PCB launches women's Twenty20 tournament

The Pakistan board has launched the National Twenty20 Quadrangular Championship as part of its plans to prepare the national women's team for the inaugural World Twenty20 in England in 2009. The domestic tournament will be held in Karachi between July 18 and 27.

The 64 cricketers will be divided among four zonal teams: North Zone [Peshawar, Abbottabad, Islamabad], Central Zone Blues [Lahore, Sialkot], Central Zone Greens [Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi], and South Zone [Karachi, Hyderadad, Quetta]. Urooj Mumtaz, the national captain, will lead the South Zone squad.

The WorldTwenty20 is set to increase the profile of the women's game since their matches will be staged alongside the men's event, the first time that it's happening. Mumtaz, in her blog entry on Cricinfo in May, wrote about what the tournament could mean for women's cricket despite the fact that Pakistan have not yet played international Twenty20s. "Knowing that we are going to have the opportunity to play at the same grounds as some of these players, on the same day, at the World Twenty20 is really exciting," she said. "It's a great opportunity to promote the women's game."

The opening day of the competition sees South Zone face Central Zone Blues and Central Zone Greens take on North Zone.

Squads:

North Zone: Qanita Jalil, Asma Tehseen, Wajiha Sundas, Naila Qureshi, Tayyaba Khan, Shakila Naz, Sana Javed, Badar-un-Nisa, Marriam Hasan Shah, Naila Nazir, Hina Shafique, Salma Faiz, Faiza, Waheed, Sumaiya Akbar, Kiran Mukhtar
Coach: Nadeem Abbasi
Manager: Hajra Sarwar

Central Zone Blues : Sabeen Abdul Samad, Zeba Manzoor, Nida Dar, Almas Akram, Bismah Maroof, Taskeen Qadeer, Marina Iqbal, Sabahat Rashid, Mehwish Tariq, Faryal Awan, Saima Jamil, Sidra Amin, Nimra Imran, Marriam Butt, Tehreen Iqbal
Coach: Mohammad Riaz
Manager:Zeb-Un-Nisa

Central Zone Greens: Asmavia Iqbal, Sania Khan, Sukhan Faiz, Atiya Shakira, Asfa Batool, Sana Gulzar, Nazia Nazir, Rabiya Batool, Sadia Yousuf, Anum Zahra, Shaumaila Mushtaq, Armaan Khan, Nazia Sadiq, Sadia Iqbal, Maria Javed
Coach: Aftab Warraich
Manager: Riffat Manzoor

South Zone: Batool Fatima, Nain Abidi, Sana Mir, Urooj Mumtaz, Javeria Khan, Sajida Shah, Sumaiya Siddiqui, Kanwal Naz, Rabia Shah, Kainat Imtiaz, Nahida Khan, Shazia Anjum, Masooma Junaid, Humaira Masroor, Sana Taj
Coach: Farrukh Bari
Manager: Ayesha Qureshi