ACF's development committee meets
The Development Committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation met in Calcutta on Tuesday to deliberate on
a wide range of subjects pertaining to the development of the game in the Asian region.
The committee, chaired by former Sri Lankan captain
Duleep Mendis, discussed at length on the Asian Development
Plan prepared by the ACF and ways of implementing the project
in various affiliated countries.
The Asian Development Plan was drawn up by the ACF in
consultation with the Development Committee of the Asian
Cricket Council and it was approved in the Lahore
conclave, held in May.
The high-profile meeting, which implements the programmes
of the Asian Cricket Council, also went through the
agenda and programme documents of the International Cricket
Council's Development Committee before finalising on the ACF
programmes.
The ICC's Development Committee was scheduled to meet in
Amsterdam on September 10 and 11 and copies of their proposed
programmes were sent to the ACF for consideration.
Apart from Duleep Mendis, the committee comprised Mazhar
Khan of United Arab Emirates, Anil Kalavar of Singapore, J
Jaykumar Shah of Nepal and T Krishnaswamy of Malaysia. ACF
chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya attended the meeting as a special
invitee.
The meeting, which lasted around four hours, also
devoted some time to find ways to improve the standard of the game
in non-Test playing countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong
Kong, Nepal, UAE, Thailand, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
The ACF, which had earlier decided to appoint three
'Development Officers' with considerable cricketing background
at the Lahore conlave, also discussed the issue here and will
finalise the panel of 'Development Officers' at the Screening
Committee meeting on Wednesday.
The meeting decided to undertake an elaborate coaching
scheme in these countries with simultaneous emphasis on
physical training and sports medicine.
The ACF, which had earmarked a budget of US $2.5
million for development programmes in the region for the first
year, may decide to raise the budget in the subsequent years
once the detailed plan gets under way.
The ACF's Screening Committee will meet on Wednesday while
the three-day conclave will end with a meeting of the
Technical Committee on August 16.
The organisational problems related to the ensuing Asian
Test championship may also come up for informal discussions
during the next two days, particularly in the light of the
Indian government's reservation in granting permission to the
Indian team to play in Pakistan.
Mail Cricket Editor