ICC IRTP Working Group to meet in Dubai

Date and scope of group established during preliminary telephone hook-up on Wednesday eveningICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat: "Confirming the scope of the group and a date for the meeting represents a successful start and we can now get on with addressing the outstanding practical issues of the Indian players."

The ICC today confirmed its IRTP (International Registered Testing Pool) Working Group will convene in Dubai on 5 and 6 September.

The timing was confirmed during a telephone hook-up between the working group members which took place on Wednesday evening (12 August).

The group also confirmed its terms of reference, to address the Board of Control For Cricket in India's (BCCI) specific objections to the ICC Anti-Doping Code's'whereabouts' requirements in order that the India players can obtain the necessary comfort to meet their requirements under the code as quickly as possible.

The IRTP Working Group is chaired by Tim Kerr QC, the chairman of the ICC's Anti-Doping Panel and also includes ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, N Srinivasan, the BCCI's Honorary Secretary, ICC Principal Advisory Inderjit Singh Bindra and former India captain Anil Kumble, the cricketer representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Athlete Committee.

WADA Director General David Howman took part in Wednesday's telephone hook-up in an independent advisory capacity, although he is not part of the group.

WADA has undertaken to make an official available, either in person or by telephone, during next month's group meeting.

The IRTP Working Group was set up in the wake of the BCCI's decision, announced on Sunday 2 August, that it would not require its players to file'whereabouts' information necessary under the terms of the ICC Anti-Doping Code.

BCCI President Shashank Manohar explained that decision on the basis that the BCCI's working committee considered the requirement to be an invasion of the players' privacy, a risk to their security and a breach of their constitutional rights to privacy under Indian law.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: "Wednesday evening's telephone hook-up was a successful start as it allowed us to confirm the scope of the group and a date for the meeting.

"All sides are committed to a zero tolerance approach to the issue of anti-doping and there was a spirit of cooperation on the call that augurs well for next month's meeting.

"With that great spirit we can now move forward towards addressing the outstanding practical issues of the Indian players."