In a revolutionary move to revive cricket at the grassroots level, Pakistan Cricket Board has launched Instaphone Interschool Cricket Tournament in five major cities of the country. A total of 16 school-teams from each of the five cities - Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Rawalpindi - are taking part in the tournament, which got underway from the July 10, 2001.

A brainchild of the newly established PCB Development Committee, headed by the former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja, the 15-day tournament is sponsored by a cellular phone company Instaphone, and has cash prizes and trophies on offer.

The winner the tournament, whose finals would be staged on July 24, will get a cash prize of Rs. 10,000, while the runners-up will get Rs. 5000 each. Cash prizes would also be given on outstanding individual performances.

The Board has appointed its organisers to oversee the smooth functioning of the tournament at each centre. In this regard, Kh Muhammad Zafar is looking after the affairs at Lahore, while Prof Sirajul Islam Bokhari is to oversee the tournament in Karachi. The organisers at Peshawar, Quetta and Rawalpindi are Fazl-e-Habib, Yawar Aziz and Ashraf Qureshi, respectively.

The 16 competitors at each centre have been divided into 4 pools of four teams each. These four teams would play matches against each other on single league basis, before the four semi-finalists are decided. The top teams would meet in the finals, which will be played simultaneously at the five centres on 24 July.

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