CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

Not for the first time, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has opted for another experimental exercise by deciding to put departments and associations together in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship which starts on Saturday with 24 outfits in action.

This season's premier first-class competition, which will be played until Feb 10, features 10 departments and 14 associations divided into four groups of six teams each. Originally, 25 sides were to compete but owing to lack of players, Cricket Management Committee (CMC) the body that runs domestic tournaments, scrapped the PCB XI altogether.

With leading players busy on international assignments in South Africa and subsequent camp for World Cup, the championship as usual lacks interest among fans.

National Bank, winners of the Patron's Trophy - the last first-class tournament for departments in the previous season - are expected to be a dominant force once again. They are further boosted by inclusion of Saeed Anwar, the seasoned Pakistan opening batsman, as a guest player.

Saeed is unemployed since he parted company with Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) - now renamed as Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) - some time ago. Over the years, pressing international commitments hardly allowed the left-hander to play for his former employers.

But with the World Cup in southern Africa beckoning, Saeed is eager to prove his critics wrong and fight his way into the Pakistan squad. Therefore, National Bank's first two matches against Sargodha and Faisalabad in Group-I will be vital for Saeed before the 15-man World Cup squad is announced on Dec 31 - the deadline set by International Cricket Council.

This season will see, for the first time, pre-quarterfinals being staged so that unfancied teams, mainly associations depleted by absence of top players who will turn out for their departments, stand a chance of playing at least an additional game.

Four teams from each pool will qualify for the last 16 round. One department and two association teams will be relegated to play in the Kardar and Cornelius Trophies, respectively next season.

Karachi Whites, the reigning Quaid Trophy champions, are fielding an inexperienced and young side, led by Khalid Latif who skippered the city to double triumphs in the National Under-19 Grade-I competition this season.

The five-round preliminary matches, featuring 60 four-day ties, conclude on Jan 17, the pre-quarterfinals are scheduled for Jan 20-23, followed by quarterfinals on Jan 26-29. The semifinals are slated to be played from Feb 1-4 and the five-day final from Feb 6. In all, a total of 75 matches are to be played over a period of 52 days.

PCB has furthermore enhanced prize money this season with the new champions to pocket Rs 200,000 and half of that amount going to the runners-up. Besides there will be other cash awards for outstanding individual performances.

First round schedule (Dec 21-24):

Group-I: Sargodha v National Bank at Sports Stadium, Sargodha (Umpires: Islam Khan and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Khalid Niazi); Wapda v Servis Industries at Gymkhana Ground, Okara (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Aleem Dar. Match referee: Abdul Sami); Lahore Blues v Faisalabad at LCCA Ground, Lahore (Umpires: M. Akbar Khan and Jamil Kamran. Match referee: Musaddeq Rasool).

Group-II: Karachi Whites v Bahawalpur at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Athar Zaidi and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Shaukat Mirza); Pak PWD v Dadu at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Masroor Ali and Khalid Mahmood. Match referee: Sadiq Mohammad); Multan v Allied Bank at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Tasaddeq Jamil. Match referee: Ilyas Khan).

Group-III: Habib Bank v Pakistan Customs at Lahore Country Club, Muridke (Umpires: Asad Rauf and Mian Aslam. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed); Lahore Whites v Sheikhupura at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (Umpires: Junaid Ghafoor and M.H. Dars. Match referee: Pervez Akhtar); Sialkot v Gujranwala at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot (Umpires: Tariq Cheema and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Azhar Khan).

Group-IV: KRL v PIA at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi. Umpires: M. Nazir Jr and Iqbal Butt. Match referee: Khateeb Rizwan); Rawalpindi v ZTBL at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Waqar A. Mughal and Sajjad Asghar. Match referee: Ehteshamuddin); Peshawar v Karachi Blues at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Zafar Iqbal Pasha and Kaukab Butt. Match referee: Farrukh Zaman).

© Dawn