Dalmiya

Calcutta: The script on the eve of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) did not promise any thrills. Jagmohan Dalmiya was set to be elected unopposed as the president for yet another term and promises were supposed to be made.

Well, that’s exactly how the day unfolded at the AGM on Wednesday. Dalmiya will be in charge of the association for another year and yes, he promised appropriate steps that would help Bengal move in the right direction.

In the season gone by, controversies often stole the limelight as far the CAB is concerned. .

But optimism is the best way forward, so says the CAB. After the meeting, which lasted for around 75 minutes and was attended by 103 clubs out of the 121 CAB affiliates, Dalmiya revealed that they would be undertaking necessary precautions to avoid future problems.

“There is a lot of cricket coming up... I am sure that will bring us back into the limelight,” Dalmiya said. He was obviously referring to the Champions League T20 matches, the ODI and T20 against England and a Test against the West Indies.

As in the recent years, the question surrounding Sourav Ganguly’s involvement with the association once again cropped up. “He (Sourav) is in cricket development committee of the CAB... But he is busy with so many things that it would not be fair for me to ask him to be a part of activities here. It’s up to him to decide when he is ready,” Dalmiya said.

And as has been the tradition in the recent years, the opposition, who are otherwise almost non-entities in the CAB, made its presence felt by raising a few issues.

For example, the opposition had claimed that it was useless to waste money on Whatmore as during his term as the development director of Bengal cricket, the under-19 team was relegated from the super league while the under-22 team didn’t even manage to cross the first round of the national tournaments.

But here’s Dey’s counter attack: “We don’t expect a kid growing up to be Sachin Tendulkar in just four months. Whatmore has shortlisted 36 players from different districts and that proves that he is aware of his responsibilities. We are very happy with his job and have decided to renew his contract for another year.”

So it’s the same old CAB, the same old AGM. Some things do not change.

The Office-bearers

President: Jagmohan Dalmiya; Vice-presidents: Sibaji Banerjee, Ranjit Roy, Shivaji Ray, Rathindra Nath Sarkar; Joint secretaries: Sujan Mukherjee, Biswarup Dey.