KCCA protests team snub in domestic cricket

Karachi cricket officials adamant on direct entry of two teams into Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) are once again at loggerheads after only one team from the biggest cricketing nursery in the country was granted direct entry in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

According to the revised format of the premier domestic tournament for the 2015-16 season, only one team from Karachi will gain direct entry into the main round, while the second team would have to secure one out of the two berths available for regional teams in the qualifying round.

KCCA President Ejaz Farooqi who is also a member of the PCB Board of Governors (BoG) briefly walked out of the 37th session of the body that was held in Lahore on Tuesday, to protest the snub. He was later called back into the session by senior PCB officials.

The KCCA executive council then held an emergency session on Wednesday evening to weigh their options. “We discussed the BoG meeting and PCB’s refusal to accommodate our request. I am confident that I have the backing of my panel.” Farooqi told The Express Tribune.

Farooqi added that restricting Karachi to only one team was going to severely restrict the participation of upcoming players since there was a real possibility of major departmental teams bowing out in the qualifiers — only two departmental teams can qualify from the qualifiers.

“There are eight regional teams in the fray for the qualifiers; obviously it is expected to be a competitive tournament. There is no guarantee that we will go through,” he said. “Just imagine if we field only one team and a few leading departments also fail to make it to the main round. In such a scenario, KCCA would be forced to accommodate the Karachi-based players in our team. This in turn would severely restrict selection of the fringe players who toil hard in club and district events throughout the year.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2015.

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