Board meeting to focus on betting

Board meeting to focus on betting
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, May 13: The meeting of the working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), scheduled to be held in New Delhi on May 19 (Friday), assumes greater significance in the wake of recent match-fixing and betting allegations levelled against players and officials.

One of the main items of discussion in the agenda will be to review the meetings the officials of the Board had with ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya and with the sports ministry in matters pertaining to allegations of match-fixing and betting.

The committee is also expected to discuss the Board's service contract with the players and payment of fees to players linked to their performance. The working committee is likely to nominate a medical panel for determining the physical fitness of players as it feels that some players `hide' their injury to remain in the team.

CHANGES IN DOMESTIC TOURNAMENTS: The members are also expected to devote much time to review the changes proposed in the domestic tournaments. The tournament committee had recently proposed that the Duleep Trophy tournament should be conducted on league basis and that it should not be held during the visit of a foreign team to this country and it should be conducted on `good approved centres' only. It will be made mandatory for all players to participate.

Regarding the Ranji Trophy, the working committee will take up the proposal to discontinue the present super league system. After the zonal league, it should be conducted on the basis of two or three teams from each zone to qualify to play in the knockout. With regard to the present system of a one-day game preceding the four-day Ranji matches, it has been proposed that one-day games should be played at a stretch in a week's time at one centre in a zone.

JUNIOR TOURNAMENTS: The proposal to discontinue under-16 and under-19 one-day tournaments and the decision to have inter-zonals on league basis and three days duration will be discussed for approval. It will also discuss introduction of under-14 and under-22 tournaments in all zones as per under-19 and under-16 tournaments. Introduction of a medical examination to detrmine the age of players relating to junior cricket is likely to come up during the meeting.

The working committee will consider the request of England Cricket Board for the tour of its under-19 team to India during the latter part of next year to play three three-day Test matches and three one-day games besides a few practice games and the participation of the Indian team in the inaugural Asian Cricket Council under-15 tournament in Kuala Lumpur during June 8-18.