Mad about cricket? Know the difference between leg-before-wicket and a leg-bye? Have cricket stats at your fingertips? If you want to become a Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) member, you stand a fair chance.
In a unique move, the JSCA on Monday announced it would induct at least 50 new memberships through a competitive test on October 16, the step eliciting mixed response among around 650 existing members.
According to the move spearheaded by JSCA president Amitabh Choudhary, up to 50 new members would be hired based on the two-hour test starting 11am at Dhurwa stadium with 40 questions, 20 on international and domestic cricket, and the rest 20 divided into five each on sport excluding cricket, India, Jharkhand and general knowledge. There will be no negative marking and results will be announced at 4pm the same day.
Application forms for the test, priced at Rs 500 each, will be sold from Tuesday to October 5 at the JSCA stadium's north gate. Only 2,000 forms will be sold on first-come, first-serve basis. Filled up, they can be submitted from October 3 to 9 between 10am and noon. Test over, those chosen will pay Rs 10,000 as lifetime membership fee, from which the price of the form will be deducted.
"We keep getting a lot of calls and requests (for memberships)," JSCA president and BCCI joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhary told this correspondent on Monday. "That's why we decided on written test before appointing new members. Depending on results, we will induct 50 members or less."
"The idea of having a test came about as we naturally wanted to choose cricket and sports enthusiasts," added a senior JSCA functionary.
But, many in the JSCA are not convinced, especially in the wake of the Lodha committee recommendations for a thorough clean-up of cricketing outfits, which the Supreme Court approved in July. In JSCA, most office bearers, including president Choudhary, will change by November.
A JSCA member said he did not understand the logic behind the move to attract fresh members at a "tense moment" like this.
"True, Choudhary had spoken about new members in the annual general meeting in May, after July and the Lodha committee recommendations, everything changed. If I understand correctly, under the Lodha committee recommendations, a cricket body can't take important decisions right now like inducting new members. Plus, the provision of a written test doesn't exist in the JSCA constitution and its bye-laws," he said.
Another functionary said the new move might raise questions on how earlier members were appointed.
But Choudhary sounded upbeat. "If something never existed before it doesn't mean new things can't happen," he stressed. Asked if the trend would continue in future years, he however played safe. "I can't say at the moment."
JSCA's Big Daddy in the neighbouring state, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), with 18,000 members, hasn't inducted any in 15 years. Treasurer Biswarup Dey said they never had any system of written tests or interviews to grant a CAB membership and they always went by recommendations.
Do you support JSCA's exam route to choose members? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
