The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that all 19 departments that participated in the 2018-19 domestic season have confirmed their participation in the upcoming 2023-24 season. The PCB’s management committee met in Lahore on Monday and was informed that the departments were ready to participate in the domestic season. The 19 departments include Ahmed Glass, Ghani Glass, Haider Traders, HEC, Income Tax, Khayaban-e-Amin, KRL, Navy, NBP, ODGCL, PAF, Pak Saudi International, Pakistan Customs, PTV, Sabir’s Poultry, SNGPL, SSGC, State Bank of Pakistan and WAPDA.
In addition to the 19 existing departments, 12 new departments have applied for registration with the PCB. The interested departments include 505 Clothing, Aryan Marketing Services, Commoners’ Development (Pvt) Ltd, Defence & Strategic Ventures (DSV), Eshaal Association, JDW Sugar Mills Ltd, K&H Traders, NICON Group of Colleges, Pak PWD, Punjab Police, Rahat & Shuja Impex and RMS Global Corp.
The PCB’s management committee is optimistic about reviving the old structure of the domestic season with full strength. The committee, headed by chairman Najam Sethi, was given the task of reviving the old domestic structure within 90 days in line with the 2014 constitution.
During the latest management committee meeting, youth cricket tours were also discussed. The committee approved upcoming youth cricket tours, which include Pakistan U19 touring Bangladesh in May for a four-dayer, five 50-over matches and one T20, and Pakistan Shaheens visiting Zimbabwe for a series of four-dayers and 50-over matches. The committee was also informed that an ACC Emerging Cup was scheduled in Sri Lanka in June/July. Further details on these tours will be shared in due course.
It should be noted that Sethi and the company were appointed to the PCB’s management committee by the board’s patron-in-chief, PM Shehbaz Sharif. The aim was to revive the old cricket structure which was demolished by former Prime Minister and ex-cricketer Imran Khan.
After taking charge as the country’s PM in 2018, Khan appointed Ehsan Mani as the new PCB chairman and directed him to revoke the 2014 constitution and replace it with a new constitution that enforced a new domestic cricket structure containing only six regions. This resulted in many cricketers losing their jobs in departments, and many were forced to take on other jobs to make ends meet.
