The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is contemplating a radical change in its domestic cricket structure which would see the abolishment of departmental cricket after nearly five decades in the country.
A PCB source told PTI that at the last managing committee meeting held in Lahore this month, Chairman Najam Sethi had expressed his dissatisfaction with the prevailing domestic cricket structure which is split into first class tournaments for departments/banks and regional cricket associations.
“Apparently a proposal has been sent to the constitution committee of the board to incorporate in the constitution which would convert the domestic structure based on regional cricket,” the source said. “The radical proposal is that departments and banks instead of fielding their own teams should take over sponsorship/management of a region which would play the first class tournament,” he said.
“Under the proposal a department /bank would be asked to provide around 20 million rupees financial assistance to a region with the board also contributing a similar amount. The concerned department or bank will than have two of its representatives on a management committee which will also include two office bearers of the concerned regional association and a representative of the board which will than select and manage the regional team in the domestic cricket season,” he explained.
Under the proposal, the department or bank which provides patronage to a region will also provide a certain number of players for the regional team in the first class and one-day tournaments.
Calling a National Bank team 'Quetta' etc. sounds good in principle but this needs to be managed very carefully
Our first class cricket cannot survive without funding from banks, departments, other sponsors/companies etc. Some of these sponsors might not be so willing to foot the bill for regional teams without their name being endorsed in some way
Above especially important considering our unprofessional board
**Apparently some of the centrally contracted players haven't been paid since Dec 2013 !! **This is just unacceptable. Quite embarrassing and pathetic really. I know that Lankan and West Indian players have faced similar situations in the recent past.
Players should be paid on time, it is their livelihood, their bread and butter..
baat usool/principle aur professionalism ki hai not how much wealth the Akmal brothers have accumulated already !!
Most professionals incl. lawyers and doctors can survive without pay for 3 months but is this acceptable?
It was a tongue in cheek comment. Ha! British humour.
But anyway, let's just talk about this. We can talk about professionalism and principles once we know the full story. Is PCB financially struggling like West Indian and Sri Lankan boards have in the past? Since other small boards with financial strains had blocked their players' pay at some point, I wouldn't think it's an extremely unusual situation?
Calling a National Bank team 'Quetta' etc. sounds good in principle but this needs to be managed very carefully
Our first class cricket cannot survive without funding from banks, departments, other sponsors/companies etc. Some of these sponsors might not be so willing to foot the bill for regional teams without their name being endorsed in some way
With our population and interest for cricket in mind, regional cricket can actually create much more commercial opportunities for corporate sponsors. If IPL, with no Pakistani players, can persuade Pakistani TV channels to extensively cover it, why can't regional cricket in Pakistan?