Regional academies project to be restarted

PCB plans resuming three-month camp for top cricketers of all regions.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to revive regional academies across the country, having endured a start-and-stop phase during the past few years due to changes in the board.

The concept of regional academies was evolved in the tenure of former PCB chairman General Tauqir Zia, who established these specialised academies across all playing regions of the country in 2002.

Zia’s work continued for some years before Ijaz Butt came in as the PCB chairman and stopped the operations. Butt’s reasoning that it was a waste of money drew criticism from several quarters.



When Zaka Ashraf replaced Butt, there was renewed hope for the academies to restart – where top performers in every region are invited and paid for a three-month specialised camp – but it failed to materialise.

However, The Express Tribune has learnt that new Director Development Haroon Rasheed, who remains a staunch supporter of investing in youth, is all set to restart the process.

“This summer, the regional academies programme will restart under Haroon,” said a National Cricket Academy (NCA) senior official.

“It is a good process which has been hindered for some reasons, but we believe that it is essential to help U19 players get used to modern game whether it’s about fielding, batting or bowling aspects.

“Times are changing quickly so these specialised camps’ importance becomes greater because you have qualified coaches training the players.”

However, the official added that everything will have to be reassessed from the trainers and video analysts’ point of view.

He stressed that trainers and analysts remain an important part of the whole phase as they work very closely with the players during the camp.

“The PCB will definitely would have to look into hiring trainers and video analysts to fill the gap left by those who have been axed [by the former PCB regime] and then they will restart the project,” he concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2014.

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