Pakistan deprived of consistent, competitive cricket in recent times

[hayder ali]

Ever since CT, I am just seeing cricket of other countries and Pakistan players in various leagues but no good International cricket...

 

[Rana]

Yeah its awfully frustrating. We really havent had a good schedule since CT

 

[TeymurBlake]

It is quite upsetting, you see teams playing so much cricket and then you see Pakistan who played Sri Lanka after winning the CT.

 

[Abid Z]

Not playing India really hurts us in more ways than we care to admit

 

[Bleedgreen4ever]

Much needed thread...can someone please convey this to the PCB

I am dying to see our team play even Ireland.

That terrible team we had in early 2010s got to play so many matched, it is a tragedy that our present team despite being so good does not play so much cricket......

 

[Syed1]

The price we pay for showing every team their true worth.

 

[wrongun]

Pakistan are still paying the price for a few things- poor performances on away tours means less TV & crowd interest, which affects broadcast deal values, making Pakistan less likely to be invited.

Match-fixing has compounded these same issues regarding crowds, sponsors & broadcast deals as people don't tune in if they think the game is fishy. See Sydney Test from last Pakistan tour. CA unlikely to want Pakistan back in a hurry after that disgrace to the game.

Even if these problems have been put aside, the bad memory still lingers with the fans & the perception is set for a while. It's those things which make the difference between a Board actively looking to see if they can squeeze in a series vs Pakistan or passing that option over for someone else.

The answer is to keep playing well whenever you play and play an interesting brand of cricket. Pakistan with real fast bowlers, leg spinners and a few fiery batsmen firing will probably find Boards all of a sudden regain interest.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Pakistan are still paying the price for a few things- poor performances on away tours means less TV & crowd interest, which affects broadcast deal values, making Pakistan less likely to be invited.

Match-fixing has compounded these same issues regarding crowds, sponsors & broadcast deals as people don't tune in if they think the game is fishy. See Sydney Test from last Pakistan tour. CA unlikely to want Pakistan back in a hurry after that disgrace to the game.

Even if these problems have been put aside, the bad memory still lingers with the fans & the perception is set for a while. It's those things which make the difference between a Board actively looking to see if they can squeeze in a series vs Pakistan or passing that option over for someone else.

The answer is to keep playing well whenever you play and play an interesting brand of cricket. Pakistan with real fast bowlers, leg spinners and a few fiery batsmen firing will probably find Boards all of a sudden regain interest.

To be honest, a lot of teams have been diabolical on their away tours for quite some time now. India's struggles are well documented. Australia is awful in the subcontinent. England have been hot and cold. Sri Lanka is well, Sri Lanka and yet still get invited quite a lot. South Africa is probably the only team you could say that has an all-round value right now in world cricket.

The quality of the team has very less to do with tours in my opinion. It's down to the board to have the pull to arrange a bilateral series, something the PCB is highly inept at.

 

[Pete Rose]

What I wanna know is how will PCB prepare for 2018 test tours to England and South Africa with such a lousy FTP leading up to it.

 

[Savak]

Pakistani players were on the road for the most part in 2016. They deserved some rest and they got it

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Pakistani players were on the road for the most part in 2016. They deserved some rest and they got it

Aur Kitna Rest Kareingay ???

 

[giri26]

I think the PCB needs to take some blame here. When Pakistan was doing well last year and reached the top of the test rankings, PCB should have taken advantage and tried to organise more tours. The culture of blaming everyone else for your own failing has to stop with PCB first. Only then can they actually do something good for the team.

 

[wrongun]

To be honest, a lot of teams have been diabolical on their away tours for quite some time now. India's struggles are well documented. Australia is awful in the subcontinent. England have been hot and cold. Sri Lanka is well, Sri Lanka and yet still get invited quite a lot. South Africa is probably the only team you could say that has an all-round value right now in world cricket.

The quality of the team has very less to do with tours in my opinion. It's down to the board to have the pull to arrange a bilateral series, something the PCB is highly inept at.

Yes many teams travel badly, but India are still a huge revenue tour for any nation. England series are highly valued by broadcasters too because of Englands economic pull & the attention facing the old colonial power always brings. Sri Lanka? Not sure there.

 

[the Great Khan]

When Pakistan were one of teh best teams in the world in the 90's Sky still didnt do a deal to show matches. Why? its not just about whetehr we do well or not. Everyone knows that outside of australia we are box office. We proved that in the CT. We did it in 2009 in the world t20, etc. If any other team was like us they would be pretty visible. So why not? yes fixing didnt help but other teams were also involved like south africa. India bookies permeate everywhere. so why not?

it is down to prejudice and racism inmho. Pakistan's relationship with the establishment has always been sour. And it comes down to the fact that we didnt want to be pushed around and age old islamaphobia. India betrayed the asian bloc and chucked its lot in with the establishment for its own self which is not surprising.

It should not be lost on everyone that after the terror attacks of 2009 everyone expected us to die and wither away. We did not. and like [MENTION=138254]Syed1[/MENTION] said we will teach you your aukat.

We are the original rebels but it seems there are issues out of our control that now dictate things.

 

[Markhor]

PCB have been obsessed with vanity projects like World XI series and yet another T20 series against West Indies instead of focusing on arranging proper full multiformat series for our national team.

Looking at the original FTP, we were slated to tour India in November and December this year so that's part of the reason why we've these gaps in the calendar.

But it is disgraceful we are only playing one Test in Ireland before the England tour. How is a Test team in transition going to stabilise itself by playing so few Tests ? How is an ODI team meant to prepare for 2019 World Cup when we don't have an ODI series planned until the Asia Cup next June ?!

 

[zn426]

PCB have been obsessed with vanity projects like World XI series and yet another T20 series against West Indies instead of focusing on arranging proper full multiformat series for our national team.

Looking at the original FTP, we were slated to tour India in November and December this year so that's part of the reason why we've these gaps in the calendar.

But it is disgraceful we are only playing one Test in Ireland before the England tour. How is a Test team in transition going to stabilise itself by playing so few Tests ? How is an ODI team meant to prepare for 2019 World Cup when we don't have an ODI series planned until the Asia Cup next June ?!

Can you really blame them? When there's so little cricket at home you need to milk games in Pakistan for every rupee you can. Yes, I know, most of it will get wasted on biryani and travel, but some of it will go to player development-it's better than nothing. It's not vanity to make the case that Pakistan is safe for cricket. It's going to be a long process but it needs to be done.

That said you are right in that more work should have been done to secure an away tour in December to SA. Playing the Christmas test there would have been a huge mark of goodwill after they sent so many players for the World XI.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

PCB could have invited Bangladesh in UAE.

 

[mhraja]

PCB could have invited Bangladesh in UAE.

Yes, should have hosted BD and may be crowd will be better as well as some Bangladeshis will also be there.

 

[Mamoon]

PCB have been obsessed with vanity projects like World XI series and yet another T20 series against West Indies instead of focusing on arranging proper full multiformat series for our national team.

Looking at the original FTP, we were slated to tour India in November and December this year so that's part of the reason why we've these gaps in the calendar.

But it is disgraceful we are only playing one Test in Ireland before the England tour. How is a Test team in transition going to stabilise itself by playing so few Tests ? How is an ODI team meant to prepare for 2019 World Cup when we don't have an ODI series planned until the Asia Cup next June ?!

Hosting some matches in Pakistan is the biggest priority for the PCB at the moment, even if it comes at the expense of a few Tests and ODIs elsewhere. Right now, we are not in a position to host ODIs and Tests, so we have to make do with T20Is.

 

[big_gamer007]

Cricket is played by few countries out of those few countries you can't play against one which is the major revenue generating team..

Then you had tussle with BD board when they refused to tour Pakistan..

SRi Lanka plays India and makes their money..

Aussies would probably prefer to play England or India more to get money and maybe even NZ?

So yea Pakistan is having it tough in this game of limited competition if you can't your main rivals it's tough..

 

[wrongun]

Cricket is played by few countries out of those few countries you can't play against one which is the major revenue generating team..

Then you had tussle with BD board when they refused to tour Pakistan..

SRi Lanka plays India and makes their money..

Aussies would probably prefer to play England or India more to get money and maybe even NZ?

So yea Pakistan is having it tough in this game of limited competition if you can't your main rivals it's tough..

Our board make by far the most money off India & England series. SA are third choice as they always provide good opposition (too good lately!)

WI used to be our #1 priority & drawcard until their decline at the turn of last century so certainly performance plays a role, they would be straight back up there if they ever produced a good team again.

NZ drawing power here fluctuates with their team also- right now with Boult & a few decent young quicks & a decent batting lineup they are an attractive series.

 

[big_gamer007]

Our board make by far the most money off India & England series. SA are third choice as they always provide good opposition (too good lately!)

WI used to be our #1 priority & drawcard until their decline at the turn of last century so certainly performance plays a role, they would be straight back up there if they ever produced a good team again.

NZ drawing power here fluctuates with their team also- right now with Boult & a few decent young quicks & a decent batting lineup they are an attractive series.

I assume you are talking from Australian POV?

WI decline is pretty sad as it is cricket is played by very few nations at a competitive level and to lose one of the biggies of old is sad.. Isn't Australia-NZ rivalry pretty strong due to being neighbours? Or is it just in Rugby where NZ have a pretty OP team forever and Australia play as underdogs to win?

Cricket I would think Australia have been so dominant over NZ it's not much of a rivalry? Unless both squads have equalish teams.

 

[pkwdpassion]

Many cricket fans including I are frustrated with the horrendous scheduling of Pakistan cricket team, andthis is all PCB's fault.

REquest members who sing hymns in honour of Najam Sethi should also tell why there was one series in 4-5 months. After Champions Trophy there was no cricket for 2.5 months and after Sri Lanka Tour there is another huge gap of 2+ months before leaving for New Zealand in January to play only odis and T20 in span of around a month. A test match is scheduled in May 2018. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS Even doofus Ijaz Butt did a better job than Sethi.

He is more interested in dreamijng about indian series than planning out getting maathces with other countries in this huge timelines where there is no cricket for Pakistan cricket tream, pathetic organizing by sethi.

Just look at organizing of National T20 Cup, its cringeworthy. Sethi saheb flips also, stopped Fakhar Zaman from playing in Natwest Cup but permitted Misbah, Hasan, Amir and others to leave for BPL although gave order to players to give priority to local tournament. Waise to I'm glad Misbah is not playing NAtl. T20 but selective treatment is also wrong. Sarfraz Ahmed, Fahim and Shadab had to be released from their contracts.

Can't sing World XI and PSL forever for Mr. Sethi

 

[maxamax]

Told you long ago, start a parallel organization of ICC having more countries and fair laws otherwise face such isolation because BCCI is not going to let you play much.

 

[wrongun]

Cricket I would think Australia have been so dominant over NZ it's not much of a rivalry? Unless both squads have equalish teams.

That has been mostly the case ever since our early 80s weak period (which coincided with Hadlee to compound things).

In the last 30 years NZ have won one single Test series vs us ('89? or so) so it's a local rivalry but rarely that hot. Apart from that they are lucky to win a game a decade. They win their share of ODI series though.

 

[MMHS]

It was PCB's choice, so I don't see any issue in this.

It's 2 Tests in 14 months from the 3rd Test in WI to 1st Test at Leeds - they are allowing their players to rest after grueling 5 matches in CT and the 2 Tests against SRL; so obviously players have earned that rest. On top of that, PAK youngsters are getting much needed exposure at the National T20 Cup, with their star players (for 4 invaluable 20 overs matches), which is like gold.

 

[CadPakFan]

Yes, should have hosted BD and may be crowd will be better as well as some Bangladeshis will also be there.

Yeah that would have been an interesting contest especially in test since BAN beat Aus and we lost to SL.

 

[iHammad]

If you look at the FTP, right now we are supposed to be playing India in India for 3 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 2 T20s. Sethi saab should've known way before that that series is not happening and re-scheduled something else. 0 proactive-ness.

After the NZ series we've got the PSL, and then the IPL window where our players will be....resting? (after the long PSL party of course)

2 Tests in England, short Asia Cup in India ... and then another empty slot in July 2018. Let's see if Sethi saab has something planned for us then. (doubt it), but both SA and Bangladesh are free in that time slot.

Latter part of 2018 and early 2019 leading into the World Cup are nicely packed though with series vs Aus, NZ, SA, and Eng which is great to see.

Huge empty slot again in Aug-Sep 2019 ... god knows what the PCB has got planned there.

 

[Mamoon]

If you look at the FTP, right now we are supposed to be playing India in India for 3 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 2 T20s. Sethi saab should've known way before that that series is not happening and re-scheduled something else. 0 proactive-ness.

After the NZ series we've got the PSL, and then the IPL window where our players will be....resting? (after the long PSL party of course)

2 Tests in England, short Asia Cup in India ... and then another empty slot in July 2018. Let's see if Sethi saab has something planned for us then. (doubt it), but both SA and Bangladesh are free in that time slot.

Latter part of 2018 and early 2019 leading into the World Cup are nicely packed though with series vs Aus, NZ, SA, and Eng which is great to see.

Huge empty slot again in Aug-Sep 2019 ... god knows what the PCB has got planned there.

Most probably the usual - a series with Sri Lanka.

 

[pakistani pride]

Pakistan are still paying the price for a few things- poor performances on away tours means less TV & crowd interest, which affects broadcast deal values, making Pakistan less likely to be invited.

Match-fixing has compounded these same issues regarding crowds, sponsors & broadcast deals as people don't tune in if they think the game is fishy. See Sydney Test from last Pakistan tour. CA unlikely to want Pakistan back in a hurry after that disgrace to the game.

Even if these problems have been put aside, the bad memory still lingers with the fans & the perception is set for a while. It's those things which make the difference between a Board actively looking to see if they can squeeze in a series vs Pakistan or passing that option over for someone else.

The answer is to keep playing well whenever you play and play an interesting brand of cricket. Pakistan with real fast bowlers, leg spinners and a few fiery batsmen firing will probably find Boards all of a sudden regain interest.

Just stop this non sense about the performance on away tours. India has been terrible away from home since they started playing cricket. Aus has been struggling for a long time now away from home. ENG has been so so.

Only SA is doing well away from home.

 

[wrongun]

Just stop this non sense about the performance on away tours. India has been terrible away from home since they started playing cricket. Aus has been struggling for a long time now away from home. ENG has been so so.

Only SA is doing well away from home.

You're missing my point. My point is that other nations have huge economic pull not matter how bad their performance (India- who have done ok their last few Oz tours), a big rivalry (everyone vs England) or good performance (SA). Pakistan does not have any of these advantages.

Pakistan is not going to become the economic powerhouse of cricket, so that option is out.
Your biggest rival refuses to play, so that option is out for the foreseeable future.
The ONLY one you can realistically directly control is top performance.

Performance DIRECTLY affects # of tests offers- for example Oz downgraded WI from 4/5 tests tours to 3 maximum now. NZ reduced from 3 to 2 in some years. BD only offered 2 Test series.
Conversely, if a side consistently offers ding dong battles CA will increase the amount of Tests.

 

[Hasan123]

Should have played that series against Bangladesh. We needed to build on our CT victory and we need test matches to improve our team. Shouldn't turn down series when you don't play enough cricket as it is.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Can we have PSL run parallel to IPL?

Like just a wild idea. You can literally do a player draft once the IPL auction is done. There would be many second string international players doing nothing during that period anyway.

Say for example Australia - barring the first choice players, the second choice ones will all be free. Don't know how many teams IPL has these days but they were like 8 last time I checked and that meant maximum of 50 international players would be busy.

I think since PSL mainly focuses on the Pakistani market, we'd manage to get by anyway. No?

 

[Benchwarmer]

Can we have PSL run parallel to IPL?

Like just a wild idea. You can literally do a player draft once the IPL auction is done. There would be many second string international players doing nothing during that period anyway.

Say for example Australia - barring the first choice players, the second choice ones will all be free. Don't know how many teams IPL has these days but they were like 8 last time I checked and that meant maximum of 50 international players would be busy.

I think since PSL mainly focuses on the Pakistani market, we'd manage to get by anyway. No?

It wouldn't probably attract many TV rights if it runs parallel to IPL.

 

[Markhor]

Hosting some matches in Pakistan is the biggest priority for the PCB at the moment, even if it comes at the expense of a few Tests and ODIs elsewhere. Right now, we are not in a position to host ODIs and Tests, so we have to make do with T20Is.

We hosted Zimbabwe for ODIs in 2015. If the ground is deemed safe enough to host a T20 then why isn't safe enough to host an ODI ?

I agree its important to revive home international cricket but it feels like PCB are pouring so much energy into hosting the odd T20I or a few PSL matches at home with little payoff (international teams haven't exactly flooded back) and ignoring the biggest priority which is the national team.

 

[Pete Rose]

We hosted Zimbabwe for ODIs in 2015. If the ground is deemed safe enough to host a T20 then why isn't safe enough to host an ODI ?

I agree its important to revive home international cricket but it feels like PCB are pouring so much energy into hosting the odd T20I or a few PSL matches at home with little payoff (international teams haven't exactly flooded back) and ignoring the biggest priority which is the national team.

I think this is a myth tbh, that somehow PCB has to make a false choice b/w doing one thing or the other. To me it seems that this FTP is the result of something negotiated in the past. Its more of the same, the big three (although the concept may have been weakened now) get to play the most cricket.
Case in point, the two match series we play against England next year. After giving, what I hope, a block buster test series in 2016 did we really deserve to play only two tests? Who knows, maybe the PCB tried hard to negotiate, but found no success.
All I can say is that we have to treat this era like South Africa did the sporting boycott - make domestic cricket much stronger (and viable)

 

[Mamoon]

We hosted Zimbabwe for ODIs in 2015. If the ground is deemed safe enough to host a T20 then why isn't safe enough to host an ODI ?

I agree its important to revive home international cricket but it feels like PCB are pouring so much energy into hosting the odd T20I or a few PSL matches at home with little payoff (international teams haven't exactly flooded back) and ignoring the biggest priority which is the national team.

Obviously the PCB have proposed the idea of playing ODIs but the likes of SL and WI have not complied. Apart from the like Zimbabwe whose fears can be bought, I don't think the other boards are ready to play in the open skies of Pakistan for 8 hours yet.