Exhibition match to coincide with Quaid Trophy launch

Regional stars told to take part in Larkana stadium launch; coaches rue decision.


Photo Ayesha Mir/nabeel Hashmi December 22, 2012

KARACHI:


Quaid Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, is unlikely to get the ideal start with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) planning an exhibition match comprising domestic big-name players on the same day.


The event is scheduled to kick off from December 26 but it has been learnt that the PCB will be hosting the match to mark the opening of the Larkana Cricket Stadium which is likely to be attended by President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the Patron in chief of the PCB.

The board has called up national players, who are not part of Pakistan’s squad in India, for the 10-over-a-side match that coincides with the opening day of the Quaid Trophy. There have already been questions raised with regards to scheduling as the National Twenty20 Cup was scheduled before the final of the President’s Trophy took place.

“This isn’t the start people were hoping for as we need our best players to get off to good start in the Quaid Trophy,” a regional head coach told The Express Tribune. “If teams lose their best players for the opening match, it doesn’t set a good tone for rest of the event. The players have been told to play the exhibition match instead of the first-class match and that’s shocking.”

Meanwhile, the PCB’s decision to do away with daily allowance for the coaches at home matches has also not gone down well with the officials. This was done after the PCB had increased match-fee and daily allowance for the umpires at the start of the season.

Kookaburra balls to be used

Meanwhile, the Australian-manufactured Kookaburra balls will finally be used in Pakistan’s first-class cricket this season after the board failed to use them in the President’s Trophy.

PCB’s domestic officials, in consultation with national captains Mohammad Hafeez and Misbahul Haq, had decided to use these balls – which cost nearly Rs12,000 each – to improve the quality of cricket.

“The Kookaburra balls will be used during this event as our order arrived late,” said a PCB official. “Departments were also against the costly balls so it wouldn’t have mattered had the order arrived on time. But in the Quaid Trophy, the PCB will be bearing the cost.”

BPL participation to also affect Trophy

Meanwhile, Quaid Trophy is also set to be hit by player withdrawal for the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Over 20 top Pakistani cricketers were picked up by various BPL franchises and more are set to be signed up after the auction. This has given selection problems to the teams as some players have refused to sign domestic contracts – Rs20,000 (A), Rs15,000 (B) and Rs10,000 (C) – in order to take part in BPL just in case the PCB refuses to hand over an NOC.

The issue of handing over the NOCs is still undecided with the PCB awaiting a go-ahead by the Bangladesh board for the proposed two-match tour.

“We’re still discussing the issue because it was the Pakistani players who starred in the inaugural event to take BPL to new heights,” said a PCB official. “We know our players our very important for their event so we want to ensure that we get a fulfilment of promise this time.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2012.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ