Commissioners in Punjab ordered to help CPCA organise domestic events

ISLAMABAD: Cricket activities, especially the official events, may not be like the activities of yesteryears in the major cities of Central Punjab following the recent directions issued by chief secretary Punjab Jawad Rafique Malik to the commissioners, directing them to help out Central Punjab Cricket Association (CPCA) in organising junior and senior domestic events.

The letter directed the administrations of Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha, and Faisalabad divisions to help the CPCA in organising cricket activities that were the sole responsibility of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Since majority of the grounds in these divisions are the properties of the provincial government and such instructions from the top means an active role of the administration in all the domestic cricket activities.

As CPCA Chairman Abdullah Khan Sumbal is also chairman of P&D Board, the provincial government has directed all the divisions to lend support to him in organising all the events. “The provincial government has decided to lend its support to the maximum extent to the CPCA in fulfillment of the aim it has set for the revival of game. In this regard, cooperation from the respective district administration is of paramount importance and would go a long way towards establishing a foothold for the CPCA in the province. At the outset, the CPCA aims to improve the cricket infrastructure in the said regions and increase the game’s activity by assisting the clubs and CCAs in arranging tournaments for Under-16, Under-19, school, college, university, club cricket, inter-district, and inter-divisional level. For this purpose, linkages will have to be developed with the educational institutions, private clubs, and businesses,” the letter says.

The letter added that commissioners must direct their respective administrations to take complete ownership of this huge mandate and assist the cricket association and its ancillary formations in the actualisation of the ambition of cricket’s revival in the country and develop a close liaison with the above mentioned representatives of the CPCA.

“In this regard, a meeting would soon be convened by the CPCA for briefing about the new framework and areas where cooperation of the district administrations would be required. The commissioners and deputy commissioners must ensure compliance and take this upon themselves as serving a major national cause,” the letter added.

Barring international cricket where local cricket associations require administration’s assistance for security purpose, organizing domestic cricket has always been the sole responsibility of the PCB. But here it seems that the letter written to divisional heads has given a new direction to the cricket organization in important cities of Punjab.

“The district administration and local government have absolutely no role to play when it comes to organizing recognized cricket events. It is the job of the local association. The administration has nothing to do with the cricket activities or even extending any technical or administrative help,” former member of the PCB Governing Board Nauman Butt said. He added that it has been clearly mentioned in the ICC constitution that the government should not be involved in cricket activities.

“How instructions could be passed on to the commissioners to generate cricket activities with help of the CPCA. This is something new in Pakistan cricket.” When a PCB official was approached, he rejected any idea like this. “It is not possible. It is the PCB that is the supreme body and knows well how to organise domestic cricket. We don’t require local administration’s involvement in generating cricket activities at the local level,” he added.