The Pakistan Cricket Board faced an embarrassing situation at its Board of Governors meeting in Lahore when the president of the largest cricket association in the country revolted against the new domestic structure introduced by the Board.
An official of the Board played down the incident but according to eye witness accounts, Ejaz Farooqi, president of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), at one stage walked out of the meeting yesterday to protest the changes in domestic cricket which have directly hit the Karachi and Lahore teams - long considered the nurseries of Pakistan cricket.
“Mr.Farooqi went out of the meeting but came back after senior officials of the board pacified him but the deadlock between the PCB and KCCA still remains over the domestic structure,” one eye witness said.
Things have come to a head between the PCB and the KCCA after the latter refused to accept the new domestic structure in which only one Karachi team has been given entry into main rounds of the National T20 Championship and the premier Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while its second team has to come through a qualifying process.
The KCCA even refused to select and send the names of players for the two Karachi squads prompting the PCB to announce the squads themselves for the National T20 event being held from September 1.
A well-placed source said that the PCB had offered an olive branch to the KCCA by agreeing to finish off the qualifying round in the national T20 championship thus allowing Karachi to field two teams in the main rounds.
“But Mr. Farooqi made it clear the KCCA’s main concern was the premier first class tournament - Quaid—e—Azam Trophy - in which since Independence customarily two teams each from Karachi and Lahore have been given direct entry into the main rounds.”
The source said that the KCCA Executive Council was now due to meet today in which it would decide its future course of action.
“Obviously the PCB wants all its affiliated units on board to enforce the new domestic cricket structure which is why they are trying their best to avoid any confrontation with the KCCA,” he said.
PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said on Monday that the PCB gave a lot of importance to Karachi association due to its position in Pakistan cricket. “We will do our best to address their concerns and find a solution but at the end of the day the rules and regulations of the PCB cannot be compromised,” Mr.Khan said.
