Fletcher is new contender for Indian coach's job

Former England coach Duncan Fletcher was the unnamed foreign candidate who has been invited for discussions with the BCCI Search Committee on June 9, Cricket Board sources said on Tuesday. The sources, however, dismissed speculation about Arjuna Ranatunga, saying the former Sri Lankan captain was not in the race at all despite his name being suggested by Sunil Gavaskar in the meeting of the Search Committee in Bangalore on Monday. They also said South African Graham Ford, the favourite among the senior members of the Indian team, was most likely to be appointed. The souces said that giving Ford the Indian job will also help in gaining the vote of South African vote for BCCI President Sharad Pawar in ICC Presidential elections. "The point that weighs in Ford's favour was that Pawar requires South Africa's vote to become the next International Cricket Council President (ICC)," the sources said. Pawar has already said that a South African should be the interim ICC President following the death of Percy Sonn, whose tenure was extended till 2009.

Afro-Asia Cup struggles to find sponsors

What a fall for the game, which was the virtual moneyspinner till recently, and to advertise which the biggest corporates in the country made a beeline to. Sadly, with the disastrous performance of India in the World Cup, there are no takers for the Cup today. With less than 24 hours remaining for the Afro-Asia Cup cricket series to kick off in Bangalore, the organisers are yet to find a main sponsor for the event as well as for the Asian team. "We are still looking for sponsor for the Asian team while African team will be sponsored by Sahara Computers," said Asian Cricket Council CEO Syed Ashraful Huq. Asked about the main sponsor of the series, Huq said, "It has not been finalised yet, we are still in talks with some people." It is understood there are no takers even for the in-stadia advertising rights, which is with ACC. Besides struggling to find sponsors, the tournament has also not been able been able to attract media buyers' interest for advertisements. "Currently we are not receiving any queries from advertisers because no one is interested in the series. It's not a matter of price, it's a question of need for being in the series as advertisers," Mindshare Managing Director Sunda Raman said.

Kanpur's Green Park to regain its lost glory
The Green Park stadium's long drought of international cricket matches may end soon, courtesy the change of guard in Uttar Pradesh in the political sphere. Ther formation of the Bahujan Samaj Party government in the state under Chief Minister Mayawati has raised hopes of once again hosting high-profile matches at the historic ground, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association Secretary (Sports and Administration) PD Pathak said. Differences between the UPCA and the state's sports ministry on various matters have now narrowed, he said. Pathak hoped that Green Park would be the venue of a one-day match between Australia and India in October and a Test match against Pakistan in November this year. He alleged UPCA did not get the stadium to stage international matches for the last two-and-a-half years due to the unfavourable attitude of previous state government. He added that the new government had already provided the stadium to UPCA for staging an inter-district cricket tournment and, after getting the green signal from the Cricket Board, efforts would start for organising international matches.

(Courtesy: PTI)