LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet finalized its decisions regarding the scheduling of the matches, which indicates poor governance and a lack of professionalism in the organization’s operations as the domestic season approaches.
The PCB delayed the start of the Inter-district Senior Cricket Championship on Thursday, citing the continuous rainy season as the reason in a letter to the district cricket associations. This was just another timetable change made by the PCB.
Dawn is aware that the event will now begin on September 8, one week later than previously planned. The PCB also decided to postpone the start of the Inter-district U-19 Championship from October 1 to September 10.
The Champions One-day Cup, a 50-over format competition under the recently implemented top-tier “Champions” system, was also scheduled to begin last week on September 1 and run through September 12. At that time, the mentors for each team had not yet been announced.
The coaching staff and squads of each team are still in flux, despite Monday’s announcement of the mentors for the five Champions side.
A 30-player team has not yet been announced by either of the Champions side for the four-day, one-day, or Twenty20 formats. Dawn has been informed that a limited number of players have been called up for fitness tests on Friday in various locations, in accordance with the selection process. The identities of the selectors who chose these players, their names, and the selection criteria have all been kept confidential.
The Punjab Stadium in Lahore will host the fitness testing from 6:00 am to 8:00 am.
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.
In addition to the contracts, the PCB has set high salaries for the recently appointed mentors of the Champions sides, who include former players Misbah-ul-Haq, Sarfraz Ahmad, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Malik, and Saqlain Mushtaq.
Dawn is aware that the monthly salaries of the mentors range from $25,000 to Rs. 5 million.
The sole person appointed to coach the Stallions, one of the Champions teams, is Shoaib Malik. It is yet unclear who mentor will assume leadership roles for the other champion teams, which are the Panthers, Wolves, Dolphins, and Lions.
The inability of the PCB to draw sponsors for the Champions events, which it meant to turn into products that could be sold, is another indication of the marketing department’s shortcomings inside the board.
