MCA elections to be held on 18 Oct; new league to start on 7 Sept

The Mumbai Cricket Association’s long delayed elections will be held on October 18, the managing committee decided at its meeting yesterday. The committee also formally announced that its new club cricket league would start on September 7, spelling the end of the 65-year-old Kanga League. Former MCA and BCCI president Sharad Pawar is expected to run for president again, while former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar is also considering another campaign. Vengsarkar lost the last election to Ravi Sawant and subsequently withdrew from the MCA in all capacities. [caption id=“attachment_1030045” align=“aligncenter” width=“380”]  Sharad Pawar wants to get back into cricket administration. PTI[/caption] Pawar was unable to contest the last election because his registered address was outside the city and MCA rules require candidates to live in Mumbai. Pawar, however, changed his registered address from Baramati to Mumbai earlier this year. The delay in the elections had caused some controversy, with rumours that the elections were not being held to keep Pawar away from the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting in September. It is well known that there is no love lost between the pair of N Srinivasan and Jagmohan Dalmiya, and Pawar. Since the BCCI amended its constitution to allow presidents a second term, Pawar can stand for BCCI president again. His interest would complicate the situation for both Srinivasan and Dalmiya, who are also eligible for second terms. Thus ensuring Pawar missed the AGM in September would be to their advantage. However, earlier this month Sawant told Firstpost the postponement was unavoidable because he was appointed treasurer of the BCCI when Ajay Shirke resigned from the post after the spot-fixing scandal. The additional responsibilites and the work required to create the new league structure meant October was the earliest elections could be held. The decision to have a new league structure also met with considerable resistance, including from former cricketers like Vengsarkar and Ajit Wadekar, because it means the end of the Kanga League, the world’s only monsoon cricket tournament. The new format is a league instead of a knockout and each club will play 13 matches. According to Sawant, the trouble with the Kanga League was that matches were often washed out and while the benefit of playing on uncovered wickets was diminished because top level cricket was now played on covered pitches the world over. Playing in September would mean regular matches while a league meant all the players would get to play a significant number of games, making the selectors’ job of evaluating them easier. “You have to change with the times and the time has come,” he said. “There is no point in playing the Kanga League just because it is old.”