[REPORT] PCB to finish departmental cricket from next domestic season

[Abdullah719]

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to finish departmental cricket from next domestic season, sources confirmed ARYnews.

The PCB had assigned Task Force to address the issues in the domestic cricket and work for its betterment.

According to the sources, the first meeting of the task force committee held earlier to discuss different matters running at the domestic level.

All the members of the task force committee are on one page to finish departmental cricket to establish regions in a proper way.

The committee is expected to rope in the support of departments as well to bring a big change in domestic cricket.

The catch behind taking this decision is to lift the status of regions and provide the proper infrastructure.

The future of the departmental cricket is yet to be decided in the meeting of the PCB’s Board of Governors (BoG).

On the other hand, plenty of players will lose their jobs while it will also cause problems for umpires, match officials, groundsmen and many other people who are earning bread from it.

The sources also said that the PCB’s Director domestic cricket, Haroon Rasheed is also in favor of shutting down departmental cricket.

It is pertinent to mention here that this issue was also discussed in 2015 but due to the refusal of members of BoG it did not create much hype.

https://arysports.tv/pcb-finish-departmental-cricket-next-domestic-season/

 

[Markhor]

I'll believe it when I see it happen. Departments can still remain involved with the sport by sponsoring the regions.

Move to a competition based on 8-10 regional teams with flatter, more traditional SC pitches with Dukes ball and we'll see the standards improve.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

As it should be, department sponsors should sponsor the regional teams rather than have their own.

 

[Savak]

Departments should sponsor the regions, the departments can still employ the players and allow them to play for the regions they sponsor. It does not have to be this complicated. If intelligent minds come together, they can create a workable model. The PSL model should be adopted in our domestic cricket.

Create a local PSL 4 day tournament, a PSL One Day Tournament, a PSL T-20 league and model it like the county system where they are allowed 1-2 foreign hires per season.

 

[b.lesner]

I am 100% sure its Imran khan's plan as he was advocating it for long time

i hope all 18 regions are involved with top 10 qualifying for QAT and others playing grade 2 and also the talented missing out players from regions like karachi and lahore playing as guest player for other region to make a competitive competition

 

[Savak]

I am 100% sure its Imran khan's plan as he was advocating it for long time

i hope all 18 regions are involved with top 10 qualifying for QAT and others playing grade 2 and also the talented missing out players from regions like karachi and lahore playing as guest player for other region to make a competitive competition

It's sad that it took Imran Khan becoming PM to finally implement the regional cricket plan.

 

[Usman Chadda]

This is not going to go down too well with a lot of stake-holders in Pakistan cricket. Whether it’s good or bad, remains to be seen.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Don’t think that’s a good idea. The livelihoods of a lot of players depend on departmental cricket and we all know the situation in regional cricket. Instead of killing departmental cricket the government and the PCB should encourage the departments to provide permanent jobs to their players along with life and health insurances.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Don’t think that’s a good idea. The livelihoods of a lot of players depend on departmental cricket and we all know the situation in regional cricket. Instead of killing departmental cricket the government and the PCB should encourage the departments to provide permanent jobs to their players along with life and health insurances.

A lot of bloodsuckers in the domestic scene. Time to trim the fat.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

I’m also assuming that the move will be highly unconstitutional.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

A lot of bloodsuckers in the domestic scene. Time to trim the fat.

Care to be specific?

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

A lot of bloodsuckers in the domestic scene. Time to trim the fat.

Regional cricket at the moment is the real bloodsucker in domestic cricket. The regions are basically on the PCB’s paycheques whereas the departments spend millions every year from their own budget.

 

[Savak]

Don’t think that’s a good idea. The livelihoods of a lot of players depend on departmental cricket and we all know the situation in regional cricket. Instead of killing departmental cricket the government and the PCB should encourage the departments to provide permanent jobs to their players along with life and health insurances.

There should be give and take. Departments sponsor regions in exchange for sponsorship opportunities.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

As it should be, department sponsors should sponsor the regional teams rather than have their own.

Why would the departments sponsor any of the first class cricket when they know that there is little to no coverage in it for them? What would stop them from completely pulling out from the first class cricket?

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

There should be give and take. Departments sponsor regions in exchange for sponsorship opportunities.

See post #14.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

There should be give and take. Departments sponsor regions in exchange for sponsorship opportunities.

Plus, they’ll only end up competing for the title sponsorship of PSL and will be wary of sponsoring first class cricket because of the way they are being treated right now.

 

[Hawkeye]

Heh.

Nothing going good for domestic cricket.

 

[kamz]

if departmental cricket ends, who will pay the players.

Regional teams pay nothing or absolute peanuts.

All good to say to end departmental cricket, but every first class cricketer's first goal is to end up in a departmental team and have a consistent salary

 

[Savak]

if departmental cricket ends, who will pay the players.

Regional teams pay nothing or absolute peanuts.

All good to say to end departmental cricket, but every first class cricketer's first goal is to end up in a departmental team and have a consistent salary

I have seen first class cricketers lament that departments are no longer supporting players to the level they did in the 50's to 90's and that many departments are now no longer giving players permanent jobs, high paying jobs but short term jobs at lower pays and many players are also terminated after their cricketing careers are finished.

I don't understand what is so over complicated about giving departments ownership and a powerful stake in the region where they can continue to employ the players and run the region. The whole idea is to PSLize domesitc cricket to invite more fan interest where people will get exicted over Lahore vs Karachi as oppossed to PIA vs UBL.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Why would the departments sponsor any of the first class cricket when they know that there is little to no coverage in it for them? What would stop them from completely pulling out from the first class cricket?

What else will they do with all that spare advert cash lying around, let it go to waste?
Enlighten me if you wish

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Why would the departments sponsor any of the first class cricket when they know that there is little to no coverage in it for them? What would stop them from completely pulling out from the first class cricket?

I think the onus is on PCB to make regional cricket an attractive proposition. Means fewer, more competitive teams with real regional flavor, good pitches and outfield, outstanding stadium experience for spectators, good TV coverage and all the things that make domestic sport attractive in many countries of the world.

No rocket science this, just needs good people on it.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

What else will they do with all that spare advert cash lying around, let it go to waste?
Enlighten me if you wish

I don’t know, maybe sponsor some PSL teams where they will get a lot exposure?

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

I think the onus is on PCB to make regional cricket an attractive proposition. Means fewer, more competitive teams with real regional flavor, good pitches and outfield, outstanding stadium experience for spectators, good TV coverage and all the things that make domestic sport attractive in many countries of the world.

No rocket science this, just needs good people on it.

PCB is an incompetent organisation. Relying on them to get anything done is downright stupid and ridiculous.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

PCB is an incompetent organisation. Relying on them to get anything done is downright stupid and ridiculous.

Let's give the new administration time.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Just curious to know the names of the members associated with the task force.

 

[Shafi]

At the end of the day its all talk!!!!!

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Hopefully this goes through.

For a long time I've been calling for departments to sponsor regions instead of having their own team.

Hope this goes through.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

This could backfire if not done properly. Who will pay their salaries?

It will be more competitive but there will be other structural issues. Basically it will be the Pentangular Cup but spread over a longer period.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

This could backfire if not done properly. Who will pay their salaries?

It will be more competitive but there will be other structural issues. Basically it will be the Pentangular Cup but spread over a longer period.

There will be no guarantee that it will be competitive. Shakil Shaikhs of the regions could induct as many relatives into their regional teams with impunity. At least in the departments, barring a few, there is a semblance of check and balance.

 

[Major]

It took years in forming the sngpl team. They have great players dominating this league.

Now mani saab is going to destroy it all.

Departments are needes they not only provide jobs and better pay but saves players from the regional politics.

Regions like rawalpindi they select players based on votes not player talent or performance.

If they want the vote of a certain club they will select his player and forego a better one

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

There will be no guarantee that it will be competitive. Shakil Shaikhs of the regions could induct as many relatives into their regional teams with impunity. At least in the departments, barring a few, there is a semblance of check and balance.

True. Not sure if it will help to have a division B so that everyone gets some games at the least.

There are many issues so they will have to think it through.

 

[MMHS]

I don't think, finishing Departmental teams is a good idea. Departments have carried PAK cricket for so many years, they should definitely be part of that revamp. I think, there are over 500 players play at top level in PAK every season and majority of these players are paid by departments. If they want to accommodate all 500+ players in several regional teams, don't think anything improves from what is going on now, still Saad Altaf will take 16 wickets in one game or Shahzar will score 265.

PAK's problem is not Departmental teams, rather too many teams/players in a flat structure, which doesn't help much it terms of quality. This problem won't be solved just by replacing Departments with regional names, keeping the model similar. Also, I read ideas about Department sponsoring regional teams - noble idea, but how many? 500+ players can't be paid/accommodated by 8 teams; or quality can't be maintained with 32 teams FC tournament, where some department sponsors some regional name.

Next idea I read is making multiple divisions - say 3 Divisions with 12 regional teams each. Still same problem will persist - that's spreading out talent rather than accumulating top talents, to increase quality. At present, I think similar something is running with "qualifiers" for FC cricket and then allowing few players to change teams, after qualifying rounds. This is probably even worse considering that this system encourages nepotism & deprives younger players, while at mass level still quality remains poor.

PAK being a country of 23 crore cricket mad population, restricting cricket into only 8 teams and may be 150 players is extremely difficult & risky as well. If we consider financial security of top players, then probably through central contracts & PSL (& other PL & SLs), top 50-60 players are already served reasonably. It's not what should be target, rather what should be is to ensure a decent earning for the lower tier players as well - that's last 400 of top 500 in county, so that it creates a professional player class, who can focus only on cricket for best part of 25 years.

So, it's a catch 22 situation - to improve quality & competitiveness, it has to be a pyramid structure and top talents have to be accumulated in top tier with maximum 8 teams in it; at the same time at least 4 times more players have to be accommodated for the game to continue by generations. Cricket is not a circus that training few jugglers & clowns can run the business for decades. Game has to move on as a life cycle - new players pushing the old one to make their space, and only the best survives in top tier for long.

Departmental teams already have an infrastructure & established cricket culture with a career path for their players, I don't think scrapping that all together is feasible, neither necessary. Under current circumstance, I think only viable solution is a hybrid system, where both coexists without overlapping each others. In any pyramid system, always higher numbers of smaller units accumulate into a higher tier unit, and PCB's initial thought is probably the smaller units also has to be geographically defined, which I don't think is necessary.

I can draw a scenario with hypothetical numbers here. If I take a number of 32 Corporate teams (from QeA & Patrons Trophy), and we need to club them in 8 Zonal teams. At present probably these 32 are together competing with 18 regional teams through qualifiers & non FC tournaments to reach QeA status. A hybrid system can be developed with 8 Regional/City Based teams/Brands covering whole country and all these corporate & zonal teams (18 in total, I believe) can be clubbed under these 8 top tier teams. Say roughly, every Region has about 4 Department/Corporate teams & 2-3 zonal teams as their shadow.

Two tier of cricket will run with lower tier (might be in several divisions with 8 -10 teams in every division and not FC/List A status), while the upper tier in National league (QeA Trophy) and both tier will run simultaneously. 8 top tier Regional teams will pull players from their lower tier for every round of FC game, that's about best 12-14 players from 6-7 teams clubbed under that region. Obviously for each of these 8 teams, may be 15 players will be given central contract - that's 120 players in total, but not necessarily they are assured of FC games - squad will be rotated between lower & upper tier depending on performance, fitness & availability.

So, for every round, on same day 4 FC games are starting within regional 8 Teams comprising best (or inform/performing) 100 players; and at same time may be 20 games starting at lower tier with 500 players missing out the top tier competition in multiple divisions. May be PCB can award top 2 of lower tier division also FC status, but not suggested - domestic numbers must have to have some significance in PAK cricket.

This is possible to implement with what already is running there. Instead of finishing Departments, rather what they'll need to do is to establish 8 brands in the name of region (but I prefer City), with 8 proper and independently functional cricket administration, and a defined "home" venue. Now, financially it's manageable for PCB to invest adequately to upgrade the infrastructure & facilities of these 8 stadiums to reach highest level. It's like 8 individual National team, with own Coaching staffs, selection panel & other support staffs, only difference is that, their domain is only those Departments & zones (Clubs as well) under them. For age level & school level tournaments, same structure remains.

Instead of Regional or provincial names, I like City based names for a diversified and a bit of divided society like PAK. We don't face such problems in BD much because of smaller area, same ethnicity (mostly) & one common language. But, instead of using names like Punjab or Sindh, probably using Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar is better for PAK, because those names emotionally attach people of the City (& surroundings) which is diversified with the team - there are millions of Punjabis & Pathans living in Karachi & vice verse at Lahore & Peshawar as well. When soccer started professionally 100+ years back, that time also they started teams with state/provincial names, but later gradually soccer has moved to city based names exactly for this reason. Today, Byarn represents the city of Munich not Bavarians only, or Barca doesn't represent only Catalans, or Sevile Andalusians or Milan for Lombardy ....

PCB's overall function remains same at policy level, and get involved in national interest, but at operational level, lots of authority is decentralized, with financial autonomy.

 

[Sadozai]

Instead of finishing Departments, rather what they'll need to do is to establish 8 brands in the name of region (but I prefer City), with 8 proper and independently functional cricket administration, and a defined "home" venue. Now, financially it's manageable for PCB to invest adequately to upgrade the infrastructure & facilities of these 8 stadiums to reach highest level. It's like 8 individual National team, with own Coaching staffs, selection panel & other support staffs, only difference is that, their domain is only those Departments & zones (Clubs as well) under them. For age level & school level tournaments, same structure remains.

PCB's overall function remains same at policy level, and get involved in national interest, but at operational level, lots of authority is decentralized, with financial autonomy.

I concur with this suggestion..

 

[shariqnoor]

You need a complete overhaul of the domestic system from top to bottom. Just changing the upper tier of cricket will not solve the problem.

This is how our domestic system should be:

1) School cricket:
Boys/girls up to age 17 should be playing a school cricket competition in their respective city. Just have one school competition in each city. For starters keep this limited to 10 cities. The champions of each city should play in an inter-city competition. This final inter-city competition should be financed and held under the patronage of the PCB.

2) University cricket:
Universities should award scholarships to top performing cricketers in the inter-school cricket championship. This would act as an incentive for school cricketers to not just be playing the cricket as a hobby but have a safety net that if the cricket career doesn't work out, they would still have a university to go to without worrying about the finances. First an intra-city cricket competition and then the champions from each city to play an inter-city university cricket championship. Again patronage must come from the PCB

3) Club cricket:
Best performers in the universities get selected by their respective city clubs. Have a premium club-level cricket championship. But this needs to come under the banner of the regional association (Sindh Cricket / Punjab Cricket / Balochistan Cricket etc). Much along the lines of what Australia has. They have all their state associations conducting this regional club cricket tournament, so for instance Victorian Premier Cricket is a club level competition where clubs from all cities of Victoria compete in, conducted by Cricket Victoria. Similarly Pakistan should have a Cricket Sindh association and they should conduct a tournament that has clubs from Karachi/Hyderabad/Sukkur etc playing in it.

4)First Class / List A:
Again the best performers in club cricket will then move on to the First Class / List A system. In this there will be 5/6 teams - one from each province and maybe GB/FATA team.

This will streamline the talent and only the best will move up a tier. You have to create a provincial cricket association first who conducts the affairs of cricket in its province. They should be the ones conducting regional tournaments. PCB should be like the federation in the center that gives out a part of its budget to provincial cricket association in running its affairs. Much like the NFC award.

I understand this would be something utopian in Pakistan right now but this is how you would ensure the best talent gets to play for Pakistan.

 

[MMHS]

I concur with this suggestion..

What about the rest part

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Watching the next generation of Pakistani batsmen in pentangular cup is a horrifying experience. Even an overhyped Saim Ayub turned out to be a dud.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Honestly it's the only way to bring structure to our domestic competition. I know there will be many downsides to this change but I hope the PCB goes through with it and also limits the number of domestic teams in QEA to 6 or 8. If they are interested in adding more teams then there must be divisions. And I'm guessing the plan will be to let departments sponsor regions? Only way I see how departments and PCB can continue their association.

 

[MenInG]

LAHORE - Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arif Ali Abbasi has urged the cricket board not to abolish departmental cricket as it will prove damaging for Pakistan cricket.

Talking to The Nation, Abbasi said if departmental cricketer is abolished, what will be alternative of it. “In every country, there is an economic system and its solution and departmental cricket is the best solution to Pakistan cricket, which can’t afford paying hefty amounts to the first class cricketers. It must continue so that the players may get jobs and play cricket freely without worrying about bread and butter for their families.

“The cricketing nations, which don’t have departmental cricket, have very strong socio-economical system and the players have social security benefits, that’s why they don’t prefer departmental cricket. But on the other hand, neither Pakistan nor its player can afford cricket without departments as they don’t have same facilities, which other strong cricketing nations’ players enjoy.

“For me, the PCB must continue with departmental cricket and instead they must improve their domestic structure, which will surely help not only in improving the standard of the game but also help the genuine and talented players earn the right of playing in the competitive domestic circuit and then book berth in the national team by giving out their best,” he added.

The former PCB CEO said that the non-technocrats in the board have destroyed Pakistan cricket, which needs drastic changes to improve its standard as per international level. “Pakistan once used to have one of the best domestic structures in the world, but unfortunately, the non-technocrats, who took over one after another, tried to copy the domestic structures of other countries and resultantly, they destroyed their own.

“It was all done deliberately just to hide their negligence, but they even didn’t know how to copy others and destroyed one of the best domestic structures of the world, due to which now Pakistan cricket has been suffering badly. An interesting thing, I want to mention here that, once Alan Smith asked me to give him in writing the promotion/demotion system of Pakistan domestic cricket and then he implemented it in England.

“Resultantly, former England captain Nasir Hossain had to play in Grade-II, as he was demoted from Grade-I to Grade-II due to his poor performance. And later, they kept on reaping fruits from our domestic structure, which they implemented in their country in true letter and spirit,” he added.

He said such was the standard of Pakistan domestic cricket that it was too tough to make it to the first class cricket and this was the major reason behind the success of our cricket. “The players used to work really hard and try to give out their best at this level, so that they may make way to the first class cricket, which, at that time, was very tough and challenging one and only the best performers used to be picked for the national team.

“In my era, a monitoring committee was formed to monitor first class cricket and they had no permission to interfere in the game as well as selection as their duty was just to monitor the players and to ensure fair and transparent selection. Now once again, we need to make such monitoring committees functional, which must ensure merit in the first class cricket. It will surely help in improving the standards of our domestic cricket.”

Criticizing the shorter format of the game, he said it always proved destructive for cricket. “India is the biggest reason behind this destruction as they started Indian Premier League, which is being blindly followed by other cricket-playing nations. For me, such format must not be in the ICC calendar, which has almost ruined the Test and One-Day cricket. “First Boycott raised voice against the shortest format and wanted it to be banned but nothing was done in this regard and this format has continuously started destroying the real cricket. Players are busy in playing different leagues throughout the year just to earn huge money in very short time and some prefer them to even their own national teams, which is highly unfortunate.”

About Pakistan Super League (PSL), he said that the PSL is also destroying Pakistan cricket. “Pakistan has luxurious grassroots talent, which if hunt and groomed with greater responsibility and given fair and transparent chances in highly-competitive first class cricket, they can become an asset of Pakistan cricket.”

https://nation.com.pk/24-Oct-2018/abbasi-urges-pcb-not-to-abolish-departmental-cricket

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Good points.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Good points by Arif. Department cricket khatam karo gai to players paisa kahan sai kamaye ga? This is not Aus or Eng. Mulk mai paisay hain nahi basic necessities k and implement krnay chalay hain western model. Also i wont mention the horrendrous politics of regions.

Players are earning their bread and butter from department cricket. There is a reason why Younis Khan sent on full strike mode when UBL announced they will finish UBL cricket department. Department khatam, players ki jobs khatam.

Agr kuch krna hai to improve domestic cricket and removing departments is not the answer.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Good points by Arif. Department cricket khatam karo gai to players paisa kahan sai kamaye ga? This is not Aus or Eng. Mulk mai paisay hain nahi basic necessities k and implement krnay chalay hain western model. Also i wont mention the horrendrous politics of regions.

Players are earning their bread and butter from department cricket. There is a reason why Younis Khan sent on full strike mode when UBL announced they will finish UBL cricket department. Department khatam, players ki jobs khatam.

Agr kuch krna hai to improve domestic cricket and removing departments is not the answer.

Start with firing the under 19 scouts. Talent on display is horrendous.

 

[MMHS]

LAHORE - Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arif Ali Abbasi has urged the cricket board not to abolish departmental cricket as it will prove damaging for Pakistan cricket.

Talking to The Nation, Abbasi said if departmental cricketer is abolished, what will be alternative of it. “In every country, there is an economic system and its solution and departmental cricket is the best solution to Pakistan cricket, which can’t afford paying hefty amounts to the first class cricketers. It must continue so that the players may get jobs and play cricket freely without worrying about bread and butter for their families.

“The cricketing nations, which don’t have departmental cricket, have very strong socio-economical system and the players have social security benefits, that’s why they don’t prefer departmental cricket. But on the other hand, neither Pakistan nor its player can afford cricket without departments as they don’t have same facilities, which other strong cricketing nations’ players enjoy.

“For me, the PCB must continue with departmental cricket and instead they must improve their domestic structure, which will surely help not only in improving the standard of the game but also help the genuine and talented players earn the right of playing in the competitive domestic circuit and then book berth in the national team by giving out their best,” he added.

The former PCB CEO said that the non-technocrats in the board have destroyed Pakistan cricket, which needs drastic changes to improve its standard as per international level. “Pakistan once used to have one of the best domestic structures in the world, but unfortunately, the non-technocrats, who took over one after another, tried to copy the domestic structures of other countries and resultantly, they destroyed their own.

“It was all done deliberately just to hide their negligence, but they even didn’t know how to copy others and destroyed one of the best domestic structures of the world, due to which now Pakistan cricket has been suffering badly. An interesting thing, I want to mention here that, once Alan Smith asked me to give him in writing the promotion/demotion system of Pakistan domestic cricket and then he implemented it in England.

“Resultantly, former England captain Nasir Hossain had to play in Grade-II, as he was demoted from Grade-I to Grade-II due to his poor performance. And later, they kept on reaping fruits from our domestic structure, which they implemented in their country in true letter and spirit,” he added.

He said such was the standard of Pakistan domestic cricket that it was too tough to make it to the first class cricket and this was the major reason behind the success of our cricket. “The players used to work really hard and try to give out their best at this level, so that they may make way to the first class cricket, which, at that time, was very tough and challenging one and only the best performers used to be picked for the national team.

“In my era, a monitoring committee was formed to monitor first class cricket and they had no permission to interfere in the game as well as selection as their duty was just to monitor the players and to ensure fair and transparent selection. Now once again, we need to make such monitoring committees functional, which must ensure merit in the first class cricket. It will surely help in improving the standards of our domestic cricket.”

Criticizing the shorter format of the game, he said it always proved destructive for cricket. “India is the biggest reason behind this destruction as they started Indian Premier League, which is being blindly followed by other cricket-playing nations. For me, such format must not be in the ICC calendar, which has almost ruined the Test and One-Day cricket. “First Boycott raised voice against the shortest format and wanted it to be banned but nothing was done in this regard and this format has continuously started destroying the real cricket. Players are busy in playing different leagues throughout the year just to earn huge money in very short time and some prefer them to even their own national teams, which is highly unfortunate.”

About Pakistan Super League (PSL), he said that the PSL is also destroying Pakistan cricket. “Pakistan has luxurious grassroots talent, which if hunt and groomed with greater responsibility and given fair and transparent chances in highly-competitive first class cricket, they can become an asset of Pakistan cricket.”

https://nation.com.pk/24-Oct-2018/abbasi-urges-pcb-not-to-abolish-departmental-cricket

Some very good points, but AAA comes from old school - T20 league is the money maker and here to stay. I would have loved to close those, but PLs & SLs also has a role & stake in the game - we have to accommodate T20 as well. Definitely, cricketers have to be developed through FC system, but not boycotting T20 leagues - there has to be a balance. And, I completely agree that PCB has to come out first with an alternative to finish Department in domestic cricket, otherwise game will die in PAK without funding for several players & support staffs losing jobs & next batch won't risk their career to be one of 100 in a country of 23 crore, or .... highway.

Regarding domestic cricket (of past), I don't agree with him completely, but it's true that, flawed but still it was producing players - Saeed, Inzi, Saq, Mushi, Sohail, Latif, Sohaib, Aquib, Jahid, Md. Wasim, Asif Muztaba, Moin, Arshad Khan, Ijaz, Azhar Mahmood ........ were domestic products between mid 80s to late 90s. One of the main reason was domestic wickets, rather than "promotion & demotion" - at least those wickets demanded bowlers to work harder, while batsmen played for longer innings.

One key note from his statement is the "Watch dog" for domestic cricket, which I think is essential even for National level these days. May be unofficially PP can serve the purpose , and I can bet if current Chairman assigns someone to make a gist of daily PP dose on PAK cricket - even 10 minutes eye through the summery should benefit him massively. Passion with honesty is something missing most from PCB's business - highly paid people are doing somewhat a job there; here in PP quite intelligent several people actually spend quality time from passion only - it doesn't pay.

 

[Titan24]

I think this can be a master stroke if executed well.

With this structure division 1 with 6-7 teams will have the best players of the country and they will be paid much more for each match with big sponsors involved.

There should be division 2 as well with 8-10 teams and players should be paid as much as they are currently being paid by departments with commitment of giving them a job (If a player has played more than 70 matches) in the region they played for with the same salary.

If corporations are involved in a good way than we will be able to see good money as well as good competition.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

I think this can be a master stroke if executed well.

With this structure division 1 with 6-7 teams will have the best players of the country and they will be paid much more for each match with big sponsors involved.

There should be division 2 as well with 8-10 teams and players should be paid as much as they are currently being paid by departments with commitment of giving them a job (If a player has played more than 70 matches) in the region they played for with the same salary.

If corporations are involved in a good way than we will be able to see good money as well as good competition.

Yeah, hope something like this happens. Now its a just a waiting game... See what they come up with as a substitute.

 

[Savak]

Good points by Arif. Department cricket khatam karo gai to players paisa kahan sai kamaye ga? This is not Aus or Eng. Mulk mai paisay hain nahi basic necessities k and implement krnay chalay hain western model. Also i wont mention the horrendrous politics of regions.

Players are earning their bread and butter from department cricket. There is a reason why Younis Khan sent on full strike mode when UBL announced they will finish UBL cricket department. Department khatam, players ki jobs khatam.

Agr kuch krna hai to improve domestic cricket and removing departments is not the answer.

Arif Abbasi fails to mention that Departments are no longer supporting the players in the manner they did from the 60's to late 90's to 2000's.

Now departments are curtailing their spending on their sports teams, long term contracts are being replaced by short term contracts, players are now being asked questions on what do they actually contribute to the departments bottomline, high salaries have now been replaced by lower salaries and quite often players are terminated, laid off once their playing days are over.

Departments are slowly shutting down their own teams, reducing expenditures and actually making more business decisions rather than giving handouts. Pakistan Cricket needs to move to the modern era and needs to follow the regional based structure which is followed world wide and pslize it with franchise involvement

 

[Sadozai]

What about the rest part

I think other part mainly contains assessments / opinion and the quoted part contains suggestion(s), thats why i quoted that part only.

 

[Savak]

I wonder if the Departments can rename themselves as Regions. Simplest solution to the problem

 

[Kashmiri_Pak_fan]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=2501]Savak[/MENTION] [MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION] [MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] [MENTION=138980]TalentSpotterPk[/MENTION]
If anyone can list the own top 15-20 players of 6-8 regions each for domestic cricket.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Arif Abbasi fails to mention that Departments are no longer supporting the players in the manner they did from the 60's to late 90's to 2000's.

Now departments are curtailing their spending on their sports teams, long term contracts are being replaced by short term contracts, players are now being asked questions on what do they actually contribute to the departments bottomline, high salaries have now been replaced by lower salaries and quite often players are terminated, laid off once their playing days are over.

Departments are slowly shutting down their own teams, reducing expenditures and actually making more business decisions rather than giving handouts. Pakistan Cricket needs to move to the modern era and needs to follow the regional based structure which is followed world wide and pslize it with franchise involvement

While all this maybe true, it still doesn’t change the fact that they are better than regions when it comes to player management. A lot of the time I’ve heard ppl saying that regions don’t have any motivation for developing or managing players because the departments whisk away their cream players. The problem is that no one is stopping regions from providing long term contracts to their players. The regions only want perks and influence from and in PCB. They just don’t care enough about generating funds for their financial autonomy.

 

[Savak]

While all this maybe true, it still doesn’t change the fact that they are better than regions when it comes to player management. A lot of the time I’ve heard ppl saying that regions don’t have any motivation for developing or managing players because the departments whisk away their cream players. The problem is that no one is stopping regions from providing long term contracts to their players. The regions only want perks and influence from and in PCB. They just don’t care enough about generating funds for their financial autonomy.

This problem can be solved by getting the private sector to buy the regions, franchise owners to buy and take over the regions.

If bright minds can get together, they can work around all the weaknesses and complications. Everyone feared that the PSL would fail but the Franchises have now developed confidence and taken over all the investment and player development programs.

There has to be give and take bw the regions and departments, ie the right to use the department name next to the region, have a joint selection committee of regional and departmental selectors. Maybe going as far ahead as listing the region on the stock exchange. So many different avenues to get things to work.

But our domestic cricket needs to change and evolve with modern times. The role that departments played should not be forgotten in our cricketing history and they should be given due recognition and respect, but times have changed now and we can't have empty spectators watching UBL vs PIA

 

[Mamoon]

This problem can be solved by getting the private sector to buy the regions, franchise owners to buy and take over the regions.

If bright minds can get together, they can work around all the weaknesses and complications. Everyone feared that the PSL would fail but the Franchises have now developed confidence and taken over all the investment and player development programs.

There has to be give and take bw the regions and departments, ie the right to use the department name next to the region, have a joint selection committee of regional and departmental selectors. Maybe going as far ahead as listing the region on the stock exchange. So many different avenues to get things to work.

But our domestic cricket needs to change and evolve with modern times. The role that departments played should not be forgotten in our cricketing history and they should be given due recognition and respect, but times have changed now and we can't have empty spectators watching UBL vs PIA

Private investors care about ROI, which is peanuts in this scenario. There is no market for four day or even 50 over cricket. There are no eyeballs and no investor is going to dump millions.

It is the job of PCB to invest PSL money into domestic cricket. That is what India has done with its first-class cricket.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=2501]Savak[/MENTION] [MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION] [MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] [MENTION=138980]TalentSpotterPk[/MENTION]
If anyone can list the own top 15-20 players of 6-8 regions each for domestic cricket.

Sorry bro couldn't get.
You mean top 15-20 performers from regional teams overall or something else?
[MENTION=142670]mak36[/MENTION] and [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] are your boys. Mjhe itni knowledge nahi domestic ki yar ajkal.

 

[Savak]

Private investors care about ROI, which is peanuts in this scenario. There is no market for four day or even 50 over cricket. There are no eyeballs and no investor is going to dump millions.

It is the job of PCB to invest PSL money into domestic cricket. That is what India has done with its first-class cricket.

What are the departments getting from fielding their own departmental teams in domestic cricket? If it was such a bleeding excercise why would they bother having their own Cricket teams then which i am sure is costing them a hell of a lot. If they can spend all the money to field their own teams and to take care of the players, why can't they use that same money to do the same thing with the region?

It is up to the PCB to PSLize the domestic 4 day games, 50 over and T-20 games in Pakistan. One of the key success factors behind the PSL is the massive advertising, marketing campaign and hype and creating a sense of ownership among the people of Pakistan for it. Start by inviting foreign players whoever is willing to come, PCB should create their own TV channel and broadcast domestic cricket which is what Najam Sethi wanted to do when he filed an application with Pemra requesting for permission for PCB to open their own channel. Najam Sethi also talked about the possibility of listing the PSL on the Stock Exchange to get fast capital for the PCB to spend on its domestic cricket. Indian first class cricket has private investors as well now.

 

[Kashmiri_Pak_fan]

Sorry bro couldn't get.
You mean top 15-20 performers from regional teams overall or something else?
[MENTION=142670]mak36[/MENTION] and [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] are your boys. Mjhe itni knowledge nahi domestic ki yar ajkal.

I mean top 15-20 players of 6-8 regions but of its own not from outside

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=2501]Savak[/MENTION] [MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION] [MENTION=143023]SarfiBabarHaris[/MENTION] [MENTION=138980]TalentSpotterPk[/MENTION]
If anyone can list the own top 15-20 players of 6-8 regions each for domestic cricket.

Happy to acknowledge that you know quite abit about domestic top performers. Make a thread and I ll update ur list if I find some skilled performers missing.


I do not support departmental Cricket to end. It is a decent bread and butter for many cricketers.


And departments are not willing to sponsor regions. This is a known fact.


I would like to see domestic cricket model devised by Majid and his son Bazid implemented in Pak Cricket. The father and son presented their detailed work on PTV Sports 2-3 years back.


Bazid Khan should be made director domestic cricket in any case.

 

[Kashmiri_Pak_fan]

Happy to acknowledge that you know quite abit about domestic top performers. Make a thread and I ll update ur list if I find some skilled performers missing.


I do not support departmental Cricket to end. It is a decent bread and butter for many cricketers.


And departments are not willing to sponsor regions. This is a known fact.



I would like to see domestic cricket model devised by Majid and his son Bazid implemented in Pak Cricket. The father and son presented their detailed work on PTV Sports 2-3 years back.


Bazid Khan should be made director domestic cricket in any case.

I actually want to know about the top 15-20 player's of each region especially top 7-8 regions. Because if next domestic season is played only with regions then how will each region be equally competitive.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

It took years in forming the sngpl team. They have great players dominating this league.

Now mani saab is going to destroy it all.

Departments are needes they not only provide jobs and better pay but saves players from the regional politics.

Regions like rawalpindi they select players based on votes not player talent or performance.

If they want the vote of a certain club they will select his player and forego a better one

Domestic cricket is supposed to be about good competition and high-quality cricket. Not one or two teams poaching all the big players and leaving the regional teams to fend for themselves and rely solely on talent.

There is a massive gulf between regional and departmental teams that needs to end. Only then can Pakistani domestic cricket truly move forward.

 

[Major]

Domestic cricket is supposed to be about good competition and high-quality cricket. Not one or two teams poaching all the big players and leaving the regional teams to fend for themselves and rely solely on talent.

There is a massive gulf between regional and departmental teams that needs to end. Only then can Pakistani domestic cricket truly move forward.

bhai, its about how every team operates.

SNGPL is the only team operating just fine because it has build itself up.

Improving domestic cricket could take place with having departments aswell.

YOu revamp departments and give more power to regions, we are screwed.

The concept of 5 or less teams is great for Autralia, but doesnt work in Pakistan.

Even India has departments and region and look at how great their team is.

ANd why is? Its because all their department teams are the level of SNGPL.

 

[CleverSir]

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to finish departmental cricket from next domestic season, sources confirmed ARYnews.
....
....
The future of the departmental cricket is yet to be decided in the meeting of the PCB’s Board of Governors (BoG).


https://arysports.tv/pcb-finish-departmental-cricket-next-domestic-season/

This is the standard of journalism. LMAO. The headline says one thing. The article another. I'll believe next seasons stuff when it happens. These reports are all hearsay.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

bhai, its about how every team operates.

SNGPL is the only team operating just fine because it has build itself up.

Improving domestic cricket could take place with having departments aswell.

YOu revamp departments and give more power to regions, we are screwed.

The concept of 5 or less teams is great for Autralia, but doesnt work in Pakistan.

Even India has departments and region and look at how great their team is.

ANd why is? Its because all their department teams are the level of SNGPL.

And how has it built itself up? Because it has more cash than the others. It'snot how how every team operates but rather how much cash they have at their disposal. Which is fundamentally unfair to the regional teams because no matter how many talented players they churn up, they will eventually be poached by SNGPL.

All I know is that the current structure which has been rejigged by PCB for the umpteenth time is a total failure and I'd much rather see them try something new than continue this bad hangover with departmental cricket which has done more damage to Pakistan than it has done benefit.

Also, you need to get your facts straight. Indian domestic structure has two departments: Railways and Services. The rest are all regional teams. Their domestic structure is also much, much better than ours.

 

[MenInG]

LAHORE: Majority of the departments have opposed the new domestic plan under which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants to confine the departments’ role to just sponsor the regions instead of fielding their own teams in the domestic cricket season, Dawn learnt on authority.

The PCB Task Force headed by retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain held the meeting with the representatives of the different departments at the Wapda House here on Tuesday to get their feedback on the newly proposed domestic system.

Sources said the departments rejected the idea of confining their role to just as a sponsor of the region and suggested they would even like to field their own teams, in the Grade-II if not possible to play in the Grade-I.

They were ready to accept if the PCB will only allow regional teams to play the first-class (Grade-I) tournaments, sources said.

The Task Force did not give any reply to the departmental’s suggestion.

Sources further said the Task Force has also failed to present its full plan, how it would manage the financial affairs under the new plan. The Task Force said that another strategic committee meeting would be held later under which different affairs including the financial one would also be finalised.

It may be mentioned here that the PCB, on the instruction of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been a blunt supporter of the regional cricket, has been trying to introduce a new system but both the regions and departments don’t seem to be on board completely, fearing the total plan could be collapse if the PCB fails to come out with a comprehensive formula.

It is also learnt that one of the members of the Task Force, former Test cricketer Haroon-ur-Rasheed, who is also director PCB Domestic Cricket, was critical of the regional bodies representatives’ role in running the cricketing affairs in their respective regions.

The second meeting of the Task Force with the regional bodies has been rescheduled for Thursday instead of Wednesday.

The Task Force will also brief the regional representatives about the new proposed system to get their feed back too.

According to the briefing, a board/council for every region will be formed and it will have five members, two each from department and region while one independent. However, there is no detail who will appoint the independent director in the board/council.

Moreover, eight top departments, according to the briefing, will sponsor eight top regions for the first-class cricket, while remaining eight departments will sponsors low-graded region in the Grade-II cricket.

The departmental representatives were told that their current role in the domestic cricket is also not satisfactory.

According to the PCB Task Force, the departments only provide jobs to experienced and tested players and rely on them to win matches and tournaments.

Departmental players also represent regions in PCB tournaments, affecting progress of regional players. It also lack of players development programme during the off season, while majority of the departments do not own cricket grounds.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1466193/departments-reject-sponsor-role-in-domestic-cricket

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Progress finally.

 

[Savak]

Time for the new system to be enforced by force or our Cricket will continue to remain in mediaval ages. If left to these departments, they will continue to stall and kill time, ik is the premier now and this is his golden opportunity to walk the talk

 

[Sadozai]

Time for the new system to be enforced by force or our Cricket will continue to remain in mediaval ages. If left to these departments, they will continue to stall and kill time, ik is the premier now and this is his golden opportunity to walk the talk

How somebody can be forced to sponsor regions or anything?

 

[Savak]

How somebody can be forced to sponsor regions or anything?

Very simple, tell the departments that either they willfully sponsor the regional teams or their role in the domestic cricket structure of Pakistan is well and truly over. If they can shell the cash to pay for the monthly salaries of cricketers, fund their own sports departments, cricketing departments and officials, they can afford to use the same funds and sponsor a region instead.

 

[Sadozai]

Very simple, tell the departments that either they willfully sponsor the regional teams or their role in the domestic cricket structure of Pakistan is well and truly over. If they can shell the cash to pay for the monthly salaries of cricketers, fund their own sports departments, cricketing departments and officials, they can afford to use the same funds and sponsor a region instead.

If they still don't agree to sponsor regions and withdraw from the domestic cricket, then?

 

[as-95]

Then someone else will take the opportunity instead!

 

[Shafi]

Since whole system is based on seniority, favoritism, and nepotism young players will be affected more than useless oldies. PSL is a glowing example.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Since whole system is based on seniority, favoritism, and nepotism young players will be affected more than useless oldies. PSL is a glowing example.

These 2 are not comparable in any universe lol

 

[MenInG]

Former Pakistan cricket team captain Shahid Khan Afridi met with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday.

Talking to The Nation, Afridi, who is known as Boom Boom, said: “The basic purpose of the meeting was to help the PM in his mission of constructing houses for the poor. I brought with me the people, who have lands and can help the government in construction of 200 houses for the poor.

“I also requested Imran Khan to do something for the youth of tribal areas, as they are strong and well-built. They can play crucial role in helping Pakistan cricket team in future. I request the PM to construct international-standard cricket academy in tribal belt, which can highly benefit the youth and the country,” he added.

When asked whether he wants to construct his own academy for Fata youth, Afridi said: “No, I don’t want to construct any academy. I want the PM to start academy in Fata and involve youth of tribal belt in healthy sporting activities. I am quite hopeful that the PM will pay heed towards my suggestions and order to establish a cricket academy in Fata soon.”

https://nation.com.pk/16-Jul-2019/afridi-urges-pm-to-promote-cricket-in-tribal-areas