'We don't want to rush into a decision' - BCCI

While Gerald Majola, chief executive of the South African board, may have revealed his confusion over South Africa's tour itinerary of India, the Indian board (BCCI) has shown a much more relaxed attitude.

Speaking exclusively to Wisden Cricinfo earlier today, SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI, said that too much was being made of this issue, and that confusion over itineraries was not a new phenomenon. "There are always certain commitments that come in between," said Nair. "This year we had the Pakistan tour that wasn't initially part of the itinerary but finalised later, since the government permitted the tour to go ahead.

"South Africa are scheduled to arrive in November and we are still in the month of June. There is still four to five months left and we have to decide the number of matches and the venues where they will be played. All this is part of a process which will involve negotiations between the boards."

He added, "It is a problem between the two boards, and this is something that usually happens while finalising a tour itinerary. The negotiations will happen soon and the final decision will be arrived at in about a week or so."

Nair also pointed out that there was no fixed time-frame for these decisions to be taken and made it very clear that the BCCI had no intention of rushing into any decision. Nair, though, wasn't willing to comment on the possibility of the series being called off and only said, "Our president [Jagmohan Dalmiya] will be talking to the South African board president in the next few days and after that we will get a clearer picture."

There has also been widespread speculation about the BCCI wanting to get the South Africa series over quickly, with two back-to-back Test matches in order to squeeze in a short series against Pakistan, likely to include three one-dayers. But Nair was categorical in his denial, and said, "This is not related to the series against Pakistan. This is a regular series and that is something entirely different."

Yet, however cool an exterior the BCCI may portray, it is difficult to ignore the reports in the South African media regarding the whole issue. Colin Bryden, wrote in the Sunday Times, that the South African board is irked by the fact that, "The Indians appear to have pushed the tour low down on their list of priorities, even though the November date has been on the ICC Test calendar since a ten-year plan was approved by all participating countries three years ago."

Mark Smit of the Business Day was even more scathing, and wrote, "Clearly, the first prize for the Indians is the Australian tour. Everything else is 'small potatoes' as far as they are concerned ... it is hardly surprising that the Indians are trying everything in the book to get their subcontinental rivals to their country. It's all about money, money, money."

But Nair wasn't prepared to react to these comments and just said, "We are not really bothered about what the media has to say. Unless we get anything in writing from the South African board, we are not willing to react to the media reports. As far as we are concerned, we are still negotiating."