PCB modifies the domestic schedule once more

The domestic season is almost upon us. The fact that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet confirmed the dates of the games exposes poor leadership and a dearth of professionalism in the organisation that oversees cricket.

On Thursday, August 29, the PCB made yet another change to the schedule: the Inter-district Senior Cricket Championship will now begin later. In a letter to the district cricket associations, the board said that the prolonged monsoon season was the reason for the indefinite delay. The event will begin one week later on September 8 instead of the originally planned date.

According to a report from Dawn, PCB also decided to postpone the start of the Inter-district U-19 Championship from October 1 to September 10. This was not their only scheduling alteration. The Champions One-day Cup, a 50-over format tournament under the recently implemented top-tier “Champions” system, had its start date moved by the board from September 1 to September 12; at that time, the team mentors had not yet been announced. The coaching staff and squads of each of the competing clubs have not yet been decided, despite the fact that the mentors for the five Champions sides were revealed earlier this week.

Notably, for the four-day, one-day, and Twenty20 formats, neither Champion side has announced a 30-player roster. On Friday, August 30, a small number of players will be putting through fitness tests across the nation in preparation for the squad selection process. The names of the selectors who chose the aforementioned players, their selection procedures, and their identities have all been kept under wraps. The Punjab Stadium in Lahore will host the fitness testing early in the morning.

As the board continues to withhold crucial information, there appears to be a lack of openness surrounding the redesigned domestic structure, for which the PCB intends to award large central contracts and match fees. Transparency surrounding the PCB’s plans to implement profitable central contracts and match feelings in the redesigned domestic structure has been missing. In addition to the contracts, the PCB has made the decision to offer significant pay to legendary cricket players such as Waqar Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Sarfraz Ahmad, who have been named as the new mentors of the Champions sides.

The marketing department of the board appears to have failed as well, as evidenced by the PCB’s inability to draw sponsors for the Champions tournaments, which it wanted to turn into commercial products. The mentors might make anywhere from $25,000 to Rs. 5 million a month, according to sources. The task of coaching the Stallions has been assigned to former Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik.

The Panthers, Wolves, Dolphins, and Lions are the remaining teams in the competition; the other mentors have not yet been assigned to those teams. The PCB’s marketing team’s efforts have been scrutinised since the board was unable to secure sponsors for the Champions competitions.

Following their first Test match defeat by Bangladesh, Pakistan was severely rattled.

The senior men’s team at PCB has its hands full as well, having lost the first Test against Bangladesh by a humiliating 10-wicket margin. They have never lost to the Bangla Tigers in the red-ball format before.

Also Read: ‘Please copy their system’ – Basit Ali suggests the PCB emulate the domestic structure of India

The PCB has faced a great deal of criticism, particularly in relation to the players that they have chosen for the team. The organisation has come under fire from former cricket players for the team’s recent mishaps. However, since they currently play Bangladesh in the second Test in Rawalpindi, Shan Masood’s team will get an opportunity to make amends.