A few days ago former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi highlighted few very important points about the weakness of the country’s domestic cricket structure. He was speaking at a special gathering organised in his honour by the Jang Group of Companies here at Marriot Hotel.
He said once a system is constituted let it run for a few years so that it could give you result. He said in Pakistan every chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) brings with him a new system and that is the main problem.
And Afridi was right. We have seen in the past few years that the domestic format has been changed several times. Every year efforts were made by the PCB to make some alterations to the system but to no avail.
Afridi said that skilled hands are needed to streamline the system and suggested induction of more cricketers in the PCB. He said it was not the job of the bureaucrats to run cricket because they don’t know about the game.
He said the authorities should focus on quality not quantity. While going into the past Afridi said that there was a time when playing first-class cricket was even difficult in Pakistan for cricketers than playing international cricket. The first-class cricketers were very famous and had reputation. People knew them. Now playing first-class cricket has been so cheap that one can find a few first-class cricketers in every street, Afridi said.
And that is the main ailment of the system. He said unless the existing system is rectified Pakistan’s cricket would be facing challenges in future.
The issue had also been highlighted by former Pakistan coach Waqar Younis. He had also recommended to the PCB before quitting his job as a coach that the number of teams in domestic cricket should be reduced so that a competitive environment could be created. It is a fact because if teams in the first-class cricket are numerous then definitely mediocre players are also able to get an opportunity of playing at the country’s premier event.
No doubt our domestic cricket needs improvement. It has been unable to prepare the sort of stuff which could face international challenges. The PCB should contact former Test cricketer Majid Khan as he has a solid idea of how to improve domestic cricket. The authorities also can take the best things from the domestic structure of other top playing cricketing nations from around the world.
Afridi also stressed that Pakistan needs a strong back-up. He suggested that there should be a Pakistan A team, carrying 15 to 20 boys and the PCB should also offer them contracts like it offers the players playing for Pakistan.
The standard of Pakistan A should be similar to that of Pakistan side. It should also be given those facilities which the players of Pakistan team enjoy.
If a player in Pakistan team gets out of touch he should come to the Pakistan A side. By forming Pakistan A, Afridi said, you will not find any problem when you need any replacement in the national team because you will have a strong bench in the form of Pakistan A. Afridi’s words have weight. Pakistan has been facing bench problems over the years. And that is why we don’t have replacement for players like Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan who both have passed their prime and need to quit cricket. But why they should do so because there is no one to replace them. Lack of strong bench is a serious issue of Pakistan cricket.
Afridi also stressed the need of establishing more academies in the country. He said that before the 2015 T20 World Championships he had to shift to Lahore from Karachi because at that time there was no such academy where I could practice. He said academies are schools of cricket and if you don’t have academies how you could flourish your cricket. He said Pakistan needs to strengthen its school cricket.
"School cricket has vanished. Schools are now a business as they don’t have grounds. Schools should have their own grounds. If you cannot provide playing facilities at school to the boys who want to play cricket then how you will get the natural talent," Afridi said.
He also lashed at out the cricket associations. He said that the associations were responsible for the destruction of cricket. They get funds from the PCB and themselves do nothing. Afridi also stressed that the PCB selectors should form teams of the associations so that merit could be maintained.
Afridi also strongly criticised the pitches being prepared for the domestic cricket in Pakistan. By providing practice to your players on such pitches you prepare them only to win at Dubai and Abu Dhabi, not in New Zealand and Australia, Afridi said.
And tracks are the serious issue. I again agree with Afridi. Here one normally sees either green pitches or completely dead pitches. In the first-class cricket we saw either completely lively tracks this season or so much dead pitches like the one prepared for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final here at the National Stadium where the bowlers had to struggle hard throughout. WAPDA’s captain Salman Butt had saved the final against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) by batting for four sessions. Although Salman had applied himself but the pitch was extremely unresponsive. I must say that the PCB should hire the services of a foreign curator so that standard and sporting pitches could be prepared for the top domestic events.
Now we come to the National One-day Cup for Departments which recently concluded with a title win from Habib Bank Limited (HBL). HBL defeated Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by five wickets in the final held here at National Stadium on January 2. But unfortunately it turned out to be a drab decider as it was not televised. Hardly 200 fans were seen witnessing the game which was also played by Shahid Afridi while representing HBL.
Afridi captured 1-42 in ten overs and scored eight runs. It was the seventh title for HBL in the history of the event. It was no doubt a dream event for Pakistan’s out of favour Test opener Ahmed Shehzad who, while leading HBL, amassed the highest 653 runs at a staggering average of 93.28. His feat also included three centuries and the same number of fifties.
The credit of HBL’s fantastic achievements goes to their coach Kabir Khan who formed a balanced, young side, mostly comprising players having the experience of playing for Pakistan A.
Like in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq once again played key role in HBL’s success. And so was the allrounder Fahim Ashraf who did a fine job by taking the highest number of 19 wickets in the eight-team affair. This was the first time that SSGC qualified for the final of the top event. The 21-year old opener Imran Butt of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) with a few stunning knocks showed that he is a future prospect. The Lahore-born player scored 483 runs to end as the second leading scorer of the competitions. The 21-year old Dir Upper-born allrounder Kamran Ghulam (NBP) also remained impressive. He was declared the best player of the event as he scored not only 196 runs but also grabbed 16 wickets with his left-arm spin bowling. He is a hard-hitting young batsman and some experts also tout him as a future Shahid Afridi.