"A limited overs tri-series between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be held this month in Sharjah. The funds generated from this series will be donated for the relief of earthquake victims in India." This was revealed by Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Chairman of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF), in a press conference held today at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The proposed date for the said tri-series is 8th to 11th February 2001. However, Dalmiya said, "due to pressing international engagements of both Pakistan and India, the date could be extended. The crickets boards of the three countries are holding talks in this regard, and a final agreement is expected to be reached within 48 hours."

Mr. Dalmiya elaborated at length the agenda of the meeting of the ACF, which was held earlier today.

Apart from the above mentioned tri-series, the Chairman of the ACF also revealed that the second Asian Test Championship will be held this year, the exact date for which will be announced at a later stage. As for the format of the tournament, it will be the same under which the first Asian Test Championship was played i.e. all Test playing countries of Asia will hold matches of the tournament. The venue for the final will be Dhaka as before.

Mr. Dalmiya while addressing the press conference said that, it has been decided in principal that the next Asia Cup One-day tournament will be held in Pakistan in 2002. "According to the initial itinerary, this coveted tournament was to be held this year, but as the previous tournament was held only last year, it was decided to extend the date."

Talking ardently about the functions of the ACF, the Chairman maintained that the main purpose of the Foundation is to supervise the development of the game in the associate countries of the ICC belonging to the Asia region.

Highlighting the subject of promotion of cricket in other countries of Asia, Mr. Dalmiya explained: "Our technical experts are laying down plans as to what should be the most suitable policy in this regard. It is hoped that these experts would have completed their task before the next meeting of the ACF in April 2001. After the approval of the plan, a copy will be forwarded for the perusal of the International Cricket Council."

Revealing further the details of the April meeting, the Chairman of the ACF said: "We aim to expand our scope to other continents as well. In this regard, an agreement between African Cricket Council will be finalized during the meeting. Under the proposed agreement, the cricket council of these continents will work in collaboration with each other in a number of matters, including the coaching of coaches and that of the umpires."

In addition, it is also proposed to hold a series of matches, for example, between Asia XI and Africa XI. Moreover, the formulation of Afro-Asian Cricket Council is also being proposed.

Talking of the relationship of the ACF with ICC, Mr. Dalmiya said, "The elite body of cricket has acceded to our demand and that apart of the centralized body of cricket, there should also be regional councils, which would help the ICC to carry out its development activities in these regions."

Elaborating further the relationship between these two bodies, Mr. Dalmiya disclosed that the ICC has approved the status of the ACF and its importance for promotional activities in Asia.

He added, "It is mainly due to this approval that the ICC has decided to pay to the ACF half of the profit extracted through any tournament conducted by the ICC."

The main aim behind this scheme is to provide maximum funds for the promotion of the game in Asia. The process would commence from the ICC KnockOut held last year in Nairobi (Kenya). According to the information provided by the Chairman, half the amount extracted as profit from the Nairobi tournament, which amounts to $6.5 million, will be made available to the ACF shortly.

In the end, Mr. Dalmiya averred that the people honestly devoted to cricket has always strove to elevate its image in one way or the other. He said the game, which is nowadays marred due to various controversies, is actually a gentleman's game, an ambassador of peace and friendship. Keeping this in mind, the ACF has committed itself to eradicate the scourge of blindness through cricket.

The Chairman, in this regard, referred to the "Sir Frank Worrell Day" observed on the 3rd of February every year to commemorate the noble gesture shown by this great West Indian when Nari Contractor, the captain of the visiting Indian team in 1961-62 was badly hurt by a Charlie Griffith delivery. It was he, the great Sir Worrell, who made timely arrangement for the donation of blood to Contractor, who was badly in need of help.

Mr. Dalmiya said, "working on this very principle, the eye-donation camps will be initially conducted in four cities of Asia, namely Lahore, Calcutta, Colombo, and Dhaka. In case of success, the network of these camps would be extended to other Asian countries as well."

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