Buzz: Pakistan begin World Test Championship campaign in England

Pakistan will tour the Netherlands and Ireland for a limited over series before going to England next summer to play their ICC World Test Championship matches, PCB said on Thursday.

Pakistan will play three ODIs against Netherlands and two T20Is against Ireland in July next year before they play two Tests in England.

"The VRA Cricket Club in Amstelveen will host the three ODIs on July 4, 7 and 9, while the two T20Is in Ireland will be played on July 12 and 14," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

The series between the Netherlands and Pakistan will be the first-ever between the two sides, though they have previously met thrice in ICC events.

The two T20Is between Ireland and Pakistan will be the first instance of the two teams playing each other in the shorter format in Ireland.

Pakistan, till date, have played six ODIs and a Test -- Ireland's first appearance in the format -- in Ireland.

After the tour of Netherlands and Ireland, Pakistan will travel to England where they will play three World Test Championship Tests from July 30 to August 20 before taking on the 50-over world champions in three T20Is on August 29 and 31 and September 2 respectively.

"This series will contribute significantly in our endeavours to put together a strong and formidable side for the 13-team ICC ODI League, which commences next year," KNCB chair Betty Timmer said.

"It will provide the much-required exposure and experience to our talented men's side and will also help in the promotion and development of the game in our part of the world."

Cricket Ireland's performance director Richard Holdsworth said Ireland and Pakistan have a close affinity, both across men's and women's cricket.

"The two-match series will be well-timed, being just 12 weeks from the start of the T20 World Cup – a tournament that we hope to be joining Pakistan via the Qualifier tournament later this year," he said.

Roger Binny elected president of KSCA, Brijesh loyalists sweep polls

Former India cricketer Roger Binny and his team swept the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) election held in Bengaluru on Thursday.

It was outgoing KSCA supremo Brijesh Patel, whose panel swept the polls and he thus retains control of the association. Patel in BCCI politics is known to be a close ally of former BCCI president N Srinivasan.

Roger Binny was elected as the president while J Abhiram became the vice-president. Santosh Menon and Shavir Tarapore were elected as secretary and joint secretary, Vinay Mruthyunjaya, who was elected Treasurer, told PTI.

Binny defeated Captain M M Harish, while Abhiram won against former journalist Joseph Hoover. Santosh Menon and Mruthyunjaya defeated Raghuram and B N Madhukar respectively. Tarapore won against Preet Hegde, the new treasurer of KSCA said.

There were 1,066 voters. It was a landslide victory for Binny, Mruthyunjaya added.

DDCA nominates president Rajat Sharma as its representative at BCCI AGM

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Thursday nominated president Rajat Sharma as its sole representative for the BCCI AGM scheduled on October 23.

In a resolution passed by the DDCA Apex Council, 11 out of the 15 members, have fully backed senior journalist Sharma's name as their sole representative at the BCCI meetings, including its AGM, and take part (as voter member) in the board's elections as and when held.

The resolution forwarded to the BCCI electoral officer and CoA stated: "We, the members of Apex Council of the DDCA, hereby convey our complete and unequivocal trust in the leadership of Mr. Rajat Sharma, President, DDCA. We also declare and affirm his nomination as DDCA Representative on the BCCI, including for inclusion of his name in the electoral roll for the forthcoming BCCI elections."

"Our formal resolution so nominating him under Article 18(4)(q) of the Articles of Association of the DDCA has been separately sent to you along with the prescribed Representative Nomination Form."

While secretary Vinod Tihara, who has been Sharma's biggest opposition in the state unit had raised objection, the resolution on the day settled the issue once and for all.

Joint Secretary Rajan Manchanda said that there was never any doubt over Sharma being their representative in the BCCI.

"It's unfortunate that some people started a negative campaign with their own vested interests in mind, thus tarnishing DDCA's image."

Meanwhile, the members through their resolution also cautioned BCCI against the "self-nomination" of Tihara as the representative of DDCA.

"We, the undersigned, wish to assert that this action of Vinod Tihara is in utter defiance of the decision of the Apex Council of which he had full knowledge, and is in breach of the Articles of Association of the DDCA, both amounting to serious misconduct."

The resolution, while pointing out to his anti-DDCA activities, further stated that Tihara is "not a person fit or appropriate for such a responsible role as DDCA Representative."

TNCA nominates RS Ramaswamy to attend BCCI's general body meeting

Putting all speculation to rest, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association on Thursday nominated its secretary R S Ramaswamy to attend and vote in the general body meeting of the BCCI to be held in Mumbai on October 23.

There were rumours that the newly-elected TNCA executive body would choose former BCCI chief N Srinivasan as its representative at the BCCI AGM in Mumbai.

Srinivasan is 73 years old and as per the amended BCCI constitution, he is ineligible for any role in Indian cricket set up.

"The Apex Council of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association in its 925th Meeting held today ... authorized Shri R.S.Ramasaamy, Hon Secretary, The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to attend and vote in the General Body Meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which is scheduled to be held on 23rd October at Mumbai," TNCA said in a statement.

BCCI electoral officer N Gopalaswami had set October 4 as the deadline for nomination of state representatives for the BCCI Annual General Meeting.

The BCCI AGM-cum-elections is scheduled on October 23 in Mumbai. The elections were earlier scheduled for October 22 but was pushed ahead by a day due to the Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana.

The TNCA had on September 26 elected unopposed former BCCI chief N Srinivasan's daughter Rupa Gurunath as the president, the first woman to head a BCCI unit.

However, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) had deemed Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's new constitution as "non compliant" on 21 counts as per Lodha Committee's recommendations and asked it to take corrective measures by October 4 if it had to participate in the BCCI AGM on October 23.

The TNCA Secretary had a few days ago written to the BCCI electoral officer explaining its stand and said it should not be restrained from participating in the BCCI election (October 23) on the ground of it having not been found to be compliant (of the BCCI Constitution) by the Supreme Court-appointed CoA.

Jailed, tainted former Odisha CA boss' son to represent state at BCCI AGM

The Odisha Cricket Association on Thursday nominated tainted and jailed former supremo Asirbad Behera's son Sanjay Behera as its representative at the BCCI AGM on October 23.

Sanjay has recently been elected secretary of the association as his father, who has been arrested by the CBI for his active connection with a chit-fund scam, voted from jail.

The Special General Meeting of OCA held under the chairmanship of Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, president, OCA, was attended by 57 out of 73 members. The meeting was held in Cuttack.

"It is unanimously resolved that Sri Sanjay Behera (Secretary, OCA) is nominated to be the representative of the Odisha Cricket Association in relation to the election to be held at the General Meeting of the BCCI on 23.10.2019 pursuant to the e-mail communication dated 26.09.2019 received from the Electoral Officer, BCCI," an official statement issued by the OCA said.

BCCI cash reward for physically challenged cricketers

The BCCI will be presenting cash awards to the members of India's Physically Challenged cricket that won the T20 Physical Disability World Series Championship in England, couple of months ago.

As per decision taken at a recent CoA meeting in Delhi, the players will be awarded Rs 3 lakh each and support staff members will get Rs 2 lakh each.

"I am really happy to hear this news and feel good that our efforts and request to BCCI has now paid off. We hope after BCCI AGM, the players with physical disability will be a part of Indian board's set-up," Ravi Chauhan, secretary general of the All-India Cricket Association for the Physically Challenged, said.

Coles resigns as Pakistan women's coach

Pakistan women cricket team's head coach New Zealander Mark Coles has resigned on Thursday, months before the ICC World T20 in Australia.

The Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Coles, who was associated with the team since 2017, had tendered his resignation for personal reasons.

But investigations showed that the resignation came out of the blue after Cole met with a top official of the board this week to discuss his behavior problems.

"Coles was summoned for the meeting to discuss some recent incidents concerning his behavior but in the meeting he lost his cool and threatened to resign and was told to do that if he wanted to," a reliable source aware of the developments told PTI.

The source said Coles was called for a hard talk after a second incident recently in which he was sent off the ground by the match-referee for violating discipline and arguing with match officials.

The source said when Coles was asked about the recent and other incidents he again lost his cool and said he would resign.

Coles was already under threat of losing his job after repeated incidents where he has either got into fights with Pakistani officials working with the women's team or with match officials.

"Coles later told the PCB that he was in an upset frame of mind because of the illness of his daughter," the source said.

"He is very short-tempered and in one incident last year he nearly got into a physical brawl with former chief selector, Jalaluddin at a nets session for the women players before others intervened and prevented the situation from getting out of hand," the source said.