BCCI can't prepare pitches, can't pay in time

Of late, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to be making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Now comes the news that members of the New South Wales (NSW) Blues team that won last year's inaugural Twenty20 Champions League, are still whistling for their $2.7 million prize money.

After waiting for more than six weeks after the scheduled date of payment, Cricket New South Wales was yesterday instructed to submit an invoice so the players could be paid, according to The Telegraph newspaper.

"I can't remember having to invoice for prize money", NSW chief executive David Gilbert is quoted as saying.

"We were advised during the tournament payment to the winner would be 20 business days at the conclusion of the competition, which indicated it would be late November.

"But now we're in late January and we haven't seen anything. It's certainly not panic stations, but we'd like to see the money soon".

He added the players were "understanding and confident they would be paid".

Be that as it may, the BCCI must surely know that commitments, especially in matters concerning money, should be scrupulously honoured.

With apologies to the as-yet mysterious Australian fan or player who coined the apocryphal expression "can't bowl, can't field," one can now justifiably say of the BCCI: "Can't prepare wickets, can't pay on time."

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