Shahid Afridi backs Pakistan new domestic system

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has backed the new domestic system saying that the new system would foster quality cricket, however, time would truly tell the benefits of the new system.

“This system looks very good as it is set to promote quality over quantity. In recent years, first-class cricket was made a little too easy and a lot of first-class players emerged due to the sheer quantity of games. This new system brings back value to a first-class cricketer, which I feel had gone missing with the increase in quantity of players,” said Afridi, quoted PCB.

The former all-rounder added that reducing the number of teams to just six would improve the quality of competition.

“At the same time, players playing these events will have to produce their best all the time and would work really hard to ensure that they retain their contracts. I feel that this system should be given at least three to four years then only we would be able to gauge the merits of the system,” he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday unveiled the 2019-20 domestic cricket structure at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Under the new domestic structure 16 regions have been merged into six associations, namely: Balochistan, Sindh, Southern Punjab, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern. Whereas, player packages have increased as well.