First in Indian Cricket: Women state captains to have voice at BCCI Conclave
New Delhi: In a first, the Indian cricket board will be inviting all the state skippers of the women's teams at its 'Annual Domestic Captains and Coaches Conclave', making the event more inclusive.
The more than a decade old conclave is conducted at the end of every domestic season. Captains and Coaches of various Ranji Trophy teams give their feedback to the BCCI administration about the season that goes by. However, the women cricketers were not made a part of it in the previous editions.
During the May 17 conclave in Mumbai, the captains and coaches of the women's state teams will be joining their male counterparts in giving assessment of the just-concluded domestic season.
"Yes, this is the first time that domestic women's team captains and the chief coaches have been invited to the conclave. Their feedback is very important and we would like to know what they thought about the last season," BCCI GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim, who is also in charge of overall development of women's game, told PTI on Wednesday.
Karim, however, didn't wish to get into whether there will be discussions on how to broaden the talent pool in order to have a full-fledged women's IPL in near future.
"I would not like to comment on that but yes we need to get feedback from our women cricketers and coaches for the development of the game and how we can help to raise the quality of cricket at the domestic level," the former India wicketkeeper said.
It is expected that likes of Jhulan Goswami (Bengal), Mithali Raj (Railways), Jemimah Rodrigues (Mumbai) along with other domestic captains will be attending the conference.
As far as the men's conclave goes, the notable aspect up for discussion will be the feedback provided by the captains and coaches of the North Eastern states who joined the first class system last season.
It is expected that sub-standard umpiring across all formats and age groups (men and women) is also likely to come up for discussion during the meeting.
In all, the 2018-19 season featured 2024 domestic matches (men and women) across age-groups with 6471 registered players (men and women) taking part.
This was close to 1000 matches more than last year.
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25 killed, 6 injured in fire at nightclub in Goa
Panaji (PTI): At least 25 persons were killed and six others suffered injuries in a massive fire that erupted at a nightclub in North Goa after midnight on Sunday, police said.
While the police earlier said 23 persons died in the fire, they later confirmed two more deaths.
The fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora in North Goa has claimed 25 lives, a police spokesperson said.
The deceased included four tourists and 14 staff members, while the identity of the remaining seven was yet to be established, he said.
Six persons suffered injuries in the blaze and they are currently undergoing treatment at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, near here, the official said.
The cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, he said.
"The police and fire department are conducting the investigation and legal action is being taken," the official said.
As per initial information, the nightclub had not abided by the fire safety norms, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said.
The nightclub, a popular party venue at Arpora village, located around 25 km from the state capital Panaji, opened last year.
“We will take action against the club management and also against the officials who allowed it to operate despite flouting safety norms,” Sawant said.
“This is an unfortunate incident during the peak tourist season in the coastal state,” Sawant said. “We will conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident and stringent action will be taken against the guilty,” he added.
