TMCnet News
Cold reception for the cricket chiefs(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Cold reception for the cricket chiefs A SENIOR member of the England Cricket Board has described the way the country's leading officials have been treated in India as 'appalling'. Mike Soper, deputy chairman of the ECB and chairman of Surrey, expected the normal courtesies offered to visiting administrators on the international circuit during his trip to India. Instead, Soper received no hospitality from the Indian board whatsoever during the third Test in Mumbai and was sent to sit in the public areas of the Wankhede Stadium, along with MCC president Robin Marlar and other English cricket dignitaries. Then, when Soper checked out of Mumbai's Taj Hotel, he was presented with a room bill of GBP920 per night compared to the England party's agreed daily rate of GBP115. Soper's complaints led to the Indian cricket board paying the full bill for his stay in the fivestar hotel of around GBP10,000. But the Indians have already made it clear they will soon be forwarding the account to the ECB in London for final settlement. Soper said: 'I can't comment on the hospitality we received from the Indians, because we didn't receive any at all. It was appalling the way they just herded us into the stand and it was most upsetting for our partners, who had dressed up especially for the occasion. ' The hotel bill also was a disgrace. The Indians just trying to rip us off as they had fewer guests than expected staying there. It's all the more frustrating because when international officials come to The Oval, we entertain them in an exemplary way.' |