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Amidst IPL fever, CAL bans T20 events
At a time when cricket enthusiasts are enjoying the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Cricket Association Lucknow (CAL) has imposed a blanket ban on the format asking its units/clubs not to hold Twenty20 cricket tournaments in Lucknow.
At a time when cricket enthusiasts are enjoying the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Cricket Association Lucknow (CAL) has imposed a blanket ban on the format asking its units/clubs not to hold Twenty20 cricket tournaments in Lucknow.
This was decided at the meeting of newly-constituted working committee of CAL here. CAL director KM Khan said the clubs/units affiliated to it would only conduct matches of 40 overs each side.
“Some clubs/units are ruining the cricket culture of the city, conducting 2-3 matches in a day on one ground. This is to mint money in the name of cricket,” said Khan, adding, “There is no problem if one match is conducted in a day but this is not being followed. Even the UP Cricket Association is not promoting T20 cricket culture.”
While accepting that there is fan-following of shorter version of the game, Khan, claimed that if required, CAL would conduct Twenty20 events in an organised manner but only after discussing the issue with all units/clubs.
In the meeting, it was also decided that the registration fee would be raised from ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh. “So far, we have 122 registered clubs/units out of which around 90 are playing. The hike in registration fee is to stop fake clubs/units from getting CAL recognition,” said Khan.
Several people were appointed to look after different wings of cricket operations in Lucknow. The meeting decided not to allow any club/unit to hold tournaments at the time when CAL’s events are on. Recently, there was a clash over the conduct of two state tournaments on similar dates.
However, CAL fixed April 30 as the last date of registration/renewal of clubs/units as it has plans to issue ID cards and get the cricketers insured by May 31.
