BCCI changes inter-state women’s one-day calendar due to lack of umpires

According to a report in the Hindustan Times the change has come about due to lack of umpires in the month of December. The Under-19 men’s Cooch Behar Trophy’s schedule has also been affected.

“We needed to ensure that umpires get equal number of games as also we have neutral umpires,” Syed Saba Karim, BCCI’s General Manager for Cricket Operations was quoted as saying to the Hindustan Times. “Not to forget that we have so many games to be played through the season.”

With nine new teams making their debut this season, the BCCI has had to face many logistical nightmare but so far all the games have been conducted as per schedule. A total of 2017 matches have been planned, with the season getting underway with the senior women’s Twenty20 Challenger Trophy from August 13.

This is not for the first time that the BCCI is rescheduling a domestic tournament due to lack of resources. The knockout games of the 2011-12 men’s Under-22 CK Nayudu Trophy had been changed because of lack of qualified umpires and unavailability of quality grounds.

“Frankly we didn’t anticipate this sort of a problem,” Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI’s chief administrative officer then had been quoted as saying to the Indian Express. “From next year we will schedule the matches in a better way so that all games are held in an organised manner.”

The BCCI had rescheduled the men’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy last season to enable players to showcase their talent before the Indian Premier League auctions.