Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 20:

The National Sports Council has once again reformed the 20-member ad hoc body of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) sacking 10 including two vice presidents and a secretary and brought in seven new faces.

“The old team lacked team spirit and they were involved in internal conflicts instead of working for the development of cricket,” said NSC member secretary Kishor Bahadur Singh, explaining the reason of dissolving the association. Singh also instructed the newly formed team to go for elections within three months. “Any ad hoc association cannot work properly without having elections, so you have to hold them as soon as possible in order to go for long-term planning within the association,” he said.

The association had been criticised for a unsuccessful World Cup campaign, international relations that cost Nepal the Asia Cup tournament, and financial irregularities while purchasing rollers.

Jai Kumar Nath Shah has been retained the president of the association, while two vice presidents — Binay Raj Pandey and Shree Harsha Koirala — have been ousted. Now the association will have only two vice presidents, Tarini Bikram Shah and Sri Niwas Rana, who have been retained.

Laxman Prasad Bastola, who was the joint secretary in the old body, has been promoted to secretary, eliminating Pradeep Raj Pandey. Ashok Nath Pyak-urel has been named the joint secretary. Sashi Raj Subedi, who was the treasurer, has been replaced by Pradeep Kumar Karki, while Subedi has been included in the list of members.

“We will follow the instructions given by the council and we will work as a team,” said the newly-nominated secretary Bastola. “We will not repeat the mistakes committed by former members,” he added.

Asked about the priority of the association, Bastola said that the committee would concentrate on the Under-17 Asia Cup, which is slated in Malaysia for August.

“After the Asia Cup, we will concentrate on the organisational aspects of the Under-19 Youth Asia Cup to be held in Kathmandu in November,” he said. “Our main problem was ground, and we have succeeded in managing two venues — one in Tundikhel in Kathmandu and other at Birendra Sainik Awasiya Mahavidyalaya in Bhaktapur,” he said, adding, “We have already taken the permission for those two venues from Royal Nepal Army.”

“We have also talked to the students’ union for the Engineering College ground and they have responded positively,” he added. “I think, we can now organise the tournament there,” he said. Nepal hosted the tournament in 2001 in three venues — TU, St Xavier’s and Engineering College.

Other members in the newly-formed committee included Uday Shumsher Thapa, Diwakar Ghale, Kiran Shumsher Rana, Basanta Raj Satyal, Anil Kumar Shah, Rajesh Pathak, Sunil Hamal, Chatur Bahadur Chand, Indra Rai, Prem Century, Asha Gurung, Thakur Pratap Thapa and a representative from the NSC.

Member secretary Singh gave away the nomination letters to the officials, but most of the members — including president Shah and vice president Tarini Bikram Shah — were not present on the occasion. Upendra Bhattarai, Tarak Mani Dixit, Mankaji Shrestha, Amrit Shumsher Thapa, Ranjit Rana, Minal Pandey and L B Chhetri are among the members ousted from the association.