Oz tour: Opening issue cleared

Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI secretary SK Nair, confirming this to The Indian Express today, said the match would be played in Hyderabad as a benefit tie for former cricketer Mohan Raj.

With the opponents decided, two issues are left: the tour opener venue and the television rights issue.

First things first, though. Till yesterday there was some confusion over whom the Aussies would play in their first match. There was a plan, as Nair admitted, to have the tourists play a Board President8217;s XI, but the idea was dropped.

8216;8216;We had earlier earmarked two three-dayers, one for Australia and the other for South Africa8217;8217;, Nair said. The National selectors8217; panel wanted the Board President8217;S XI to play the Aussies, as it would have allowed them to have a look at a wider pool of players at the start of the season.

However, this coincided with the MCA too announcing its team for the match. 8216;8216;We thought about it but found that if we interchanged the games, Mumbai would find it difficult to play South Africa, because of their Ranji Trophy engagements. Anyway, we had always mentioned it as a three-dayer and not named a team.8217;8217;

A minor point, but Nair isn8217;t fully correct. The BCCI had originally issued an itinerary 8212; a copy of which was sent to CA 8212; stating that the tour opener would feature the Board President8217;s XI.

In Melbourne, CA spokesman Sean Cadd confirmed this. 8216;8216;I have been reading about the confusion. It8217;s a fact that we had been told that we would play Board President8217;s XI. But this news about Mumbai playing us has not been officially conveyed.8217;8217;

Cadd added, though, that the change really didn8217;t affect CA for 8216;8216;we want the best possible build-up for an important event like the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.8217;8217;

The bigger concern, he said, is the venue for the tour opener, Hyderabad 8212; reports suggested the new stadium wasn8217;t ready as yet. The whole issue could be sorted out in the 8216;8216;next 24 hours8217;8217;, said Cadd, with a two-man CA recce team comprising Michael Brown and Australian Cricketer8217;s Association ACA chief executive Tim May, scheduled to visit the city over the weekend.

8216;8216;If they do decide to go for an alternate venue, it will be the BCCI8217;s prerogative8217;8217; Cadd said. 8216;8216;We certainly want the match to go on especially since we will be heading into Tests straight from two successive one-day engagements.8217;8217;