LAHORE: After the Punjab government gave permission for some specific sports including cricket to resume, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced to hold the trials to select U-19 and seniors sides of all city associations belonging to the province from May 29 to June 10.

It will be the first time that the PCB will hold the inter-city competitions since implementing its new constitution on Aug 19, 2019, as domestic cricket has been limited to six provincial association teams while the district/city level platforms have been ignored.

Under the programme, the trials will be held in all the cities falling under Central and Southern Punjab Cricket Associations, besides some falling in the Northern Cricket Associations.

“Those players who got themselves registered between March 12-16 can appear for the trials. To facilitate those willing cricketers who were unable to register themselves, the PCB has allowed on-venue registration. Only those cricketers who are born on or after Sept 1, 2002 and before Sept 1, 2006 can register for the U-19 trials,” read a PCB announcement.

“All players are required to bring their original CNICs or B-Forms along with printed copies of their registration forms. The trials will be conducted from 0900 till 1800. The candidates are required to report at 0800 in white-coloured cricket clothing.”

The three association coaching staffs — First XI, Second XI and U-19 — will conduct the trials along with selectors of the national age-group sides and the National High Performance Centre-affiliated coaches.

Meanwhile, the PCB will conduct the trials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir after the local authorities relax the Covid-19-enforced restrictions to allow cricketing activities to resume. The trials for U-19 and senior city association teams in Balochistan and Sindh were conducted during March and April.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2021