lovers in Jeddah have launched a new body called Jeddah Cricket Association (JCA) recently. The formation of JCA took place during an Iftar gathering on Sept. 23 which was organized by former executive committee members of Jeddah Cricket League (JCL) who had invited two members each from the JCL teams. Representatives from 36 clubs attended the meet and four more clubs intimated the organizers their interest to join the association. After the Iftar and Maghreb prayers the program of launching JCA started with the recitation of Holy Qur'an by Hafiz Shehzad who was representing the National Commercial Bank. Majeedul Hassan, who was the master of ceremony, detailed the difficulties faced by the cricketers for the last one year. He also added that they were forced to take this decision after patiently waiting for one year. Aizaz Ashraf Toor delivered the welcome address and informed about the grounds and the legalities related to that issue. He assured transparency and requested all the members of the teams to support this new organization. Aijaz Ahmed Khan expressed his happiness over this new venture which was officially launched on the Saudi National Day for the improvement of cricket in the Kingdom. He talked in detail about the proposed activities of the organization for different categories. The events are: Super League of 35 overs a side full day matches; Division-I and division-II of 20 overs a side in the morning and afternoon; youth development plan for Under-12, U-14, U-17 and U-19 events on Thursdays; inter-school events for different age groups and schools; cricket for fun for family gathering during the winter season; single and double wicket events; six-a-side tourneys; the Pakistan and Indian Independence Day events; Eid Milan festival matches; Saudi National Day tournament; President-XI vs. Vice-President-XI traditional matches; inter-consulate matches and inter-city afairs among all the cities. He also elaborated JCA plans for conducting coaching camps for different age groups, seminar and symposiums for umpiring, latest ICC rules and techniques by usual and audio at regularly. He informed the club representatives that JCA will reduce the burden of present heavy fee structure. He also emphasized to conduct the game of cricket free and fair, sans politics. Mohammad Iqbal, a charismatic figure among circle, answered the questions raised by the club representations. Sayeedul Hassan delivered the vote of thanks and assured the club representatives of healthy cricket season ahead. Majeedul Hassan concluded the program by saying that the members of the clubs will have to decide all the matters with the adhoc committee in the general body meeting which will be conducted soon and the elections for the executive committee will be conducted within 90 days from the date of first general body meeting. The adhoc committee: Ahmed Jeelani (NCB, chairman), Aizaz Ashraf Toor, Zafar Ali Khan, Akhtar Hussain, Azizullah Sheriff, Syed Majeedul Hassan and Aijaz Ahmed Khan. __
