ACC plans to promote cricket in Asia in big way

Press Trust of India (PTI) on Wednesday reported that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is planning to feature six teams for the forthcoming Asia Cup in 2002 with the aim of making Asia the best cricket playing continent in the world.

The agency reported that the Development Committee, headed by the former Sri Lankan captain Duleep Mendis, has been working on a number of initiatives in this regard. The report said that apart from the four Test playing nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh two finalists of the ACC tournament in 2002, will compete in the Asia Cup.

Quoting ACC sources, the agency said that the Asian Test Championship would be held thrice before 2005 with all the four Asian Test playing nations taking part. The ACC is also planning to hold a biennial Youth Asia Cup, starting next year, which will feature 12 Asian nations apart from annual Under-15 and Under-17 tournaments.

Sharjah to be ACF headquarters

Gulf News reported on Wednesday that Sharjah has been selected as the headquarters for the newly formed Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF). The ACF is a integral part of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) with the former International Cricket Council (ICC) president Jagmohan Dalmiya as chairman of the body.

The newspaper reported that initially countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong were being considered for setting up the ACF headquarters but the ACC settled for Sharjah because of its tax free environment and free trade zone.

Bengal Ranji probables camp begins sans big names

The preparatory camp for the Bengal Ranji trophy team probables started in Calcutta on Wednesday. The camp kicked off with senior players like Saba Karim, Devang Gandhi and Srikant Kalyani helping the youngsters through their paces.

But the conspicuous absence of players like Utpal Chatterjee, Sourav Ganguly, Rohan Gavaskar, Vishal Yadav, Sourasish Lahiri, Sabir Ali, Subhomoy Das and Arindam Das were felt. Utpal, the veteran left-arm spinner cited personal reasons for his absence while Ganguly is on national duty. Rohan Gavaskar and and Vishal Yadav are not in station. The four other absentees had in fact left for Tripura on Wednesday for the Cooch Behar Trophy match slated to begin on Friday.

At present the 26 probables will take the field from 6.30 am till 12 noon. During the session, the players will undergo physical training, followed by fielding practice and then a net session.

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