The demand for setting a minimum wage for State Coaches, reverting the Ranji Trophy from four-group format to three-group format, a requirement of improved Umpiring standards were the talking points at the ongoing BCCI’s annual Conclave in Mumbai on Monday.
Since 2016, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has hosted an annual conclave of domestic captains and coaches. All state associations except the DDCA have their representations at this ongoing conclave in Mumbai.
The Ranji Trophy Format
Many domestic captains disagreed with BCCI’s decision to split the Ranji Trophy teams into four groups instead of three groups. The opposition is due to the reason that four-group format takes away one extra match from the team thus making qualification difficult.
The four-group format can also be particularly unfair if one or more matches are washed out. The removal of relegation system provides very little motivation for the weaker teams to perform their best.
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Coaches seek equality in pay structure
The domestic coaches together asked the board to devise a fair pay system for the coaches so that they do not have to rely on whims and mercy of the State Associations. Currently, the payment for Coaches is decided by the employing State Association and there is no standardizing process for it.
Poor umpiring standards
The State captains and coaches complained of non-action against the poor umpiring standards in domestic cricket. They raised the issue of match referee taking no action after their complaints against the umpires. The possibility of DRS in the local matches was also discussed.
Thumbs up for Home and Away model
The conclave spoke positively about the change in this year’s Ranji Trophy scheduling. Last year, BCCI experimented by having all the Ranji Trophy matches scheduled at a neutral venue.
The process proved problematic for many teams who wound up traveling miles by the trains and had to put up with the inadequate facilities. This year, BCCI reverted to the usual Home and Away matches format. This was appreciated by one and all present in the conclave.
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Apart from these, other issues like usage of the Kookaburra balls and cash prices of performers in domestic cricket were also discussed.
