Ganguly-led CAB agrees to give voting rights to former players

The CAB was part of a meeting of 16 states earlier this week that sought to deal with the issues relating to adopting a new constitution for the BCCI, keeping the Lodha reforms in mind.

Cricket Association of Bengal President Sourav Ganguly

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has agreed in principle to give voting rights to former internationals. At present, the CAB has 121 members with voting rights. At least 15 cricketers from the state have played at international level. Following a special general meeting (SGM) of the CAB here on Wednesday, association president Sourav Ganguly said, “We will give them voting rights if the court does not change the verdict. After this we will be fully Lodha (Committee recommendation) compliant.”

READ : State associations look to end CoA's reign in BCCI

The CAB will wait for the Supreme Court hearing on August 8 before changing its constitution to incorporate the new provision, as per the decision taken at the the SGM.

“After the amendment we will appoint an electoral officer. We will proceed with AGM after August 8," Ganguly said. In a meeting earlier, the CAB were part of 16 state units, who had decided to “move on” and resolved to end the confrontation relating to adopting the new constitution set by the Lodha committee

Meanwhile, the CAB has decided to confer former India cricketer and current Bengal mentor Arul Lal with the Lifetime Achievement Award at their annual ceremony on August 3.

The 63-year-old, who played 16 Tests and 13 ODIs for India between 1982 and 1989, was also a prolific commentator and successfully battled jaw cancer a few years ago.

With inputs from PTI