29 April,2016 08:42 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is not going to rest on its laurels and have plans in place already for the forthcoming season; Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy and U-23 players will get exposure by playing in Australia
MCA VP Vengsarkar
Mumbai cricket had a near-perfect season in which they ended up winning the Ranji Trophy for the 41st time, lifting the U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy and U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy, finished runners-up in the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy and narrowly lost in the Irani Cup.
MCA VP Vengsarkar
However, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is not going to rest on its laurels and have plans in place already for the forthcoming season.
After a gap of more than five years, Mumbai's Ranji Trophy and U-23 players will get exposure by playing in Australia. Talks are on between Dilip Vengsarkar, MCA vice-president and Cricket Improvement Committee chief, and authorities at New South Wales (NSW). "Long ago we had an arrangement with NSW wherein we would send our senior team to play practice matches in Australia and they would send their club team to play with us in Mumbai. I don't know why it was stopped. I have again initiated those talks and we will be able to send our team this season," Vengsarkar told mid-day.
"The Mumbai team will be a mix of Ranji and U-23 players. They will play either in Sydney or Brisbane. It could be against NSW team or Cricket Australia academy," Vengsarkar said as the schedule is yet to be chalked out.
Apart from MCA's summer vacation matches which are currently being played across Mumbai's maidans, there would be practice matches held for various age groups up to U-23 next month to select the probables for respective Mumbai teams.
"Off-season training will start soon. We have also made arrangements for our senior teams to play in the south of India during the monsoon in Mumbai. We had a fantastic last season and we want our preparation to be thorough to be able to replicate it in the next season," Vengsarkar concluded.
