The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Cricket Committee met here at the Qadhafi Stadium decided to weed out malpractice and corruption at the regional level apart from introducing a new more effective regime of age-verification process in age-restricted tournaments.
The PCB body discussed and took decisions on a wide range of issues with regard to Pakistan's domestic and regional cricket. Chairman Shaharyar Mohammad Khan was a special invitee in the meeting attended by Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Haroon Rashid, Intikhab Alam, Mohammad Akram, Aizad Syed, Shahid Aslam, Shafiq Ahmed Papa and Saqib Irfan. The meeting was chaired by Cricket Committee Chairman Shakil Sheikh.
Team Pakistan Head Coach Waqar Younis gave a detailed briefing on a string of meetings and interactions that he had with regional coaches during the just-concluded Haier National T20 tournament. Waqar Younis gave most cogent proposals with regard to sharing the thinking of national coaches with regard to present and future demands of Team Pakistan with coaches at the regional level so that it could translate into channeling their energies towards grooming the requisite talent.
Chairman PCB appreciated and agreed to the proposal, which was adopted by the committee. It was also decided that the names of selection committees for all regions for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy were also approved. "To eliminate extraneous influences, it was decided that all selected teams shall be approved by the chief selector", said Shakil Sheikh. It was also decided to review salary and allowances of regional coaches. "Unlike the previous one-day affair, spread over three days the Quaid Trophy trials for regional teams shall now be more wholesome and elaborate. These shall be held from October 1 to 3, with one day dedicated to assessing physical fitness, the benchmark for which has been pegged at 40 per cent of the international standard; we have adopted a soft approach on this and this threshold shall be gradually increased upward", said Shakil Sheikh.
The committee also clamped a ban of three years on the-already-suspended match referee Mujahid Jamshed for his indiscreet remarks vilifying chief selector Haroon Rashid. Chairman PCB and the entire Cricket Committee appreciated the befitting organization of Haier National T20 tournament. The Committee was apprised that, apart from the competitive nature and emergence of new talent, the success of the tournament can also be measured from the fact that it grossed the highest revenue ever from gate money in a domestic tournament.