Asian cricket boards unite to take on ICC

Lt

Agha Akbar17-Feb-2002

India will not be visiting New Zealand if the latter declines
to come over to Pakistan for the rescheduled tour of
the last winter in April. This was stated through one of the
three quite substantive resolutions the Asian Cricket Council
approved unanimously after two days of meetings at Sharjah, and
revealed in a press briefing by the ACC president Lt. Gen.
Tauqir Zia flanked by the BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya,
Ehsan Mani and Zakir Hussain Syed.The resolutions indeed show that the Asian bloc has closed
ranks to take on the ICC on issues where it has the perception
of being unfairly dealt with and pushed around. This solemn
promise to back each other on all issues of concern definitely
has serious connotations, because the four-nation full-member
South Asian bloc has four votes and with the support of one
more, they could block all resolutions at the ICC Executive
Board, where a clear majority is needed to force an issue.The meeting definitely was a triumph for Jagmohan Dalmiya, who
has been able to firmly rally the ACC and the Asian nations
behind him to take on the ICC. It was indeed a master stroke
because apparently Pakistan, because of public and government
pressure, did not want to go along with India. It, however,
remains to be seen whether this display of Asian cohesion
quite substantively changes the equation in terms of voting
patterns in the ICC Executive Board.Put Review Commission on hold:
The first of the three resolutions urges the ICC to halt the
proceedings of the review commission set up to look into the
sentences handed out by match referee Mike Denness during the
second Test of the South Africa-India series, which is to meet
on February 23. The ACC, says the resolution number one, was
“deeply concerned over this dispute between the ICC and some
of the member countries”.

Further, the ICC has been requested to put the issue for
deliberation before its Executive Board which meets on January
15 in Cape Town. “We do not want a quarrel with the ICC, but
we do want that the concerns of the member countries be
listened to”, said the ACC president, Tauqir Zia.Dalmiya, for his part, stated that his stance was principled,
and he merely wanted, according to the initial agreement, an
independent body to be formed.Indo-Pak cricketing ties:
The second resolution was on the resumption of Indo-Pak
cricketing ties. “The meeting has noted with concern the
present non-existence of cricketing ties between India and
Pakistan. It was decided that concerted efforts be made for
the restoration of cricketing relations between these two
countries as soon as possible, since the resumption of ties
between India and Pakistan was crucial for the development of
the game in Asia”, the resolution said.Tauqir Zia, the PCB president whose Board has suffered due to
the Indian intransigence regarding not only a return trip but
also not playing Pakistan anywhere, said that the ACC felt
that it was a political decision of the Indian government and
that the BCCI was trying to get it reverted. Dalmiya
concurred, saying that he had met the Indian sports ministry
officials to make them realise that the issue is not
restricted to India and Pakistan but the whole continent’s
development depended on it.Dalmiya, however, refused to comment on whether his exchanges
with the Indian Sports Ministry had drawn any positive
response.Though he would not say anything on the issue, but perhaps the
PCB president was reassured by his Indian counterpart about
the possibility of a thaw in relations a few months down the
road.Compensatory Fund:
The third resolution requests the ICC to set up a special fund
to provide compensation to countries which suffer financial
loss due to cancellation of a scheduled visit approved by the
ICC. A supplementary decision in this regard, which reflects
the Asian solidarity on the issue, was that in case a country
within or outside Asia fails to honour a commitment, other
than for ‘reasons beyond the control of the cricket boards or
force majeur, the four Test-playing nations of the subcontinent would automatically refuse to visit or host that
particular country’.Other than these three resolutions, the ACC meeting also
decided to short list Kuala Lumpur and Dubai as the eventual
venue for the permanent ACC secretariat. It was also decided
that the ACC would also have a Chief Executive Officer, which
would be from Asia, preferably out of the four South Asian
Test nations, said Tauqir Zia.Among other mundane decisions were, approving a $ 3 million
budget for the year April 2002 March 2003 and recommend to the
ICC to allot the 2006 Under-19 World Cup to Bangladesh.