TNCA 2019-20 first division Semi Final and Final to be completed in Mid August
New League season to commence soon after
TNPL to start in Chennai in mid July subject to Govt approval - RS Ramaswamy, Secretary, TNCA
With the Pandemic taking effect in early 2020, the first division semi finals and final (2019-20 season) that were scheduled to be held in the 2nd week of March 2020 were postponed indefinitely immediately after the league stage of the matches had been completed on March 11, 2020.
In the last week of December 2020, the lower division league matches commenced (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/tnca-league-cricket-returns-after-nine.html) and were completed by March of this year with promotions and relegations from second to fifth division decided. However, in this three month period, the two first division semifinal matches relating to 2019-20 were not conducted and continue to be pending completion, to date.
R S Ramaswamy, Secretary, TNCA told this writer on Friday evening that the two TNCA Semi Finals and the Final will definitely be conducted in mid August soon after the completion of the TNPL “There is no question of cancelling the semi finals and the final. We plan to organize the TNPL from mid July, subject to clearances from the Govt and immediately after the tournament, the first division semi finals and the final will be played and the Palayampatti Shield awarded.”
TNPL to start in Chennai
He said that the TNPL is likely to commence in mid July in Chennai " We have sought the necessary clearances from the Govt and plan to start the tourney in Chennai after receiving the go ahead from the Govt."
Bio Bubble and Standard Operating Procedures are likely to be followed ahead of the tournament.
It may be recalled that the TN Government in its announcement last week handed permission for sports contests to be held in the four category III districts without spectators.
R Rangarajan, Manager, Youngstars CC, one of the semi finalists told this writer earlier this week that they would require at least 15 days notice from the TNCA to ensure that all their outstation players were available for the match.
Bharath Reddy(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/11/bharath-reddy-players-man.html), who has been in Charge of Jolly Rovers cricket (N Sankar Jolly Rovers) for the last four decades told this writer immediately after his return from the US this week that they, as a corporate that has invested heavily in its players, are keen to play the semi final and see the first division championship to its natural conclusion.
Over the last few months, he had been unsure of whether the first division matches relating to 19-20 would be completed and this confirmation from the Secretary of the TNCA should be happy news to Jolly Rovers as well as the other three teams that will compete in the Semi Finals.
The entire 2020-21 league season was cancelled because of the Pandemic.
The New First Division season to commence in August
Ramaswamy also confirmed to this writer that the first division as well as all the lower division matches will commence immediately after the first division championship (19-20) match is played out in mid August “We should be able to commence the new league season in the last week of August or the first week of September.”
This development and confirmation from the TNCA Secretary should come as sweet news to a host of cricket related parties including the umpires, match referees and scorers who are dependent on these matches for their livelihood. It will also send a positive signal to other states to explore and conduct state level tournaments this new season.
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