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LAHORE, May 16: Renovation work at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) ground has been delayed for the reasons best known to the Pakistan Cricket Borad (PCB). The PCB under its development programme is renovating 25 stadia in different cities of the country, including the LCCA ground.
According to the plan, the entire ground will be ploughed to have grass grown over it afresh. Seven pitches for matches and two for practice purposes are to be laid out. It will also have a water tank and a new boundary wall of 2373 feet to be built around the ground.
The PCB authorities had completed the renovation of the offices of the LCCA which also included the construction of an umpire/referee room and provision of a new tubewell for the ground.
The work on the ground was to begin at the end of the 2000-2001 domestic season but could not be started even after the end of the 2001-2002 season.
When asked about the delay, a PCB spokesman said that the work on the ground could not to be started because the LCCA was organising club matches on the ground.
But the LCCA official told Dawn that they had handed over the ground to the PCB on March 20, 2002 at the conclusion of the pool matches of the national one-day cricket tournament. The LCCA had asked the PCB to complete the work by June 30, so that the ground could be made available for the trials and the camp for the preparation of the LCCA teams for the next domestic season, starting from Sept 1.
The LCCA has also learnt to have sent back the covers of the pitches provided by the PCB, as these were damaged. The PCB chairman Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia had directed for providing new covers for the LCCA, but no action had so far been taken.
The PCB is spending the money on the LCCA ground and its office from the association’s share of Rs 3.6 million which it earned by playing as host of the one-day and a Test match at the Gaddafi Stadium of the England series held last year. However, it was learnt that the PCB is spending from its own kitty on the renovation of other 24 grounds.
