"ACC has allocated the grant but to receive it we should send them our program details and they have to approve the programs," said CAN General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal. "We are preparing program details and we´ll send it to ACC within a month," he added.
According to Pyakuryal, the ACC grant will mainly be spent on infrastructure development. "We are preparing programs to upgrade the Mulpani Cricket Ground, Bhairahawa Cricket Ground and construct pavilion in Pokhara Ground," informed Pyakuryal. "We have some other projects too but all projects need approval from ACC," he added.
International Cricket Council (ICC) has also announced to provide a high performance grant to Nepal to make preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. As per the 2013 ICC Development Funding Policy, Nepal is to receive $175,000. ICC will distribute the amount among its affiliate and associate member nations ranked ninth to 12th, while the top eight affiliate and associate member nations will get $ 350,000 each.
"The ICC grant is strictly for the preparation for World Cup Qualifiers and we´ll use it for the tours and training camps for the national team," said Pyakuryal. "To receive this grant we also have to submit our programs to ICC and get them approved," he added. CAN President Tanka Angbuhang and General Secretary Pyakuryal are to attend the ICC general assembly next week in London and discuss development issues with ICC officials on the sidelines of the meeting.
Sri Lanka tour
CAN has been planning a Sri Lanka tour for the national cricket team, which is to play the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore from August 17 to 25, World T20 Qualifiers in the UAE in November and Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand in January, 2014.
"We are planning a foreign tour for the national team by the end of July or early August. We´ll most probably arrange a tour to Sri Lanka. However, we are yet to take an official decision," said Pyakuryal.
Training Camp
According to General Secretary Pyakuryal, CAN is planning to shortlist players for the training camp by the third week of July. "Players will be invited to the training camp 10 days or a week ahead of the foreign tour as we hope the rainy season will end by then," said Pyakuryal. "Since we have short time for training before the foreign tour, we´ll shortlist around 20 players and invite them to the camp," he added.
Pyakuryal said that if all goes well, Nepali team would go to Singapore to play the ACC Emerging Teams Cup from Sri Lanka.
Nepal is to play against U-23 teams of India and Pakistan in the group stage of Emerging Teams Cup alongside the Afghanistan national team. The top three teams of the ACC Trophy Elite -- Nepal, the UAE and Afghanistan -- and host Singapore have been given chance to compete against the U-23 teams of Asian Test nations -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
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