Sri Lanka Team. (Photo Source: SLC)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are set to bar all state associations from linking up with foreign teams, making it mandatory for them to route all such proposals via the parent body. Recently, the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) received a proposal from the Nepal board ahead of the T20 World Cup, which led to the BCCI ponder upon the matter.
As things stand, the decision will be finalised in the upcoming Apex Council meeting on March 18. As per a source close to BCCI, all the state units will be permitted to have tie-ups with foreign teams, to give them some exposure but added that the agreement must go through BCCI, as they are the parent body.
“State units can surely partner foreign boards for cricket related activities but those agreements have to be facilitated by the BCCI as it is the parent body. All proposals must go through BCCI,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by India Today.
Meanwhile, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) already had a meeting with BCCI secretary Jay Shah and they are permitted a trip to India ahead of the T20 World Cup, which is slated to begin on June 1. Other than that, BCCI also helped Afghanistan to grow as a cricketing nation, as it provided them with facilities to train in Dehradun and Greater Noida.
Sri Lanka Cricket has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan Cricket on Wednesday, March 13. Notably, Japan have done well in recent times as they were qualified for the finals of the East Asia Cup earlier in the year but lost to Hong Kong by 34 runs on the night of the finals.
Now to take their game to the next level, Japan Cricket decided to partner with Sri Lanka, as the latter would help them by sending its players, teams, coaches and curators to Japan. The idea is to develop Japan Cricket through ‘collaborations, exchanges, and also providing expertise pertaining to the game’.