The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘Plans to improve the game in rural areas’

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Tuesday, Jul 03, 2007
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‘Plans to improve the game in rural areas’

CHENNAI: Over the last week, a cricket tournament has been conducted here with little fanfare.

Two teams from the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA), with coaches Chandrakant Pandit and Surendra Bhave, have been involved in a round-robin league with a Tamil Nadu Academy team and a Sri Lankan Cricket Board Academy team.

The move, aimed at exposing the best cricketers in Maharashtra to different playing conditions, is part of an ambitious plan to improve cricket in the State. Already, says MCA president Ajay Shirke, a system has been put in place to take cricket to the Districts by setting up zonal centres.

“We throw a wide net at the Districts level,” says Shirke. “Otherwise, we can’t catch the rare talent. Then we build our structure along a steeply-angled pyramid, reducing the number of teams as the level increases, to ensure the quality isn’t diluted entirely.”

The progress of fast-medium bowler Yuvraj Pawar, from distant Usmanabad, and the success of Maharashtra teams in West Zone age-group cricket are indications that the system is beginning to yield results, says Shirke.

Revolutionary thinking

On the anvil are: a proposed tour of Sri Lanka; and a new international facility in Pune to replace the outdated and inadequate Nehru Stadium.

The MCA in recent times has been at the forefront of some of the most revolutionary thinking in domestic cricket, be it the hiring of Australian Daren Holder as director of cricket or the proposal to recruit foreign professionals for the Ranji Trophy.

In the league tournament here, the team from Sri Lanka triumphed.

“Our boys have never played at this level and it shows,” says Shirke. “It will only help them.”

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