January 6, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 5, 1426

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MULTAN, Jan 5: The ongoing row between top functionaries of the District Cricket Association is being seen in the sports circle as an ungainly situation ahead of the ODI fixture to be played here next month between Pakistan and India. The final round of the district championship 2005 had remained inconclusive owing to differences between DCA president Ali Imran Mallhi and secretary Sohail Akhtar Khan. Mr Mallhi had notched the top slot in May 2004 allegedly under some controversial circumstances that even led to the litigation.

Association sources said the interest of the game was at stake as the present office bearers could not complete successfully even a single club level tournament in their ongoing stint at the helms of cricket affairs in the district.

Four league matches and fixtures to be played in the knock-out phase of the district championship last year could not be completed reportedly due to rains and the PCB’s domestic cricket schedule.

The DCA president announced allegedly without calling the association meeting that the remaining matches would be played from Jan 1, 2006.

At this, 16 of the 27 registered cricket clubs urged the district association to revise its schedule and organize matches after Eid as their top players were either busy in the first class cricket or in the inter-collegiate tournament.

Sohail Khan said the demand of the majority clubs had held water, especially, when they were not taken into confidence by the DCA president before announcing the schedule. He said, however, the association president remained stick to the schedule he announced unilaterally. Therefore, all the eight teams that had qualified for the knock-out round refused to play.

Most of the clubs have reportedly written letters to the PCB and the DCO, who by default of his office holds the office of DCA patron-in-chief, to urge them to intervene in the interest of the game.

Sources said that the Pakistan-India ODI fixture would be a historic event for cricket lovers in the area, but the tug-of-war in the association might lead to an embarrassing situation.

It may be mentioned that the district association concerned coordinates with the PCB to organize successfully the international matches.