Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah’s “unilateral” announcement of the ACC schedule of events for 2023 and 2024 without contacting the Pakistan board has been refuted by PCB Chairman Najam Sethi.
In his position as ACC president, Shah unveiled information on all ACC contests for the following two years on Thursday. He tweeted, “Presenting the 2023 and 2024 cricket calendars & the @ACCMedia1 route structure.”
This represents our unmatched enthusiasm & commitment to raising the bar for this game. It looks to be a terrific moment for cricket as players from various nations prepare for remarkable performances.” Later on Thursday, Sethi quoted Shah and added some sarcasm to his tweet: “
I appreciate Jay Shah presenting the ACC structure and calendars on his own, especially in relation to the Asia Cup in 2023, which Pakistan will host. You may as well offer the structure and calendar for our PSL 2023 while you’re at it! Please respond as soon as possible.”
The PCB had been notified of these data through email on December 22, 2022, according to a statement released a day later by the ACC, but no answer had been received. The ACC President unilaterally decided to finalise the schedule and announce it, according to information that has come to our attention, according to PCB Chairman Mr. Najam Sethi, according to an ACC statement.
“The ACC wants to make it clear that it adhered to accepted due procedure. On December 13th, 2022, the Development Committee and Finance & Marketing Committee met to approve the schedule. “The calendar was subsequently sent by email on December 22, 2022, to each participating member separately, including Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
While some Member Boards provided replies, PCB did not provide any feedback or suggestions for changes. Pakistan is not represented on the Development Committee or the Finance & Marketing Committee of the ACC, the groups that established the ACC route structure and calendar.
A lot of turmoil occurred in Pakistan cricket on December 22, the day the letter to the PCB was written, as Ramiz Raja was replaced by Sethi as the board’s head. In a statement to Sports Tak, Sethi stated that the PCB had neither received or made him aware of such message. I’m not furious; I’m just perplexed, he added.
“They just needed to call and speak with us once. When there is a council for it, acting unilaterally is not a smart idea. They did not, as far as I know, consult anyone. Does this imply that I will make these judgements from my house if I win the next presidential election?”
Sethi said that Faisal Hasnain, the PCB’s CEO (although that role does not exist in the present government), had contacted the BCCI on many occasions to schedule a meeting but had not heard back. He also pleaded for politics to be excluded from the cricket matches between the two nations.