Ganguly prepared to attend meeting

Even though he has not been officially informed, Saurav Ganguly is ready to attend the meeting called by the Indian Sports Ministry on April 27 at Delhi. Ganguly, who is at the moment in Lancashire has stated in two vernacular dailies of Calcutta, "I have not got any information about the meeting from either the Board of Control for Cricket in India or from the Indian Government. However, if I am called, I will definitely attend the meeting. I cannot disobey my Government."

In the interview conducted by the two dailies over the phone, Ganguly has stated, "It may mean that I will have to miss the first four day match against Kent which starts on April 26. However, I feel that the authorities here at Lancashire will not object in granting me a short holiday as this concerns the Indian Government."

Since his arrival at Lancashire, on April 12, Ganguly had appeared at a press conference on April 13. However, he had avoided answering all questions on the betting scandal that has been turning the cricket world topsy-turvy. In fact when a reporter asked him whether he knew any Kasim, Ganguly had replied, "I have only heard about the left-arm spinner from Pakistan Iqbal Qasim.''

Meanwhile today, a political party in West Bengal, called the Trinamul Congress organised a `got-up' match with small kids to protest against the match fixing issue. Cricketers in the age group of 12-15 from a particular club played three matches of this type on the busy roads of the city. In each match a young boy having the name Cronje inscribed on his back got out playing what can be termed as a `suicidal shot'. The 50 boys then along with their parents and members of the Trinamul Congress took out quite a big procession demanding strict punishment for the offenders. `Down with Cronje,', and `Ban the guilty cricketers for life,' were slogans written on placards carried by the cricketers. A few also had posters stating that the entire nation was with Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Azharuddin who were unnecessarily being dragged into the controversy.