The four Test playing nations of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) which decided to enter into a pact with the provision to compensate for the losses suffered by the ACC in the event of non-participation, will finalise the agreement within two months, Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF), which implements the ACC's programmes, told a press conference in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Dalmiya said that the decision to sign an agreement was mainly aimed at avoiding any embarassment or losses to the ACC in the event of a country pulling out of a tournament.

Dalmiya said that participation in any tournament was an internal matter between the country's Board and its government but pulling out of the tournament entailed heavy financial losses for the tournament organisers.

The former ICC president said that the representatives of the four Asian test playing nations will work out the agreement in detail before it is put in force ahead of the Asian Test Championship.

Dalmiya said that the 1996 World Cup in the sub-continent which saw Australia and the West Indies refusing to play their matches in Sri Lanka citing security reasons had taught the ACC "some lessons".

"That was a bad experience for us. It puts the organisers and the sponsors in an embarassing position. We just want to avoid such a situation", he explained.

Dalmiya said that the ACC's Lahore meeting also decided to invite tenders for marketing and sponsorship rights to the events. The Lahore conclave also approved the Asian Development Plan that was prepared by the Asian Cricket Foundation in consultation with the ACC Development Committee.

In order to improve the standards of the game in non-Test playing countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Nepal, the ACC will soon appoint three Development Officers with considerable cricketing background. An elaborate scheme of coaching would be taken up in these countries with simultaneous emphasis on physical training and sports medicines, he said.

Stating that ACC had earmarked 2.5 million dollars for development work in the current year, Dalmiya said that ACC had teamed up with New Zealand Sports Turf Institute to implement a curatorship programme in these countries.

The ACC will organise a curatorship seminar of June 3 and 4 in Hong Kong for its member countries while it also had plans of setting up a cricket academy in the near future.

© PTI