Prime Minister Imran Khan approves new domestic cricket structure

[farazaidi]

One question

Why India is doing so well despite having so many FC teams?

As many have pointed out, its due to their population size. Ranji Trophy, the premier FC tournament has 37 teams but they also have Duleep Trophy which has top talent of the country. It initially had 5 teams but now they've reduced it further to 3 teams so that only the best play each other.

One more thing about the size, their main T20 tournament, the infamous IPL has 8 teams but they also have Tamil Nadu premier League and Karnataka Premier league where cities of that region play each other. Imagine Sindh having a league of its own with teams like Larkana, Hyderabad, Rahim Yar Khan etc.

This a good example of functioning tier system.

 

[Abid Z]

PSL has not given us a single technically equipped batsman in its entire existence.

That’s the story of pak cricket in general. There are very few technically correct batsmen in Pakistan history. Perhaps majid khan but nobody else I can think of. Definitely not younis or yousuf or even inzi.

 

[MMHS]

I was about to give a serious reply to your rant but then i read the last line and it completely floored me. Prove me wrong on this one, our hockey was decimated because of self annointed and self appointed saviors like birg musarratullah and avm farooq umar. Gen zia was in the same vein. Self glorifying two bit bumbling idiots suffering from delusions of their importance and wreaking havoc on sports with which their only linkage should be one of a fan boy. Tauqir zia, that idiot was so out of touch that he picked consultants and coach anyone he listened to on the tv as a commentator.....Remember Geoff bycott being being hired as a consultant? When did boycott ever do any coaching....

Now since i chose to reply, where are you pulling out this 1000 number from? Sir, i played club cricket, and i would repeat that i can need only one hand to count number of bonafide clubs in lahore, in fact i would say that this was the case even in 90s and late 80s when in lahore clubs were producing proper FC and international stars.

As for you the saeed anwar bit, i like the joke, you picked one example and used it for broad generalization. What about the steady pipeline of proper internationals our FC system produced in 80s and 90s?

Now 4th para, again you don't know what you are talking about. Fazal mehmood played amateur league in late 50s, he was a matte wicket giant and thats about it, Kardar did play 2-3 seasons of county but kardar's contribution is a myth, khan mohammad, did he even play county cricket? Rest of the para makes funny reading and to me its just a big rant on brown hating not being good for anything?

I haven't played Club cricket in PAK, but I actually have hired club cricketers from PAK - quite few of them - quite value for money for 35-40 overs tournaments, which probably gives me a little credibility to answer.

You haven't surprised me at all here - what a random club cricketer, I have heard former PAK international for 2 decades open mouth and half of what comes out is comic relief, rest half is pure rant - self proclaimed prophecy, so I am not surprised at all. Do you know what is your problem - self obsession, you are within your own world and that's the ultimate truth. You are criticizing any change, because that's unknown to you and you don't have the vision to look beyond your horizon.

Let me answer your notes here - that 1,000 number came with a word "even" in front, and to know where it came from, may be you can read back your last post. The Saeed Anwar part obviously went above head, so won't explain but I'll focus on the other part - today PAK has even more "proper" FC stars, roughly 600 every years and they have quite good stats as well - like Fawad averaging 58, Sadaf 18 with ball, Hamza 19, Amin 40+, Awais Zia ...... obviously, number of FC players isn't any issue here. And, whoever plays International cricket is a star, even bigger star if it's for PAK, because after Hockey, Squash, Volleyball, Cue sports and contact sports - only cricket is left for 23 crore people ... problem is the star quality though.

Coming to Fazal Mahmood - I guess this Bangladeshi guy has lot more respect for him than some of his natives... apart from coir matted wickets, that guy once took 12 for 99 at Oval, against a line-up that read Len Hutton, Reg Simpson, Peter May, Denis Compton, Tom Graveney & Godfrey Evans in top 6 ... probably he wasn't a midget on turf either and I do know a bit of what I am talking about - you better listen. You haven't notice in my post that I did mention County & Club cricket - and yes, I do rate Division 2 of Lancashire or Birmingham league much, much higher than the FC cricket that PCB arranges. You probably don't know - Khan Mohammed qualified for England, played for Somerset as well, in 1951 - but he decided to leave County so that he could represent PAK. Ironically, he played in that 1954 Series for one team, when he could have debuted for the other as well - and got Len Hutton bowled for a duck, one rare feature in cricket history.

Kardar played at Oxford & Warwickshire - not sure how much cricket he learned there, but what he learned was Cricket management & administration, which earned PAK a history that probably won't ever be matched by anyone - best first decade by a debutante nation. And, that served PAK cricket for 20 more years after retirement. Kardar's biggest contribution to PAK cricket was his contact, which allowed several young PAK players to enter in English soil for summer cricket .... some thing stopped in late 1990s.

Coming to hockey again - if you think that one "self annointed and self appointed saviors" can bring an once invincible team into minnow level just about few years office, then probably no explanation will penetrate your skull. Geoff Boycott has been involved for Yorkshire cricket for 6 decades now - I guess he isn't that bad a consultant than the side kicks of C grade Bollywood heroes in D grade movies, now PCB is trying. He has written that many books on Cricket techniques, management, administration & skill development, which you won't be able to finish reading in one life. And yes, Geoff Boycott was appointed as one of the most prestigious position in English Cricket establishment - President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Do a self study on what is Yorkshire CCC, in English cricket history.

This guy Wasim Khan got a highest profile job in one of UK's elite institutions on his on merit, despite his skin color and religion - instead of criticizing him just for the sake of it, first try to realize that what is running now isn't working - a change is required. Move out of this superiority complex - this attitude has pulled you guys down, and digging into deeper & deeper, not only in cricket. There is a world outside your knowledge, start to recognize it and compare where you are without your arrogant glass. Cricket is a dying game in most part of the world, but not in your neighborhood - in just 2 decades time IND has leap frog-ed you by some distance from behind, Bangladesh has got you in sight from a light years distance just about 10-12 years back and even AFGs are unfortunate to lose these days for couple of tight calls ..... if it's not the time to be humble, I don't think you'll learn ever. And please, next time, before running mouth, do proper home work - you are handling an awkward customer here.

 

[muqarrab]

I haven't played Club cricket in PAK, but I actually have hired club cricketers from PAK - quite few of them - quite value for money for 35-40 overs tournaments, which probably gives me a little credibility to answer.

You haven't surprised me at all here - what a random club cricketer, I have heard former PAK international for 2 decades open mouth and half of what comes out is comic relief, rest half is pure rant - self proclaimed prophecy, so I am not surprised at all. Do you know what is your problem - self obsession, you are within your own world and that's the ultimate truth. You are criticizing any change, because that's unknown to you and you don't have the vision to look beyond your horizon.

Let me answer your notes here - that 1,000 number came with a word "even" in front, and to know where it came from, may be you can read back your last post. The Saeed Anwar part obviously went above head, so won't explain but I'll focus on the other part - today PAK has even more "proper" FC stars, roughly 600 every years and they have quite good stats as well - like Fawad averaging 58, Sadaf 18 with ball, Hamza 19, Amin 40+, Awais Zia ...... obviously, number of FC players isn't any issue here. And, whoever plays International cricket is a star, even bigger star if it's for PAK, because after Hockey, Squash, Volleyball, Cue sports and contact sports - only cricket is left for 23 crore people ... problem is the star quality though.

Coming to Fazal Mahmood - I guess this Bangladeshi guy has lot more respect for him than some of his natives... apart from coir matted wickets, that guy once took 12 for 99 at Oval, against a line-up that read Len Hutton, Reg Simpson, Peter May, Denis Compton, Tom Graveney & Godfrey Evans in top 6 ... probably he wasn't a midget on turf either and I do know a bit of what I am talking about - you better listen. You haven't notice in my post that I did mention County & Club cricket - and yes, I do rate Division 2 of Lancashire or Birmingham league much, much higher than the FC cricket that PCB arranges. You probably don't know - Khan Mohammed qualified for England, played for Somerset as well, in 1951 - but he decided to leave County so that he could represent PAK. Ironically, he played in that 1954 Series for one team, when he could have debuted for the other as well - and got Len Hutton bowled for a duck, one rare feature in cricket history.

Kardar played at Oxford & Warwickshire - not sure how much cricket he learned there, but what he learned was Cricket management & administration, which earned PAK a history that probably won't ever be matched by anyone - best first decade by a debutante nation. And, that served PAK cricket for 20 more years after retirement. Kardar's biggest contribution to PAK cricket was his contact, which allowed several young PAK players to enter in English soil for summer cricket .... some thing stopped in late 1990s.

Coming to hockey again - if you think that one "self annointed and self appointed saviors" can bring an once invincible team into minnow level just about few years office, then probably no explanation will penetrate your skull. Geoff Boycott has been involved for Yorkshire cricket for 6 decades now - I guess he isn't that bad a consultant than the side kicks of C grade Bollywood heroes in D grade movies, now PCB is trying. He has written that many books on Cricket techniques, management, administration & skill development, which you won't be able to finish reading in one life. And yes, Geoff Boycott was appointed as one of the most prestigious position in English Cricket establishment - President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Do a self study on what is Yorkshire CCC, in English cricket history.

This guy Wasim Khan got a highest profile job in one of UK's elite institutions on his on merit, despite his skin color and religion - instead of criticizing him just for the sake of it, first try to realize that what is running now isn't working - a change is required. Move out of this superiority complex - this attitude has pulled you guys down, and digging into deeper & deeper, not only in cricket. There is a world outside your knowledge, start to recognize it and compare where you are without your arrogant glass. Cricket is a dying game in most part of the world, but not in your neighborhood - in just 2 decades time IND has leap frog-ed you by some distance from behind, Bangladesh has got you in sight from a light years distance just about 10-12 years back and even AFGs are unfortunate to lose these days for couple of tight calls ..... if it's not the time to be humble, I don't think you'll learn ever. And please, next time, before running mouth, do proper home work - you are handling an awkward customer here.

Sir, I am not a random club cricket by any means, also doling out money to random people doesn't make you an authority by any means. Read your post again, and tell me if it is anything except a rant?

Your third para about star quality, is quite astounding, what exactly do you mean? Have you toiled in dust day in and day out like fawad alam? Why are you so enamored by stars? Do you miss saeed anwar? What is your point here, do you even have a point? Also, anyone who rates lower leagues of england is either lying or he has never seen a lower league game in real life.

I don't see a point of basking in nostalgia on fazal mehmood or khan mohammad, they were good pakistani sportman and thats it. As for kardar, which management skills are you talking about? Same skills that were not able to handle multiple player uprisings, i.e. when the same skillset was the very root cause of those uprisings.

Could you tell me what was musarratullah and avm farooq umatr's contribution to hockey? Why the stuck around like abad stench untill they had completely decimated phf? You using terms like penetrating in skulls makes me want to think about ur own training, calm down mate, no need to get so antsy. These two put public employees had no business runnings a sport, just like tauqir zia, and now that they have done their bit, more than a bit actually, then they are nowhere to be seen. I am not a mohsin khan fan, i agree with you, but same holds for geoff boycott. Namedropping yorkshire won't help here, how many other teams employed boycot as a consultant or a coach? Tauqir the two bit general hired him because he loved how boycott commentated on tv, thats it. Tells you all you want to know abt our saviors....

I like wasim khan's appointment, don't have a problem here. You have literally done a mic drop in your own head, good for you, i am not handling an awkward customer, i know exactly what i am handling, some of the phrases you have used tells me all i need to known about you.

 

[Karachi]

Sounds good.

Until you realize that the 6 teams will be filled with powerful domestic bullies and TTFs, who are not international quality and have no future.

Kami
Fawad Alam
Ehsan Adil
Sadaf
Bhatti
Anwar Ali
Nawaz
Junaid Khan
Gul
Salman Butt
Rizwan

This is just a small list, many more mediocre TTFs will fill the teams.

At max, you will see 1 or 2 new good potential prospects.

I am surprised you have Fawad Alam in there. He was the water and towel boy during Malik Captaincy.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Six teams are not the be-all end-all.

If in the future, there is overwhelming talent coming through that six teams aren't enough to give everyone a fair opportunity, that's when you expand the league. Every great league today in any sport went through this process.

Not to mention, it'll be difficult enough to find sponsors for six teams, forget starting with 10 or more.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Sounds good.

Until you realize that the 6 teams will be filled with powerful domestic bullies and TTFs, who are not international quality and have no future.

Kami
Fawad Alam
Ehsan Adil
Sadaf
Bhatti
Anwar Ali
Nawaz
Junaid Khan
Gul
Salman Butt
Rizwan

This is just a small list, many more mediocre TTFs will fill the teams.

At max, you will see 1 or 2 new good potential prospects.

PSL started the same way and now we've seen most of them get phased out. With fewer teams, the spotlight is bigger. It'll be easier to identify which team is full of nepotism and their results will show.

 

[sunnykhan]

It's good system, it would mean unfit, talentless hacks like Shahzaib Hasan will fade away rather than hogging a spot.

lol. Can you just try? I'm sure you can come up with something better?

Shahzaib was a part of the pentangular cups played which means he was already in the top 75 players in the country which means he would still be part of this current set up IF he was playing.

 

[Imr4n_Khan]

when will this new setup be implemented?

 

[ask_analyse_act]

PCB and the way Pakistan Cricket is merely a reflection of how the rest of the Pakistani society is run and managed.

You can change the system but endemic and cancerous problems will remain.

You can change it to departmental OR non-departmental, 20 teams to two tiers of 6 teams but unless and until the corruption and nepotism is rooted out the improvement (if any) will just be superficial.

(Ex-Pakistan) players like Kamran Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad and even current ones like Hafeez have powerful backers who will back them and they will appear in a WAPDA team or Lahore team, the jerseys change but the players will not.

Shakeel Shaikh and others will find a way to infect the system doesn’t matter if it’s PIA or Punjab.

If the corruption or nepotism is not rooted out and eliminated, these same cancerous agents will infect the system.

The new system may work find in the short term and it will be hailed as success but it will be successful because the setting of infection will take time. In a few seasons, marginal improvements may be visible but the livelihood of many (honest and sincere) players will be taken away.
PSL is franchise based but do you see honest ability based selections across all PSL teams OR do you see Asad Ahafiq and Anwar Ali playing? On paper, PSL is a purely commercial entity and it should be competitive, fair and equitable, BUT is it?

So what makes everyone think that restructuring (and removing departmental) Cricket will be any different?

Pakistan is not Australia! The population of Pakistan is massive, the opportunities to earn a living are severely limited and career opportunities for professional sportsman (outside of National) setup are non-existent. There is a reason why retired and discarded (Ex) players try to cling to power and crave for attention? They have nothing else to do and no other way to stay relevant or earn a living.

In Australia, a player (young or old) has real and genuine career choices, what choice does Abdur-Razzaq has? He has no choice but to issue absurd and controversial statements and try to relevant, it’s his only livelihood.

Instead of biting off this big chunk of restructuring, Wasim Khan should have made small changes such as:

1. Increasing the flow of money into lower tiers of Pakistan Domestic Cricket

2. Introduce professionalism and Coaching at lower tiers

3. Improve the quality of balls and pitches

Wasim Khan and others have decided to make big headline changes and I hope (for the sake of Pakistan cricket) this works.

But don’t expect quick results but it will take a few years to rip out the remnants of the old system and for the new one to bed in.

From a Business Management point of view, I think these changes are too big. Wasim Khan only has a year or two to make this work and there is a cabal of leeches whose power is being challenged, they have every incentive to make this fail!

Totally agree... Big changes have tasted failure more often than a gradual change because it takes ages to earn decent results...

 

[Mean&Green]

Don't forget Khan Research Laboratories

I remember when Bumble used to bring it up and everyone in the comm. box would start cracking up lool.

Those good old days when razzaq and afridi and collingwood use to play damnnn we actually had hitters

 

[Shafi]

when will this new setup be implemented?

September!!!!!!

 

[Saj]

6 teams, 10 teams, 12 teams or 20 teams - it will not make any difference until the parasites that are sat behind desks doing nothing are weeded out and removed.

Officials in regions doing nothing, PCB officials sat in key roles doing nothing - this needs to be sorted out as a matter of priority. It has started but there is still a long way to go.

 

[Bewal Express]

6 teams, 10 teams, 12 teams or 20 teams - it will not make any difference until the parasites that are sat behind desks doing nothing are weeded out and removed.

Officials in regions doing nothing, PCB officials sat in key roles doing nothing - this needs to be sorted out as a matter of priority. It has started but there is still a long way to go.

Its a cultural thing where a govt job means you do nothing. Its not just cricket officials, some Doctors also do it.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Those good old days when razzaq and afridi and collingwood use to play damnnn we actually had hitters

Those were the times when we were screaming for a good top and middle order accumulators. Players who can score.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Its a cultural thing where a govt job means you do nothing. Its not just cricket officials, some Doctors also do it.

Govt. Job is a dream for some people. Because mostly have to just sit or even absent at times, but you will still get that pay check in time.

 

[Savak]

6 teams, 10 teams, 12 teams or 20 teams - it will not make any difference until the parasites that are sat behind desks doing nothing are weeded out and removed.

Officials in regions doing nothing, PCB officials sat in key roles doing nothing - this needs to be sorted out as a matter of priority. It has started but there is still a long way to go.

It doesn't help when you have people in the media lobbying for departments, saying naukria Ja rahee hain, the pcb is getting downsized and where the focus is not on whether are people being let go because they were just thoroughly incompetent

 

[mastermind_quad]

The 6 team regional domestic structure has a base of inter-city structure, so say in the Punjab region teams like Lahore, Pindi, Multan etc etc etc will be competing and the best players from this second tier will be feeding the Punjab side. Wasim Khan delineated the full structure in an interview a while back. The only similarity it has with shield is that both have six teams. That's it.

Not sure what but something is not looking right for this new setup.

This will be successful in a very professional setup/environment.

I read lots of very good responses in this thread regarding new setup but still it doesn't sound very good. Same set of people will manage this and I am not ready to believe that they will do good. Anyways I hope best for Pakistan cricket as a good Pakistan team is required for international Cricket setup we as a cricket fan cannot afford another WI or SL.

I still think there should be at least 8 main teams with home and away 4 day format.

 

[Boi]

This is going to be a disaster if players aren’t selected on merit and young talent gets ignored.

 

[Mean&Green]

Those were the times when we were screaming for a good top and middle order accumulators. Players who can score.

Man I was very young at the time I didn’t care about all that stuff we actually had a team actual superstars it was an entertaining and amazing team you could easily expect them to win rana naved asif Akhtar yousuf Inzi afridi razzaq all amazing players now we have duds and scrawny little guys

 

[Markhor]

TUC Biscuits and Tapal Tea (what a combination) will be sponsoring the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy this season in addition to the National T20. Tapal Tea infact will also sponsor the Pakistan Cup.

This is excellent news, and hopefully will reduce some of PCB's operating costs for domestic cricket. However the big challenge is getting each Cricket Association a sponsor.

 

[Markhor]

Another thing, youngsters are shining in this new format contrary to those fears in a six team competition they would not get any opportunities.

If anything with only six teams now, there's much greater onus on the coaches to pick youth and move the veterans on.

 

[Savak]

TUC Biscuits and Tapal Tea (what a combination) will be sponsoring the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy this season in addition to the National T20. Tapal Tea infact will also sponsor the Pakistan Cup.

This is excellent news, and hopefully will reduce some of PCB's operating costs for domestic cricket. However the big challenge is getting each Cricket Association a sponsor.

I doubt whether these entities will have the capacity to sponsor significantly

 

[shamaan]

Another thing, youngsters are shining in this new format contrary to those fears in a six team competition they would not get any opportunities.

If anything with only six teams now, there's much greater onus on the coaches to pick youth and move the veterans on.

Yes but some teams yet to provide youngesters will a chance only nothern and central have given full opportunities to youngesters

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Can someone PLEASE given an overview of how the new domestic structure is working out so far?

I know early days but:

1. Are the matches more competitive?
2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?
3. Do players like it?
4. Is it nepotism free?
5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

Most importantly, is it looking like it can lead to good things for Pakistan in the future/

 

[Bewal Express]

Can someone PLEASE given an overview of how the new domestic structure is working out so far?

I know early days but:

1. Are the matches more competitive?
2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?
3. Do players like it?
4. Is it nepotism free?
5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

Most importantly, is it looking like it can lead to good things for Pakistan in the future/

At least one is being televised each round and the ones i have seen are of a decent quality. The matches are definitely of higher quality than the rubbish that proceeded it for the last few decades. As the teams are pretty well matched, the matches i have seen are very competitive as non of the players are getting a free ride anymore. The players definitely dont like the new structure because the free meal tickets from the banks etc have gone. Overall a positive start.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Can someone PLEASE given an overview of how the new domestic structure is working out so far?

I know early days but:

1. Are the matches more competitive?
2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?
3. Do players like it?
4. Is it nepotism free?
5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

Most importantly, is it looking like it can lead to good things for Pakistan in the future/

1. Are the matches more competitive?

Definitely yes. Many second XI performers struggle a little bit when playing for the first XI - case in point is Abrar Ahmed who was taking wickets for fun in the second XI, and is still doing well but has a much stiffer challenge and has to work a lot harder for his wickets. In the previous system, he might have been topping the charts without an easy way to distinguish quality because of inflated stats. Most games are very well fought, and a brand of result oriented cricket is seen which is great to see. There is balance between bat and ball. Even year on year, the system continues to improve:



2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?

Yes - the best part of the system is that three rungs have been set up. U19 feeds into second XI, second XI feeds into first XI. In the previous system, most teams would remain stagnant for the most part, but suddenly there is a real sense of momentum. If you are performing, you will be promoted to the first XI, and if you are not performing, there is a youngster ready to take your place. Note how Omair bin Yousuf, Ali Zaryab, Saif Badar, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Munir Riaz, Nasir Nawaz, and more have been given good long runs and cemented their places as consistent young performers and even supporting backbones of their sides.
3. Do players like it?

The performers love it. The non-performers... well one of them is leaving for the United States.

4. Is it nepotism free?

Difficult to say, but it seems largely clean. Obviously there will always be one or two questionable selections, but I think halfway through the season most fans are decently happy with selection compared to the beginning of the season or to last season. The reason is because genuine talent simply cannot be repressed in this system, and it ends up bubbling to the top. The nepotistic products are quickly highlighted as non-performers because of the increased quality of opposition (batsmen get out quickly if they’re not good and bowlers are smashed).

5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

90-150k people tune in every day to YouTube for the live coverage over an 8 hour period. Around 20k people regularly tune in for short highlights packages (7 mins) daily, and 5k people on average every day watch the full highlights packages (25 mins). Aside from these, PCB uploads around 10 other videos on a daily basis of interviews, individual player highlights, etc. These each get 1k views roughly. Add all of this up and you get something like 125-185k views a day across all videos.

This does not include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook views (if I am wrong someone can correct me) and also does not include PTV numbers which I suppose only PTV and the PCB can provide.

And lastly yes, I believe this is the future of Pakistan cricket.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

1. Are the matches more competitive?

Definitely yes. Many second XI performers struggle a little bit when playing for the first XI - case in point is Abrar Ahmed who was taking wickets for fun in the second XI, and is still doing well but has a much stiffer challenge and has to work a lot harder for his wickets. In the previous system, he might have been topping the charts without an easy way to distinguish quality because of inflated stats. Most games are very well fought, and a brand of result oriented cricket is seen which is great to see. There is balance between bat and ball. Even year on year, the system continues to improve:

View attachment 104981

2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?

Yes - the best part of the system is that three rungs have been set up. U19 feeds into second XI, second XI feeds into first XI. In the previous system, most teams would remain stagnant for the most part, but suddenly there is a real sense of momentum. If you are performing, you will be promoted to the first XI, and if you are not performing, there is a youngster ready to take your place. Note how Omair bin Yousuf, Ali Zaryab, Saif Badar, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Munir Riaz, Nasir Nawaz, and more have been given good long runs and cemented their places as consistent young performers and even supporting backbones of their sides.
3. Do players like it?

The performers love it. The non-performers... well one of them is leaving for the United States.

4. Is it nepotism free?

Difficult to say, but it seems largely clean. Obviously there will always be one or two questionable selections, but I think halfway through the season most fans are decently happy with selection compared to the beginning of the season or to last season. The reason is because genuine talent simply cannot be repressed in this system, and it ends up bubbling to the top. The nepotistic products are quickly highlighted as non-performers because of the increased quality of opposition (batsmen get out quickly if they’re not good and bowlers are smashed).

5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

90-150k people tune in every day to YouTube for the live coverage over an 8 hour period. Around 20k people regularly tune in for short highlights packages (7 mins) daily, and 5k people on average every day watch the full highlights packages (25 mins). Aside from these, PCB uploads around 10 other videos on a daily basis of interviews, individual player highlights, etc. These each get 1k views roughly. Add all of this up and you get something like 125-185k views a day across all videos.

This does not include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook views (if I am wrong someone can correct me) and also does not include PTV numbers which I suppose only PTV and the PCB can provide.

And lastly yes, I believe this is the future of Pakistan cricket.

Wow thank you

This is a ringing endorsement. Thanks for taking the time.

From the highlights, I see the quality of cricket coverage/ground being high class and passion on players faces.

Any other perspectives?

 

[KoyoAli]

Wow thank you ��

This is a ringing endorsement. Thanks for taking the time.

From the highlights, I see the quality of cricket coverage/ground being high class and passion on players faces.

Any other perspectives?

Yes, I would definitely say that the new system has so far been a ringing success. Just in the span of one season many of the domestic giants that have hogged places in their teams for years are now being successfully phased out while new and exciting talent has made its way up to First 11. Matches are quite competitive and interesting to watch. I have ben following domestic cricket for some years and never have I actually enjoyed the games as much. Case in point during multiple times in the Pak vs Zim series I found myself watching QeA instead. In the past, I wouldn't even know the names of the players playing. I think the structure will only shine more an more with time as most non-performers get phased out and these young players cement themselves in the Domestic teams. With school and city association cricket also starting soon hopefully we will have a very established factory that will churn out seasoned professionals, Inshallah.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Yes, I would definitely say that the new system has so far been a ringing success. Just in the span of one season many of the domestic giants that have hogged places in their teams for years are now being successfully phased out while new and exciting talent has made its way up to First 11. Matches are quite competitive and interesting to watch. I have ben following domestic cricket for some years and never have I actually enjoyed the games as much. Case in point during multiple times in the Pak vs Zim series I found myself watching QeA instead. In the past, I wouldn't even know the names of the players playing. I think the structure will only shine more an more with time as most non-performers get phased out and these young players cement themselves in the Domestic teams. With school and city association cricket also starting soon hopefully we will have a very established factory that will churn out seasoned professionals, Inshallah.

This is good to hear. Of course the proof of the product will probably be in a few year's time - but the sooner new promising talent emerges, the better it will be for Pakistan. Looking at the likes of Dhani and Tabish (maybe too late for him) gives me hope - rather than watching Sohail Tanvir day in and day out in every possible iteration of a tournament.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

This is good to hear. Of course the proof of the product will probably be in a few year's time - but the sooner new promising talent emerges, the better it will be for Pakistan. Looking at the likes of Dhani and Tabish (maybe too late for him) gives me hope - rather than watching Sohail Tanvir day in and day out in every possible iteration of a tournament.

Actually, you did well to bring up Tabish Khan. We really had no idea of his quality because he was running though first/second string mixed batting lineups like crazy with a Dukes ball on underprepared tracks.

We were told he didn’t have that “x factor”, hence never selected for the national team, and we had no choice but to believe them since we couldn’t see him bowl against better batsmen, and in a system where it’s difficult to distinguish between people due to inflated stats, you’re forced to rely on “x factor”. Okay, both Imran Khan and Tabish Khan are taking a lot of wickets, so I’ll just go for the one who seems to have “it” about him (I’ll go for the one I like more).

It’s much more difficult to do that as an Inzi or Misbah now. Everyone can see exactly who the minnow bashers are, and who maintains form to top the charts in a shortened pool. Those individual performances now mean twice as much as they did a few years ago. If you were to use an excel spreadsheet as Chief Selector, it still wouldn’t be perfect but it would reduce the margin of error two or three fold.

On the flipside, imagine Asad Shafiq bashing 19 and 20 year olds to come back into contention for the national team, versus his recent string of low scores including a 35 ball duck. If people like him are exposed before ever making it to international level, I would say our new system is a success.

 

[shah_1]

The main part of the system hasn't been launched. There is no city cricket

There has been no progress so far on this. Right now the system is bit like car without engine.

 

[MenInG]

The main part of the system hasn't been launched. There is no city cricket

There has been no progress so far on this. Right now the system is bit like car without engine.

From what Mohammad Waseem said in our interview with him, City cricket etc have been put on hold due to Covid-19 (logistics etc)

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Actually, you did well to bring up Tabish Khan. We really had no idea of his quality because he was running though first/second string mixed batting lineups like crazy with a Dukes ball on underprepared tracks.

We were told he didn’t have that “x factor”, hence never selected for the national team, and we had no choice but to believe them since we couldn’t see him bowl against better batsmen, and in a system where it’s difficult to distinguish between people due to inflated stats, you’re forced to rely on “x factor”. Okay, both Imran Khan and Tabish Khan are taking a lot of wickets, so I’ll just go for the one who seems to have “it” about him (I’ll go for the one I like more).

It’s much more difficult to do that as an Inzi or Misbah now. Everyone can see exactly who the minnow bashers are, and who maintains form to top the charts in a shortened pool. Those individual performances now mean twice as much as they did a few years ago. If you were to use an excel spreadsheet as Chief Selector, it still wouldn’t be perfect but it would reduce the margin of error two or three fold.

On the flipside, imagine Asad Shafiq bashing 19 and 20 year olds to come back into contention for the national team, versus his recent string of low scores including a 35 ball duck. If people like him are exposed before ever making it to international level, I would say our new system is a success.

I wonder what Fawad Alam's average would be in the new system. Hmmm...

 

[shah_1]

From what Mohammad Waseem said in our interview with him, City cricket etc have been put on hold due to Covid-19 (logistics etc)

Where is club registration and club elections, then city members selected. There has been zero progress. You can have 1000s of kids gather for open trial so it is a pathetic excuse by PCB.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Where is club registration and club elections, then city members selected. There has been zero progress. You can have 1000s of kids gather for open trial so it is a pathetic excuse by PCB.

You basically regurgitate everything that Rashid says.

 

[shah_1]

You basically regurgitate everything that Rashid says.

Is he wrong?

You don't need to listen to Rashid Latif to understand that grassroot cricket is the basic foundation of cricket ).

 

[Artaxerxes]

The new system will produce good crickters.At the moment there are still many mediocre
players in the first XIs.They will be replaced by talented cricketers once the system is fully
functional.At the moment now city associations have been established.This is due to covid-19
admin issues within pcb.

 

[shamaan]

The new system will produce good crickters.At the moment there are still many mediocre
players in the first XIs.They will be replaced by talented cricketers once the system is fully
functional.At the moment now city associations have been established.This is due to covid-19
admin issues within pcb.

But the first xi is starting to see some good youngesterscome throw after a year or two we will see were the system is at every system will have mediocre players in every country

 

[DarkKnight123]

The new system will produce good crickters.At the moment there are still many mediocre
players in the first XIs.They will be replaced by talented cricketers once the system is fully
functional.At the moment now city associations have been established.This is due to covid-19
admin issues within pcb.

In every system there will alwsays be mediocre players, as well as players that average 40 to 45 but never get selected. If you look at County cricket, there are many players in county teams that average 15 to 20 every yr but still play. But your absolutely right that there should be less mediocre players playing, which this system has already done and will continue too. The competition level and quality of cricket is just going to get higher and higher.

 

[CleverSir]

The success of the new domestic cricket system is crucial on Wasim Khan completing his contract (through spring of 2022) and agreeing to at least a 2 year extension to see it through to full implementation.

 

[Markhor]

Big news reported this week. The PCB have apparently found sponsors for all six regional associations !

Until now, the PCB have ran domestic cricket centrally from top to bottom, costing over Rs1bn, but these private sponsorships will ease the burden and lasts for 3 years. Announcement of adhoc associations will be on Feb 28th, the day after the Board of Governors meet.

Sindh's sponsorship has sold for Rs100mn, with KPK fetching a similar amount, Central Punjab going for Rs97mn and Kundi Construction bid Rs90mn for Northern. Balochistan went for Rs75mn. No number for Southern Punjab reported yet but they'll be taken over by Ali Tareen. (Media reports)

Now PCB must properly demarcate the powers and responsibilities between themselves and the private entities as FC cricket cannot be run like a PSL franchise. However for 20 years I've called for regional-based domestic cricket with private sponsors, and it's about to become reality. This would be a massive moment in our cricket history.

Once these six associations are formed, city and club cricket would restart under their auspices.

 

[Savak]

Big news reported this week. The PCB have apparently found sponsors for all six regional associations !

Until now, the PCB have ran domestic cricket centrally from top to bottom, costing over Rs1bn, but these private sponsorships will ease the burden and lasts for 3 years. Announcement of adhoc associations will be on Feb 28th, the day after the Board of Governors meet.

Sindh's sponsorship has sold for Rs100mn, with KPK fetching a similar amount, Central Punjab going for Rs97mn and Kundi Construction bid Rs90mn for Northern. Balochistan went for Rs75mn. No number for Southern Punjab reported yet but they'll be taken over by Ali Tareen.(Media reports)

Now PCB must properly demarcate the powers and responsibilities between themselves and the private entities as FC cricket cannot be run like a PSL franchise. However for 20 years I've called for regional-based domestic cricket with private sponsors, and it's about to become reality. This would be a massive moment in our cricket history.

Once these six associations are formed, city and club cricket would restart under their auspices.

The amounts are low but its a start

 

[shah_1]

The amounts are low but its a start

This deal depends whether sponsors or PCB will pay the players, kits, accommodation, daily allowance and food . The money is pretty much nothing if all is done by the PCB.

 

[Savak]

This deal depends whether sponsors or PCB will pay the players, kits, accommodation, daily allowance and food . The money is pretty much nothing if all is done by the PCB.

Rs 100 million should be more than enough to meet the expenses of 50-60 players and 10-20 officials in a region.

 

[shah_1]

Rs 100 million should be more than enough to meet the expenses of 50-60 players and 10-20 officials in a region.

I heard Rs 100 million is over 3 years, not annually. I might be wrong on this but this is what I read on twitter

 

[Savak]

I heard Rs 100 million is over 3 years, not annually. I might be wrong on this but this is what I read on twitter

Its actually approximately Rs 500 million plus over 3 years. Considering it was costing the PCB Rs 1 billion, this is actually not a bad deal. Plus if the PCB is projecting too make $200 million from their PCB deal alone in 3 years, they should have the funds now to really invest back into Pakistan Cricket.

 

[Golden arm]

1. Are the matches more competitive?

Definitely yes. Many second XI performers struggle a little bit when playing for the first XI - case in point is Abrar Ahmed who was taking wickets for fun in the second XI, and is still doing well but has a much stiffer challenge and has to work a lot harder for his wickets. In the previous system, he might have been topping the charts without an easy way to distinguish quality because of inflated stats. Most games are very well fought, and a brand of result oriented cricket is seen which is great to see. There is balance between bat and ball. Even year on year, the system continues to improve:

View attachment 104981

2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?

Yes - the best part of the system is that three rungs have been set up. U19 feeds into second XI, second XI feeds into first XI. In the previous system, most teams would remain stagnant for the most part, but suddenly there is a real sense of momentum. If you are performing, you will be promoted to the first XI, and if you are not performing, there is a youngster ready to take your place. Note how Omair bin Yousuf, Ali Zaryab, Saif Badar, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Munir Riaz, Nasir Nawaz, and more have been given good long runs and cemented their places as consistent young performers and even supporting backbones of their sides.
3. Do players like it?

The performers love it. The non-performers... well one of them is leaving for the United States.

4. Is it nepotism free?

Difficult to say, but it seems largely clean. Obviously there will always be one or two questionable selections, but I think halfway through the season most fans are decently happy with selection compared to the beginning of the season or to last season. The reason is because genuine talent simply cannot be repressed in this system, and it ends up bubbling to the top. The nepotistic products are quickly highlighted as non-performers because of the increased quality of opposition (batsmen get out quickly if they’re not good and bowlers are smashed).

5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

90-150k people tune in every day to YouTube for the live coverage over an 8 hour period. Around 20k people regularly tune in for short highlights packages (7 mins) daily, and 5k people on average every day watch the full highlights packages (25 mins). Aside from these, PCB uploads around 10 other videos on a daily basis of interviews, individual player highlights, etc. These each get 1k views roughly. Add all of this up and you get something like 125-185k views a day across all videos.

This does not include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook views (if I am wrong someone can correct me) and also does not include PTV numbers which I suppose only PTV and the PCB can provide.

And lastly yes, I believe this is the future of Pakistan cricket.

Excellent objective analysis and reply.well done mate.

 

[shah_1]

Its actually approximately Rs 500 million plus over 3 years. Considering it was costing the PCB Rs 1 billion, this is actually not a bad deal. Plus if the PCB is projecting too make $200 million from their PCB deal alone in 3 years, they should have the funds now to really invest back into Pakistan Cricket.

1 billion per season so this makes almost 17% cost only to be recovered through sponsorship. It is not much

 

[Rellu_Katta]

1. Are the matches more competitive?

Definitely yes. Many second XI performers struggle a little bit when playing for the first XI - case in point is Abrar Ahmed who was taking wickets for fun in the second XI, and is still doing well but has a much stiffer challenge and has to work a lot harder for his wickets. In the previous system, he might have been topping the charts without an easy way to distinguish quality because of inflated stats. Most games are very well fought, and a brand of result oriented cricket is seen which is great to see. There is balance between bat and ball. Even year on year, the system continues to improve:

View attachment 104981

2. Is it providing opportunities to new talent?

Yes - the best part of the system is that three rungs have been set up. U19 feeds into second XI, second XI feeds into first XI. In the previous system, most teams would remain stagnant for the most part, but suddenly there is a real sense of momentum. If you are performing, you will be promoted to the first XI, and if you are not performing, there is a youngster ready to take your place. Note how Omair bin Yousuf, Ali Zaryab, Saif Badar, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Munir Riaz, Nasir Nawaz, and more have been given good long runs and cemented their places as consistent young performers and even supporting backbones of their sides.
3. Do players like it?

The performers love it. The non-performers... well one of them is leaving for the United States.

4. Is it nepotism free?

Difficult to say, but it seems largely clean. Obviously there will always be one or two questionable selections, but I think halfway through the season most fans are decently happy with selection compared to the beginning of the season or to last season. The reason is because genuine talent simply cannot be repressed in this system, and it ends up bubbling to the top. The nepotistic products are quickly highlighted as non-performers because of the increased quality of opposition (batsmen get out quickly if they’re not good and bowlers are smashed).

5. Any view of TV ratings? Domestic audience consumption?

90-150k people tune in every day to YouTube for the live coverage over an 8 hour period. Around 20k people regularly tune in for short highlights packages (7 mins) daily, and 5k people on average every day watch the full highlights packages (25 mins). Aside from these, PCB uploads around 10 other videos on a daily basis of interviews, individual player highlights, etc. These each get 1k views roughly. Add all of this up and you get something like 125-185k views a day across all videos.

This does not include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook views (if I am wrong someone can correct me) and also does not include PTV numbers which I suppose only PTV and the PCB can provide.

And lastly yes, I believe this is the future of Pakistan cricket.

sweet work ...... really love the tier system where players keep coming up from lower tier into the main team and. kicking out the non-performers

 

[Savak]

1 billion per season so this makes almost 17% cost only to be recovered through sponsorship. It is not much

The PCB is expecting to earn $67 million per year from the PCB deal which works out to Rs 10-11 billion per year.

 

[b.lesner]

Please change the names of some region to city who would support names like Northern.

Northern should be changed to Islamabad.

Central Punjab to Punjab and Add a Lahore team

Keep Sind and Add a karachi team

Keep South Punjab, KPK and Balochistan as it is

 

[shah_1]

The PCB is expecting to earn $67 million per year from the PCB deal which works out to Rs 10-11 billion per year.

Will get to know after this year end. They will release the balance sheet

 

[Majid Khan]

This is what they need to focus on to develop some “proper” cricketers , batsmen who can score 100s and bowlers who can take 5-fers.

Otherwise as far as T20/PSL cricket goes , I found a random video on YouTube the other day of some Pakistani celebrity cricket leave with guys like Hamayun Saeed, Adnan Siddiqui playing cricket , and there was a part of me thinking these guys could easily play PSL and score 20/30 runs and take 1 or 2 wickets we would not even notice they are part-timers compared to the new generation of so-called ‘professional’ players from Pakistan these days who despite all the talk about emerging talent, can barely score more then 25 runs or take a couple of wickets.

The problem is most of the young batsmen do not look like they have played enough first class cricket to develop their techniques and gained sufficient exposure to different conditions and wickets.

 

[MenInG]

LAHORE: The city administration claimed to have retrieved a cricket ground measuring 51 Kanals from a local cricket club and handed it over to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management on Sunday.

According to administration, the ground, situated near the Qaddafi Stadium, was being used by the club unlawfully since dissolution of the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA).

“The practice session of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches will be held in the ground we have retrieved from a local club,” Deputy Commissioner Mudassir Riaz Malik said in a press release here.

On the other hand, a source, terming the operation unlawful, said a case between the LCCA and Punjab Sports Board was pending decision in the court over the ownership of the ground. “The ground was rented by the local administration for a match on Sunday. The club management charged nothing from the administration for using the ground. But, later the administration took over the ground’s control,” the source told Dawn.

Meanwhile, the local administration also conducted operations against alleged land-grabbers in Dholanwal (Multan Road), Shanu Baba Chowk (New Defence Road), Bhupatian, Mauza Karbath and Dallu and retrieved state land measuring 60 kanals. “The market price of the retrieved land, including the LCCA ground, totals up to Rs10 billion, approximately,” said a press release.


Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2021

 

[Bigboii]

Please change the names of some region to city who would support names like Northern.

Northern should be changed to Islamabad.

Central Punjab to Punjab and Add a Lahore team

Keep Sind and Add a karachi team

Keep South Punjab, KPK and Balochistan as it is

8 teams make sense
Good idea but I think it should be a gradual process with 1 team added per 2 year