BCCI dismayed by ICC letter

We are unhappy with Beckers letter.

The BCCI has expressed displeasure over ICC legal head David Beckers strongly-worded letter to its president Sharad Pawar asking to sort out the mess over the sale of World Cup ticket. We are unhappy with Beckers letter. It is totally uncalled for,said BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty,who is also tournament director for the World Cup.

The ticketing situation took a turn for the worse on Thursday,when police lathi-charged fans camped outside Bangalores Chinnaswamy Stadium,waiting in vain to purchase tickets for the group B match between India and England. Only 7000 tickets were made available to the public,while close to 30,000 fans were lined up outside the stadium.

Shetty said that the low public allotment of tickets was unavoidable,thanks to contractual obligations faced by the various state associations hosting the matches. The tickets not allotted to the public are to be shared between members of the state associations and ICCs commercial partners.

The biggest challenge we face today is to meet the expectations of the people. That is never possible, said Javagal Srinath,the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association after the Bangalore fracas. There is a limit where we can keep people happy. There is not much we can do. Around 7,000 tickets were all sold out in three hours. For a match of this stature,even if you double or triple the amount of tickets for public,it will not be enough. Pawar,meanwhile,is yet to respond to the ICC letter. The ICC is awaiting a response from him to decide on further course of action, said Colin Gibson,ICC Head of Media Communications.