Asian cricket boards unite to take on ICC

India will not be visiting New Zealand if the latter declines to come over to Pakistan for the rescheduled tour of the last winter in April. This was stated through one of the three quite substantive resolutions the Asian Cricket Council approved unanimously after two days of meetings at Sharjah, and revealed in a press briefing by the ACC president Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia flanked by the BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, Ehsan Mani and Zakir Hussain Syed.

The resolutions indeed show that the Asian bloc has closed ranks to take on the ICC on issues where it has the perception of being unfairly dealt with and pushed around. This solemn promise to back each other on all issues of concern definitely has serious connotations, because the four-nation full-member South Asian bloc has four votes and with the support of one more, they could block all resolutions at the ICC Executive Board, where a clear majority is needed to force an issue.

The meeting definitely was a triumph for Jagmohan Dalmiya, who has been able to firmly rally the ACC and the Asian nations behind him to take on the ICC. It was indeed a master stroke because apparently Pakistan, because of public and government pressure, did not want to go along with India. It, however, remains to be seen whether this display of Asian cohesion quite substantively changes the equation in terms of voting patterns in the ICC Executive Board.

Put Review Commission on hold:
The first of the three resolutions urges the ICC to halt the proceedings of the review commission set up to look into the sentences handed out by match referee Mike Denness during the second Test of the South Africa-India series, which is to meet on February 23. The ACC, says the resolution number one, was "deeply concerned over this dispute between the ICC and some of the member countries".

Further, the ICC has been requested to put the issue for deliberation before its Executive Board which meets on January 15 in Cape Town. "We do not want a quarrel with the ICC, but we do want that the concerns of the member countries be listened to", said the ACC president, Tauqir Zia.

Dalmiya, for his part, stated that his stance was principled, and he merely wanted, according to the initial agreement, an independent body to be formed.

Indo-Pak cricketing ties:
The second resolution was on the resumption of Indo-Pak cricketing ties. "The meeting has noted with concern the present non-existence of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan. It was decided that concerted efforts be made for the restoration of cricketing relations between these two countries as soon as possible, since the resumption of ties between India and Pakistan was crucial for the development of the game in Asia", the resolution said.

Tauqir Zia, the PCB president whose Board has suffered due to the Indian intransigence regarding not only a return trip but also not playing Pakistan anywhere, said that the ACC felt that it was a political decision of the Indian government and that the BCCI was trying to get it reverted. Dalmiya concurred, saying that he had met the Indian sports ministry officials to make them realise that the issue is not restricted to India and Pakistan but the whole continent's development depended on it.

Dalmiya, however, refused to comment on whether his exchanges with the Indian Sports Ministry had drawn any positive response.

Though he would not say anything on the issue, but perhaps the PCB president was reassured by his Indian counterpart about the possibility of a thaw in relations a few months down the road.

Compensatory Fund:
The third resolution requests the ICC to set up a special fund to provide compensation to countries which suffer financial loss due to cancellation of a scheduled visit approved by the ICC. A supplementary decision in this regard, which reflects the Asian solidarity on the issue, was that in case a country within or outside Asia fails to honour a commitment, other than for 'reasons beyond the control of the cricket boards or force majeur, the four Test-playing nations of the subcontinent would automatically refuse to visit or host that particular country'.

Other than these three resolutions, the ACC meeting also decided to short list Kuala Lumpur and Dubai as the eventual venue for the permanent ACC secretariat. It was also decided that the ACC would also have a Chief Executive Officer, which would be from Asia, preferably out of the four South Asian Test nations, said Tauqir Zia.

Among other mundane decisions were, approving a $ 3 million budget for the year April 2002 March 2003 and recommend to the ICC to allot the 2006 Under-19 World Cup to Bangladesh.