Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials want Saudi Cricket Center (SCC) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to speed up their efforts and come up the ladder for the promotion of cricket at a higher level here. A high-level three-member ACC delegation, consisting of Syed Ashraful Huq, Chief Executive; Bandula Warnapura, Development Manager; and Iqbal Sikander, Development Officer, was in Saudi Arabia to follow up the progress made in the development of the game here. After criss-crossing the Kingdom during their hectic five-day schedule and meeting with Prince Sultan Bin Fahd, President, General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW), Prince Dr. Faisal Bin Muhammad Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of Al-Baha Region and Patron of SCC, Warnapura was meeting the media here Wednesday. Besides media, cricket officials and cricket fans the meeting was also attended by a keen cricket lover, A. Sabarullah Khan, Consul General of Sri Lanka. The former captain of Sri Lanka when it gained international status in 1982, Warnapura speaking on behalf of Haq, who had to rush to India on another official assignment, expressed satisfaction over the hitherto progress but called for more action than resting on the laurels for further achievement. The development manager was happy and optimistic after the breakthrough meeting with Prince Sultan along with the SCC officials. He said that the GPYW chairman showed keen interest and wanted a detailed proposal from the SCC for the development. According to Warnapura whatever SCC has achieved has to be considered as the first stage as an affiliate member of International Cricket Conference (ICC) and the more important is the next stage which is targeting associate membership and international status. “Achieving international status or ODI grade as Afghanistan, which also became an affiliate member along with Saudi Arabia in 2003, will change the entire scenario. The fund that is earmarked for an associate member is heavy and the status is huge. “If Saudi Arabia comes up with one international stadium, the arrival of international stars and events would be imminent,” he said. “Saudi Arabia has already established its mark on international sports scene, especially in soccer where it played in four World Cups. But playing in a cricket World Cup could become a reality soon if things are put in the right direction and perspective,” he wished. Iqbal Sikander, who has been monitoring, supporting and assisting SCC in the progress, was delighted with the tour. Sikander, a member of Pakistan's World Cup winning team in 1992, who has made several visits here, expressed happiness over the infrastructure and termed the tour “productive”. “The Aramco grass field in Dammam is fantastic, the Royal Commission's floodlit ground in Yanbu is beautiful but we need turf pitches to make it complete,” Iqbal said. He talked about the coaching and umpiring courses and emphasized that “services of more trained coaches and knowledgeable umpires will develop the game faster.” Sikander is expected here soon for a fairly long assignment for training coaches and umpires. Earlier, Hasan Kabir, Vice Chairman of SCC, welcomed the guests, officials, media and the cricket lovers and Hamid Rana, SCC official, made a presentation on the history of cricket and its progress and SCC activities. Nadeem Nadwi, CEO of SCC, thanked the ACC officials and the media. While promising hard work from SCC he expressed a lot of optimism on the meeting with Prince Sultan. He also said that the proposal will be submitted to the GPYW in two weeks as the prince advised. __
