Tour schedules, NCA revamp on BCCI working commitee agenda

As has been the case with all the major BCCI meetings in the last quarter, N Srinivasan's anticipated presence will be the most intriguing factor during the working committee meeting in Kolkata on Sunday, the last meeting of the board's annual cycle.

Srinivasan has refrained from discharging his duties as president after temporarily stepping aside in June to let former BCCI and ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya run the board's day-to-day affairs. However, he could well attend his first working committee meeting since June on Sunday.

Though it could not be ascertained whether Srinivasan will preside over the meeting, thus taking over as the BCCI president, it is all but certain that he will attend the meeting at least as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Irrespective of Srinivasan's presence at the meeting, he will still have to sign the board's accounts for the year, which will be ratified on Sunday. The notification, date and venue of the annual general meeting, which is decided by the working committee, is also likely to be finalised in the meeting on Sunday.

Technically, it won't be a problem for him to sign these documents even if he chooses not to attend the meeting. "The constitution allows only the president to officially appoint the secretary and treasurer. Didn't he do that even after stepping aside?" a BCCI official pointed out.

Two days before Srinivasan stepped aside as president, Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke resigned their posts as secretary and treasurer respectively. They cited displeasure over the manner in which the BCCI had reacted to the IPL spot-fixing scandal, which saw Srinivasan's son-in-law and a senior official of Chennai Super Kings, Gurunath Meiyappan, being arrested by Mumbai police. Sanjay Patel and Ravi Savant were named secretary and treasurer on June 6 and 10 respectively.

The working committee is also expected to discuss and ratify various proposals related to the revamp of the National Cricket Academy. These include abolishing the three specialist academies (batting in Mumbai, pace bowling in Mohali and spin bowling in Chennai) and replacing them with six regional academies. Tie-ups with the MRF pace academy in Chennai, to let India bowlers use their facilities and expertise, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association, for use of the Alur facility near Bangalore, are also on the agenda.

"KSCA is our member, and just like they offered us space to run NCA, they are offering us another facility. We haven't planned anything on financial details as yet," Prof Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's general manager - game development, said on Saturday. "As for MRF, we are planning a long-term tie-up with them. This is for the training and rehab of fast bowlers, and whenever (Glenn) McGrath (the pace academy's head) is there, our bowlers could go there."