ACA eager to arrange Afro-Asia Cup

|| CF DESK ||

The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) has announced that the Afro-Asia Cup, a white-ball series pitting an Asian XI against an African XI, is likely to make a comeback.

This news follows the ACA’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday, where a six-member interim committee was appointed to reorganize the association and expand competitive opportunities for African players.

One of the ACA's key goals is to connect with other cricket bodies, such as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), to explore cross-continental competitions like the Afro-Asia Cup.

The tournament, held only twice before in 2005 (South Africa) and 2007 (India), was planned for 2009 in Kenya but never materialized.

Now, nearly two decades later, there is renewed hope for a revival. If it does go ahead, the tournament would offer a rare chance for Indian and Pakistani players – who currently don’t compete in bilateral series – to join forces as part of the Asia XI.

"The Afro-Asia Cup, apart from the cricket, brings the much-needed financial input to the organisation, and the appetite is huge from both ends," Tavengwa Mukuhlani, interim chair of the ACA, who is also the Zimbabwe Cricket Chair, said at a press conference. "We have had conversations with our counterparts within the Asia Cricket Council, and obviously our African contingents, they want the Afro-Asia Cup to be revived."

Meanwhile, the ACA is also planning to launch a "mini version of the IPL," according to CEO Cassim Suliman, called the Africa Premier League, though it remains in the planning phase.

"We are planning to, after board approval, bring the Africa Premier League. That's what we're busy with at the moment on the sponsorship. Once that comes together, we will go to the board, the board will okay it, and then we will take it from there," he said.

"It's the mini vision of the IPL. So we're taking that concept of the IPL and driving that concept to ensure that everybody benefits in that aspect. As far as where we're going to play, the board will decide. We're going to look at facilities that are going to warrant spectator viewership. It's still at the initial stage. Obviously, we want to do things right the first time to make sure we get the ball rolling on it. But the board will decide exactly who's hosting and from there, we'll take it to them from there. It's going to be like the IPL format, but with a lower status and then we'll grow it from there."