Open trials of U-13 & U-16 players to begin from September 12

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will be holding open trials for Under-13 and Under-16 players from September 12 till September 20 under the Under-13 Catch em’ Young and Under-16 PCB-Pepsi Cricket Stars programmes.

The trials will be held across 82 cities of the country, under the new domestic structure, which was launched on August 31. The trials will be conducted by the PCB domestic and local coaches, says a press release.

The players selected from the trials will feature in the final trials to select six cricket association teams which will eventually play the National U-13 and U-16 tournaments. Dates of final trials and tournament details will be announced in due course, the statement added.

Last week, the PCB unveiled the new competitive 2019-20 domestic cricket season structure to improve first-class cricket.

The PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, Chief Executive Wasim Khan and Director Domestic Cricket Operations Haroon Rasheed unveiled the new structure at a ceremony at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday last.

According to the new structure, the 16 regional teams have now been merged into the newly formed associations. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cricket Association includes Peshawar, erstwhile Fata and Abbottabad; Sindh Cricket Association includes Karachi, Hyderabad and Larkana; Balochistan Cricket Association comprises Dera Murad Jamali and Quetta; Southern Punjab Cricket Association includes Multan and Bahawalpur; Central Punjab Cricket Association includes Faisalabad, Sialkot and Lahore; Northern Cricket Association includes Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Azad-Jammu Kashmir.

The new domestic structure will be based on a three-tier bottom-up approach to provide a clear pathway for the aspiring cricketers to graduate to the top level, bringing in more young and talented cricketers in the system.

In the first tier, the 90 city cricket associations will be organize club and school cricket competitions. In the second category, city cricket teams will participate in inter-city competitions, while in the third tier, the best performing players from the inter-city competitions will form the six respective cricket association side that will participate in the PCB-organised tournaments.

The cricket associations will be bound to give contracts to 32 players, while they will also be free to include any other player on agreed payment. The players having domestic contracts will receive monthly stipend of Rs50,000 and high-performing players will get more privileges.