Stating that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is not engaging with any group of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), Tim Anderson, the Head of Global Development, said that the cricket’s global governing body would discuss Nepal on April 21.
Anderson is poised to submit a report at the ICC meeting next week for which he and ICC Asia Development Manager Bandula Warnapura met with the members of both CAN factions, and others.
Anderson said: “Whilst acknowledging that Nepal cricket does not currently have a functioning governing body and that a case is currently before the Supreme Court in this regard, we have to wait for the verdict before deciding about the future of Nepal cricket.”
Although Anderson couldn’t say for certain if ICC would make a decision during the Board Meeting on April 21 in Dubai, he said Nepal would be discussed as ‘it can’t go for long’ and that ‘ICC will be losing patience if it continues for long’.
ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson. Photo: Nagarik
The ICC organized a press meet at the TU Cricket Ground on the eve of second match between Nepal and Namibia. The ICC is organizing the World Cricket League Championship matches in association with the National Sports Council (NSC) – the government’s sports agency. It also appointed Asia Development Manager Bandula Warnapura to look after the preparation of matches and nominated Venkatapathy Raju as the advisor of the independent selection panel.
“I urge both the parties to come in one platform and work for the betterment of cricket. And that will be the best way out,” said Anderson.
Indicating towards the uncertainty in Nepali cricket due to the ‘duel existence’ of CAN, Anderson said ICC was left with three options: to go with the their original decision of awarding the hosting rights to Nepal, locate it to India or award points to Namibia.
“We are happy that we held on to our original decision,” said Anderson. “The huge crowd here played vital role for ICC to come to that conclusion,”
Asked about the possibility of suspension, Anderson said “Even of CAN is suspended, that will not affect the players. We had similar situation in the USA and we allowed the team to participate in tournaments. The association will remain suspended and not the players or teams.”
Earlier in March, Anderson had said: “The governance challenges currently being faced by Nepal cricket are unfortunate to say the least.”