MUMBAI: In a serious attempt to get rid of the malaise of age fraud in interschool cricket, the Mumbai Cricket Association, for the first time, has made the bone test mandatory for the players of all the 16 school teams who take part in the Harris Shield, which will kick off on February 22.
When the Harris Shield was last held (in 2019), the MCA had introduced the bone test, to determine the right age of a player, at the inter-school level, making them compulsory for the top eight teams of the Giles Shield and the Harris Shield.
"We've made the bone test compulsory for the participating schools. The bone test will be done at a lab through which the BCCI conducts these tests. The schools or the players will bear the expenses of these tests," a source in the MCA told TOI on Sunday.
The teams will be divided into four groups. Over the years, allegations of playing overage cricketers have been galore in the Harris Shield.
In December, 16 of the 30 Under-16 probables selected by the MCA were found to be overage in a bone test conducted by the BCCI. It had pormpted the association's former secretary and Apex Council member Unmesh Khanvilkar to recommend that "in future, it would be better if the MCA conducts these bone tests before selection tournaments."
