Lack of international cricket in Pakistan restricting discovery of new talent – Cricket News Update
The absence of international cricketing events in Pakistan is restricting the growth of the sport in the country, with everyone from the Pakistan Cricket Board to young talents in the domestic circuit at a disadvantage.
A senior board official, in a recent interview, lamented the fact that the drought had not only put the board in a tight financial situation, but was also not allowing the young and talented players in the domestic circuit to be discovered.
“There is no doubt that on one hand while the absence of international matches is hurting us financially it is also making it difficult for us to spot the right talent from the domestic circuit,” he said.
Following the terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan team in March 2009, which left a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Graham-Robert-Cowdrey-c60631 driver and six Pakistan policemen dead, in addition to injuring several players from the visiting squad, foreign teams have refused to tour the country, owing to
the uncertain security situation.
On account of this, the Men In Green have been compelled to host home series at neutral venues such as the UAE – a necessity which has not only proved costly for the board, but also restricted the hunt for new players.
“It is a fact that in this area we have suffered a lot because such tours are only organised on reciprocal basis. The problem is with no team willing to tour Pakistan at the moment we can't organise any under-19 or 'A' team tours,” the board official said.
“The under-19 and 'A' team tours are supposed to be an opportunity to give exposure to the upcoming players. In the past we discovered top talent mainly from the under-19 and ‘A’ team matches,” he said, in reference to players such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, Waqar
Younis, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mushtaq-Ahmed-c78096 – all of whom were discovered via Under-19, and ‘A’ team tours.
With the costs of having to host series for the national team abroad, the board’s financial position is not sound enough to organize similar events for the Under-19 side.
The official also went on to point out that the board was being forced to cut costs in order to compensate for the revenue they would normally generate as a result of hosting events. With neighbours http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 having refused to visit the country
for a series, the PCB has been looking into side ventures such as the launch of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Premier League. The board has received favourable presentations from parties such as Nimbus sports and Ten sports in regards to the PPL, as confirmed by PCB Chief
Operating Officer, Subhan Ahmed, and will be launching the event in October this year.
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