When a player turns out of form in international circuit, the PCB advises him to play domestic cricket to regain form. But it gives no importance to those who perform every year at the domestic level
Instead of narrowing the gap between the domestic and international cricket, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is taking the former segment as a mere formality. The Board does not seem to be interested in bringing any improvement in the sector. This negligence on the part of the PCB is affecting Pakistan’s cricket.
The PCB regularly holds Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Grade-I, Grade II, Patron’s Trophy Grade-II, National One-day and T20 Championships but its top brass never thinks about the utility of these tournaments.
These events don’t prepare top cricketers. The players start learning only when they join the national team.
The importance of the domestic cricket cannot be ignored. When South Africa was facing international sanctions, its cricket authorities focused on the domestic cricket and it paid off ultimately. The country’s team enchanted the cricket world immediately on its return. This point was also highlighted by former South African batsman Jonty Rhodes during an interview with ‘The News’ just before the last One-day World Cup.
He emphasised that international cricket standard of a country was the reflection of its domestic cricket. If your domestic cricket is weak you will face problem in international cricket. The PCB must realise the importance of the domestic cricket.
The major ailment lies at the grassroots level. Likes and dislikes in selection at the district level is one of the biggest hurdles in cricket promotion.
The PCB has given playing rights to even those districts where cricket enjoys little popularity. And inactive clubs have got voting rights. Unless this mess is cleared, Pakistan will remain unable to produce talented players.
There are players whom the franchises of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) have picked through trials although they were ignored by their respective districts. This shows how talent is discouraged at the grassroots level.
The PCB has now made an effort to make the Under-19 players’ selection at this level transparent as its representative and a regional head coach select the players. But there are still problems and merit is being ignored.
Departments themselves don’t prepare players. Regions produce players and then they are recruited by departments.
If cricket is to improve, departments will have to start forming Under-16 and Under-19 teams. They should run academies and also sponsor school cricket.
Some departments don’t even have their own grounds.
The PCB will also have to improve the standard of pitches for the domestic cricket. In the first-class cricket, we mostly see purely green or dead pitches which are not conducive for players’ proper grooming. The batsmen get out cheaply when they bat on a green track and hit centuries when they find a dead wicket.
Dead tracks affect bowlers physically. And when a bowler gets wickets on grassy pitches and he is brought to international cricket, he is often seen struggling.
The tracks should be sporting and it is the only way to prepare players who can compete in any environment. On sporting tracks, bowlers pick wickets and batsmen score runs purely through their skills and mental strength. Often a good contest between the bat and ball is seen on such tracks. Playing on such pitches builds the temperament of both bowlers and batsmen which is very important for playing impressively in international circuit.
The balls are another issue in Pakistan’s domestic cricket. In all day matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Grays cricket balls are used which get soft after a few overs and become useless. The managers of the participating teams have written to the PCB about the issue several times but the Board remained unmoved which shows how serious the PCB is in promoting cricket.
If a bowler gets 60 to 70 wickets while bowling with such brand in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and then he is inducted into the Pakistan team, how can he bowl with the different ball? Unless the equipment of international standard is used at the domestic level, better players cannot be produced.
The PCB has substantially increased the match allowances for the first-class cricketers of regions but the Board still needs to make heavy investment in the domestic cricket.
The PCB has received Rs5 million as entry fee from ten departments for the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the departments even pay the ground fee. What does the PCB do then? The PCB has a huge budget, so it should focus on improving its domestic cricket. The Board should take input from the coaches and other professionals who are associated with the domestic cricket so that proper plans could be made for cricket promotion.
The top performers of the domestic cricket should be rewarded. Some players have been performing exceptionally well for many seasons but they are still not in the radar of the PCB.
Even the leading performers of the domestic cricket have been ignored for the second edition of the PSL which is injustice. When a player turns out of form in international circuit, the PCB advises him to play domestic cricket and regain his form. But it gives no importance to those who perform every year at the domestic level.