Everyone is playing catch-up, which has led to some hasty coaching changes

The Lodha Committee has clarified that it has not asked for the BCCIs accounts to be frozen, but only for two specific payments from the board to its state associations to be stopped. Payments required for other routine affairs - such as organising cricket matches - can go on as they earlier did, the Committee said.It issued the clarification on Tuesday morning, following reports in newspapers that quoted a BCCI official saying the board would have to cancel the remainder of the New Zealand series because its bank accounts had been frozen by a directive from the Lodha Committee.New Zealand Cricket, however, had not received any communication from the BCCI regarding the cancellation of the remaining fixtures, and the team was said to be preparing for the third Test in Indore as planned. They are scheduled to travel from Kolkata to Indore on Wednesday.The communication sent via email by the Lodha Committee to two Indian banks on Monday had made no mention of the freezing of the BCCI accounts; instead it had directed the banks to stop two specific payments, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, from the BCCI to its state associations. The payments were related to an increase in infrastructure subsidy to the states, and the distribution of funds received by the BCCI from the broadcasters of the Champions League T20 because of the cancellation of the tournament.The Lodha Committees secretary, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday that the directive was restricted to just those particular payments and did not threaten the organising of the rest of the series or any other cricket.However, in an email to state associations later on Tuesday, the Lodha committee revealed that some of the funds had been transferred via transactions hurriedly carried out by RTGS between September 29 and October 1.Sankaranarayanan said the Committees concern with those payments was that they didnt want huge sums of money - said to be about INR 500 crore according to the committee - being transferred from the BCCI accounts overnight. On August 31, the Lodha Committee had issued a directive to the BCCI not to take decisions on matters regarding the future that were not routine. In the committees opinion, the disbursement of such funds was not routine.It has come to the notice of this Committee that certain decisions have been taken at the Emergent Working Committee meeting of the BCCI on 30th September 2016 to disburse large funds to the various member associations, the Lodha Committees email to the banks said. You are aware that by way of this Committees direction dated 31.8.2016, no further decisions were to be taken regarding the future apart from routine matters. The disbursement of these amounts are not routine, and in any case, not emergent.As the status report is to be taken up for directions by the Honble Court on Thursday, 6.10.2016, you are hereby directed not to take any steps towards financial disbursement of the amounts as resolved/approved after the direction dated 31.8.2016.On October 6, the Supreme Court of India is likely to hear the BCCIs response to the Lodha Committees status report with regard to the Indian board implementing the committees recommendations that were passed by a court order on July 18. In that order, the court had said the BCCI had to implement all the recommendations it had passed according to various timelines and deadlines set by the Lodha Committee. The Lodha committee had recommended a complete overhaul of Indian cricket, from the very top down to the grassroots level and affecting every stakeholder. Its report covered every aspect of the game with special focus on the BCCIs administrative and governance structures and the issue of transparency. The most important set of recommendations was aimed at transforming the entire power structure in the board.In its status report on September 28, however, the Lodha Committee had asked the Supreme Court to supersede the BCCIs top officials with immediate effect because they had not complied with the committees timelines and were impeding the implementation of the recommendations. The court reacted by telling the BCCI to fall in line and that it had a week to respond.The BCCI had also filed a fresh application in the Supreme Court on September 27 pleading for the courts July 18 order to be suspended until it heard the boards review and curative petitions against the mandatory implementation of most of the Lodha Committees recommendations. The review petition singled out TS Thakur, the chief justice of India who was on the two-judge bench that passed the order, and said he had a prejudiced approach towards the board and should recuse himself from hearing the matter. However, the petition has been lying in defect because the court raised technical objections to the petition and asked the BCCI to repair them.On October 1, the BCCI said it had unanimously adopted important recommendations made by the Lodha Committee at its Special General Meeting (SGM) in Mumbai. However, the list the board said it had accepted did not include key recommendations such as the age cap of 70 years for board officials, the tenure cap of nine years with cooling-off periods in between, and the one-state-one-vote policy, among others.The BCCIs move appeared to be against the Supreme Court order, which said that all of the Lodha reports recommendations passed by the court - and not a selection - would have to be adopted by the board.The Lodha Committee - comprising former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran - was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest. Tony Dorsett Youth Jersey . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. 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ATLANTA -- Nick Saban rolled into the room with all the warmth of a tray of ice cubes you just pulled from the freezer.The pursed lips, the tightened jaw, the forced smile -- tell-tale signs that made it clear he preferred to be anywhere but here, sitting in front of a group of reporters on the eve of another Southeastern Conference championship game.Then, over the course of a half-hour Friday, the coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide provided some tantalizing glimpses into the World According To Nick.A world where failure is not an option, complacency is treated like some sort of horrific disease, and no one talks about what they did a year ago, a day ago, even a few minutes ago.Be where your feet are, Saban said. Im right here, right now. This is whats important, and this is what we have to focus on.To some degree, all coaches have that sort of single-minded drive. But Saban takes it to an entirely different level. Thats why hes left everyone in his wake, from those who came long before (sorry, Knute Rockne and Bud Wilkinson) to contemporaries faced with the unenviable task of trying to beat him now (sorry, rest of the SEC).This much is clear: As along as Saban reigns in Tuscaloosa, college football is his world.Everyone else is just fighting over the crumbs.I hate to lose more than I like winning, Saban said. Im not in love with what we did last week or the week before that or the whole season. The challenge is the next game because thats the game we can lose.It seems a joyless existence, but its one that makes perfect sense to Saban.Dont bring up the crazy, amazing run -- as former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow described it -- that Alabama has been on since the beginning of the 2008 season. During that span, the Crimson Tide has won 110 of 122 games, captured four national titles and gone to the last week of November four other times with a shot at winning it all.Dont bring up the fact that Saban has five national titles overall, counting the BCS crown he won at LSU, and is just one away from tying Bear Bryants mark for the most national titles by any coach.I havent thought about it. Im not thinking about it, Saban insisted. Im focusing on what can I do for our players so we have a chance to win the SEC championship.Top-ranked Alabama (12-0) shouldnt have any trouble with this game, going in as a whopping 24-point favorite over No. 15 Florida (8-3). The Gators are a team with all sorts of offensive limitations, which doesnt bode well against Sabans latest stellar defense, a group that hasnt given up a touchdown since October. After this little formality in Atlanta, its on to the College Football Playoff for a shot at a second straight national title and fifth in the last nine seasons.By any objecctive standard, Sabans tenure at Alabama makes him the greatest coach in college football history.dddddddddddd This nearly decade-long run is almost beyond belief in what should be an era of enhanced parity, when there are plenty of schools that can match Alabamas resources but dont have the right guy at the top.Florida coach Jim McElwain got a firsthand look at Sabans genius while serving as his offensive coordinator.Alabamas success goes far beyond the Xs and Os.I was able to see a commitment and understanding of the organization and what it takes on a daily basis to help yourself have the opportunity to be successful, McElwain said. Its about being in the line. Everythings got to be in alignment. Everythings got to be aligned. Thats one thing he was ahead of his time as far as making sure everybody was aligned. It was a fascinating working experience.In some ways, Sabans dominance may be hurting the reputation of the SEC, long regarded as the nations best football conference. Everyone is playing catch-up, which has led to some hasty coaching changes and an air of desperation among the other 13 schools.In the long run, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey believes it will have a positive impact.Around this league, there are coaches trying to figure out how to beat Alabama, he said. When a team is ranked first and has had the sustained success, I think that effort makes everyone better. I would use the phrase you often hear, `a rising tide lifts all boats.Sankey quickly caught himself.I want to be careful about using the word `tide, he said with a smile, but I think you understand.Actually, the only thing we can see is Alabama ruling the SEC as long as Saban is around. At 65, hes certainly got more seasons behind him than in front of him, which provides a glimmer of hope to the rest of the league.We all have fears sometimes, he said, revealing a bit of vulnerability. When you start getting up there, you say, `I wonder how long Im going to be able to do this?Then, just like that, he got back on point.There are no plans to ease into retirement.Not anytime soon.I love coaching, Saban said. Im going to do it as long as I feel like I can do a good job of it, and Im healthy enough to do it. Thats always been what Ive wanted to do, and as long as I can keep doing it, Ill be happy doing it.Sorry, everybody else.---Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .---For more AP college football coverage: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '