Shillong, Mar 8: The Meghalaya Cricket Association has scrapped the age cap for its senior teams after just one season, it was announced today.
The decision was taken by the MCA’s Apex Council, which was presided over by its President, James PK Sangma, his office informed through a press release.
The age cap was promulgated in November 2024 for the 2025-26 season in order to give younger players further scope for gaining experience at the senior levels. However, the Apex Council has now reversed course, as the age cap was found to be too much of a blunt instrument that barred experienced cricketers from representing Meghalaya regardless of form or fitness.
Sangma stated that selection will henceforth be based entirely on performance, merit and fitness.
The MCA also made several other important decisions, such as lifting an existing ban on participation in tennis ball cricket, “ending a rule that had penalised players for the very format through which most of them learn the game.”
Sangma explained that Meghalaya cricket “cannot afford to discourage anyone from being a part of the game, especially because our state is still in a developing phase.
Former state cricketer and MCA member Mark Ingty added that the association would like to encourage every format that helps popularise cricket, particularly in districts where leather-ball infrastructure remains limited.
The MCA, upon the recommendation of its Honorary Joint Secretary Mebanphira Swer and Apex Council Member Chuba Marak, also decided to restart the association’s U-19 boys’ and girls’ cricket tournaments, which have been on a hiatus for the last couple of seasons.
MCA Vice-President Rajiv Bareh stated that giving players more match time, especially when they are young, is important and such tournaments allow nurturing of talent early on.
On the question of oversight and dispute resolution, the council ratified the appointment of Justice (retd) BD Agarwal, former Judge of the Gauhati High Court, as the association’s Ombudsman, a constitutional office mandated under the Lodha Committee reforms adopted by the Supreme Court. The post had been vacant since the conclusion of the previous Apex Council’s tenure, leaving players and members without a neutral forum for grievance redressal.
The MCA also discussed findings from an internal audit, which had flagged several compliance gaps.
“As a newly elected body of the MCA, its current members must work to fill these gaps which have remained legacy issues for a while now. A smooth flowing administration ultimately will help unhindered development of cricket,” Sangma said.
(Representative photo)