Former Ranji players, numbering 107 players, will be honoured with a purse during the diamond jubilee celebrations of Andhra Cricket Association on August 9 and 10, according to ACA director (cricket operations) M.S.K. Prasad here on Monday.
Speaking to The Hindu , he said that the disbursement of cash awards was divided into five categories and the amount would be given to players who represented Andhra from 1953 to 2003. “Those who played up to four Ranji matches will receive Rs. 1 lakh while those played from five to nine will take home Rs 2 lakh.
For players who played matches from 10 to 14 it will Rs. 3 lakh and those in the 15-19 bracket Rs. 4 will be awarded. An amount Rs. 5 lakh will be given away to those who played between 20 to 25 first class (Ranji) matches,” he added.
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Mr. Prasad said those who are receiving pension from BCCI after 2003 were not considered for the cash awards as they would be getting the monetary help (the pension) till their death. “Players in the bracket of 1953-2003 are those who used to get less remuneration and they did not get any benefits from BCCI. That is the reason we have short-listed 107 players for the cash awards”.
He said an amount of Rs. 2.20 crore was earmarked for the one-time payment.
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ACA will honour former ACA office bearers, district presidents and secretaries, past and present BCCI umpires, scorers, video analysts and curators. It will also honour all the Ranji players from 1953 to 2014 with mementoes.
Topping the felicitation list as per age would be M. Chittaranjan and K.Gopanna, both from East Godavari, who played in the inaugural match in 1953 for Andhra against Mysore. Both are in their eighties now. The youngest would be Ricky Bhui, who made his Ranji debut last year from Visakhapatnam.
Cultural showACA, which was planning to have the function at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium at Visakhapatnam, shifted the venue to Waltair Club (August 9) and Hotel Novotel (Aug. 10). “There is a rain threat and we do not want to take a risk,” Mr. Prasad added. An amount Rs. 1.10 crore was earmarked for the two-day fete, which will also feature cultural programmes. Around 1,000 invitees are expected to participate.