Category: Games

Lahore, September 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):Pakistan women’s team will fly out from Lahore for Bangladesh via Dubai in the wee hours of 28 September to feature in ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup. The seven-team tournament will be played in Sylhet, Bangladesh from October 1, the final of the tournament will be played on 15 October.

The Bismah Maroof-led side had practiced and trained for 10 days at the Lahore Country Club, Muridke. The players went through rigorous nets sessions and scenario-based matches, besides undergoing bowling and batting drills.

Captain Bismah Maroof: “Our previous series didn’t go well, so we will try to rebuild our side and restart our winning streak. Our coaches have worked really hard on players in the camp and we will try to execute the practice in the matches in the tournament.

“The tournament format is such that it provides a number of matches to the players which will ultimately help us to get ourselves ready for next year’s World Cup. We will not be complacent, every team in the tournament will come fully prepared, and we will try to produce good results.

“Match against India is an important match, but before that we have other games. We will try to gain momentum in the tournament, and once it is with us, we will look forward to the game against India.”

Before the Muridke camp, right-arm pacer Fatima Sana was ruled out of the tournament due to ankle injury. When asked how much she will be missed in the tournament, Bismah replied, “Fatima has remained a vital part of the side, her absence is a setback for us, but at the same time it is a great opportunity for other players to step up and play a role in winning matches for the side.”

The seven-team tournament format is such that each team will play the other once before the top four sides qualifying for the semi-finals. The final of the tournament will be played on 15 October. Pakistan will play their opening match of the tournament against Malaysia at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on 2 October. Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India on 7 October.

Squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Nashra Sundhu, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wk) and Tuba Hasan

Reserve players: Natalia Pervaiz, Umme Hani and Waheeda Akhtar

Support staff: Ayesha Ashhar (team manager), Saleem Jaffer (bowling coach and interim head coach), Mauhtashim Rashid (fielding coach), Muhammad Zubair Ahmad (analyst) and Rifat Gill (physiotherapist).

Pakistan’s fixtures:

2 October – v Malaysia

3 October – v Bangladesh

6 October – v Thailand

7 October – v India

9 October – v UAE

11 October – v Sri Lanka

For more information, contact:
Media Manager,
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-5717231-4
Fax: +92-42-5711860
Website: www.pcb.com.pk

Lahore, September 27, 2022 (PPI-OT):The first phase of the Engro Cricket Coaching Project under the PCB Pathway Programme concluded at the National High Performance Centre, Lahore today. The revolutionary cricket camp aimed at delivering world class coaching, training and grooming for the future generation of Pakistan cricket lasted one month.

The camp included 100 top performers of the PCB organized U13, U16 and U19 players. Renowned foreign coaches Gordon Parsons (fast bowling), Julian Wood (power-hitting), Julien Fountain (fielding), Nick Webb (strength and conditioning coach) and Toby Radford (batting coach) worked on enhancing the skills, temperament and technique of the participants while providing tactical awareness through various workshops and lectures held throughout the camp.

The foreign coaches were supported by PCB employed local coaches including former Pakistan stars Arshad Khan, Ijaz Ahmed (Jnr) and Rao Iftikhar.

Director High Performance Nadeem Khan: “I am delighted with the progress we have made in a short span of time at the pathway level. I want to thank Engro and all our supporters who have remained aligned with us on our aims and objectives for the next generation of our cricket stars.

“The first phase of the PCB Pathway Programme has remained a big success with the involvement of Gordon Parsons, Julian Wood, Julien Fountain, Nick Webb and Toby Radford who are all proven coaches at the pathway and senior levels. I am sure that the participants would have learned a lot from these coaches and their experience and skills would have also helped our local coaches who worked with them closely throughout the camp.

“Four of these coaches [Parsons, Wood, Fountain and Radford] will now be involved in the Pakistan Junior League from next week, their involvement will help them ascertain the development of the players they coached at the Engro Cricket Coaching Project.

“The pathway programme was linked with the PJL for this precise reason as we wanted to provide the players both a top-class camp environment as well as a world-class tournament platform for them to test their skills alongside some of the best junior talent in the cricketing world.”

The players who took part in the camp will now head home for a break. The players selected for the Pakistan Junior League will return to Lahore to join their respective PJL sides on 1 October.

The second phase of the camp is being planned for later this year. The details will be announced in due course. All five foreign coaches will also be engaged in the second-phase of the camp.

For more information, contact:
Media Manager,
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-5717231-4
Fax: +92-42-5711860
Website: www.pcb.com.pk

Lahore, September 26, 2022 (PPI-OT):A total of 27 women U19 cricketers will undergo skills and fitness training at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre, Multan in the U19 High Performance Skills Camp, which begins on 27 September.

Over the course of the 13-day camp, these 27 players will train under the supervision of the academy coaches, the camp will be headed by former Test cricketer Mohsin Kamal. The regional academy coaches include Muhammad Kamran Hussain, Tahir Mehmood and Jawad Hamid.

This camp serves an opportunity to the coaches to work on the skills of U19 cricketers and identify players for the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s World Cup to be staged in South Africa in January next year.

The players will report at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre later in the evening.

Head of Women Cricket, Tania Mallick: “We had organised talent hunt programme across the country from which we were able to create six cricket associations teams at the U19 level and organised a T20 tournament recently in Muridke. From the tournament we were able to select 27 players which will undergo a camp at the Inzamam-ul-Haq High Performance Centre in Multan.

“The objective of this camp is to enhance the skills of the players so we are better prepared to select a squad for next year’s ICC U19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa.”

Player names (in alphabetical order):

Abeera Kaleem, Aliza Sabir, Anosha Nasir, Aqsa Hafeez, Aqsa Yousaf, Areesha Noor, Azra Abibullah, Dina Razvi, Eman Fatima, Eyman Fatima, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer, Javeria Qamar, Laiba Nasir, Maham Anees, Mahnoor Bibi, Muskan Abid, Noor Fatima, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Syeda Aroob Shah, Syeda Taskyn Fatima, Tahzeeb Shah, Warda Yousaf, Zaib-Un-Nisa and Zamina Tahir

Support Staff: Mohsin Kamal (head coach), Jawad Hamid (assistant coach), Muhammad Kamran Hussain (assistant coach), Tahir Mehmood (assistant coach), Aisha Jalil (manager), Rabia Siddiq (Physiotherapist), Mohammad Usman Shahid (Performance Analyst) and Saboor Ahmed (Strength and Conditioning Coach)

For more information, contact:
Media Manager,
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-5717231-4
Fax: +92-42-5711860
Website: www.pcb.com.pk

Lahore, September 26, 2022 (PPI-OT):After the successful completion of the National T20 and Cricket Associations T20, the 2022-23 season enters into next phase with two red-ball tournaments – the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and Cricket Associations Championship – beginning from Tuesday, 27 September.

The squads for both tournaments have been finalised by national men’s chief selector, Muhammad Wasim, in consultation with the six Cricket Associations.

Yasir Shah, Azhar Ali, Khalid Usman, Umar Amin, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Hasan Ali will lead Balochistan, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern, Sindh and Southern Punjab in the two-month Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, in which each team will play the other twice in the 10-round group stage.

The first five round matches will be played at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan along with Abbottabad’s and Rawalpindi’s stadiums will be part of the remaining five round matches. The final of the tournament will be played from 26 to 30 November. The venue for the final will be announced in due course.

The PCB that has recently increased the match fees for its players featuring in the domestic cricket as part of its efforts to incentivise and reward top-performing cricketers, has put PKR17million on offer for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with the champion side grabbing PKR10million and runner-up bagging PKR5million. The top-performers – player of the tournament, best batter, best bowler and best wicketkeeper – will pocket PKR 500,000 each. The player of the final will be awarded PKR 50,000.

The first eight-round matches from Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi will be captured by nine High-Definition cameras and beamed across the globe through PCB’s official YouTube channel. The live-stream schedule for the last two rounds will be shared in due course, while the final will be televised on PTV Sports.

The squads of all six Cricket Associations are below. The defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will take on Balochistan at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad in their opening match of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Cricket Associations Championship, in which the second XI sides of the six Cricket Associations feature, will also begin from 27 September and will be played on the double round robin basis. In order to bring more competitiveness, the PCB, has introduced four-day matches instead of the usual three-day for the tournament.

The matches will be played from 27 September to 23 November at different venues of Karachi, while Bugti Stadium in Quetta will host three matches from sixth to eight round. Sindh – the defending champions will take on Central Punjab at the UBL Sports Complex, Karachi in their opening round match.

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23 squads:

Balochistan – Yasir Shah (c), Azeem Ghumman, Haris Sohail, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akif Javed, Ali Waqas, Ammad Butt, Asad Shafiq, Ayaz Tasawar, Haseebullah, Hussain Talat, Imran Butt, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shehzad and Taj Wali

Central Punjab – Azhar Ali (c), Aamir Yameen, Abdullah Shafiq, Abid Ali, Ahmed Daniyal, Ahmed Shahzad, Ali Shan, Hunain Shah, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Saad, Qasim Akram, Tayyab Tahir, Umaid Asif, Usama Mir and Waqas Maqsood

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Khalid Usman (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Arshad Ullah, Ihsanullah, Imran Khan Snr, Irfanullah Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Nabi Gul, Rehan Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan and Waqar Ahmed

Northern – Umar Amin (c), Abdul Faseh, Ather Mehmood, Faizan Riaz, Kashif Ali, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Huraira, Musa Khan, Nauman Ali, Rohail Nazir, Sarmad Bhatti, Umer Waheed, Waqas Ahmed and Zeeshan Malik

Sindh – Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Abrar Ahmed, Asif Mehmood, Fawad Alam, Ghulam Mudassar, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Asghar, Muhammad Umar, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Saud Shakeel, Syed Faraz Ali and Zahid Mahmood

Southern Punjab – Hasan Ali (c), Ahmed Bashir, Ali Usman, Hassan Khan, Imran Rafiq, Maqbool Ahmad, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Salman Ali Agha, Sameen Gull, Sharoon Siraj, Umer Siddique, Usman Salahuddin, Yousaf Baber and Zain Abbas

Cricket Associations Championship 2022-23 squads:

Balochistan – Bismillah Khan (c), Aftab Ahmed, Fahad Iqbal, Gohar Faiz, Hazrat Wali, Jalat Khan, Muhammad Ibrahim Snr., Muhammad Junaid, Muhammad Shahid, Najeebullah Achakzai, Nasir Khan, Raza-ul Hassan, Shehbaz Khan, Taimur Ali and Tariq Jameel

Central Punjab – Saif Badar (c), Abdul Sammad, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ali Shafiq, Ali Zaryab, Ameer Hamza, Bilal Asif, Bilawal Iqbal, Fahad Munir, Imran Dogar, Irfan Khan Niazi, Muhammad Waheed, Nisar Ahmed, Rizwan Hussain and Umar Akmal

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Israrullah (c), Adil Naz, Amir Azmat, Maaz Ahmed Sadaqat, Maaz Khan, Mehran Ibrahim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohsin Khan, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Imran, Niaz Khan, Saqib Jamil, Usman Tariq, Zeeshan Khan and Zubair Khan

Northern – Umair Masood (c), Ali Imran, Ali Sarfraz, Aqib Liaquat, Hassan Raza, Mohammad Arham, Mohammad Ismail, Munir Riaz, Nasir Nawaz, Shadab Majeed, Syed Aqib Shah, Taimur Sultan, Umar Khan, Zaman Khan and Ziad Khan

Sindh – Hassan Mohsin (c), Ammad Alam, Arish Ali Khan, Asif Ali Jnr, Danish Aziz, Junaid Ilyas, Kashif Iqbal, Majid Asghar, Mohammad Taha, Muhammad Ali Khan, Muhammad Hassan, Muhammad Suleman, Rameez Aziz, Shehzar Mohammad and Tabish Khan

Southern Punjab – Moinuddin (c), Abdul Rehman Muzammil, Faisal Akram, Humayun Altaf, Majid Ali, Mohammad Sadaqat, Muhammad Jahangir, Muhammad Junaid Awan, Muhammad Shehzad, Muhammad Umair, Rahat Ali, Rameez Alam, Tahir Hussain, Waqar Hussain and Zeeshan Ashraf

For more information, contact:
Media Manager,
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-5717231-4
Fax: +92-42-5711860
Website: www.pcb.com.pk

Lahore, September 25, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed it, for the first time, has introduced retainers for its Supplementary Panel match officials. As such, all 23 match officials, including 15 umpires and eight match referees, in the panel will receive a monthly retainer of PKR 25,000 during the 2022-23 season.

Previously, only match officials on the international and elite panel were on retainers, but the latest decision ensures all 43 match officials on the PCB panel are now being looked after by the game’s governing body in Pakistan. The retainers of the match officials on the international and elite panels are PKR 132,250 and PKR 69,575, respectively.

Apart from the retainers, the PCB also provides other benefits to its match officials during the cricket season, including match fees (PKR10,000 per day), daily allowances (PKR2,500 per day), four or five-star accommodation (whatever is available) as well as air and ground travel.

As such, a match official can earn up to PKR52,000 from a four-day match, including match day minus one daily allowance, while his earning from a limited overs match will be PKR15,000, including match day minus one daily allowance.

Furthermore, the scorers are also looked after by the PCB. For a domestic match, a scorer receives a match fee of PKR 7,500 (per day) and a daily allowance of PKR 2,500, whereas for a practice match, a scorer receives PKR 1,500 (per day) as match fee and a daily allowance of PKR 2,000. For outstation domestic and age-group matches, the PCB also provides logistical support to the scorers.

PCB Manager – Umpires and Referees, Bilal Qureshi: “The match officials are an important and integral part of our cricket structure and the PCB has always looked after them. To ensure they are valued and respected, the PCB has provided them top-quality accommodation and travel, while from this year, we have also introduced retainers for our supplementary panellists to align them with our international and elite panellists.

“It is our endeavour to attract more former cricketers to take up this noble profession and in this regard, we will continue to introduce various incentives.”

PCB media release on match officials’ panel for the 2022-23 season is available here. PCB media release on players’ domestic contracts for the 2022-23 season is available here. PCB media release on foreign coaches’ appointment for the 2022-23 season is available here.

For more information, contact:
Media Manager,
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-5717231-4
Fax: +92-42-5711860
Website: www.pcb.com.pk