn reinstatement, but were formally excluded from the worldwide governing body.

It was confirmed in May that the ICC would vote on whether to expel USACA due to a failure to resolve concerns over "governance, finance, reputation and cricketing activities".

The world governing body did not believe the USACA "genuinely exercises authority over the sport in the USA and that it instead, for a variety of reasons, presides over a severely fractured community with only a small number of cricket leagues subscribing to its membership and the vast majority not choosing to join the Federation".

The United States were officially expelled by the ICC earlier this year ©ICC
The United States were officially expelled by the ICC earlier this year ©ICC

Following the launch of the branding, the creation of a membership database that will facilitate a "transparent election process" will now follow.

A new Board is expected to be in place by April 2018.

US-based creative agency Adrenalin, which has worked with many major league sport franchises and National Federations within the the country, helped created the branding.

“It is a very exciting day for cricket in the US as we celebrate the past and look to the future," said ICC Americas USA Project Manager, Eric Parthen.

"It is a fresh start and we are hugely encouraged by what we have been hearing from the cricket community.

"The conversations and progress we have made are on track to unifying as one body for cricket in the US.

"The launch of the USA Cricket brand and the social media platforms are the first step in achieving our goal and we have produced an exciting look and feel for the federation.”