Six provinces to replace regional, departmental cricket, Chairman PCB

LAHORE: Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board, Ehsan Mani has said that six provinces will replace the regional and departmental cricket teams in the proposed new domestic structure to help produce quality cricketers on pattern of cricket Australia and England.

"We have proposed the representation of six provincial teams in the recommendations made in the PCB constitution which has been sent to its Patron, Prime Minister of Pakistan and Inter Provincial Coordination Ministry for approval," he told newsmen here on Thursday.

He said the proposed new domestic structure aims at establishing the domestic cricket on solid lines creating equal opportunity for the youth of the country to showcase their talent and  to play their role in the overall development of the game besides making the base of the game stronger.

Mani said: "The proposed domestic cricket structure has been divided into six provinces, which include Northern Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,  Central Punjab, Southern Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh.

"Each province will have one team while Punjab will be represented by two teams," he added.

These provinces will organise the school, club , inter city and first class cricket  as it is not  the domain of PCB to conduct the matches at these levels.

"We  will be closely monitoring all the cricket activates and allied activities  to assess their performance and role in the development of grass root level and to supplement PCB ongoing efforts for the cause of cricket," said Ehsan Mani.

When asked what role the departments will have in the new structure the PCB Chief replied " They will also be serving cricket, not by having   their teams but sponsoring the provincial teams which will be tagged with their respective names in the domestic events".

"If necessary their  nominees will also be inducted in the setup of the provincial bodies to ensure that the fund being provided by them are being utilized in right direction," he asserted.

"If any provincial body  is financially sound enough and does not want to have the patronage of a particular department they will be free to work and function independently the way they want," he maintained.

"But obviously PCB will have a system of check and balance in all the six provincial associations to evaluate their performance and to appreciate them for their contribution in the development of cricket and to know the cause of decline of the game in a particular province," he added.

"Every year, these provinces have to provide at least 120 most talented and promising players to the PCB, who may serve the national teams in the best possible manner. Our target is 16 to 19 years old cricketers, who will be trained and groomed by the PCB professionally. The provinces, which will produce maximum number of talented and quality cricketers, will be highly rewarded by the cricket board," he the PCB Chief.

About the future of departmental cricket, Ehsan Mani said that the role of departments will be wider as they will be provided opportunities to not only sponsor the team of any province but also sponsor the school, club or first class cricket.

"The departmental players will get the opportunity to train or coach school and club level teams as well as first class cricket. So there will be ample opportunities for the departments and departmental players to continue cricket in different capacities and roles,"he added.

The PCB chief said that provinces will remain busy in conducting cricket events throughout the year. "They will hold school cricket, club cricket and intra-city cricket events to be participated by around 60 to 70 cities and then these provinces will have competitions against each other at first class level.

I hope after such tough and competitive cricket, Pakistan cricket will surely get a number of talented and quality cricketers, who will play well at higher level and earn good name for the country at international level," said the Chairman PCB.