The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Afro-Asian Cup dates to be finalised on May 21

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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Afro-Asian Cup dates to be finalised on May 21

New Delhi: The dates and venues for the Afro-Asian cricket tournament are expected to be finalised at an Asian Cricket Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur on May 21.

``The dates will be known after the ACC meeting,'' Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI on Tuesday.

The Afro-Asian Cup, a brainchild of former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, was first held in South Africa last August.

The inter-continental event was considered to have been shelved after the lukewarm response to the inaugural edition.

But the event, the rights to which have been sold for three years, finds mention in the revamped ICC Future Tours Programme.

The event was to be held in Asia this year and again in Africa next year.

Asked how the BCCI was hoping to squeeze in the matches in an already cramped schedule, Shah said, ``the whole team is not going to be involved.''

Incidentally, the BCCI had discussed the fate of the tournament with the African boards on the sidelines of a meeting in Dubai.

It was decided then to leave it to Shah and Marketing Sub-Committee chairman Lalit Modi to thrash out the dates and the venue, BCCI Marketing Committee member I.S. Bindra said.

The three matches last year were granted full one-day status and reportedly raised around $ one million. — PTI

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