Date:31/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/31/stories/2007073157482200.htm

Sport - Cricket

Ranji tie may be shifted to Palakkad

KOCHI: Kerala’s lone Ranji Trophy home match this year may be shifted to Palakkad.

The Kerala Cricket Association had allotted the four-dayer against Services, scheduled for November 12 to 15, to Kochi’s Nehru Stadium at its general body meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, but the Kerala Football Association plans to use the venue for Viva Kerala’s National League matches around the same time.

Since the Nehru Stadium hosts the India-Australia one-dayer on October 2, the KFA had specially requested the national body AIFF to schedule Viva’s nine home matches after October 22. A Ranji match in November will play havoc with its plans.

“That could be a problem but I think we can settle the issue amicably after discussions with the cricket association,” said the KFA President K.M.I. Mather on Monday. “The AIFF plans to have a strict schedule this season. And we’ll need at least two weeks to prepare a football ground after a cricket match, with the focus being mainly on the wicket.”

Three months ago, the KCA had given a proposal to the GCDA, the guardian of the stadium, to offer the ground to it from July 1 to December 31.

If Kochi is ruled out for the Ranji game, the cricket association is looking at Palakkad’s Fort Ground as its next option. “But that will mean an expense of Rs. 5 to 6 lakhs because we have to prepare the ground all over again,” said the KCA interim president T.R. Balakrishnan. – Principal Correspondent