Move to organize domestic cricket on regional basis

Peshawar, March 5: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is contemplating to abolish departmental cricket and organize domestic tournament on a regional basis, a member of the five-man advisory panel said here on Sunday.

Javed Miandad, who has submitted a blueprint of the proposed domestic structure to Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia, said the departments would get only one tournament while regional teams would compete in the first-class competition.

"We are planning to give the institutions just the National One-day Championship while the district teams would first play the qualifying rounds and then appear in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy," Miandad briefed.

When reminded that he was a strong believer of departmental cricket and with this arrangement the budding youngsters would lose jobs, Miandad said the board was not providing the departments with an excuse to shut doors on their teams.

"We are giving them the prestigious one-day national championship to play. In the later stages, we might even consider to organize a tournament for the departments but for the time being cricket at regional level would be promoted," Miandad, who played nearly 25 years for Habib Bank, said.

Miandad confirmed that in the 2000-2001 season no departments would play in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.

"After all, some of the departments have already closed their cricket teams," he remarked.

When reminded that it was the job of the PCB to convince the departments to reopen their cricket teams instead of helping them shut down, Miandad parried the question.

"We want to improve the domestic structure. The PCB is determined to make the system more competitive and hard fought. We want to organize quality cricket," he said.

Miandad added that instead of the departments, multinational institutions would sponsor the regional teams and would award contracts to the players according to their merits and performances.

"We are innovating and upgrading our domestic structure because we feel that we are not producing good quality cricketers," he added.

Younis Khan and Atiq-uz-Zaman, who made their Test debut in Rawalpindi and Peshawar respectively, are interestingly product of the current system.

However, chairman of the PCB, Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia said Miandad proposal would be studied at length before a decision is made.

"The next domestic season is still far away. We have to hold further discussions. If he has submitted the proposal, it doesn't mean that it would be implemented straightaway. Pros and cons of the new structure have to be discussed," he said.