NCA starts first ever eight-week Regional Academies Program for U19 players at 16 regions nationwide

[Abdullah719]

LAHORE- July 11, 2017: The National Cricket Academy under the auspices of PCB Academies Department has started the first ever eight-week Regional Academies Program for the U19 players at all the 16 regions nationwide to unearth new talent for future Pakistan Cricket.

In this connection, 20 players from each region are participating in players development endeavor in all 16 regions under the supervision of Regional Coaching & Support staff. In addition, the NCA Coaches and Consultants will also visit the academies for specialised lectures and coaching sessions.

The main emphasis during the program will be on improving the fitness, technical, tactical and mental skill competencies of the players keeping in view contemporary cricket requirements and upcoming Domestic Season.


Following are the details of the endeavour:


[table= class:grid][tr][td]Sr.[/td][td]Region[/td][td]Ground[/td][td]Head Coach[/td][td]Asst. Coach[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1. [/td][td]Karachi[/td][td]Academy Ground, KHI[/td][td]Saleem Jaffer & Azam Khan[/td][td]Masroor Ahmed & Asim Rizvi[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2. [/td][td]Hyderabad[/td][td]Academy Ground, KHI[/td][td]Iqbal Imam[/td][td]Tahir Mehmood[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3. [/td][td]Quetta[/td][td]Bugti Stadium[/td][td]Raj Hans[/td][td]Aslam Sh.[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4. [/td][td]Larkana[/td][td]Academy Ground, KHI[/td][td]Shoukat Mirza[/td][td]Mazhar Deenari[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5. [/td][td]Lahore[/td][td]LCCA/Ittefaq Ground[/td][td]Sajjad Akbar & Kamran Khan[/td][td]Saud Khan & Talat Mirza[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6. [/td][td]Bahawalpur[/td][td]Dring Stadium[/td][td]Zahoor Elahi[/td][td]Sajjad Abbasi[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]7. [/td][td]Faisalabad[/td][td]Iqbal Stadium[/td][td]Tanveer Shoukat[/td][td]Muhamamd Ashraf[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]8. [/td][td]Sialkot[/td][td]Jinnah Stadium, Skt[/td][td]Tahir Mehmood[/td][td]Shahid Javed[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]9. [/td][td]Rawalpindi[/td][td]Pindi Stadium[/td][td]Sabih Azhar[/td][td]Bilal Ahmed[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10. [/td][td]FATA[/td][td]Arbab Niaz Stadium[/td][td]Ayyaz Akbar[/td][td]Saqib Faqir[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11. [/td][td]AJK[/td][td]Mirpur Stadium[/td][td]Ijaz Ahmed Jr.[/td][td]Fahad Akram[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]12. [/td][td]Multan[/td][td]Academy Ground, MUL[/td][td]Naveed Anjum[/td][td]Nadeem Iqbal[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]13. [/td][td]DMJ[/td][td]Academy Ground, MUL[/td][td]Javed Hayat[/td][td]Hussain Khosa[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]14. [/td][td]Islamabad[/td][td]Diamond Ground[/td][td]Taimur Azam[/td][td]Rauf Mirza[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15. [/td][td]Abbottabad[/td][td]Abbottabad Stadium[/td][td]Shahid Anwar[/td][td]Rehmat Gul[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16. [/td][td]Peshawar[/td][td]PWR University Ground[/td][td]Abdul Rehman[/td][td]Sajid Shah[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Wow this is a good project.Must hope that those picked aren't actually picked beforehand.Also hope that they are genuinely under 19 years of age.

 

[Sirris]

First the emerging players camp and now this, good to see someone is doing his job. Also it is great that remote areas are given attention too and not just the big cities. Hopefully the coaches assigned are competent and willing to do their part.

 

[MMHS]

Very good initiative. Also, 2 months is a proper duration, because it'll give adequate time to judge the talent level. 2/3 days program with hundreds of kids isn't effective much. Hope, they follow it up with a tournament among top boys. However, the success of this project will depend on the sincerity, in terms of age - players making this program after faking 1/2 years might work, but that's absolute max.

Also, came to know that, there is 16 cricket regions covering whole PAK - which means, the ground work for a Nationwide regional based FC system is already done. Just, may be 16 teams are too many for quality, so they should merge few Regions to make reasonably equal strength 8 teams. Ideally, even 24 teams can play at one time in that Regional frame, in the name of First XI, A team & B team with First team encounters given FC status (Like Counties in olden days). Top 11 players playing for First XI - at the same time, other players in roster plays in A & B teams. Each round to have 12 matches - 4 each for from First XI, A & B teams. Whoever performs for A & B team can be promoted to First XI for next round, replacing under performers.

This is different from 1st, 2nd & 3rd division - because players are not fixed by division, rather it's always around 100 top players competing against each others, by a flexible system which ensures every round, top players are competing each others. Revised English County system failed to deliver it's prime objective after implementing Division 1 & 2, because it didn't accumulate their talent, rather it just segmented same number of players in to lower & upper tier. That's even worse actually, because some of the top players are forced to play in lower division, because his team wasn't good enough, while lots of lower quality players are diluting the top division for being part of a better team.

That's good for producing lots of average to good quality cricketers, but it won't produce the outstanding players that much, because of the lower quality. Lots of poster question the quality of English County, which is a valid concern, but they don't know the reason. It's not because of the system or the facilities or the training methods, rather because of the devalued competitiveness. 35 years back, there were 17 County sides, each playing each others - but, along with British players, every team had 4/5 of worlds best players in playing XI - that made some of the County sides better than most Test teams. Hence, many players those days, actually had a better Test stats than County stats.

Overall, this unique filtering process makes (at least made till I followed their domestics religiously) AUS domestic cricket system by far the most effective. 6 States (now I believe 8 - they have added Federal Territory & Northern Territory) sides runs their own provincial tournament (in the name of Grade cricket) & their FC sides (Shield side) is represented always by the top 12 players available for that round. Players born in States that had traditionally stronger pool (or bigger pool), would migrate to the Grade/club system of other State & eventually would play for their Shield side - hence, it's almost certain that every round, almost each of top 66 Aussie players are competing each other in Sheffield Shield.

To me, this is the only reason that since 1870s, AUS had never been out of top 2 spots in a decade - their players are not technically the most proficient, neither are the most skilled (even Bradman compared to Walter Hammond was like Steve Smith compared to Joe Root, when it comes to pure technique), BUT they are the toughest cookie, most competitive, most spirited & extremely rigid to break down - because of that week end, week out top competition they go through & almost always playing to survive in the team - be in AUS side, Shield side, Grade side or club side, they are always looking behind their shoulders. Those 2 hours of 29 consecutive maidens by the last Aussie pair in an attempt to save a Test against SRL actually indicates how resilient they can be to hang on to their ground, which Pom No. 3 & 4 won't be able to show, despite being groomed in a system which pays higher & provides better training/coaching facilities.

 

[Billy1999]

Very good initiative. Also, 2 months is a proper duration, because it'll give adequate time to judge the talent level. 2/3 days program with hundreds of kids isn't effective much. Hope, they follow it up with a tournament among top boys. However, the success of this project will depend on the sincerity, in terms of age - players making this program after faking 1/2 years might work, but that's absolute max.

Also, came to know that, there is 16 cricket regions covering whole PAK - which means, the ground work for a Nationwide regional based FC system is already done. Just, may be 16 teams are too many for quality, so they should merge few Regions to make reasonably equal strength 8 teams. Ideally, even 24 teams can play at one time in that Regional frame, in the name of First XI, A team & B team with First team encounters given FC status (Like Counties in olden days). Top 11 players playing for First XI - at the same time, other players in roster plays in A & B teams. Each round to have 12 matches - 4 each for from First XI, A & B teams. Whoever performs for A & B team can be promoted to First XI for next round, replacing under performers.

This is different from 1st, 2nd & 3rd division - because players are not fixed by division, rather it's always around 100 top players competing against each others, by a flexible system which ensures every round, top players are competing each others. Revised English County system failed to deliver it's prime objective after implementing Division 1 & 2, because it didn't accumulate their talent, rather it just segmented same number of players in to lower & upper tier. That's even worse actually, because some of the top players are forced to play in lower division, because his team wasn't good enough, while lots of lower quality players are diluting the top division for being part of a better team.

That's good for producing lots of average to good quality cricketers, but it won't produce the outstanding players that much, because of the lower quality. Lots of poster question the quality of English County, which is a valid concern, but they don't know the reason. It's not because of the system or the facilities or the training methods, rather because of the devalued competitiveness. 35 years back, there were 17 County sides, each playing each others - but, along with British players, every team had 4/5 of worlds best players in playing XI - that made some of the County sides better than most Test teams. Hence, many players those days, actually had a better Test stats than County stats.

Overall, this unique filtering process makes (at least made till I followed their domestics religiously) AUS domestic cricket system by far the most effective. 6 States (now I believe 8 - they have added Federal Territory & Northern Territory) sides runs their own provincial tournament (in the name of Grade cricket) & their FC sides (Shield side) is represented always by the top 12 players available for that round. Players born in States that had traditionally stronger pool (or bigger pool), would migrate to the Grade/club system of other State & eventually would play for their Shield side - hence, it's almost certain that every round, almost each of top 66 Aussie players are competing each other in Sheffield Shield.

To me, this is the only reason that since 1870s, AUS had never been out of top 2 spots in a decade - their players are not technically the most proficient, neither are the most skilled (even Bradman compared to Walter Hammond was like Steve Smith compared to Joe Root, when it comes to pure technique), BUT they are the toughest cookie, most competitive, most spirited & extremely rigid to break down - because of that week end, week out top competition they go through & almost always playing to survive in the team - be in AUS side, Shield side, Grade side or club side, they are always looking behind their shoulders. Those 2 hours of 29 consecutive maidens by the last Aussie pair in an attempt to save a Test against SRL actually indicates how resilient they can be to hang on to their ground, which Pom No. 3 & 4 won't be able to show, despite being groomed in a system which pays higher & provides better training/coaching facilities.

Technique is nothing,it's just a myth,it's only when you doubt your technique then you get out,The great thing about cricket is everyone has different techniques and batting styles and some are more effective then others.

 

[Billy1999]

This is a great initiative and it's great to see how slowly,bit by bit the cricket is getting better in Pakistan

Cricket is coming closer to home
Domestic cricket has been observed
U-19 project
PCB willing to spend money on camps before tours and on tours
The Pakistan cup
The PSL
Talent hunts from franchises in the PSL
Champions Trophy Win
Pink ball used in FC cricket
More tournaments arranged

Only a few things left
A tours
Senior team tours
Fair selection
Talent hunt
More competitive cricket
Good pitches/Balls
Better facilities for both Intl and Domestic players

 

[MMHS]

Technique is nothing,it's just a myth,it's only when you doubt your technique then you get out,The great thing about cricket is everyone has different techniques and batting styles and some are more effective then others.

It's a bit difficult to digest that Shaan Masood gets out often to anything short or slightly moving because he doubts in his technique, while Azhar Ali is batting for 10+ hours from one end at MCG, because he believed more than anyone that he'll not get out to Starc or Josh. May be, instead of practicing in nets, next time giving more time to meditation will help Masood to take his 24 average to 48, like Azhar.

Of course the batting technique & style of Afridi & Dravid were a bit different, hence one was a bit more effective than the other one, but I tend to believe that Dravid's style was a bit more effective in survival for longer & hence score more runs.

 

[DRsohail]

This is a great initiative and it's great to see how slowly,bit by bit the cricket is getting better in Pakistan

Cricket is coming closer to home
Domestic cricket has been observed
U-19 project
PCB willing to spend money on camps before tours and on tours
The Pakistan cup
The PSL
Talent hunts from franchises in the PSL
Champions Trophy Win
Pink ball used in FC cricket
More tournaments arranged

Only a few things left
A tours
Senior team tours
Fair selection
Talent hunt
More competitive cricket
Good pitches/Balls
Better facilities for both Intl and Domestic players

and changing shedule of fc from december to march april..

 

[Fantasy]

Very good initiative and this is much better than having a 2 day camp which we have seen in the past.

I am more worried about the follow up to this camp.Most of the time whether that being of U19 or of domestic players what we see is there is absolutely no follow up.They work on them in these camps but then they are left to sun and there is no follow up to that and the breeding ground in which they can put these skills,which they've learnt,to very good use.

For the long term progression in cricket you have to identify players and after identifying them you work on them throughout years and the best example is of Babar Azam.

On a side note,I would like to see schools being build along the academies throughout Pakistan.I don't know whether this is a feasible idea but along with preparing them for national team you can give them some quality education.This is juat an idea and maybe can be done?

 

[sunnykhan]

Used to happen before as well. They stopped it for no reason. Good job on restarting.

 

[Billy1999]

and changing shedule of fc from december to march april..

Yes

 

[Titan24]

This is where Mudassar Nazar can make a difference. He has got excellent eye for talent. I am hoping for some good young prospects, fingers crossed.

 

[mak36]

This is a great initiative and it's great to see how slowly,bit by bit the cricket is getting better in Pakistan

Cricket is coming closer to home
Domestic cricket has been observed
U-19 project
PCB willing to spend money on camps before tours and on tours
The Pakistan cup
The PSL
Talent hunts from franchises in the PSL
Champions Trophy Win
Pink ball used in FC cricket
More tournaments arranged

Only a few things left
A tours
Senior team tours
Fair selection
Talent hunt
More competitive cricket
Good pitches/Balls
Better facilities for both Intl and Domestic players

This can hopefully be ticked off the list now (Dukes ball and wickets being relaid).

 

[as-95]

This can hopefully be ticked off the list now (Dukes ball and wickets being relaid).

Where did you read this? Great to see. Pls offer the source

 

[mak36]

Where did you read this? Great to see. Pls offer the source

The move to the Dukes ball in QEA is mentioned here http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/1110968.html and was also discussed on PP http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...tan-use-the-Dukes-ball-Waqar-Younis-thinks-so.