BCCI-Lodha panel row: Board washes hands of England tour guarantees

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has written to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) saying it would give no guarantee that it can bear the expenses of the visiting team while on tour.

“We have informed the ECB that as per the Supreme Court’s order, without the approval of the Lodha Committee, we cannot enter into any contract and clear payments. Hence, we won’t be able to execute the MoU with the ECB, which is a guarantee to bear the expenses for hosting the visiting team. ‘You can continue with the tour at your cost and peril’,” a BCCI official told the Hindustan Times.

“It is up to the ECB if they want to continue with the tour.” A SENIOR BCCI OFFICIAL

MoU NOT SIGNED

For every bilateral series, both Boards sign an MoU which guarantees that the host board will bear the expenses, including amounts incurred for hotel stay, TA/DA and airfare.

The England team arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday. Starting with the first Test in Rajkot on November 9, India and England are to play five Tests, three onedayers and three T20 ties.

If the ECB decide to call off the tour, the financial implications will be huge for the Indian cricket board. The BCCI stands to lose approximately Rs 50 crore per Test, including broadcast rights money.

Till Thursday evening, the Saurashtra Cricket Association were going ahead with preparations for the opening Test, which will be the first at the Rajkot.

BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke had written to the Lodha Committee asking their approval for the England tour. The Committee responded on Thursday, but was firm on the Board unconditionally implementing all recommendations as per the SC order.

“The proposed MoU between BCCI and ECB concerns bilateral cricketing policy, the formulation of which is not a part of the mandate of the Committee. As far as payments are concerned, if they are to be made directly by the BCCI, no directions can be given by this Committee until relevant details are furnished by the BCCI,” Gopal Sankaranarayanan, secretary, Supreme Court Committee, said in his letter to the BCCI officials.

“To avoid any hindrance to the cricketing calendar and to ensure the continued enjoyment of the sport by its aficionados, the BCCI would be well-advised to comply with the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its orders dated 18th July 2016, 7th October 2016 and 21st October 2016,” he said.

The domestic players may also face a delay in payments due to the standoff.

We have informed the ECB that as per the SC’s order, without the approval of the Lodha Committee, we cannot enter into any contract and clear payments

NEW DELHI:

SUPPORTIVE

During a teleconference with the Indian media, Allardice said: “I know he’s (Kumble) been part of the pre-committee for I think four years now, and one of the things that he was keen to do when he came on as chairman was to make sure that the technologies that were used as part of DRS were assessed independently and he’s driven a lot of that project and it’s taken awhile to get to the stage where we’ve got results of testing, etc.

“But he (Kum-ble) has been supportive of the project. The fact that he was subsequently appointed as India coach; he obviously has that background going into his coaching position. He’s been very instrumental in the process that we’ve taken.”