LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Director Game Development Aizad Sayid has claimed that a huge data about the players of registered clubs and of schools have been prepared as a result of the Inter-club and Inter-school cricket events held in 2017.

Talking to Dawn, Aizad said that as many as 56,800 players from around 2500 clubs — including 11,908 in the under-19 age category — have appea­red in the inter-club tournament which is still in progress. Besides that, some 10,680 players of 331 schools also participated in the ongoing all-Pakistan inter-school championships.

Aizad said the record of every player of each school and club is being maintained and it would help the PCB to move forward in a systematic way at the grassroots level. He said the participation of such a huge number of cricketers at such a young age has proved that the Pakistanis are very passionate about the game of cricket.

He said the prime duty of the PCB is not to spoil the talent but pick them on merit and groom them.

“I remember well how my Stags Club in Lahore had sent three cricketers namely Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf and Hasan Ali to the National Cricket Academy in 2010-11 after spotting their talent. But the NCA sent back Hasan Ali, rejecting him as a bowler,” recalled Aizad.

“Then I spoke to Shakil Sheikh, (then head of the PCB cricket committee), who as head of the Islamabad Region gave a chance to Hasan on my request. The young pacer excelled from the very first event and is now a match-winning bowler for Pakistan,” he said.

Aizad further said that besides Imad, Faheem and Hasan, two other cricketers were also associated with his Stags Club and they are Aamir Yamin and Usman Shinwari who have also found their place in the national squad.

Aizad said the PCB is making efforts to prepare a system under which no deserving player (s) would be wasted. Elaborating about how the cricket clubs are managed by the Board, Aizad said: “The PCB has an enormous structure through which it manages its affairs. There are 2,549 registered clubs, these clubs are divided into 97 districts and these districts are divided into 16 regions.

“The current regime of PCB realizes its responsibility to spread this game in such a manner that every individual who falls in the framework of its structure gets an equal and unbiased opportunity to wear the green shirt,” Aizad said. “This can only come true when a centrally controlled cricketing activity is generated at the club level.

“It is easier said than done as there are many complications and a lot of hard work is required to put things in place,” observed Aizad. “The credit must go to the current PCB management for taking a decision in this regard which has made it possible for the very first time in the history of Pakistan cricket to execute a centrally-controlled club championship across Pakistan.”

To a question, Aizad admitted that it was unfortunate that the PCB could not get maximum coverage through media for the two enormous galas (Inter-club and Inter-school cricket) held this year.

“In the next edition, steps will be taken to highlight the activity at the maximum level and to further expand its size, both at the school and club levels,” he said. “The performers will certainly get an opportunity to play in the succeeding tournaments and, if a player is capable enough, he will keep on rising through the echelons of this structure to finally find his way into the national side, simply through his performance,” Aizad said.

To a question, Aizad said there was no corruption involved in two galas and the records of all the expenditure is maintained quite well.

To a question, he said club championship was the only way forward for finding new heroes as clubs were the only nurseries where potential superstars for the future were groomed.

He also admitted that it was the responsibility of the PCB to create an environment where those youngsters were encouraged to work on developing their individual skills. “It is a colossal task which requires a lot of hard work and motivation, which is why it has been largely ignored in the past, but the current hierarchy of PCB is motivated to take up this daunting task.

“Inception of a new structure is never flawless, this club championship is no exception but we will rectify its short comings every year. In our first year of execution we have received remarkable results which will only get stronger through time,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017