Pakistani companies assure cricket stability

Pakistani companies assure cricket stability

GETTING OUR CRICKET RIGHT—PART FIVE
Published: guardian
Friday, May 22, 2015

Pakistani companies have adopted cricket clubs.
Today T&T Guardian’s senior reporter VINODE MAMCHAN provides the fifth and final installment in the series GETTING OUR CRICKET RIGHT. Today we take a look at what occurs in Pakistan and look to see what can be learnt from the Middle Easterners.

There was a call yesterday in part IV of the Getting our cricket right series by president of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath for corporate T&T to adopt clubs in order for players to get the necessary time off to play cricket. Today, we see a perfect example from the Pakistani businessmen, who have decided to give back to their customers by financing cricket clubs. Most professional teams in Pakistan represent Pakistani companies (such as Habib Bank and Pakistan International Airlines) and are known as ‘departmental teams’.

They play in a first class competition called the Patrons Trophy. These are split into two grades. There are also several regional professional sides taking part in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy, which is also split into two grades. The teams play between September and April every year. In order to gain selection for one of these sides you will need to show potential at a lower level. Mostly this is at regional and national Under 19, although older players can break through.

As schools and universities, cricket is on the decline in the country. This means scoring runs or taking wickets in club cricket is the key for a youngster to get selected for the regional side. Club games are played with passion. The ‘season’ lasts the whole year, with teams playing several limited over matches a week. It’s common to net every day.

Clubs are run by volunteers, often former players, who put in huge amounts of effort, time and sometimes money to keep the sides going with no financial support from the PCB. These men are the unsung heroes of Pakistan cricket, unearthing and nurturing talent through to the highest level on nothing but love for the game.

However, despite these heroic efforts, club cricket is not formally structured to lead in into the top level like it is in Australia. This means getting the attention needed to make it is difficult. Talent is often overlooked because players perform in local competitions but their success is not noticed outside the local club matches.

To avoid this, talented players need to make sure they are playing for the right clubs with the best connections to departmental or regional sides. One such club is Ludhiana Gymkhana in Lahore, which has a history of producing International players like Wasim Akram, Atta ur Rehman and Ijaz Ahmed.

Another club; Sheikhupura Gymkhana has produced players like Mohammad Asif, Rana Naveed, and Aqib Javed. In Karachi, clubs like Malir Gymkhana have produced players such as Rashid Latif and Younus Khan. As there is little in the way of formal coaching, an alternative to this method is to enrol in a private cricket academy such as Pakistan Custom’s Cricket Academy in Karachi.

There are very few of these and they are expensive to attend. However, the standard is high so if cost is not too much of an issue, this is an excellent route to the top. Players who are spotted at club level can move on to professional cricket.