Did ousted BCCI secy try to scare off England from tour?

  • | Thursday | 12th January, 2017

"Johri assured Clarke the team would be looked after well, the series would go ahead as planned, and that fixtures had been drawn up. When contacted, Clarke refused to confirm or deny receiving the call and sending the email. "I am doing it because I have always wanted to work for the game. We have witnessed a record collection in gate money for the game," he said.In the middle of all this development, the MCA nominated Shirke's name to represent the association in all BCCI meetings. Other venues have shown similar uptake.

Mumbai: Just days after the Supreme Court asked BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke to cease and desist office, making him ineligible to continue as an office-bearer of the cricket board, the Pune-based administrator called up England Cricket Board (ECB) president Giles Clarke, ostensibly to inform him about "problems" over hosting the one-day and Twenty20 series.This was confirmed to TOI on Wednesday evening by sources in the Justice R M Lodha committee, who added that after receiving the call from Shirke, a worried Clarke wrote an email to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, asking if the England team would be looked after by the BCCI on the tour in the usual fashion.The email from Clarke reads as follows: "I have received calls from Mr Shirke who, I understand, is no longer the honorary secretary of BCCI. Can you please confirm to me that the England team will continue to be looked after by the BCCI in the usual fashion, with proper security, player daily allowance payments, hotel bills covered and the like, with transport organised at all times...please advise soonest that the schedule will be adhered to, or any changes."Johri assured Clarke the team would be looked after well, the series would go ahead as planned, and that fixtures had been drawn up. When contacted, Clarke refused to confirm or deny receiving the call and sending the email. Johri too refused to speak on the matter.The email from Johri reads as follows: "The BCCI has announced the teams for the warm-up matches, the ODIs and the T20 matches, the ticket sales for which have kicked off with the first game sold out, as of last week. Other venues have shown similar uptake. The Supreme Court has delivered their verdict early this week, and we are expected to work with the court-appointed administrators, who will be appointed by the 19th of this month and till such time, we are making every effort to ensure that the matches live up to the expectations of all our stakeholders, including ECB. We have been in touch with all the hosting centres and they have expressed confidence that the games will be managed successfully, just like always, and as on date, we do not anticipate any form of disruption to the series."Apart from becoming ineligible as a BCCI office-bearer, Shirke also cannot continue as MCA president, having exceeded the nine-year cap on tenure as mandated by the apex court.When asked to clarify if he had indeed made the call to Clarke - asking him to be wary of sending the team to India - Shirke only said that there were forces at work trying to damage his reputation. "They can say whatever they want. It's nothing but a bunch of lies," he said.The ex-president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) instead added that despite having "stepped aside" from his post, he was helping the association conduct the One-day International in Pune as smoothly as possible."I am doing it because I have always wanted to work for the game. We have witnessed a record collection in gate money for the game," he said.In the middle of all this development, the MCA nominated Shirke's name to represent the association in all BCCI meetings. Despite being ineligible under the new rules and regulations, Shirke will still be able to attend all BCCI meetings.All of this is happening at a time when ex-BCCI president Anurag Thakur, also in the dock for asking ICC to write a letter to BCCI stating government interference, is facing a charge of contempt and perjury in the apex court.Shirke, post the email from Clarke, could be in serious trouble too.

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