Cricket Focus (27 June 1999)

27 June 1999

Cricket Focus

The Electronic Telegraph

An ambitious programme of international fixtures is being drawn up for next year by Scottish cricket as part of a renewed attempt to win one-day international status.

The Scots' hopes of joining one-day nations Kenya and Bangladesh were dashed at last Thursday's annual meeting of the International Cricket Council at Lord's. John Everett, the chairman of the Scottish Cricket Union, feels the Scots' case was crowded out after attention was switched to an attempt by Kenya and Bangladesh to gain automatic entry to the next World Cup.

"Under heavy pressure, they finally withdrew their motion before it went to a vote, but I think what they did made the idea of upgrading Scotland less palatable than it might have been," said Everett. "Countries are gifted one-day international status, there is no motion, no vote."

This week the SCU intend to announce their fixture list and details of improved funding from the ICC. Next month sees South Africa A tour Scotland; last year, it was the turn of Australia A and Bangladesh.

Following the outcry by some MCC members over having to pay for their World Cup tickets at Lord's, ballot papers for a vote of confidence in the committee have been sent out to all 17,000 members this weekend.

Accompanying the voting papers ahead of the July 14 special meeting is an apology from the president, Tony Lewis, who says: "Our concern now is to put this business behind us."

He may not be so lucky, especially as the vote could incorporate a backlash from members still smarting over the recent admission of women. In addition, postal votes are not quite what they used to be - in these days of e-mails and networking it is much easier to build an opposition.

Those members who plotted the overthrow of the Derbyshire committee in last winter's bitter row over control of playing matters at the County Ground must be wondering whether they wasted their time.

Four of those ousted when a crushing vote of no confidence from the members led to the committee's resignation en bloc have succeeded in reclaiming seats on the new committee.

And one of them, local businessman Les Elliott, who resigned and then changed his mind after calling one member a "smart-ass" during an acrimonious annual meeting, has been returned top of the poll.

Trevor Bowring, the former chairman who was initially among those with whom Dominic Cork took issue over the authority of the captaincy, was the target for angry accusations at the egm which ejected the old committee.

Yet he finished sixth out of 18 candidates for the 12 seats on the new body and seems set to regain the chair this week because Brian Holling, who had been set to oppose him, finished last of those elected.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)