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Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has broken ranks with the official cricketing establishment by deciding to allow five cricketers and an umpire who last year signed up for the unauthorised ICL to play domestic cricket. The significant decision was taken by SLC’s interim committee last week and has become public two days after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) became the latest nationol body to ban its ICL cricketers from all forms of official cricket.ICL officials have welcomed the move as “a step in the right direction”.The five cricketers who are now eligible to play for their respective clubs are Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Avishka Gunawardene and Saman Jayantha; the umpire is Ranmore Martinesz. Atapattu, Arnold and Chandana retired from international cricket to play in the ICL, and will now be seen in Sri Lanka’s Premier League and the limited-overs tournament, which are scheduled to start next month.Duleep Mendis, the chief executive of SLC, told Cricinfo the board’s interim committee took this decision at a meeting following a request from the cricketers. “The interim committee has allowed these ICL players to play in domestic cricket after they sought permission to do so. This decision refers to a specific application from a specific group of players to take part in domestic cricket,” Mendis said. He refused to comment on whether similar waivers would be granted in future to cricketers who take part in subsequent editions of ICL — the league’s second season starts on October 10.”Players will be allowed to play for their respective clubs and share their expertise, but cannot represent the country,” Shane Fernando, the Sri Lanka Cricket media manager, told .”This is a step in the right direction,” Himanshu Mody, the business head of ICL, told Cricinfo. “We hope that this decision paves the way for Sri Lankan cricketers to play for the ICL and their country in the near future.”The Sri Lankan move was not unexpected, though, after SLC invited Arnold and Chandana to attend post-match prize distribution ceremonies during the Indian series in August. That was in stark contrast to the approach adopted by the BCCI and other national boards, which have banned ICL cricketers from all official platforms – the trade laws in UK, however, ensure that these players can play county cricket.The Indian board, meanwhile, has expressed disappointment at the Sri Lankan move and said it will take up the matter with the ICC. “We are disappointed by this move from Sri Lanka,” Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo. “We will now refer the matter to the ICC, which is already debating the issue of unauthorised cricket.”The ICC, which has formed a committee on unauthorised cricket, had clarified that any move to ban such players will “have to be taken by the respective boards of the concerned players”.SLC had banned these cricketers last year when they joined the ICL which was in direct conflict to the BCCI-run IPL where 13 cricketers from the national team participated. The BCB on Wednesday banned 13 of its ICL cricketers, including Habibul Bashar, the former captain, for ten years from domestic and international cricket.

Sunil Gavaskar hopes the introduction of foreign players in Indian domestic cricket will make significant contributions to the application levels and attitudes of the teams across the country.Gavaskar is currently the chairman of the BCCI’s technical committee, which recently allowed state associations to include four ‘guest players’ [ those from areas outside their jurisdiction] in their squad from the 2008-09 season onwards, up from the three previously permitted.”Whenever a player was selected for India his state used to miss the contributions from him and no replacements would be immediately available,” Gavaskar told . “All states already had the right to include three guest players. The technical committee increased it to four by permitting one foreign player.”However, the committee attached a rider that required the overseas player to have played at least ten Tests or 20 ODIs. “We did not want people to come in and use our domestic tournaments as a learning ground, so we decided that the foreign player should have played in 10 Tests or 20 one-dayers,” he said.Gavaskar believed an overseas player who had played just one Test would not make any contribution to the domestic competitions. “If the foreign player is experienced our young Ranji Trophy players can look up to him and can learn something from him.”He was also optimistic about playing in India becoming a big draw for international cricketers. “A foreign player not playing for his national team or just out of the national reckoning may be ready to play. For such a player it might make sense financially too.”However, it’s unlikely state associations in India will be able to match the sums the various franchises shelled out for the big names during the IPL. The BCCI is likely to increase the daily match fee for players taking part in domestic tournaments in the 2008-09 season to Rs. 37,000 [approximately US$840]; the pay hike, if implemented, will see an increase of Rs. 11,000 from last season.The 2008-09 season will begin with the Irani Trophy match – between Ranji Trophy champions Delhi and Rest of India – from September 24.

ScorecardThe play-off for fifth and sixth places in the tournament evoked little interest, even before the start of another poor match, where Bermuda’s dismal batting display handed Canada the easiest of victories, by eight wickets and with almost half the possible 20 overs in hand. Bermuda decided to omit their most famous player, Dwayne Leverock, from this match to give their reserves an outing.Canada put Bermuda in to bat and the men in blue soon lost their opener Chris Foggo, caught off a skier to long leg for 7, followed by Orande Bascombe (2) to a lesser skyer in the covers. Inexperienced as they are in this form of the game, the Associate players depart to skied catches much more regularly than do the professionals.Wickets contined to fall, including that of Bermuda’s most successful batsman of the tournament, Stephen Outerbridge, lbw to Henry Osinde for 4. After ten overs, the score was an apparently hopeless 34 for 5, and once again incompetent batting by the top order had condemned a team to humilation and probable defeat. At 45 the remaining opener, Oliver Pitcher, sliced an easy catch to backward point after holding out for a dogged 15, and the sorry procession continued.The innings slid to a sorry conclusion for 70 all out in the final over, and the Bermudan players must have felt deeply demoralised. They never at any point looked like giving a good account of themselves with the bat and Pitcher alone reached double figures. Remarkably, there was only one boundary shot in the entire innings, hit by Foggo in the opening over. Four bowlers took two cheap wickets each; Osinde, with 2 for 12, had the poorest figures of them, but arguably did the most valuable job in shattering the very shatterable top order. Steve Welsh took two middle-order wickets for just six runs in three overs, and two good catches in addition tipped the scales his way for the Man of the Match award.The question was, could Canada do any better? There was no evidence of it from the first ball of the innings, which Mohammad Qazi popped up tamely to midwicket. Canada did not need to hurry, though, and the score proceeded to 32, at which point John Davison, some would say unusually restrained in his batting for a brisk 19 off 13 balls, skied a catch to mid-on after four overs.Geoffrey Barnett took over the post of responsibility and saw his team through to an overwhelming victory by eight wickets, scoring 33 comfortably off 34 balls, while Ashish Bagai backed him up with 15 off 16 balls. Canada, at least, can go home with a convincing win under their belts, but tinged with the knowledge that they peaked a little too late.

John Wright, the former president and secretary of the Irish Cricket Union, has died aged 65 following a short illness.Wright was involved with Irish cricket for over 30 years, both with the ICU and Leinster and only stepped down as secretary at the last AGM as the ICU was restructured into Cricket Ireland.Wright also made significant contributions by working on European cricket and also had a spell on the ICC’s chief executives committee. He was a recipient of an ICC global lifetime service award, which he collected at Lord’s last month.”John was a wonderful servant and ambassador for Irish cricket throughout the world,” said Tom Prior, the former ICU president. “His dedication and professionalism were major factors in the tremendous success that Irish cricket has experienced at all levels of the game. It was a great honour and joy to be with him during Ireland’s magnificent World Cup campaign in the West Indies.”Cricket Ireland chairman David Williams said: “It was a very great privilege to have John not only as a colleague in cricket, but also as a valued friend. John’s cheery disposition, and wonderful sense of humour was always an inspiration to his friends, and no problem ever arose that John’s sharp mind was unequal to.”Senior ICC figures also offered their condolences. “This is sad loss for cricket,” said Ray Mali, the ICC president. “John’s influence and hard work benefited the game beyond Ireland’s shores and he is going to be greatly missed.”John leaves behind a great legacy – the work he was involved in has helped to put Irish cricket at the forefront of the Associate game and his contribution as a member of ICC committees made sure that his expertise had a global effect.

Gautam Gambhir “would love to coach India” if he is given the opportunity.Gambhir, fresh from playing a key role – as mentor – in Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) run to the IPL 2024 title, has been contacted by the BCCI for the job after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ends following the conclusion of the ongoing T20 World Cup, though it’s not confirmed whether he has applied for it. The deadline was May 27, a day after the IPL final.”Look, I would love to coach the Indian team. There is no bigger honour. There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team,” Gambhir said during an interaction with children at an event in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. “You are representing 140 crore Indians. And more across the globe as well. And when you represent India, how can it get bigger than that?”Related

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It was in response to a question, where a youngster also asked Gambhir how he would help India win a World Cup.”How can I help India win the World Cup – I think it’s not me that will help India win the World Cup, it is 140 crore Indians that will help India win the World Cup,” Gambhir said. “If everyone starts praying for us, and we start playing and representing them, India will win the World Cup. The most important thing is to be fearless and yes, I would love to coach India.”Dravid, it is learned, has communicated to the BCCI his decision not to seek another tenure. VVS Laxman, who had been expected to succeed Dravid, had made himself unavailable last year due to personal reasons.Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, had hinted that the board wants an Indian to get the job, and is in the process of “identifying individuals who possess a deep understanding of the Indian cricket structure and have risen through the ranks”.Gambhir will have to leave his job at KKR if he ends up as the new India coach due to the BCCI’s conflict of interest rules. He recently told that he wanted to continue working with KKR to make them the most successful IPL franchise in history.Gambhir, 42, has no experience of coaching at international or domestic level, but has been a mentor at two IPL teams: Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022 and 2023 – they qualified for the playoffs both times – and KKR in 2024.During a stellar international career, Gambhir was an important part of India’s T20 World Cup win in 2007 and the ODI World Cup win in 2011. He also captained KKR for seven IPL seasons, from 2011 to 2017, during which they won two IPL titles, in 2012 and 2014.

Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, will meet with Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, as well as the PCB chief executive Ramiz Raja, in a bid to repair relations with the country in the wake of last month’s cancelled T20I tour.Officials at the PCB were incensed when England pulled out of the two-match tour at short notice a few weeks ago.Now Harrison has flown in to assure Ramiz, the new chairman of the PCB, that England remain committed to their Test tour of the country at the end of 2022. England have not toured Pakistan since late 2005.He is also set to meet with prime minister Khan, Pakistan’s greatest allrounder and World Cup-winning captain prior to his move into politics, who also serves as patron-in-chief of the PCB.Speaking in the wake of the cancelled T20I tour – which followed hot on the heels of New Zealand’s abandonment of their own tour on the morning of their opening ODI in Rawalpindi – Ramiz hit out at what he called cricket’s “western bloc”, and said that the PCB would be making contingency plans to protect their home itinerary in the event of another England pull-out next year.Related

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“I am severely disappointed in England’s withdrawal but it was expected because this western bloc gets united unfortunately and tries to back each other,” Ramiz said. “This is a lesson for us because we go out of our way to accommodate and pamper these sides when they visit. From now on we will only go as far as is in our interest.”Harrison’s trip is only expected to last a couple of days. He is due in the UAE later in the week as the ICC hold their first in-person chief executives’ meeting since the start of the pandemic.The news comes on the same day that Cricket Australia announced its plans for a three-Test, three-ODI and one-off T20I tour in March 2022. If it goes ahead as planned, it will be their first tour of the country since 1998.

The ECB has pledged to conduct a “thorough and fair” investigation into Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, after the club itself insisted that no disciplinary action against its employees, players or executives was warranted.In a statement, Yorkshire insisted that, for legal reasons, they remain unable to publish the full findings of the report commissioned by an independent panel last year, but the ECB subsequently confirmed receipt of a copy, pending an employment tribunal which will now serve to address the issues that Rafiq raised in a series of interviews, including with ESPNcricinfo, in 2020.”The ECB has this afternoon received a copy of the report carried out on behalf of Yorkshire CCC into the allegations made by Azeem Rafiq, together with assurances from the club to cooperate fully with the ongoing regulatory process,” read a statement from the board.”This is a matter with many serious allegations at its heart and the ECB’s regulatory team will now consider the Report as part of its investigation.”We anticipate that it will take time for the regulatory process to reach its conclusion, but it is imperative that this is completed thoroughly and with fairness to all involved.”Yorkshire issued an apology to Rafiq in August, acknowledging that he had been the “the victim of inappropriate behaviour” during his two stints at the club, and subsequently distributed a summary of the report and its recommendations, which detailed seven instances of racial harassment and bullying that were upheld by the investigation.That panel has now been disbanded, with the club placing on record its thanks to Dr Samir Pathak, Stephen Willis, Rehana Azib, Mesba Ahmed and Helen Hyde for their “work and insight” in the case.Related

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“Ultimately the issues raised by Azeem Rafiq are going to be considered not only by the panel but also the employment tribunal and the ECB,” the club statement continued.”The club has also carried out their own internal investigation following the findings in the report, after which they are able to report that they have come to the conclusion that there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or executives that warrants disciplinary action.”None of this diminishes the importance of the findings or that fact that there is much the club can learn from the report,” the statement continued. “It was important for Azeem to raise the issues and without him doing so we would not have the panel’s recommendations which are an important part of the club’s continuing journey.”Responding on Twitter, Rafiq took a dim view of the club’s latest steps to bring the issue to a close, accusing the panellists of seeking to protect Yorkshire’s reputation rather than get to the root of his grievances, while a spokesman for the player subsequently called on the club board to resign.”Wow, just when you think this club couldn’t get more embarrassing, you find a way,” Rafiq wrote. “Still awaiting the FULL report. Thanks for mentioning the people that have provided your PROTECTION & give green light to RACISM. Interesting timing again.””We note the statement released by Yorkshire County Cricket Club today. As ever, we will take time to fully respond,” added Rafiq’s spokesman.”However, we do also note that the club has come to the conclusion that no employees, players or executives will face disciplinary action. This is despite Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s admission that Azeem was the victim of racial harassment and bullying. This is despite Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s admission that it failed to follow its own policy and investigate allegations of racism as recently as 2018.”It is inconceivable that there are no current employees who should not have been disciplined for their conduct. Yorkshire’s failures continue to mount up and it is time that board members – for once – do the decent thing and resign.”Yorkshire’s statement concluded: “Club chair Roger Hutton believes the club and everyone connected to it should be proud of the work that the club has done to improve diversity and inclusion prior to his involvement, but equally acknowledges there remains much to be done going forward.”The club is fully supportive of what is a strong and talented team which is working hard on the recommendations on the way forward for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and looks forward being able to report on further developments over the coming months.”

The visibility of the pink ball when catching was one concern cited during the round of Plunket Shield matches played under lights in New Zealand this week but Eden Park, the proposed venue for the day-night Test against England next year, was given a positive review.The round of matches was designed to test the pink ball in New Zealand conditions ahead of rubber-stamping a floodlit Test against England next March. The weather had a significant impact with two days getting washed out in Auckland. Hamilton was also severely disrupted and only the match in Wellington had more than two innings.Legspinner Ish Sodhi, who claimed 7 for 107 against Central Districts at Seddon Park, said it was tricky judging distance in the field. “Catching under lights was very tough, the perception of the ball is different. I personally found it hard to figure out how far it was from my face whenever the ball was coming towards me. You think it’s a little bit further away than what it is and it gets to you a little bit quicker.”In that match Central Districts declared nine down during the night session on the opening day and then seamer Seth Rance ripped through Northern Districts under the lights. He had 4 for 6 by the close and finished with 6 for 31 in the rain-ruined contest. Henry Cooper, who faced Rance during that night-time spell, said that the visibility of the ball was fine but swing caused the problems.”It did swing around quite a bit,” Cooper said. “The pink ball wasn’t too tough to pick up; it was just the sort of swing that went on late last night. It was tricky to deal with and obviously we didn’t deal with it as good as we could have.”It did move around for our seamers at the start of the day as well. I think it was the night factor made it feel like it was maybe doing a little more than it possibly was.”Donovan Grobbelaar, the Auckland pace bowler who played in the Eden Park match, had no concerns about the conditions. “I had no problems [with visibility],” he said. “We found it pretty easy viewing. At Eden Park it’s got pretty exceptional lighting so it helps.”Michael Papps, the Wellington opener, scored New Zealand’s first pink ball century – beating Andrew Ellis to the mark by a few minutes – and said that while adjusting to conditions between the middle and last session was demanding, the ball itself behaved well.”The first two sessions were quite similar but the third session certainly did feel quite different, before went off for dinner there was still a lot of natural light but coming back out the lights had definitely kicked in and it took quite a bit of adjusting to the artificial lights. There might have been a bit of uncertainty with the pink ball but to be fair it’s played pretty well and hasn’t done out of ordinary.”Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, who played in the inaugural day-night Test in Australia recently said he was a supporter of innovation in the game but cautioned about there being to vast a difference between the conditions for day-night and traditional Tests.Eden Park and Seddon Park are the two likeliest venues for day-night Test cricket in New Zealand in the future although the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, which hosted its first first-class match in this round, and McLean Park in Napier could be options.”We believe this time of the year is the best time of the year,” David White, the NZC CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “We are just going through that trial now to make sure. We’ll know more after this round but the most obvious thing is to see how the ball performs in New Zealand conditions and from a visibility point of view how it reacts. We played the first day-night Test in Australia so are very comfortable with the prospect but are just going through our due diligence.”The ground in Napier is currently undergoing extensive remedial work on the outfield after the abandoned ODI against Australia, which led to them losing the South Africa fixture, but White said there would not be a black mark against them in the future.”We’ve worked very close with the local authorities and they will invest a lot in the facilities. It is very important for us to have cricket throughout the country.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details File photo – Rashid Khan’s four wickets gave Afghanistan a come-from-behind win in the first ODI•Peter Della Penna

It was a collapse of some proportion. Ireland, who had looked dominant for a considerable portion of the match, paid the price for making a mess of what should have been a straightforward finish to a chase of 293. From 206 for 2 in the 36th over, they slid drastically to be bowled out for 262 as Afghanistan took a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series in Greater Noida.And it was Rashid Khan, the 18-year old legspinner who once again came to the fore, picking up four wickets, including that of Niall O’Brien that triggered the collapse. Rashid had great support from pacer Dawlat Zadran, who took the wicket that arguably swung the match Afghanistan’s way, sending back William Porterfield, whose ravaging 119 had put Ireland on cruise control.Rashid was held back until the 19th over of the match, and with Porterfield and Paul Stirling going great guns, it begged the question if Asghar Stanikzai had missed a trick. His introduction, however, did nothing to put the brakes on the scoring. His first over yielded 11 and he was taken out after a three-over first spell where he had gone at a run a ball.He was brought back in the 29th over, and struck with his fourth ball, deceiving Stirling with a googly that was harmlessly chipped back to the bowler. Dawlat’s double strike next over – first Porterfield, who was caught driving on the up and then Wilson who was trapped leg before by one that skidded on – gave Afghanistan a real sniff, and they never conceded ground thereafter.The rest of the order crumbled to a combination of poor strokes and good deliveries as an already sluggish surface showed signs of slowing down even more. Amir Hamza conjured up a beauty, opening up Kevin O’Brien with a length ball that spun away just enough to have him stumped.Rashid asked more questions of the batsmen, showing great adeptness at using the googly, and struck in each of his last two overs. Tim Murtagh, seeing one drifting away, opened up for a cut but the ball spun in to ping him on the back pad. Then, George Dockrell played for the turn to a quicker one that instead merely straightened and beat the inside edge to trap him in front. By then, Ireland were nine down, and Dawlat wrapped it up when he had Peter Chase top-edge a pull to long-on.Before the collapse, Porterfield and Stirling had produced a superb display of batting on a slow pitch. Both batsmen demonstrated the importance of singles and kept the score ticking by nudging the ball either side of the wicket. Porterfield established himself as the dominant partner and was immaculate with his shot selection. Stanikzai’s attempt to stack up the off-side field and get his bowlers to bowl full outside off was met with a series of reverse sweeps through third man. Along with Stirling, he added 157 for the second wicket at over a run a ball. Even the dismissal of Stirling hardly slowed him down as he raised his ninth ODI century with a punch off Mohammad Nabi, but could not see his team through.As with the ball, Afghanistan were solid with the bat. Most of their batsmen came good after Stanikzai opted to make first use of the surface. Mohammad Shahzad played a characteristically entertaining 43 off 41 balls, laced with seven fours and a six and dominated an opening partnership of 68. When he fell, it was to his own undoing, ambling across after pushing a Mulder delivery to midwicket.But Noor Ali Zadran, in the company of Rahmat Shah, consolidated Afghanistan’s position with a second-wicket partnership of 83. Rahmat was all poise and class in his 78, which came with the help of four fours and three sixes. His 92-ball effort took a fair bit out of him, and he fell to a tired shot, holing out to long-on off Kevin O’Brien, Ireland’s best bowler on the day. At that point, Afghanistan had lost some ground, having lost three wickets for 46 runs.Hashmatullah Shahidi and Samiullah Shenwari made up for some of it with a half-century fifth-wicket stand. O’Brien produced a timely double-strike, sending back both batsmen in the space of three balls of the 46th over. But Nabi muscled 34 unbeaten runs off just 19 balls to lift them to what proved to be a very good total on an unhelpful pitch.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators has specified that an office-bearer who has completed nine years in a post either at the BCCI or at a state association will become ineligible to hold any official post thereafter.

The COA’s criteria which disqualifies individuals as office-bearers

• Is not a citizen of India;

• Has attained the age of 70 years;

• Is declared to be insolvent, or of unsound mind;

• Is a Minister or Government Servant;

• Holds any office or post in a sports or athletic association or federation apart from cricket;

• Has been an Office Bearer of the BCCI for a total period of 9 years;

• Has been an Office Bearer of the state association for a total period of 9 years;

• Has been charged by a Court of law for having committed any criminal offence

This directive was part of an e-mail sent to state associations on Wednesday, in which the COA has also sought compliance reports concerning the implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations at the state level. The associations have been asked to submit these reports over e-mail by March 1. This is the first set of directives issued by the COA after it was appointed by the court on January 30.There has been confusion over the specifics of the nine-year tenure cap since the release of the Lodha Committee recommendations in January 2016. The original Lodha Committee recommendation regarding eligibility, which was passed by the Supreme Court on July 18 last year, had made it possible for an individual to serve nine years each at both BCCI and state level. A BCCI office-bearer’s cooling-off period could have been a three-year term at their state association, after which they could once again contest an election for a BCCI position. And if they won the BCCI post, the ensuing three-year term would serve as their cooling-off period from holding office at state level. An individual could therefore have spent 18 years in Indian cricket administration between the BCCI and his state association.On January 2, 2017, the Supreme Court stated in an order that, “A person shall be disqualified from being an Office Bearer if he or she has been an Office Bearer of the BCCI for a cumulative period of 9 years.” A day later, the Court, while modifying the order issued a day earlier, ruled that an office bearer would be disqualified in case he had completed a “cumulative period” of nine years at “BCCI or a state association.”The Lodha Committee’s interpretation of the Court’s modification of January 3 was that if an individual had finished nine years as an office-bearer, whether at BCCI or state level or both combined, that individual was ineligible to continue as an office-bearer at the BCCI or state level effective immediately.On January 20, the court said that its January 3 modification was likely “to create some ambiguity” and therefore it was issuing a fresh clarification on the tenure for an office bearer. It said an administrator would be disqualified if he “has been an office bearer of the BCCI for nine years or a State Association for the same period.”This fresh ruling was interpreted by the office-bearers as a reprieve and an indication that they could continue for nine years separately at BCCI and their respective states. Subsequently, senior administrators like BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhury and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry have continued at the board despite having finished nine years as presidents of their respective state associations. On Monday, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, who has passed the nine-year cap as Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association president, attended the IPL 2017 auction as head of the league’s governing council.As an attempt to put an end to the confusion, the COA has now pointed out that it would stick to the Lodha Committee’s interpretation of the court’s order until a new directive is issued by the Supreme Court.The COA laid out its stand under the subhead: “Disqualification of office bearers/representatives/nominees/patron/advisor/committee member/council members of state/member association” in the e-mail to the sates on Wednesday.”The committee of administrators has been informed that there is lack of clarity on the exact scope and extent of the disqualification in terms of the order dated January 2, 2017, January 3, 2017 and January 20, 2017, passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the COA said. “The committee of administrators is of the view that until there is complete clarity on the exact scope and extent of the disqualification in terms of the aforesaid order the committee of administrators should proceed on a strict undertaking/interpretation of the same.”As per the advice received by the committee of administrators, this strict understanding/interpretation has the effect on disqualifying all persons who fail to meet the norms recommended by the Lodha Committee and accepted by Supreme Court for being office bearers/representatives/nominees/patron/advisor/committee member/council members of state/member association.”Consequently, the states have been asked to submit list of their existing office bearers along with each individual’s elaborate details. Importantly, all administrators would also need to submit a written undertaking that they conform with the eligibility criteria to the COA by the March 1 deadline.The COA has also asked the state associations that have complied with the courts orders dated October 7 and October 21 last year to submit their resolution in writing by March 1. Last October, the court passed two orders which asked the BCCI to “cease and desist” from supplying funds to the states unless and until they gave a written undertaking that they would comply with the Lodha Committee recommendations as approved by the court.