The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) domestic cricket underwent radical changes last year when the divisional system was scrapped in favor of a new regional cricket structure. The old divisional cricket system, which was the backbone of the local cricket scene in the early 1970s, consisted of 16 first-class teams owned by private firms such as Khan Research Laboratories and Habib Bank Limited. However, with the introduction of the new system, the number of teams has been reduced to six provincial squads, with Punjab catering for two teams and a sixth team for cricketers from northern regions such as Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. The PCB has restructured district-level cricket into a three-tier bottom-up system. The bottom tier consists of 90 City Cricket Associations that oversee school and club cricket in their respective domains. Winners from this round will advance to the intermediate level to participate in inter-city tournaments. Winners of this level will be eligible to play for their respective provincial teams if selected. The six cricket associations will ensure that the affairs of the associations are regulated at the city level. They will formulate policies that will develop grassroots cricket, manage club cricket in collaboration with city associations and also oversee inter-city competitions. More importantly, they are also responsible for revenue generation through sponsorship, marketing and strategic collaborations with business conglomerates. Each provincial association now has a chief executive officer and a management committee tasked with overseeing all cricket activities. The PCB made these changes to decentralize the governing body so that it could restrict itself to a supervisory role by delegating responsibilities related to the development of the sport to the provincial associations. The framework is undoubtedly detailed and robust, but will require continuous monitoring from the PCB for at least the next few years to ensure that the newly implemented system stays on a trajectory that will allow it to eventually pay dividends by producing quality players. A consistent basis. Admittedly, the changed structure has its fair share of detractors, with legendary cricketer Javed Miandad criticizing the new system for depriving budding cricketers of opportunities and employment. The World Cup-winning batsman said: “I played for Habib Bank Limited which elevated me to the position of Senior Vice President and enabled me to provide top education to my children. Therefore, these departments, by providing jobs to sports persons, are taking care of their needs.” To ascertain whether the above criticism holds water, let us briefly compare the abolished departmental system and the newly reformed structure. The departmental system had 16 teams with about 350 cricketers. However, in the new structure, each team has 32 players on their books of which 16 are first team members and the rest are reserves. This means a total of 192 players have been retained while at least 160 cricketers have been released. Double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will increase competition for places and ideally bring out the best in the players. At the same time, fringe cricketers unable to secure a guaranteed place in the team may choose not to toil in the domestic circuit as it may become financially unviable to do so, especially If their socio-economic conditions are not strong enough to begin with.Fazal Subhan, who has represented Pakistan at Under-19 and ‘A’ team level. Did, a cricketer who was forced to seek alternative employment after the disbandment of divisional cricket. Veteran cricketer Mohammad Hafeez shared a video on his Twitter account in which Subhan is seen driving a mini-truck. Expressing disappointment over Subhan’s condition, Hafeez said, “Many others are suffering like him. [as well]. The new system will take care of 200 players, but thousands of cricketers and management staff have lost their jobs due to this new model. I don’t know who will take responsibility for this unemployment in the cricket fraternity…” This is the sad reality for some of the players selected by the provincial cricketing associations. However, those who have made the cut will see a huge improvement in their financial status as the new domestic pay scale kicks in. For starters , 32 players have been kept on a monthly retainer of Rs 50,000 each. This amount excludes match fee, prize money and allowances which will be paid separately. Additionally, the four-day match fee has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 while the one-day match fee, which is T- 40,000, be it a Twenty20 match or a 50-over match, has been raised to Rs 40,000. Hence, first-team players can earn around Rs 2-2.5 million annually as against Rs 1.2 million proposed earlier. Moreover, reserve players, who once earned Rs 0.5 million , they can now earn up to 1.2 million. As a result, those who manage to make the cut will have a bigger slice of the pay structure and pie. That being said, it’s questionable. The partner who will ensure that player recruitment is done on merit so that only deserving players, irrespective of their family background, get a place in the 32-man squad? This question is highly relevant because how our cricketing system is notorious for its inability to protect itself from the evils of nepotism when considering the selection of players at the domestic and international levels. It is also important to note that the PCB will inject Rs 1.1 billion for the first three years and then withdraw their financial support, with the expectation that the provincial associations will become financially sustainable during this period. The private departments, or rather, the companies that owned the teams in the previous setup have been formally shown the door which may discourage them from investing in the new cricket system as the companies may feel that they will not get the same returns. Forms of public relations and advertising that they used earlier. This may prove worrisome for cricketing associations who are looking to partner themselves with such organizations to become sustainable, profitable organizations. If the six domestic cricket associations are unable to do so, this new and improved pay scale could collapse along with the domestic structure. Admittedly, the PCB’s current patron-in-chief, Prime Minister Imran Khan, has always promoted the introduction of this new domestic structure that takes inspiration from Australia’s Sheffield Shield. The Australian structure, which has churned out outstanding cricket talent over the years, also has six teams, one for each state or province. However, one outstanding question remains unanswered; Can the Australian six party model that caters to a country of 24.6 million people be considered appropriate for Pakistan with a growing population of 220 million and counting?
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