Gerald Majola, chief executive officer of the United Cricket Board, today said South Africa's proposed tour of India would go ahead even if the Board of Control for Cricket in India does not agree to play Tests.
Speaking to rediff.com, Majola said, "We will honour the ICC's ten-year programme and make sure the tour goes off well."
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He acknowledged the BCCI's difficulty in accommodating the Test series this year. "We understand their predicament and therefore we have agreed to play the Test series in 2006," he said.
Majola also quashed rumours that the UCB is refusing to play only one-day internationals this November in India.
Reacting to the controversy, International Cricket Council general manager Brendon McClements said, "It's not unusual for these discussions over schedules to occur and they can split the Test and one-day series if they want to. Besides, their only obligation is to play each other in a Test and one-day series, home and away, at least once in a five-year cycle."
Majola also expressed concern about the possibility of players Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs facing police interrogation on the match-fixing case. "We are going to speak to the Delhi police soon and get a fix on what their plan of action is going to be," he said. "We would like to know the nature of interrogation they will be subjected to. Once we know that, we can take the tour ahead."
He blamed the police for not seeking information from either him or the UCB about Gibbs or Boje.
"Ever since I took over as CEO," he said, "the Delhi police has not tried to get in touch with me, nor have they asked me for anything. They never consulted me."