Indians playing for counties to miss conditioning camp

The four Indian cricketers who are currently playing county cricket in England will be excused from the conditioning camp to be held for the probables in July. SK Nair, the BCCI secretary, has revealed that Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Dinesh Mongia will be allowed to carry on with their county stints.

"Like the previous year, players who are playing in the English county circuit will be excused from the physical conditioning camp to be held from the first week of July and would be asked to join the camp to be held later," Press Trust of India quoted Nair as saying. "The trainer [Gregory King] feels that it would be better to leave them to play on the circuit when the physical conditioning camp is underway."

Nair also clarified that the exact dates and other details for the two camps would be finalised after Greg Chappell, the new coach of the team, arrives in India. Chappell is scheduled to arrive in Bangalore today (June 15).

Speaking about India's itinerary for the forthcoming season, Nair confirmed that the Indian board had requested its Sri Lankan counterparts to bring forward the triangular series to be held there by a week. This was to ensure that some of the Indian players could play for Asia XI against Africa XI in a series being organised for the welfare of the players in the two continents and for the development of the Afro-Asian Cricket Council. "We have already faxed the request to the Sri Lankan cricket authorities seeking advancement of the dates," Nair told PTI. "We have said the convenience of West Indies should also be taken into account. If the proposal is not acceptable to West Indies, the series could be held as scheduled earlier."

Nair also stated that the BCCI hadn't decided yet if Sri Lanka would play seven one-day internationals in India later this year. Tryphon Mirando, the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket's interim committee, had earlier said that a seven-ODI series had been confirmed, but Nair contradicted that claim. "The South African team is expected to arrive in India in November to play five ODIs. Sri Lanka's request for seven ODIs would be considered only if the South African team is unable to make it here due to other commitments. Otherwise, the series would be limited to five ODIs and three Test matches."

Meanwhile, the board stated that it would appeal against the six-match ban imposed on Sourav Ganguly during the ICC's executive meetings to be held in London from June 24 to 29. According to The Times of India, Nair said: "We are going to take up the issue strongly. The BCCI working committee meeting held here earlier this month had decided to pursue the matter as the board is of the view that the six-match ban was severe."