BCCI technical committee member not in favour of graded system

A member of the technical committee and Punjab Cricket Association secretary MP Pandove on Sunday said in Mohali said that the graded system of payment linked with seniority of players is not feasible and has 'certain complications'. PTI quotes Pandove as saying that "this system which is likely to be implemented after thorough deliberations at the next meeting of the board would force players to declare themselves professionals." He added "No player would like to declare himself professional due to the obvious reason of taxation," he said.

Pandove also felt that this system would lower the morale of the young players and this would ultimately would affect team spirit. "I personally think that this system cannot be effective in this part of the world." Five Indian players last week pressed the BCCI to have a contract system for greater security and graded system of payment linked to seniority and performance.

PCA launches coaching scheme for upcoming players

The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) on Sunday launched a coaching scheme for upcoming youngsters across the state. Briefing newsmen after the executive meeting of the PCA in Mohali, PCA secretary MP Pandove said under the scheme six regional coaching centres of the PCA would be created in Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Patiala, Amritsar, Mohali and Jalandhar for providing training.

Pandove added that the PCA would provide 12 dozen cricket balls each, aid for installing an irrigation system and 50 per cent reimbursement of coaching fee at these centres. The PCA had approved a budget of Rs 25 lakh to create these coaching centres, he said adding that from such centres a total of 20 players below the age of 19 would be selected. The chosen players would be brought to the PCA for advanced training under psychologists, doctors and super speciality video-tape guidance, he said. He said that the executive has decided to reward suitably one cricketer each under the age group of 14, 16, 19 and a senior cricketer each year.

The PCA had also decided to honour Test cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Navjot Singh, besides four players who represented the victorious Indian Under-19 team in Sri Lanka, Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky and Munish Sharma. Pandove said the PCA would host the first Test match between England and India during the 2001-2002 season.

Assam Assn. to start academy

The Assam Cricket Association will soon open an academy at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. The venue will be shifted to the proposed new stadium at Hengrabari when the stadium gets ready. The decision was taken at the governing body meeting of the ACA last week. The academy will start functioning from June 1 with a trial camp for the U-14 cricketers of the State for 21 days, according to ACA secretary Nandan Bezbaruah. Thereafter, a trial camp of the same duration will be held for U-16 and U-19 players. At least three camps would be held in a year and the State U-14, U-16 and U-19 teams would be selected as a result.

For the inaugural camp at the Academy, 25 players from all over the state would be selected. In this regard, the ACA has instructed all the affiliated districts to send two players from their district to the Nehru Stadium. After four days of training by Manoj Bhagawati and Mukut Das, 25 players will be selected for the training camp. To run this academy, a committee has been set up comprising the president, secretary and treasurer. Apart from this, one representative from six zones of the State will be included in the committee. Four coaches have been selected for conducting the camp at the academy. The chief coach is Kamal Das.

Another important decision taken at the meeting was to have an advanced training session for coaches. In this regard, two coaches from each district will be asked to attend the session.

Laloo Prasad elected BCA president unopposed

The former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav on Sunday was elected unopposed as the president of the Bihar Cricket Association in Jamshedpur. The formal announcement was made yesterday as he was the lone candidate for the post.

Ajay Narain Sharma was elected the secretary while Ravi Shankar Prasad, Satish Singh and Ram Kumar were elected as members of the executive committee.

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