Pakistan's domestic structure gets a facelift

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to upgrade the country's domestic cricket as various features have been added in the 2006-07 season.

Speaking at a press conference held on Tuesday at Karachi's National Stadium, Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, said that the Inter-Region Level-II circuit, which was removed last season, has been revived, adding that the fixtures of the tournament will be of a three-day duration.

He added that the revival of Level-II cricket will help scout out young blood as the regions would be required to include a substantial number of under-19 players.

A change in the Pentangular series has also been made as, unlike the other domestic seasons, the two finalists of the Patron's Trophy Championship would play against Sindh, Punjab and the NWFP/Baluchistan teams.

The Twenty20 tournament would be played from December 22 to 26 when the national players will be available for the event. However, he added that the venue for the Twenty20 event was not yet confirmed and will be finalised after consultation with the sponsors. He said Karachi is currently the top choice as the venue for the event because foggy weather might disrupt matches if the event is staged at upcountry venues.

The PCB chief stated that for the first time each region would have a coach, a fitness trainer and a physio as part of the Regional Academy staff besides two selectors each, which the regions would propose themselves. The regional selectors will also cover the Inter-District Senior tournament.

As far as first-class matches were concerned, one video camera at each end under the control of the match referee will record the day's play that will assist in gauging the state of pitch and outfield, illegal bowling actions, quality of batting, bowling, captaincy and umpiring.

Shaharyar was also confident that this year's domestic season would be covered on television, saying coverage of any event has always been a great deal of motivation for the young players.

On the points system, no changes have been made and that it will remain the same as in the past.

June 15 -July 5 - Inter-District Under-19 tournament
Aug 5 - Aug 24 - Inter-District Senior tournament
Sept 4 - Oct 22 - Inter-Region Under-19 (one-day)
Sept 6 - Nov 1 - Inter-Region Under-19 (three-day)
Oct 29 - Dec 19 - Patron's Trophy Grade I
Nov 5 - Dec 4 - Patron's Trophy Grade II
Dec 22 - Dec 26 - Twenty20 Cup
Jan 6 - Feb 23 - Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (Gold League)
Jan 6 - Feb 11 - Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (Silver League)
Jan 10 - March 12 - Inter-Region Level-II
Feb 15 - Feb 25 - Gold League (one-day)
Feb 15 - Feb 25 - Silver League (one-day)
March 14 - March 27 - Patron's Cup (one-day)
March 30 - April 26 - Pentangular Cup