PCB domestic tournament disrupted by rains in Punjab cities

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) domestic policies have once again been exposed when heavy rains in various Punjab cities paralysed the PCB Inter-City cricket tournament.

A number of matches had to be postponed or shifted or abandoned due to the heavy rains this week.

The cities which have received heavy rains include Lahore, Sialkot, Gurjanwala and Rawalpindi.

The rains are likely to continue for eight more days.

A source said PCB officials did not bother to talk to Met Office before finalising the schedule of the tournament.

It has to be mentioned here that PCB had not organised any tournament at the grassroots level for the last three years.

The elected office bearers of cricket associations who had years of experience of organising such events used to hold these tournaments after September 15, when the monsoon season is over in the country.

Sources said PCB started the tournament in a haphazard way from July 22 without keeping in mind the expected bad weather conditions.

Sources said that high officials, including Nadeem Khan, Junaid Zia and Saqib Irfan, are responsible for this mess.

Sources in various Punjab cities informed this scribe that due to the absence of groundsmen at various stadiums stormwater accumulated on the fields and players themselves had to drain the water.

A source said that there used to be five groundsmen at the Jinnah stadium in Silakot but the current PCB administration fired four of them. The one who was left is unable to do all the work.

Sources further said that in Lahore, the players were not allowed to play with spiked shoes due to the bad condition of the field at Aleem Dar Academy.

Sources said that due to the heavy rains in Lahore, the condition of grounds in the city was very bad and there was no one to drain the rainwater out. The PCB has fired 16 groundsmen who had been serving at various grounds in Lahore.