PCB finalises revamped domestic cricket structure

LAHORE: The upcoming domestic season will see eight regional sides and as many departmental teams compete in two separate first-class tournaments, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Friday.

The season kicks off on September 10 with the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which will feature eight regional teams. The President’s Trophy, which starts December 15, will be up for grabs for as many departmental outfits.

Both first-class tournaments will be played on single-league basis, with both sets of table toppers qualifying for the finals.

It will be for the first time since the 2019-20 season that regional and departmental teams will take part in the domestic season, with the PCB’s 2019 constitution — under which provincial association teams made up the top tier of the cricket system — revoked earlier this year.

The constitution was replaced by the 2014 charter, which upholds the participation of regions and departments in the country’s domestic cricket circuit.

The revamp of the structure has been shaped by the PCB’s Cricket Technical Committee headed by former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and comprising another ex skipper in Mohammad Hafeez.

“The committee had several meetings with all stakeholders to bring them on board, including regional presidents and representatives of departments,” said a PCB press release.

The remaining 10 PCB affiliated regions will make up the Hanif Mohammad Trophy — a grade-II four-day tournament, to be played as the second division under the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and will have teams divided into two groups of five.

The winners of the Hanif Mohammad Trophy, which also starts September 10, will be promoted to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while the team finishing at the bottom of the latter will be demoted to the former.

Abbottabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi will be hosting as many as 29 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches while Hanif Mohammad Trophy’s 23 matches will be hosted by Faisalabad, Islamabad and Multan.

Peshawar, Karachi Whites, Lahore Blues, Rawalpindi, FATA, Multan, Lahore Whites and Faisalabad will make up the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while teams from Abbottabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bahawalpur, Dera Murad Jamali, Hyderabad, Karachi Blues, Larkana, Quetta, Sialkot and Islamabad will play in the Hanif Mohammad Trophy.

In January and February of 2024, Patron’s Trophy grade-II with three-day games and grade-III (two-day games) will run concurrently all over the country.

Every regional team must have one player under the age of 21 in playing XI and at least two in the 30-player squad. These players must have come through PCB’s age-group programme, the board said.