Almost every new president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, immediately after taking over, promises that emphasis will be given to the long neglected domestic cricket, which has over the years became a sort of poor cousin to the more glamorous and richer international cricket. But few of the officials have been able to do anything tangible about it.

However when AC Muthiah took over as BCCI president a month ago and gave the same assurance, one somehow sensed that it would not be an empty promise. And sure enough, at his first press conference after taking charge, in Chennai on Wednesday evening, Muthiah while spelling out the importance of physical fitness for the players revealed that ``the Board has made it mandatory that every State Ranji Trophy team should have a physiotherapist to cater to the needs of the physical fitness of the players. This will make the players match fit and help them give off their best.'' He also said that the rejuvenation of the various National competitions was high on the BCCI's agenda and confirmed that the emphasis would from now on be on the domestic game. ``In fact our understanding with Doordarshan on telecasting is for them to also cover live 21 days of domestic cricket. DD has a reach of over 54 million and we believe this will give the much needed impetus to the national competitions'' he added.

Muthiah also said there was a move to make it mandatory for the Indian cricketers to play in the National competitions when not inolved in an international series. ``This is the case in most other countries and we would like to follow it here too.'' he said emphatically.

Muthiah, who is vice chairman and president of the Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Limted also touched upon the propsosal of having a national cricket academy at Bangalore. He said the proposal was very much on and and the immediate past BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur has already initiated efforts in earnest and based upon the information, the academy will come up,'' he said, adding that the project is on the lines of the Australian Cricket Academy.

On the question of the players being exposed to a surfiet of cricket, Muthiah gave an assurance that the cricketers would not be overexposed from now on. ``The International Cricket Conference had fixed a maximum number of matches to be played in a calendar year, both Tests and one dayers, so there is no question of overexerting the players. We will abide by the rules.''

Asked about the 40 minutes delayed start at the Mohali Test between India and New Zealand for reasons other than cricket, Muthiah agreed it was a matter of concern and indicated that the BCCI was awaiting a report from the match referee. ``We will see such things are checked,'' he said.

On the disturbing trend of crowd invasions, Muthiah said according to the directive of the ICC, the staging associations were told to implement the guidelines strictly and publicise them in the media. ``Otherwise they would be stripped of the status to stage international matches,'' he said. The ICC directive includes ban on alcholic drinks inside a stadium and foolproof safety arrangements to ensure that no object is thrown on to the pitch or the players.

On future cricketing ties between India and Pakistan, Muthiah said the BCCI was not opposed to this idea. ``Cricket is a sport. The BCCI as such has no problems playing against Pakistan. There is also no directive not to play against Pakistan. The series in Toronto was cancelled as it was felt that during that period we should not be playing.''

A businessman who means business, Muthiah is the fourth person from Tamil Nadu after Dr P.Subbaroyan, MA Chidambaram (his father) and S.Sriraman to hold office as BCCI chief. Given his cricketing background and his business acumen, one has every reason to believe that like the three others, he too will leave an indelible mark at the end of his three year term.