Pakistan's domestic structure is in shambles and contributing to our decline

[Markhor]

There seems to be a domestic competition starting every 5 minutes in Pakistan. After recent tournament disasters, the cricket establishment agree on one thing - more domestic cricket is necessary. However the quality, scheduling and structure of domestic cricket is shambolic.

1) Quality - After a period where FC teams were limited to 6-8, this year 18 teams competed in the QEA Trophy in 3 groups. While encouraging seeing youngsters like Azan Awais and Maaz Sadaqat top the batting chart, it's difficult gauging the quality of performance when the player base is dispersed so thinly. Taking a match from each group for example:

Group A - Lahore Whites vs Larkana (Nov 19-21):

- 3 of Larkana's top 5 have played 2, 9 and 3 FC matches respectively - basically club cricketers. Only 41 year old Akbar-ur-Rehman averages above 30.

- Lahore's top 5 have two batsmen averaging above 30 in FC cricket in Obaid Shahid and Muhammad Akhlaq. Only two have more than 20 FC caps. Saad Nasim is the highest averaging batsman (33) and he's the allrounder at 6.

Group B - Karachi Whites vs Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Nov 13-16):

- Karachi have a decent batting lineup with Khurram Manzoor, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Rameez Aziz all domestic stalwarts. Saud and Rameez score hundreds. Now look at the opposition bowling - Taj Wali, Faizan Saleem, Shadab Majeed and Basit Ali. Of the four, only Taj Wali has more than 10 FC caps.

- Amazing preparation for Shan and Saud before the South Africa tour vs Rabada and co...

Group C - Lahore Blues vs FATA (Nov 19-21):

- FATA's top 5 have 14 FC caps combined. Note these are tallies AFTER the end of the season so all these guys had even less experience when the matches took place ! Who are the youngsters learning from ?

2) Scheduling

QEA Trophy began 26th October 2024 (6 days after its scheduled start apparently due to budgetary issues). By then we were halfway through our longest Test season in history with the home series vs Bangladesh and England already over !

It meant Pakistan's Test players had no FC cricket since the Sydney Test which ended 10.5 months earlier. There was one gap in September - taken by Champions One Day Cup.

3) Parallel systems

There are 3 parallel systems currently operating - regional, departmental and Champions. Except for departmental cricket, PCB is footing the entire bill including kits, transport, accomodation, match fees etc. With addition of Champions Cups, the costs have soared further.

PCB have rarely attempted to create self-financing regional associations who could assume some of the burden, mostly centralising power for itself, and this regime seems no different.

Nor can fans identify with artificial entities like Markhors, Panthers, Lions etc or departmental teams like Ghani Glass and PTV.

4) Broadcast quality

Outside of the final, the coverage of the QEA Trophy was archaic with single camera setup and only highlights of individual players. Between 2019-2023, PCB livestreamed one match per round with full commentary and multicamera setup. Non-broadcasted matches were covered through detailed roundups. I enjoyed watching QEA Trophy more than our Tests during this time.

Coaches and captains had proper press conferences where they were held accountable. Now does anyone care ?

5) Pitches and balls

FC pitches were generally green and damp (Musa Khan averaged 9.81 !) while square turners were being manufactured for Tests. Another sign of this disconnect was using Dukes balls whereas the Tests were played with Kookaburras.

Conclusion

Now there's a National T20 tournament ongoing sandwiched between National T20 and PSL.

A committee of PP members could construct a better domestic setup than this farce. Until Pakistan gives due regard to domestic cricket, our decline will continue.

 

[BakuGM]

There seems to be a domestic competition starting every 5 minutes in Pakistan. After recent tournament disasters, the cricket establishment agree on one thing - more domestic cricket is necessary. However the quality, scheduling and structure of domestic cricket is shambolic.

1) Quality - After a period where FC teams were limited to 6-8, this year 18 teams competed in the QEA Trophy in 3 groups. While encouraging seeing youngsters like Azan Awais and Maaz Sadaqat top the batting chart, it's difficult gauging the quality of performance when the player base is dispersed so thinly. Taking a match from each group for example:

Group A - Lahore Whites vs Larkana (Nov 19-21):

- 3 of Larkana's top 5 have played 2, 9 and 3 FC matches respectively - basically club cricketers. Only 41 year old Akbar-ur-Rehman averages above 30.

- Lahore's top 5 have two batsmen averaging above 30 in FC cricket in Obaid Shahid and Muhammad Akhlaq. Only two have more than 20 FC caps. Saad Nasim is the highest averaging batsman (33) and he's the allrounder at 6.

Group B - Karachi Whites vs Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Nov 13-16):

- Karachi have a decent batting lineup with Khurram Manzoor, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Rameez Aziz all domestic stalwarts. Saud and Rameez score hundreds. Now look at the opposition bowling - Taj Wali, Faizan Saleem, Shadab Majeed and Basit Ali. Of the four, only Taj Wali has more than 10 FC caps.

- Amazing preparation for Shan and Saud before the South Africa tour vs Rabada and co...

Group C - Lahore Blues vs FATA (Nov 19-21):

- FATA's top 5 have 14 FC caps combined. Note these are tallies AFTER the end of the season so all these guys had even less experience when the matches took place ! Who are the youngsters learning from ?

2) Scheduling

QEA Trophy began 26th October 2024 (6 days after its scheduled start apparently due to budgetary issues). By then we were halfway through our longest Test season in history with the home series vs Bangladesh and England already over !

It meant Pakistan's Test players had no FC cricket since the Sydney Test which ended 10.5 months earlier. There was one gap in September - taken by Champions One Day Cup.

3) Parallel systems

There are 3 parallel systems currently operating - regional, departmental and Champions. Except for departmental cricket, PCB is footing the entire bill including kits, transport, accomodation, match fees etc. With addition of Champions Cups, the costs have soared further.

PCB have rarely attempted to create self-financing regional associations who could assume some of the burden, mostly centralising power for itself, and this regime seems no different.

Nor can fans identify with artificial entities like Markhors, Panthers, Lions etc or departmental teams like Ghani Glass and PTV.

4) Broadcast quality

Outside of the final, the coverage of the QEA Trophy was archaic with single camera setup and only highlights of individual players. Between 2019-2023, PCB livestreamed one match per round with full commentary and multicamera setup. Non-broadcasted matches were covered through detailed roundups. I enjoyed watching QEA Trophy more than our Tests during this time.

Coaches and captains had proper press conferences where they were held accountable. Now does anyone care ?

5) Pitches and balls

FC pitches were generally green and damp (Musa Khan averaged 9.81 !) while square turners were being manufactured for Tests. Another sign of this disconnect was using Dukes balls whereas the Tests were played with Kookaburras.

Conclusion

Now there's a National T20 tournament ongoing sandwiched between National T20 and PSL.

A committee of PP members could construct a better domestic setup than this farce. Until Pakistan gives due regard to domestic cricket, our decline will continue.

First thing first and that is QEA Trophy, it needs to be split into Tier 1 and Tier 2 where the lowest ranking team in Tier 1 should be demoted and winner of Tier 2 promoted on an annual basis. This way you are still supporting the lower teams and giving them hope that they CAN move to tier 1 if they improve themselves from season to season. You can even have two teams move division if feasible and can help players in trying to reach their best.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

More domestic teams are fine as long as the selection is on merit and youth players are inducted and no more underprepared pitches and use kookaburra ball , the pentangular FC and OD is there to filter out the best from the rest.

 

[Savak]

Let's be honest, to make domestic cricket as high quality as possible, the PCB needs to have extremely high funds. Sadly the Pakistani Cricket economy doesn't offer it hence why the PCB is forced to cut corners.

 

[shaz619]

Let's be honest, to make domestic cricket as high quality as possible, the PCB needs to have extremely high funds. Sadly the Pakistani Cricket economy doesn't offer it hence why the PCB is forced to cut corners.

Are they maximising their current resources though?

I don’t think some of the issues @Markhor highlighted require a monumental budget, a lot of it is basic common sense which am afraid is not common at all

 

[Bhaijaan]

This is where the 5 mentors role come into play.

 

[Savak]

This is where the 5 mentors role come into play.

Tbh all the 5 mentors the PCB hired are Badniyat and happy to take a hefty paycheque. They are being paid an extraordinarily high amount from the board per month i.e. Rs 5 million, an amount for which the PCB has every right to demand exclusitivity to Pakistan's domestic cricket.

For this amount, the mentors need to be fully devoted 24/7/365 days to Pakistan's domestic cricket taking overall charge, responsibility for the coaches, support staff and players under their regions and the domestic sides, the U19 teams and womens teams.

But you see these mentors roaming around the world fully free to pursue their other endeavors, taking on commentary, sports analyst roles during ICC events. There should be a parliamentary inquiry, investigation into all of this.

 

[RyanRyan10]

I am curious to know why there are so many players with limited experience participating in domestic tournaments? The format which was in place before the new one was introduced, had similar number of teams. So where have the players gone?

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

There seems to be a domestic competition starting every 5 minutes in Pakistan. After recent tournament disasters, the cricket establishment agree on one thing - more domestic cricket is necessary. However the quality, scheduling and structure of domestic cricket is shambolic.

1) Quality - After a period where FC teams were limited to 6-8, this year 18 teams competed in the QEA Trophy in 3 groups. While encouraging seeing youngsters like Azan Awais and Maaz Sadaqat top the batting chart, it's difficult gauging the quality of performance when the player base is dispersed so thinly. Taking a match from each group for example:

Group A - Lahore Whites vs Larkana (Nov 19-21):

- 3 of Larkana's top 5 have played 2, 9 and 3 FC matches respectively - basically club cricketers. Only 41 year old Akbar-ur-Rehman averages above 30.

- Lahore's top 5 have two batsmen averaging above 30 in FC cricket in Obaid Shahid and Muhammad Akhlaq. Only two have more than 20 FC caps. Saad Nasim is the highest averaging batsman (33) and he's the allrounder at 6.

Group B - Karachi Whites vs Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Nov 13-16):

- Karachi have a decent batting lineup with Khurram Manzoor, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Rameez Aziz all domestic stalwarts. Saud and Rameez score hundreds. Now look at the opposition bowling - Taj Wali, Faizan Saleem, Shadab Majeed and Basit Ali. Of the four, only Taj Wali has more than 10 FC caps.

- Amazing preparation for Shan and Saud before the South Africa tour vs Rabada and co...

Group C - Lahore Blues vs FATA (Nov 19-21):

- FATA's top 5 have 14 FC caps combined. Note these are tallies AFTER the end of the season so all these guys had even less experience when the matches took place ! Who are the youngsters learning from ?

2) Scheduling

QEA Trophy began 26th October 2024 (6 days after its scheduled start apparently due to budgetary issues). By then we were halfway through our longest Test season in history with the home series vs Bangladesh and England already over !

It meant Pakistan's Test players had no FC cricket since the Sydney Test which ended 10.5 months earlier. There was one gap in September - taken by Champions One Day Cup.

3) Parallel systems

There are 3 parallel systems currently operating - regional, departmental and Champions. Except for departmental cricket, PCB is footing the entire bill including kits, transport, accomodation, match fees etc. With addition of Champions Cups, the costs have soared further.

PCB have rarely attempted to create self-financing regional associations who could assume some of the burden, mostly centralising power for itself, and this regime seems no different.

Nor can fans identify with artificial entities like Markhors, Panthers, Lions etc or departmental teams like Ghani Glass and PTV.

4) Broadcast quality

Outside of the final, the coverage of the QEA Trophy was archaic with single camera setup and only highlights of individual players. Between 2019-2023, PCB livestreamed one match per round with full commentary and multicamera setup. Non-broadcasted matches were covered through detailed roundups. I enjoyed watching QEA Trophy more than our Tests during this time.

Coaches and captains had proper press conferences where they were held accountable. Now does anyone care ?

5) Pitches and balls

FC pitches were generally green and damp (Musa Khan averaged 9.81 !) while square turners were being manufactured for Tests. Another sign of this disconnect was using Dukes balls whereas the Tests were played with Kookaburras.

Conclusion

Now there's a National T20 tournament ongoing sandwiched between National T20 and PSL.

A committee of PP members could construct a better domestic setup than this farce. Until Pakistan gives due regard to domestic cricket, our decline will continue.

Bohat aala Markhor sahib! Excellent post. To add, I reflected on what brother @mominsaigol posted about how Pakistan should go back to UAE to sort their issues. Having thought long and hard about it I am inclined to agree with my bro here. We need to return to UAE, it is the only logical step.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I am curious to know why there are so many players with limited experience participating in domestic tournaments? The format which was in place before the new one was introduced, had similar number of teams. So where have the players gone?

I am also curious about what is before first class in Pakistan cricket. For instance Mumbai has under-14, under-16, under-19, under-25. The path to top tier cricket has to be very tough. If you have more competition the path is likely to be tougher. Junior cricket has to be your supply chain.

 

[chinaman00]

Let's be honest, to make domestic cricket as high quality as possible, the PCB needs to have extremely high funds. Sadly the Pakistani Cricket economy doesn't offer it hence why the PCB is forced to cut corners.

Lack of funds is a very poor and reflexive excuse. What funds do South Africa and New Zealand have to build a formidable domestic cricket that produces world class players at a regular churn?

Money is not the issue. Comparatively speaking, PCB is the wealthiest cricket board outside the Big 3 but the main issue is mismanagement and lack of strategic foresight to build a compelling domestic structure.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

It's been 75 plus years and Pakistan still taks of systems and structures.. amazing

 

[JibranAnsari]

Shaheen Shah : Almost 9 months.
Naseem shah : Almost 7 months.

And the FC matches were actually test matches.

Shaheen shah has only played 9 domestic FC games in total and Naseem shah only 16. Even when they lose form they do not go back to domestic to get their form back. The emphasis only seems to be t20s.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Bazid Khan speaking during a TV Show:

“First there's First-Class cricket, then comes the second eleven, then there are minor counties, and league cricket sits right at the bottom. The league cricket booklet comes out a year in advance. I’m talking about league cricket—not first-class cricket. The league schedule comes out like your matches are fixed. There are 20-22 games, some are home fixtures, some are against specific teams. It runs on that basis. If you're involved in club cricket, it operates on that system.”

“But in first-class cricket, you don’t even know two months in advance which tournament you’ll be playing in, or which team you’ll be part of. So, in that scenario, I used to wonder—how do you even sleep at night? How do you plan ahead? Many people go to the PCB, many just talk and criticize. But tell me the actual plan. Say, “Yes, this is what I’ve thought through, this is my solution.” If you have a solution, then let’s talk about it, debate it. But no one wants to talk. No one wants to debate the solution. If you try to engage someone, they get offended. They don’t want to debate. They just want to say, “No, I’ve already decided this is how it should be. Just do it like this.”

“If you’re going to run cricket properly, and you want to implement a structure, then first you need to fully understand how it will work. Why are you putting this structure in place? Is it organic or artificial? Does it suit Pakistan or not? All those things need to be considered. And once you implement the structure, you need to give it three to four years—only then will you see results."

 

[IAJ]

Cricket in Pakistan is like a reflection of how the whole country works. The way the sport is managed—confused, messy, and full of problems—is similar to how many departments in the country are run. It’s not just about cricket; it shows a bigger issue.

When leaders at the top don’t have a clear plan or don’t follow rules, everything below starts to fall apart. But if the people in charge make smart, fair decisions and stick to the law, then things begin to improve naturally. Everyone else follows that example.

To fix cricket—or anything else in Pakistan—you need strong leadership, clear rules, and real accountability. Without that, even the most talented people can’t succeed. It’s not just about changing one thing—it’s about changing how things are run from the top down.

 

[Abid Z]

Cricket in Pakistan is like a reflection of how the whole country works. The way the sport is managed—confused, messy, and full of problems—is similar to how many departments in the country are run. It’s not just about cricket; it shows a bigger issue.

When leaders at the top don’t have a clear plan or don’t follow rules, everything below starts to fall apart. But if the people in charge make smart, fair decisions and stick to the law, then things begin to improve naturally. Everyone else follows that example.

To fix cricket—or anything else in Pakistan—you need strong leadership, clear rules, and real accountability. Without that, even the most talented people can’t succeed. It’s not just about changing one thing—it’s about changing how things are run from the top down.

Many leaders now put in Jail used to say the same thing. PCB and other unaccountable bureaus limp along. Sad state of affairs

 

[JibranAnsari]

Many leaders now put in Jail used to say the same thing. PCB and other unaccountable bureaus limp along. Sad state of affairs

Domestic cricket is in shambles and there is no clear pathways for aspirants how to get to play domestic cricket. The club cricket in the country is suffering, no real tournaments to guage performances of young cricketers. The age group cricket barely scratches the surface. The PSL franchises do some talent hunt but thats usually just talent based not performance based. Unless club cricket is provided with enough funding and resources with regular seasons and tournaments all over the country, things won't change much.

 

[Abid Z]

Domestic cricket is in shambles and there is no clear pathways for aspirants how to get to play domestic cricket. The club cricket in the country is suffering, no real tournaments to guage performances of young cricketers. The age group cricket barely scratches the surface. The PSL franchises do some talent hunt but thats usually just talent based not performance based. Unless club cricket is provided with enough funding and resources with regular seasons and tournaments all over the country, things won't change much.

You are right but two things spring to mind.
1) under the Wasim khan restructuring of domestic cricket and reducing teams there was a concerted effort to address this problem and I think he was in the right track but it was too much too sudden and the country just wasn’t ready for the shock and it caused an inevitable blowback. It needed years to bed in but Pak are impatient for immediate results.
2) the emergence of great players yousuf, Younis inzi waqar Wasim Asif, amir was despite a flawed system. So if you’re good enough you will step up even if the system is flawed.

Sometimes it’s circular. But one thing is sure. The mental toughness (not just flair and skill) that’s required to shape you as a long term prospect can only come from regular practice over many seasons in a robust and fair domestic structure.

(Actually if you look at the numbers great batsmen yousuf and Younis in their first 3- 4 years were the epitome of soft runs ie lack of hundreds in a win..shows they were very much learning on the job..they were unique I guess in that they were able to elevate their game enormously after that)

 

[JibranAnsari]

You are right but two things spring to mind.
1) under the Wasim khan restructuring of domestic cricket and reducing teams there was a concerted effort to address this problem and I think he was in the right track but it was too much too sudden and the country just wasn’t ready for the shock and it caused an inevitable blowback. It needed years to bed in but Pak are impatient for immediate results.
2) the emergence of great players yousuf, Younis inzi waqar Wasim Asif, amir was despite a flawed system. So if you’re good enough you will step up even if the system is flawed.

Sometimes it’s circular. But one thing is sure. The mental toughness (not just flair and skill) that’s required to shape you as a long term prospect can only come from regular practice over many seasons in a robust and fair domestic structure.

(Actually if you look at the numbers great batsmen yousuf and Younis in their first 3- 4 years were the epitome of soft runs ie lack of hundreds in a win..shows they were very much learning on the job..they were unique I guess in that they were able to elevate their game enormously after that)

True this but cricket has changed a lot since then, the main change is extreme commercialization. The guys in the past used to play a lot of domestic cricket and get a lot of experience in the field. Wasim akram told in one of his interview that he used to bowl a lot, these days the fast bowlers are just preserving themselves. We got guys, we were lucky and also there was a lot more passion to play then in the youngster than there is now. Back then rhe club scene was really good in pakistan, especially in karachi and lahore. Even cities like sialkot had a lot of clubs and interschool cricket.