Andhra Cricket Association, as part of its diamond jubilee celebrations, will be honouring all its former players, along with umpires, coaches, scorers and other technical staff, on August 9 and 10 at YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium at Visakhapatnam, according of ACA general secretary Gokaraju Ganga Raju here on Sunday.
Speaking at the felicitation function organised to honour him on his election as Narsapur MP, he said Rs. 3.30 crore would be spent on this mega project in which ICC president N. Srinivasan will be the chief guest.
“We have also invited Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and we are awaiting confirmation,” he added. Mr. Raju said that the two-day gala function will witness former international cricketers V.V.S. Laxman, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju gracing as guests of honour.
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Commemorating the diamond jubilee year, ACA, in association with the Postal Department, has released two Rs. 5 stamps with Poornakumbham (ACA logo) and lily flowers.
“ACA was formed in 1953 at Guntur and thanks to several selfless sacrifices by the founding fathers, the association has travelled 60 years successfully,” he pointed out.
The BCCI, in its gesture, has allotted one one-day international (ODI) match between India and West Indies at Vizag in October- November. Mr. Raju said that coaches played a crucial role in honing the skills of the players and promised that in a short span of time, players from ACA academies will skate their claim in Indian teams. “The academies spruced at Kadapa, Mangalagiri and Vizianagaram are aimed at imparting quality training and the boys are training well to meet the modern standards.”
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BJP floor leader in AP Assembly Vishnu Kumar Raju and several ACA administrators highlighted the contribution of Mr. Raju as a cricket administrator.