From organizations playing each other, why not let cities develop teams and play against each other. I wanna hoot for Karachi & Lahore, not for the pilots of PIA or beer belly managers of Habib Bank.
Imran Khan has been advocating that for long. What do you guys think?
I agree in concept. That is good to bring some life back into the grounds, where people actually feel like supporting "their" team. The problem is how to start this in the first place. Cities need funds to attract star players to play for them, and since crowd participation is almost zero at this point, so the city teams are unable to secure sizeable sponsorships and sell worthy media rights to the games.
So, at present we have a two-tier system in Pakistan, I blv. There is a league of city teams and they play for tournament.
Then there is another league of departmental teams which play another tournament. The departments are good cz they employ a large number of players, which makes it worth while for aspiring talented players to pursue a career in Cricket. If we take this life-line away, we may end up having a fewer pool of talented players.
I think they can try to have a franchize system there, where essentially private parties (or companies) can purchase city teams and manage them. Something on the model of baseball or football here.
Changing the domestic circuit in Pakistan is hopeless. The only reason these leagues are still running is because of fundings from Habib Bank and PIA, if they don't have any teams name after them, they will stop funding PCB. And don't ask me where does all the money go from winning matches, because Pakistan have not been winning that often recently.
Other teams don't come to Pakistan, and thats another financial loss, and PCB has less money to spent.
Yeah they need a Premiership type of League, where regulation can occur to the 1st Div, 2nd Div, etc.
Each team should be alloted their own ground/stadium to play in.
While companies like PIA and Habib Bank can sponser clubs. Imagine if players could be traded and free agents, etc.
Pakistan Cricket Needs re-think
Pakistan cricket needs re-think
By Imran Khan
The former Pakistan captain speaks to BBC Urdu
Pakistan cricket has hit troubled times.
Fans back home, including myself, are disillusioned - not because Pakistan missed out on the Super Six stage at the World Cup but because some of our top players simply did not play to their potential.
It seems such a shame superstar players with such talent will no longer be taking any more part in the tournament.
It's now time for deep introspection - everybody involved with Pakistan cricket will need to decide what direction they want the national sport to go.
Up to this point, most of Pakistan's successful players over the last 30 years have mainly come from English county cricket.
People like Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and myself all benefited from playing in England.
Star batsmen Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana have grown up playing in Pakistan. They are all very good but lack the polish players like myself got.
A prime example of a player who has suffered is Imran Nazir.
At an early age he received high-praise from legends Clive Lloyd and Ian Chappell, but his form suffered.
Nazir was dropped from the World Cup squad after poor international performances, which I believe, playing in the Pakistan domestic league was at fault for
Basically, cricket in Pakistan is poorly managed.
The biggest concern surrounds the structure of the domestic game.
We have institutions such as PIA and Habib Bank play each other, where instead two cities like Lahore and Karachi in battle, would appeal far more to fans.
As a result of this league of institutions, the games are watched by very small crowds.
I've been calling for a change to the domestic game for 20 years, but the people in authority are employed by these institutions, so little has been done.
If the Pakistan Cricket Board approached me and asked whether I would help them with the national game then I would give it serious consideration.
However, with all my political responsibilities I have at the moment, finding free time may be difficult.
But I do think you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out what the problem is with Pakistan cricket. I just hope it can be sorted out.
In 1992-1993 our domestic cricket was getting so good... Ever since, there has been a sharp downfall...
i think no one knows and understand cricket better than imran khan....
pcb shud listen to him and change the domestic cricket....
its about time we got rid of thie stupid system and put in a better system....
and someone plz tell pcb to make fast pitches in pakistan....
Imran's been saying this for the last 20 years. If no one's taken any notice till now I can't see things changing in a hurry but we can always live in hope :)
Re: Pakistan Cricket Needs re-think
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by yaasir: *
If the Pakistan Cricket Board approached me and asked whether I would help them with the national game then I would give it serious consideration.
[/QUOTE]
what does he mean by this? Is he willing to help.
Cool down guys, if Pakistan was in Super Sixes would you be talking about this? No.
Its about time "politics" is removed from game, and the talent is given a chance. Its not about how cricket is played in the country (club style, county style etc.) Where did our other big players (Imran, Javed, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim, Inzimam, Yousuf) come from?
The next thing will be to provide faster pitches so that our domestic players don't have to fly out to see what a fast pitch is like. If we can improve our pitches and let the talent a chance I'm sure we can play against anyone.