Hike in fee to play irks cricketers

The Ghaziabad Cricket Association on Monday opposed the steep hike in playing fee at the Jawaharlal Nehru cricket stadium here.

Submitting a memorandum to the Secretary of the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), Association President Rakesh Mishra said the increase would adversely affect cricket players.

"Since cricket games are organised by the cricket academy free of cost, the sudden increase in the stadium fee will put an extra financial load on the academy which is a non-profit organization," the memorandum said.

The Nehru stadium has produced players of repute including former India pacer Manoj Prabhakar.

According to Mishra, the fee for using the field has been doubled to Rs 10,000. Fee for using the field for children has also been doubled to Rs 8,000.

Similarly, the use of the ground for Ranji Trophy has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and for Duleep Trophy from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh.

The fee hike followed financial compulsions, said GDA Secretary Ravendra Madhukar Godbole.

--IANS

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