Cricket calendar sent to PCB on Dec 22, Seth’s comments are baseless: ACC

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Friday came down heavily on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Seth, who “vehemently denied baseless allegations” against its president Jay Shah of unilateral decision-making regarding the continental body’s biennial programme.

In its statement, the ACC categorically stated that the itinerary was sent to the PCB on 22 December 2022 together with other member countries, but there was no communication from the latter.

On Thursday, Shah had announced the ACC calendar 2023-24 and the path structure for the continental body as well as the ODI Asia Cup in September.

However, the calendar did not have the name of the host country as BCCI secretary Shah had already said last October (2022) that the tournament would be moved out of Pakistan as India could not travel.

Seth’s predecessor Ramiz Raja had then made a counter-threat by pulling out of the ODI World Cup in India later this year.

Sethi, who is back in the hot seat, had reacted strongly to BCCI Supremo Shah’s announcement about the ACC itinerary on Twitter.

“Thanks Jay Shah for the one-sided presentation of the ACC structure and calendars for 2023-24, especially in relation to Asia Cup 2023, which Pakistan is hosting. While you’re at it, might as well present our structure and calendar for PSL 2023! A quick reply is appreciated “, Seth’s sarcasm-laden tweet went unnoticed.

The Shah-led ACC issued a strongly worded statement the same day calling the PCB chief’s bluff.

“It has come to our attention that PCB Chairman Najam Sethi has commented to the ACC President (Shah) that he has unilaterally decided and announced the finalization of the calendar. The ACC would like to clarify that it has followed the established procedure.” ACC said in a statement.

In fact, the statement also shared a timeline with the media, which effectively means that the PCB chairman lied.

“The calendar was approved by the Development Committee and the Finance and Marketing Committee in a meeting held on 13 December 2022. The calendar was then circulated to all participating members separately, including the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) through an email dated 22 December 2022,” it further stated.

In the last two weeks, the PCB did not seek any changes in the proposed calendar and hence a public notice was issued.

“Although responses were received from certain member boards, no comments or proposed changes were received from the PCB. Based on the above, Seth’s comments on the social media platform are unfounded and ACC strongly denies them,” the statement states.

Socio-political tension between India and Pakistan has prevented the neighbors from participating in bilateral cricket since 2012, and India has not visited the country since the 2008 Asia Cup.

Arch-rivals only face each other in multinational events and also in neutral venues.

Although the Asia Cup is a multinational event, the ACC board’s decision to award the hosting rights to Pakistan has not gone down well with the BCCI.

For the PCB, the argument is that if Australia, England and currently New Zealand can tour their country, why not India.

In BCCI’s case, the decision to send a cricket team to Pakistan is entirely the prerogative of the central government.