A new-look Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) will take the centre stage on January 19 when the Lodha Committee recommendations come into force, according to sources here on Wednesday.
The landmark judgment by the Supreme Court made all the State associations administering cricket to toe the line paving for the disqualification of several administrators.
Under the 70-years -and-above ruling, ACA secretary Gokraju Ganga Raju, vice president Ramchand and treasurer Raheem will cease to exist as the administrators while ACA president D.V.S.S. Somayajulu is disqualified as he had served the association for more than nine years. Senior vice president Uma Maheswar, who is in-charge of the ACA –VDCA Stadium at Visakhapatnam, has already submitted his resignation.
The fate of several seasoned administrators hangs in the balance as there is no clarity on some recommendation especially about the cooling period. “We will be approaching our legal counsel before we take a final call,” said a senior administrator.
“In a couple of days we will hold a meeting in which all the office bearers, clubs and district officials will take part to discuss the course of action. We will make the necessary changes in the bylaw for the smooth transition of change.” Under the Lodha Commmittee recommendations, the apex council of the ACA will have nine administrators against the existing 16 member-team.
The nine members will be president, secretary, vice president, treasurer, joint secretary, a member, a nominee from the State government or Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), a male player and a female player. Earlier 44 votes were permissible during the ACA elections (clubs 15, districts 13, office-bearers 16). From now on under ‘one-State-one-vote’ basis only 13 districts will vote in the elections. The clubs will not have the voting rights.
“Lodha Committee has asked the associations to appoint a nominee from the Comptroller and Auditor General office to monitor the activities. As there is no CAG office in the jurisdiction of Andhra Pradesh, a State government official will don the role,” sources said.
The ACA sources said under the new ruling the association might follow the rotation system which was prevalent in the BCCI earlier to accommodate the administrators of all the districts. Many administrators felt that several new faces would get a chance to administer the game owing to the three-year cooling off period. Some felt the three-year duration would be too short for the administrators to showcase their proficiency.
