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The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Wednesday said it had changed the venue of the Asian Test Championship final but refused to alter the dates of matches involving India.

An ACC official, speaking from London, said India's point on the final venue had been accepted and now one of the finalists will host the final. "That country will stage the final who had played the away league match against the same opposition. "For example, if India and Pakistan reach the final, the match will be played in India because Pakistan had already hosted India for the preliminary round match," the official said. "But as regards the dates of the matches, they will remain unchanged because if we shift the dates every now and then, it will become difficult to accommodate all the teams because of a packed international calendar," the spokesman said.

Indian cricket board secretary Jayawant Lele had urged the ACC to change the dates of the matches involving his team claiming it was already committed to play one-day internationals series against Australia in September. In September, India are slated to play Bangladesh and then in the most crucial match against Pakistan between 12 and 16. Lele had also protested on Dhaka as the venue of the final despite the fact that he was a party when the ACC allocated the match to Bangladesh. Dhaka also staged the final of the first Asian Test Championship in 1999 when Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by an innings.

The official revealed that Bangladesh cricket board chief Saber Hossain Chowdhry has been elected as the next chairman of the ACC. "He will take over sometime in May next year. Bangladesh nominated Saber as according to rota system, it was Bangladesh's turn to have the ACC chief."

The Asian body also assigned Ehsan Mani, the next ICC chairman, the assignment to prepare and submit the governance structure. Mani will suggest the location of the ACC headquarters and secretariat besides recommending other committees to handle respective departments. Asked if Zakir Hussain Syed will continue as ACC secretary, the official said it would be decided later but hinted that when the chairmanship changes hands, the secretary might also be changed. Zakir was appointed secretary by the present chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia who had taken over from his Sri Lanka counterpart last year.

© Dawn