21 January 2004	Wednesday	28 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 20: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday named international umpire Asad Rauf to supervise both finals of the Patron's tournaments at National Stadium.

The appointment of Asad for the Patron's Cup final on Jan 25 and the five-day final of the Patron's Trophy from Jan 26 is tantamount to a collapse of the system that was planned by the PCB for the championship.

In all preliminary round fixtures, the same pair of umpires along with the match referee stood in both one-day and four-day ties when two teams played in the same round.

Now, however, while Asad has been retained for the finals - to be played consecutively over a period of six days - there are separate nominations for the other umpire and the match referee.

Islam Khan, who has supervised in two One-day Internationals, will partner Asad as the umpire in the Patron's Cup one-day final between PIA and Habib Bank on Sunday with former Test medium-pacer Anwar Khan as the match referee.

Afzaal Ahmed, the only current Pakistan umpire who is a qualified member of Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers (ACUS) and has one ODI under his belt, will stand in his first major final when takes the field in the Patron's Trophy decider from Monday along with Asad.

Ex-Test opening batsman Sadiq Mohammad is the nominated match referee of the first-class final to be played between Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and either Wapda or Khan Research Laboratories (KRL).

Meanwhile, the PCB has also announced prize money for the finals. The winners of the Patron's Cup will pocket Rs100,000 and the runners-up Rs50,000 while there are five individual awards, including the man-of-the-match, of Rs10,000 each.

The team clinching the Patron's Trophy stands to be richer by Rs200,000. The beaten finalists will take Rs100,000. The man-of-the-match along with best among batsmen, bowlers, wicket-keepers and fielders will earn Rs15,000 per award.