Warwickshire have been informed by the ECB that the fixtures for the 2009 season will at last be published next week.
The ECB expect to release the fixture-list on December 18 – tomorrow week – more than a month later than usual.
The delay has been caused by the replacement of West Indies for Sri Lanka after the latter pulled out of their tour for the first-half of last season.
The itinerary of the new touring team has taken some time to finalise, although quite why a delay to that one section of the fixture list meant that the other 99 per cent of it, unaffected, could not be released, only the ECB knows.
The late publication of fixtures leaves counties with less time to plan around the schedule and is also an inconvenience to supporters, especially those who like to book time off well in advance to attend certain games.
* A members event will be held at Edgbaston next Tuesday (December 16) at which Bears members will be updated, over a mince pie (one each, that is, not just one between them), about ongoing matters including the planned redevelopment of the Pavilion End.
* The Punjab Cricket Association expect clearance for the second Test between India and England at Mohali to be a mere formality following a security check by Reg Dickason, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s security adviser.
Dickason, who arrived in India ahead of the players to conduct security checks, had already cleared Chennai for the first Test, but doubts had persisted over Mohali.
Speculation that the second Test could be moved to Delhi or Bangalore appeared to gain ground when Dickason delayed his trip to Mohali by a day.
Dickason conducted a survey of the stadium and also met with PCA security personnel. ECB officials are scheduled to arrive in Mohali today.
