LAHORE, July 8: First phase of the PCB-Pepsi Cricket Stars Programme for U-16 players will start from July 10.

It will be the second edition of the programme which is being conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in collaboration with the Pepsi International.

The Programme, aimed at identifying young talent, will be conducted in four phases.

During the first stage, open trials will be held in 43 districts while in the second phase around 35 short-listed players would appear for final trials at respective regional headquarters.

In the third phase, an inter region U-16 tournament would be held in November/December 2011.

Likewise, in the fourth phase, 24 top performers of the inter region U-16 tournament selected by the national selection committee would gather in January/February at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Lahore under NCA elite coaches.

The trials for the first phase of the nationwide talent hunt programme will be held in 43 districts of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and AJK.

Players born on or after September 1, 1995 are eligible to appear in the trials. Original form ‘B’ is required for age verification.