AAA plans revamp to attract top stars

BHUBANESWAR: Asian athletics bosses are looking to revamp competition to ensure top names don’t stay away from the continental championships, Asian Athletics Association (AAA) president, Gen Dalhan Al Hamad from Qatar, said.

None of the top Chinese or Japanese athletes are in the fray for the meet, while Mutaz Essa Barshim, world’s best high jumper from Hamad’s own backyard too will skip the event.

‘’It downgrades the competition as well as denies the fans the chance to see top athletes in action. We discussed the issue in the Council and we are looking for a quick solution,’’ the AAA chief said. This summer, as temperatures soared in Britain, the Royal Ascot broke tradition for the first time in 306 years to allow gentlemen to take off their jackets. Now, Lord’s is set to tweak tradition. Security is at an unprecedented high with concrete blocks installed around entrances and members have been cautioned about frisking.

Such measures are routine at other places but for Lord’s, a minor departure from tradition is a big deal. It is tradition that made Lord’s the ‘home’ of cricket. In its heyday, the MCC sat at Lord’s to make laws.

Those days are now only inscribed in history text books. The cricket axis is realigned, ICC shifted office to Dubai and the economic impulses that drive the game originate further east in India.

The MCC is the conscience keeper of cricket, and what is left