Twenty20 comes to Asia

Pakistan gears up for excitement in the dark © Cricinfo

The Twenty20 fever has spread to the subcontinent. After England launched a successful inaugural Twenty20 campaign, South Africa followed suit, and now Pakistan have decided to institute a similar domestic competition when their season kicks off in August this year.

A senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that such plans were afoot and added that every effort would be made to ensure that star players participated in the event. "As yet we have not decided on the format of the competition but we are thinking on the lines of restricting it to regional teams," said the official. "But that is not final as yet. What is final is we are going to have it sometime in November before Pakistan leave for Australia."

It was also decided that these matches would be played under lights to enable the public to attend in large numbers. "And because we want the people to come in we are trying to ensure the best players are available, said the official. "Which is why we have to see when we can schedule the competition."

Research is underway to finalise the exact format of the tournament, and the official said that the PCB had received several proposals and papers in this regard. "But we are planning to invite five or six people who have been actively involved in domestic cricket and know everything about it to give us more advice on the new format."

The official hoped that this initiative would make the domestic competition financially viable, thereby bringing better returns to the board and to domestic players.