The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has rejected PCB chairman Najam Sethi’s claim that ACC president and BCCI secretary Jay Shah “unilaterally” announced the ACC calendar of events for 2023 and 2024 without informing the Pakistan board.
On Thursday, Shah in his capacity as ACC president announced details of all ACC competitions over next two years, saying: “Presenting the @ACCMedia1 pathway structure & cricket calendars for 2023 & 2024! This signals our unparalleled efforts & passion to take this game to new heights. With cricketers across countries gearing up for spectacular performances, it promises to be a good time for cricket.
Sethi replied to Shah with a sarcastic tweet later on Thursday, saying: “Thank you Jay Shah for unilaterally presenting ACC structure & calendars 2023-24 especially relating to Asia Cup 2023 for which Pakistan is the event host. While you are at it, you might as well present structure & calendar of our PSL 2023! A swift response will be appreciated.”
A day later, the ACC put out a statement saying the PCB had been informed about these details via email on December 22, 2022, but no response had been received.
“It has come to our knowledge that PCB Chairman Mr. Najam Sethi has made a comment on the ACC President unilaterally taking the decision on finalising the calendar and announcing the same,” the ACC statement said. “The ACC wants to clarify that it has followed established due process. The calendar was approved by its Development Committee and Finance & Marketing Committee in a meeting held on December 13th, 2022.
“The calendar was then communicated to all the participating members individually, including Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), via an email dated December 22nd, 2022. While responses were received from certain Member Boards, no comments or suggested modifications were received from PCB. In view of the above, Mr. Sethi’s comments on a social media platform are baseless and are vehemently denied by the ACC.”
According to the ACC website, its Development Committee and Finance & Marketing Committee – the bodies that approved the ACC pathway structure and calendar – does not contain any representation from Pakistan. And December 22, the day the ACC said the email was sent to the PCB, coincided with the shake up of the power structure in the Pakistan board, when Sethi replaced Ramiz Raja as board president.
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