10 October 2004	Sunday	24 Shaban 1425

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KARACHI, Oct 9: The Quaid-i-Azam Trophy national cricket championship, Pakistan's premier domestic first-class tournament, starts from Sunday with 11 teams from nine regions competing.

A bizarre feature of this season's championship is that it will continue to be played even during the holy month of Ramazan. The only 'respite', if one can say, for all concern will come in the form of a 20-day break after the fourth round matches conclude on Oct 31.

Even then, at least eight days of that interval between matches will be utilized with the staging of the first-ever Twenty20 Cup in Pakistan domestic cricket.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, which is still in the process of finalizing sponsorship deals to market local tournaments, plans to hold the Twenty20 Cup at Lahore from Nov 4 to 11.

The Quaid Trophy will then resume some days after Eidul Fitr.

Karachi and Lahore, the two biggest cricket associations, have been allowed to field two teams each. The remaining regions taking part are defending champions Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Sialkot, Hyderabad, Multan and Quetta.

Faisalabad, winners of the 2003-04 championship when nine regions competed, begin their campaign against Sialkot.

In the opening round of five matches, the teams representing Karachi and Lahore face each other with Karachi Whites playing Karachi Blues here at the National Stadium and Lahore Whites squaring off against Lahore Blues at the Country Club Ground in Muridke.

A total of 55 four-day matches are scheduled to be played before the top two teams on the points table clash in the five-day final from Jan 2 at a venue to be decided later.

Schedule:

Oct 10-13: Karachi Whites v Karachi Blues at National Stadium, Karachi; Lahore Whites v Lahore Blues at Country Club Ground, Muridke; Quetta v Multan at Bugti Stadium, Quetta; Sialkot v Faisalabad at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Peshawar v Rawalpindi at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

Oct 16-19: Karachi Blues v Hyderabad at National Stadium, Karachi; Quetta v Karachi Whites at Bugti Stadium, Quetta; Multan v Rawalpindi at Multan Cricket Stadium; Peshawar v Lahore Whites at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar; Sialkot v Lahore Blues at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.

Oct 22-25: Karachi Blues v Peshawar at Quaid-i-Azam Park (Steel Town), Karachi; Quetta v Rawalpindi at Bugti Stadium, Quetta; Hyderabad v Karachi Whites at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Lahore Whites v Faisalabad at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Multan v Sialkot at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Oct 28-31: Karachi Whites v Rawalpindi at Quaid-i-Azam Park (Steel Town), Karachi; Quetta v Peshawar at Bugti Stadium, Quetta; Multan v Karachi Blues at Multan Cricket Stadium; Lahore Blues v Faisalabad at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Hyderabad v Sialkot at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad.

Nov 21-24: Lahore Whites v Karachi Whites at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Karachi Blues v Sialkot at National Stadium, Karachi; Multan v Lahore Blues at Multan Cricket Stadium; Faisalabad v Peshawar at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Hyderabad v Rawalpindi at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad.

Nov 27-30: Hyderabad v Quetta at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Peshawar v Karachi Whites at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar; Rawalpindi v Lahore Blues at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium; Sialkot v Lahore Whites at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Faisalabad v Multan at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

Dec 3-6: Lahore Blues v Karachi Whites at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Faisalabad v Karachi Blues at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Lahore Whites v Quetta at Sheikhupura Stadium; Peshawar v Hyderabad at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar; Rawalpindi v Sialkot at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Dec 9-12: Lahore Whites v Karachi Blues at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Sialkot v Karachi Whites at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Lahore Blues v Hyderabad at LCCA Ground, Lahore; Faisalabad v Quetta at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Peshawar v Multan at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

Dec 15-18: Faisalabad v Hyderabad at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Rawalpindi v Karachi Blues at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium; Multan v Lahore Whites at Multan Cricket Stadium; Lahore Blues v Quetta at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Sialkot v Peshawar at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.

Dec 21-24: Karachi Whites v Multan at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi; Karachi Whites v Faisalabad at National Stadium, Karachi; Lahore Whites v Rawalpindi at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Sialkot v Quetta at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Rawalpindi v Faisalabad at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Dec 27-30: Karachi Whites v Faisalabad at National Stadium, Karachi; Karachi Blues v Quetta at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi; Lahore Whites v Rawalpindi at Qadhafi Stadium, Lahore; Hyderabad v Multan at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Peshawar v Lahore Blues at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

Jan 2-6: Final (venue to be decided).