Nepali cricket is clearly on a sticky wicket. With the deadline for the Advisory Committee to send a report to the International Cricket Council (ICC) recommending reforms in the sport drawing near, there is a need for the stakeholders to rise above petty interests and make some sacrifices for a game in which the country has tremendous progress in recent years. 

The ICC last year suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), the governing body for the game in the country, following a disputed election that resulted in government interference. 

Although national team players have been allowed to compete in international tournaments, the country’s domestic schedule has been turned upside down and development works related to the sport have faced a setback. 

Initially, the Advisory Group, which is set to send its recommendations to the ICC in about a week, was tasked with reviewing CAN’s existing constitution and making recommendations to transform the association into a “cricket board” through fresh elections. 

Such a transformation would have taken time hence the ICC put the plan of transforming the association into a “cricket board” on hold.

After six months of work, the Advisory Group has come up with a plan of proposing a three-tier structure in the cricket body—district committee, general council and the executive committee—with the latter at the helm. 

The Advisory Group has also recommended that officials of the disputed elected body and the government-formed ad-hoc committee step down and hold the Annual General Meeting afresh. 

The elected body, led by Chatur Bahadur Chand, however, would not agree. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that we will make sacrifices just to make way for the new leadership,” said Ashok Nath Pyakurel, the general secretary of the elected body. “We are elected by our general assembly which had participation of district bodies. If we are not allowed at the AGM, its validity will be in question.”

Binay Raj Pandey, former president of CAN, who is now the joint-coordinator of the Advisory Group, said intentions to seek personal space should not be in the overall scheme of the things. “This will not solve the problem,” he said. 

“Development of cricket should take precedence over personal interest. It is unfortunate that we [CAN] got suspended. But we if are not willing to make sacrifices and continue to look for our personal space, this is certainly not going to help,” he added According to Pandey, the Advisory Group will make the recommendations to the ICC despite objections from the elected body. 

“We are open to suggestions from the stakeholders, particularly the government, before we send our recommendations to the ICC,” said Pandey. “The ICC will set the road map.” 

If cricket were to flourish in the country, off-field controversies should stay off the 22 yards.