Empowering girls through cricket

ISLAMABAD: The Australian High Commission (AHC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with the support of Serena Hotels on Saturday hosted the 4th AHC-PCB Girls’ Cricket Cup at the Marghazar Cricket Ground here.

The AHC-PCB Girls’ Cup involved teams from four schools — Special Education School for Girls with Hearing Impairment H-9, Mashal Model School Bari Imam, Pakistan Sweet Homes H-9/4 and Islamabad Model School for Girls I-9/1, Islamabad.

The girls attended a five-day coaching clinic in the lead-up to the competition conducted by first class women cricketers and PCB coach Farrukh Hayat.

Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to Pakistan Brek Batley congratulated the schools on their participation and welcomed the continued support of the PCB and Serena Hotels for the annual PCB-AHC Girls’ Cricket Cup. He also presented an autographed bat of Australian cricket team to the best player of the tournament.

“Sharing a passion with Pakistan for cricket, the Australian High Commission was pleased to again join with the PCB and Serena Hotels to host this initiative to empower girls through cricket and promote gender equality through sport,” Batley said.

“We were particularly pleased to have the participation of women first class players who helped to build confidence, foster team spirit and encourage the girls to push beyond their boundaries,” he said.

Aziz Boolani, CEO Serena Hotels, said: “Cricket is a passion in Pakistan and as a sport it embodies all the best attributes of any game — encouraging teamwork, discipline, hard work and strategic thinking. Under Serena Hotels Sports Diplomacy initiatives we support, facilitate and sponsor numerous sporting events and our commitments to sports diplomacy and women’s empowerment have found expression in the AHC-PCB Girls’ Cricket Cup. This tournament provides a wonderful vehicle for promoting and highlighting the importance of gender equality in sport.”

This year’s competition was also supported by Malik Sports, the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad and the Islamabad Region Cricket Association which provided cricket equipment, shoes and the ground facilities respectively.