The ICC has accepted the Bangladesh Cricket Board's request to extend
the deadline for the readying of its stadiums for the 2014 World
Twenty20 to November 30. The ICC Development International (IDI) board
took the decision after reviewing a report on the condition of the
venues, put together by the ICC venue consultant.
The main issue is with the stadiums at Sylhet and Cox's Bazar, which are
still being developed. An ICC team visited the venues last week. The
Sylhet stadium's pavilion, the biggest reason for all the delay, is
close to completion, with the structure in place, and the press box also
almost complete.
The original deadline for the completion of the stadiums was September 30. BCB president Nazmul Hasan had said
in August that he had "no doubt that the construction work will end by
mid-October". The tournament is scheduled to be played between March 16
and April 6 next year.
Now, sources in the BCB have said it plans to finish the work by the
first week of November, and host Indian state side Maharashtra at the
ground to judge its readiness. Maharashtra Cricket Association president
Ajay Shirke, however, said "no such proposal is in the pipeline". But
Maharashtra have a break in first-class Ranji Trophy between October 30
and November 14, and given the association's severe cash crunch due to
its ongoing dispute with Indian company Sahara Pariwar over title rights
of the new stadium on the outskirts of Pune, it may agree to send over a
team if all expenses are borne by the hosts.
While the BCB has been given more time by the ICC to complete work on
the stadiums, the schedule for the tournament will be announced in Dhaka
on October 27. These decisions were taken at the ICC board meeting in
London, on October 18 and 19.
The other major decision taken at the meeting was with regard to the
ICC's anti-corruption code. A revised version of the code, which an ICC
release termed "more robust and strengthened" will be submitted for
discussion at the board's next meeting, in January 2014. The matter of
Mohammad Amir's ban, which the PCB is looking to get reduced, will be discussed only after the new anti-corruption code is finalised, the ICC said.
The board also decided to maintain the current playing conditions for ODI cricket, bad light and the DRS.
An ICC chairman will be appointed and take over only after the board's
annual conference in 2014, the ICC release said. The post of ICC's
chairman was first adopted in 2012 and will turn the role of the ICC
president into a ceremonial one while vesting executive powers in a new
chairman. It is understood that the BCCI and ECB are seeking
a dilution of power to be exercised by the new chairman, and prefer
that his role be reduced from head of executive office in the ICC to
that of a convenor.
The ICC board also approved an increase in the financial assistance
provided to Afghanistan, through its Targeted Assistance Performance
Programme (TAPP), to US$ 1.1m. This move was prompted by Afghanistan's
qualification for the 2015 World Cup.
The 2014 Under-19 World Cup will be played in the UAE, from February 14 to March 1, the board confirmed.
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