ACF Development Committee meets in Kolkata

The Development Committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) met in Kolkata on Tuesday to deliberate on a wide range of subjects pertaining to the development of the game in the Asian region.

The Committee, chaired by former Sri Lankan captain Duleep Mendis, discussed at length on the Asian Development Plan prepared by the ACF and ways of implementing the project in various affiliated countries.

The Asian Development Plan was drawn up by the ACF in consultation with the Development Committee of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and it was approved in the Lahore conclave held in May.

The high-profile meeting, which implements the programmes of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), also went through the agenda and programme documents of the International Cricket Council's Development Committee before finalising on the ACF programmes.

The ICC's Development Committee was scheduled to meet in Amsterdam on September 10 and 11 and copies of their proposed programmes were sent to the ACF for consideration.

Apart from Duleep Mendis, the committee comprised Mazhar Khan of United Arab Emirates, Anil Kalavar of Singapore, Jaykumar Shah of Nepal and T Krishnaswamy of Malaysia. ACF Chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya attended the meeting as a special invitee.

The meeting, which lasted for about four hours, also devoted some time on ways to improve the standard of the game in non-test playing countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Nepal, UAE, Thailand, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

The ACF, which had earlier decided to appoint three Development Officers with considerable cricketing background in the Lahore conclave, also discussed the issue and will finalise the panel of Development Officers at the Screening Committee meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting also decided to undertake an elaborate coaching scheme in these countries with simultaneous emphasis on physical training and sports medicine.

The ACF, which had earmarked a budget of US Dollars 2.5 million for development programmes in the region for the first year, may decide to raise the budget in the subsequent years once the detailed plan gets underway.

The ACF's screening committee will meet on Wednesday while the threeday conclave will end with a meeting of the technical committee on August 16.

The organisational problems related to the ensuing Asian Test Championship may also come up for informal discussions during the next two days, particularly in the light of the Indian Government's reservation in granting permission to the Indian team to play in Pakistan.