Int'l Cricket Council Chair N. Srinivasan said of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, "A lot of people have got a wrong idea that BCCI was sitting on pots of money. BCCI is a non-profit organization. It is committed to its members, associations, players and equally committed to creating infrastructure," according to the Indian BUSINESS STANDARD. Explaining the "scheme of works at the BCCI," Srinivasan, the body's former president, said that associations were receiving Rs 50 crore ($8.3M) for creating stadium infrastructure and "for other related expenditure, while in the past it was around" Rs 4 crore. Srinivasan said due to these, "We are getting new stadia in Rajkot, Pune, Ranchi, while all the old stadia including the M A Chidambaram and Wankhede were getting renovated." Srinivasan said that the BCCI allocates its funds -- 26% is given to the players; 13% to all int'l players; 10.6% to domestic players and 2.6% to junior players. While a domestic player in Ranji trophy previously earned Rs 100-Rs 1,000, a player now gets Rs 30,000-Rs 35,000 ($497-$579). Cricket is now a "viable career option." Srinivasan: "This is what we have done to the players. The BCCI has quietly, without fanfare, looked after its own and its cricketers" (BUSINESS STANDARD, 7/16). In Sydney, Peter Lalor reported the MCC's World Cricket Committee has "questioned the money grab engineered by India, Australia and England" at the ICC, claiming it will "exacerbate the divide between rich and poor cricketing nations." The WCC is an "independent group of administrators and former players, including Steve Waugh," who this week described it as "the moral conscience of the game." The group said it "hoped the changes would benefit the game but criticised the new financial arrangements." The WCC said in a statement, "The inequality of the 'contribution costs' that will be paid to ICC full-member countries is a matter of concern for the committee." The committee "proposed a body to oversee the 'progress and fairness' of the ICC's new set-up" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/18).
UGANDA WORLD CRICKET LEAGUE: The JAGRAN POST reported Uganda Cricket Association CEO Ligyalingi said that the country will host the World Cricket League from Oct. 26-Nov. 2. He added that the tournament will feature Uganda, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, the U.S. and Bermuda (JAGRAN POST, 7/17).
