KARACHI: The newly-constituted Ground Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) visited three venues in Karachi on Thursday and inspected the playing facilities.

The delegation, headed by General Manager Domestic Cricket Operations Shafiq Ahmed, paid a visit to the UBL Sports Complex and the NBP Sports Complex — both established first-class venues in the country’s largest metropolis — as well as the Lawai Cricket Stadium in Naya Nazimabad.

After inspecting at the existing facilities at the Lawai Stadium in the company of director sports Naya Nazimabad Mohammad Iqbal, that has applied for first-class status, Shafiq and ground committee member Prof Ejaz Faruqi, the delegation stressed that two more pitches should be added to meet the mandatory minimum quota of five as prescribed by the PCB.

The inspection team further emphasised that despite the adequate outlook of the Naya Nazimabad venue, it should also ensure that practice pitches should be laid as part of the upgrading process the ground requires t meet the criteria set by the PCB.

Iqbal assured the PCB team that all the necessary facilities would be upgraded on urgent basis to ensure first-class matches are played in the near future.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2014