LAHORE:
There are fresh signs of changes in Pakistan’s domestic cricket construction. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering falling the number of teams from 18 to 9, centering more on quality cricket rather than the number of matches.
Top officials are supposedly not satisfied with Director of Domestic Cricket, Abdullah Khurram Niazi, and Senior General Manager, Junaid Zia. Though, both have managed to hold on to their sites for now.
Causes say that PCB’s top management is not satisfied with the level of talent developing from the current domestic arrangement. Although a record number of matches are being played at different levels, the general standard of cricket has not been imposing.
Lately, a committee was formed to propose reforms for domestic cricket. Neither Niazi nor Junaid were included in this committee, which is seen as a sign of no confidence in them.
The committee mainly contains of non-cricketers such as Bilal Afzal (Advisor to the Chairman), Sameer Syed (COO), and Khawaja Nadeem (President, RCA Lahore). Apart from them, former interim head coach Aaqib Javed and Wahab Riaz are also part of the discussions.
They were directed to succumb a report to the PCB Chairman within five working days. Aaqib Javed has played a leading role in this process, while Wahab Riaz is apparently receiving advice from his friend Salman Butt.
Now, once again, a proposal to reduce the number of domestic teams from 18 to 9 is being seriously measured. A final decision is predictable soon. PCB officials believe that rarer but stronger teams will produce players better suitable for international cricket.
