Introduce departmental T20 events, suggests task team

Committee formed to improve domestic cricket recommends structural changes.

KARACHI: Introduction of a Twenty20 event involving departments and the revamping of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, are among the major proposals presented by the task team formed to address problems faced by domestic cricket.

The task team, which was formed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Zaka Ashraf, is headed by Director Game Development Intikhab Alam and includes Director Domestic Cricket Zakir Khan, as well as former players Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim, Moin Khan and Imtiaz Ahmed.

A task team member revealed that the recommendations were made after a careful study of the existing structure of domestic cricket and it is now upto the cricket board to whether accept or reject these proposals.

“We’ve suggested the staging of a domestic Twenty20 event involving departmental teams besides continuing the regular competition involving regional sides,” a task team member told The Express Tribune. “At the end of the day we want more cricket and Twenty20 specialists for Pakistan and such a tournament can help in this regard.”

Restructuring the Quaid Trophy

Meanwhile, to address the problem of players having to make huge adjustments in their play due to the big gap in standards between domestic and international cricket, it has been suggested that the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy should consist of two groups, with departments going head to head in one and the regions competing in the other.

An official said that this proposal could help even out the level of competition in the premier domestic tournament.

“The level of competition will be even when departments compete only against each other and regions play other regions,” he said. “When departments play regions, most of the time we get to see lop-sided matches and the level of competition goes down.

“If the proposal is adopted we’ll see more evenly-contested matches and players will learn to perform in difficult situations, which will help make them mentally tough and more confident. This way they won’t melt down when they step into the international arena.”

Currently, the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy is being held with departments and regional teams playing each other in two divisions. The top-tier Division One has six departments and the same number of regional associations, while Division Two has three departments and seven regional teams.

It has also been recommended that departments should hire qualified support staff including trainers, physiotherapists and analysts.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2012.