LAHORE: Australia’s Tony Hemming was appointed as chief curator by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as no extension was given to previous chief curator Agha Zahid.

“Tony Hemming has been appointed as the new head curator on a two-year contract,” the PCB announced on Monday.

According to a PCB spokesman, Agha’s contract expired on June 30. Hemming, who hails from Western Australia, will arrive in Lahore on Wednesday to assume his role.

“One of Hemming’s immediate tasks will be to prepare pitches for the upcoming five ICC World Test Championship matches against Bangladesh [two in August/September] and England [three in October]. Hemming will also oversee pitch preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which Pakistan will host from Feb 19 to March 9,” the PCB added.

“Hemming is a highly respected curator with nearly four decades of experience. He has worked at various iconic cricket grounds in Australia, including Melbourne, Perth and Tasmania, as well as in countries such as Bangladesh, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where he was the ICC Head Curator from 2007 to 2017 in Dubai.

“During his time with the ICC, Hemming also oversaw pitch preparation at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, which was one of Pakistan’s home [series] venues between 2009 and 2019,” the PCB statement further said.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2024