The annual Captains and Coaches conclave of the Board of Control for Cricket in India got underway on Friday morning in the presence of BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, secretary S.K. Nair and joint-secretary Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, in Mumbai.

Sunil Gavaskar, chairman of the technical committee, chaired the meeting.

Started by the BCCI on June 6, 2003, the conclave is seen as a welcome move towards discussing issues concerning various State associations and their needs to help improve the domestic cricket scenario.

Captains and coaches from 28 states are attending the meeting, though there is no representation from Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka, Sikkim and Maharashtra.

The Mumbai Cricket Association is represented by its joint-secretary Lalchand Rajput and Vinod Kambli, who entered late in absence of Sairaj Bahutule.

 "It is an open forum, where the players and the coaches can speak and discuss their problems with the Board directly rather than going though their respective associations.

"This forum is helpful as the players can directly inform about their problems and they do not have to go through their association; it becomes easier and direct," S K Nair told rediff.com.

"The talks will be dealing about improving the state of cricket; infrastructure and the needs of the states will be put forward to the Board. The coaches and captains give their views on various issues and we are trying to improve the domestic cricket to make it more competitive.

"In the forum last year, there were various complaints made regarding umpiring and we have addressed the issue by having an all- India assessment recently," said Prof. Shetty.  

'Also, inviting a foreign team for the Duleep Trophy was announced last year at this conclave to increase the competitiveness in the domestic circuit," he added.

Gavaskar, who arrived well before time, said: "We shall listen to the needs of the states and associations and come to a consensus as to what needs to be prioritized and work accordingly, details of which will be given to you after the meeting." 

The meeting is expected to conclude at 4 pm.