Dubai: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which has ruled Asian cricket from 1983, held its last meeting last week in Kuala Lumpur. Hosting the ACC Under-19 tournament was one of the final decisions taken at the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ACC. The UAE will take part in the tournament that will be held in Malaysia in August.
Now the ACC’s development officers are set to work from the International Cricket Council (ICC) office in Dubai Sport’s City. The ACC office in Kuala Lumpur has been shut down and its staff compensated.
N Srinivasan, the ICC Chairman, was keen to see ACC merge with the ICC and had initiated the move. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the present President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was instrumental in shaping ACC into an active body. This organisation has played a big role in promoting cricket in Afghanistan, Nepal and many Middle East countries. It was also popularising cricket in nations such as China, Japan and Thailand. The ACC had former cricketers turn to coaching, including Aminul Islam Bulbul, Rumesh Ratnayake, Iqbal Sikander and Venkatapathy Raju, who conducted coaching camps in various countries.
According to sources, these coaches will now work for the ICC. However, many fear that the decision to dissolve ACC will affect the promotion of cricket in countries such China.
Many people also believe that ACC may even be revived with the changing political scenario in BCCI. Srinivasan’s term as ICC chairman is likely to end in June and this could lead to Dalmiya, who was a strong supporter of ACC, likely to bid for its revival. Until then ACC will have only a small office in Singapore and will be called ACC Events office. This office will oversee the staging of its popular tournaments such as Asia Cup involving Test nations and tournaments such as the ACC Under-19.
The ACC Under-19 tournament will be held in August mainly because the top two nations from this tournament will qualify for the ICC Under-19 cricket tournament. The Asia Cup, which generates huge revenue due to participation of Test playing nations, will be held every two years between 2016 and 2022.
Though ACC Chief Executive Office Syed Ashraf Ul Haq could not retain his job, its development manager Bandula Warnapura will now operate from ICC’s office working on Asian cricket developmental activities. The ACC website, which was popular among Asian cricket fans, has a small advertisement that reads: “fixed assets for sale”. It is meant for the sale of conference chairs, computers, sofas and tables of the ACC office.
