LAHORE: Twenty-two per cent increase was witnessed in the number of registration of clubs across the country as the deadline for the registration expired on April 8, said a statement issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday.

“The club registration process concluded on Thursday with the Pakistan Cricket Board receiving an unprecedented and overwhelming response from the passionate club cricket owners,” the PCB stated.

“Just before the new constitution came into effect in August 2019, 3,115 clubs were registered with the PCB. However, following amendments to the model constitutions as well as the introduction of club affiliation and operational rules, the PCB has received 3,807 applications, which reflects an increase of 22 per cent. Both Karachi (231 applications) and Lahore (222) are the major cities from where most of the applications received. Similarly, province wise, KP comes first with 845 applications followed by Central Punjab (774), Sindh (676), Southern Punjab (524), Balochistan (502) and Northern (486).

“The club registration process had commenced on 10 March and by 22 March, the PCB had received 1,362 applications. This means in the past 17 days, 2,445 more clubs have shown their support and confidence in the PCB by applying for registration,” the PCB further said.

The PCB extended the first deadline which ended on March 22 as a very poor response was received due to many complications in the process.

“In Central Punjab, over 100 applications have been received from Faisalabad. The PCB has received 94 applications from Sindh’s Hyderabad and 87 from Northern’s Rawalpindi, while 82 and 83 applications have come from Balochistan’s Quetta and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu, respectively. Sixty-one applications have been received from Southern Punjab’s Bahawalnagar.

“Following the conclusion of the first step, the successful applicant club presidents will receive an online link on their registered email address for submission of further information relating to membership and players categories,” it concluded.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2021