Provincial associations to organise most domestic and international matches

The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Lt Gen Tauqir Zia Sunday met the officials of the Sindh Cricket Association (SCA) and Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) at the National Stadium.

The PCB Chairman assured the KCCA officials that the objective behind constituting the provincial setup was to promote the game in the respective provinces and not to undermine or challenge the authority of the city/district association. However, the PCB Chairman stated that the provincial setup was there for at least one year and he would not review his decision. "I, therefore, expect that you will support the Sindh Provincial Association as you have been supporting the cricket board in the past."

The KCCA delegation, that included president Munir Hussain and secretary Prof Sirajul Islam Bukhari, urged the PCB Chairman to include, at least, one more team in the PCB organised tournaments. The PCB Chairman made no promises and instead advised the KCCA officials to make a request to the SCA. "If SCA thinks that your claim is genuine, we will definitely try to accommodate you.

"But the PCB is now keen on quality and not quantity."

The PCB Chairman accepted KCCA officials request to use their office inside the National Stadium till January 2004. The KCCA will be organising a Centenary tournament to celebrate their 100 years later this year.

The KCCA officials also discussed the selection procedure/process for selection the city/district teams. The PCB Chairman said: "The Provincial associations are the overall in charge of cricket activities in their provinces. However, the districts will select their own district/association teams while the provincial associations will select the provincial teams. The provincial associations will nevertheless, monitor the selection process."

The PCB Chairman, in his meeting with SCA officials, advised them to accommodate KCCA without compromising with them. The SCA delegation included Haseeb Ahsan (president), Dr S.M.A Shah (senior vice-president), Makhdoom Rafiq-uz-Zaman (vice-president) and Aslam Sanjrani (secretary). He said if they observe that deserving and talented players have been ignored by the city/district selectors, they should inform the PCB so that the talent is adjusted in other teams. "We don't want to destroy or lose the talent. We will try to accommodate as many players as we can in other teams so that the best players get the chance to show their mettle."

The PCB Chairman informed SCA delegation, headed by Haseeb Ahsan, that at the moment only four associations were affiliated with the PCB. "Sindh Cricket Association, Punjab Cricket Association, Baluchistan Cricket Association and NWFP Cricket Association are only associated with the PCB. The city/district associations will now have to get themselves affiliated with their respective provincial associations.

"The provincial associations will organize the forthcoming international matches," he said.

Samiul Hasan
General Manager - Media
Pakistan Cricket Board
27 July 2003