KARACHI: Heads of some departments and regions affected by the new format of first-class cricket have decided to go all out against the changes made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The governing body of PCB discusses the matter in a meeting on Tuesday (today). Officials of the affected teams said that under the old system Pakistan had whitewashed Sri Lanka on their home ground. “So why are they changing that system when the old one was producing good results,” an official said. Sources confirmed that a few PCB governing body members opposed the new format and would put their weight against the new format. The regional teams which have been affected by the PCB’s new format are Multan, Karachi Zebras, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Lahore Eagles, Abbottabad, Bahawalpur and FATA. The departmental teams are KPT, PIA, ZTBL, KRL, SBP and SSGC. The composition of the PCB governing body is going to be changed as NBP’s Iqbal Qasim has completed his term in the body. A representative of Rawalpindi cricket association is going to join the governing body. An official said the PCB should realise that Pakistan was not Australia, England or South Africa where comprehensive cricketing systems had been running for several decades. “Pakistan has always been changing its first-class cricket system. Despite that we have produced star cricketers and won 1992 World Cup and 2009 World T20,” an official said. “It is only because we have natural talent in cricket,” he added. He pointed out that the old system which was being changed had been introduced just nine months ago. When Pakistan failed to impress in the World Cup 2015 and lost against Bangladesh, the PCB policy makers came under pressure and announced a new format to cool down the public, he said. Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has said that he could not understand “where PCB is going and why Karachi and Lahore are not allowed to play two teams each. Both are big cities and always played with two teams. “A number of youngsters would be deprived of becoming first-class cricketers with this new format,” he said. Sources said that PCB took some departments under pressure as they were owned by the government. But despite this fact, a strong opposition would be raised against the new format, they added. KCCA president Ijaz Farooqui, who is also a member of the governing body, will present the case of KCCA in the meeting.
