The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has written a letter to Phil Neale, the operations manager of the England Cricket Board, informing him of the restrictions placed on the Board by the Supreme Court of India on execution of contracts and said that until a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is in place, the visitors will not be granted the preset courtesies of a tour.
BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke shot off the letter to Neale late on Thursday evening welcoming England for the upcoming series, but adding that “I am at great pains to inform you that the BCCI is at present not in a position to execute the MoU between the Indian Cricket Board and the ECB“.
The letter, a copy of which is with TOI, further states that this scenario has emerged due to restrictions on execution of contracts imposed on the BCCI. “A committee has been appointed that is also to oversee financial transactions of the BCCI. The BCCI has referred this issue to the Committee appointed by the Supreme Court (Lodha Committee) on 28.10.2016 itself and sought urgent permission for execution of the MoU. “Thereafter, l have also sent the Hon’ble Committee a request again today. However, the Committee – while seeking further details a short while ago earlier today – has not yet granted us this permission,” Shirke wrote.
The Board secretary added in the letter that while certain courtesies such as hotel, travel and various other arrangements have been extended to the England team upon arrival in India, the BCCI is not in a position to commit paying for the same until the MoU is executed.
“Please make arrangements to remit such payments. The BCCI will inform you as and when further instructions are received by the BCCI from the Lodha Committee. I apologise on the behalf of BCCI for the inconvenience that is being caused,” the letter read.