The Pakistan Cricket Board has revealed plans of overhauling the country’s club cricket structure. PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt said the board would make all out investment in lifting club cricket all over the country.
The Board has decided to appoint former Pakistan Test spinner Abdul Qadir as the project’s coordinator. Qadir, who resigned as Pakistan’s chief selector after falling out with Butt in 2009, is expected to get the support of several other former Test cricketers including Sarfraz Nawaz, a former Pakisan fast bowler.
Sarfraz has been an ardent critic of PCB but softened his stance against the board during its bitter dispute with former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi. According to the PCB, Sarfraz has been offered to join the project but the board is still awaiting his response. Ijaz Ahmed, a former Pakistan Test batsman, is also expected to be hired for the project. The board has also decided to award contacts to 20 players from each of its 11 regions.
Butt said, “PCB will make best possible efforts to revive the Pakistan-India series. We have plans to lift club cricket so that our domestic cricket improves and for that we have planned around 5,000 matches at club level in the country in the next season.” He added the board was also making efforts to host its own Twenty20 league, modelled on the lucrative Indian Premier League. “We want to stage our own Twenty20 league although we do not have the expertise but we are still trying,” he said. A panel of 12 lawyers has also been appointed to help the PCB on the legal front.
