Regional cricket heads reject merger with departments

KARACHI: An important meeting of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) task force was held a few days ago with the presidents of regional cricket associations to discuss the domestic structure of Pakistan cricket and the role of departments.

The meeting, held in Lahore, was chaired by Lieutenant General (rtd) Muzammil Hussain, who is the chairman of PCB task force. Former Test cricketer Haroon Rasheed, PCB’s director domestic cricket, was also present in the meeting and briefed regional cricket heads.

Sources said that except KCCA president Nadeem Omar, all presidents of regional cricket associations participated in the meeting. In the meeting, the PCB task force asked the regional heads if they wanted the departments to be closed, or the regions should be closed, or they wanted both to continue or they wanted a new hybrid system in which departments and regions should be merged.

The PCB task forced said told the regional cricket heads that they were not entitled to take any final decision. Their only task was to collect all the suggestions and proposals and send them to the PCB chairman.

The sources said that the regional cricket heads did not agree with the PCB’s proposal to merge departments and regions. They said that they wanted to bring reforms in the current domestic cricket structure, but with the identity of regions remaining intact. They did not want to be merged with departments, a president of regional cricket association said.

Regional cricket presidents said that if PM Imran Khan was not in favour of department teams, the PCB should separate the departments from the current domestic cricket structure and make two categories for regions, gold league and silver league.

The departmental cricket should be organised separately as was done in the past, another regional cricket head said. They said that there was a need to strengthen regions as it has been described in the PCB’s constitution which has been made in 2014, and according to which PCB’s present chairman Ehsan Mani has been elected.

They said that it is the regions which organise cricket at grassroots level. They hold all under-13, -15, -16, -19 as well as club cricket. The departments pick the fresh talent and groom it. A regional cricket head further said that instead of separate meetings with departments and regions, the PCB task force should organise a joint meeting and listen to all suggestions.

Meanwhile, the regional cricket heads received a text massage from the PCB in which they were asked to send their suggestions about the future of domestic cricket through emails to PCB. It is pertinent to note that the PCB task force has already held a meeting with the departments heads.