Saurashtra Cricket Association to fund Rajkot Test

Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) secretary, Niranjan Shah has dismissed reports claiming that England’s tour is in trouble due to monetary problems after the Supreme Court’s ordered to restrict the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from disbursing funds to its state associations and carrying out any other financial transactions without the apex court’s consent. The India – England test series commences in just four days at Rajkot in Gujarat.

“If the Indian cricket board can’t make any payments to the visiting teams or for any other expenses involved in organizing the Test match that has been allotted to the SCA, I assure you, there is no need to worry as our association is quite capable of bearing all expenses,” Shah told mid-day yesterday.

“For that matter, I don’t think even Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, who are hosting the remaining Tests, will also feel any pressure as they too should be able to bear all the expenses involved while organizing the matches,” added Shah. He admitted that in case there would be any further instructions from the Lodha panel to the state associations, then the situation could change.

Earlier, it was understood that the BCCI was seeking help from the ECB due to the Lodha sanctions which is currently looming large on them. The Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has requested the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were on the verge of signing a MoU with each other given the ‘dire financial situation’ the board finds itself in.

A statement from the letter sent by the BCCI to the ECB read, “It pains me to inform you that BCCI will not be able to execute the MoU between both countries, due to the financial restrictions put on us by the Lodha Committee. We sought for urgent permission for execution of the MoU. We put in a request with the honorable committee again today. However, the Committee – while seeking further details, has refused to grant us permission to move forward with the MoU.”