CHENNAI: Dr P Ashok Sigamani (president), RI Palani (secretary), K Shivakumar (joint secretary) and Dr RN Baba (assistant secretary) were elected for their respective posts unanimously at the 90th Annual General meeting of the TNCA held at its office at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Saturday.
Three candidates S Prabhu, DSK Reddy and RR Kalidas Vandayar withdrew their nominations and also undertook to withdraw all the cases filed by them challenging the election process. Thus there were no elections and all the members were elected to the various posts unopposed. Subsequently, at the general body, former Tamil Nadu Ranji player and selector D Girish, S Madhavan and Sudha Shah were appointed to the all important Cricket Advisory Committee. According to sources, the senior selection committee led by S Vasudevan will continue. The general body also unanimously approved the pension scheme of Rs 10,000 per month for retired first-class cricketers who have played between 10 and 24 matches for Tamil Nadu.
Addressing the media, the newly appointed president Sigamani said that winning the Ranji Trophy would be the first priority. "We have been doing well in white-ball cricket. We have not won the Ranji trophy for a long time. We will concentrate more on winning games (Ranji). It is our former president N Srinivasan's dream to win the Ranji trophy. That's our priority," he said.
Meanwhile, the other important thing the new administration is keen on doing is to focus on women's cricket and create more opportunities and tournaments for women in the state. "The BCCI has announced an equal match fee for contracted women international cricketers. Now, at the state level we also want to conduct more tournaments, give them more opportunities, try and plan league matches and school-level tournaments," said Sigamani.
When asked if there is still scepticism among parents to get their daughters into cricket, the TNCA president was quick to refute. He said that the perception is wrong, adding, "It is not like old days, women's cricket has picked up a lot. I know two players from Villupuram who have played for the state. We will definitely promote women's cricket a lot more right from the grass root level. But for anything, one needs a role model and then others will follow them. Like how many are having MS Dhoni as their role model and try to follow his footsteps. If Tamil Nadu players start representing at the higher levels, automatically they (more women) will come to play the game."
One area that Tamil Nadu lack is the fast bowling bench strength, which has affected their Ranji performances. However, Sigamani said that there is no dearth of talents and it is all about identifying them. "Districts have a lot more fast bowlers playing in various teams than city-based teams. Definitely, we are planning to have a 'talent scout', where they will go to the districts and spot the players at camps. We are planning to divide it (districts) into four or five zones and we are also going to look for spinners as well," said Sigamani insisting that the pavilion side stands construction would be completed by December end.
Vice-president: Adam Sait; Treasurer: TJ Srinivasaraj; Apex Council: City: U Bhagwandas Rao, KN Naresh, Yusuf Yunus Laila, V Arunachalam, Balaji Maradapa, TK Rushyendra Kumar; Districts: RM Lakshman Narayan, K Sanjay, N Sivaramakrishnan; TNPL Governing Council: P Anand, V Pratish Vedhappudi, A Jaffer Asique Ali (cricketers representative); Auditor: PB Vijayaraghavan & Co.