KARACHI, Oct 25: Fruitful discussions were held at a meeting of former Test and first-class cricketers of the city, convened by the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) to devise ways and means to improve the general standard of cricket in Karachi.

The meeting, held under the chairmanship of KCCA President Prof Sirajul Islam Bukhari at the KCCA office on Thursday, was attended by a number of prominent former stalwarts including Saleem Jaffer, Tauseef Ahmed, Azam Khan, Ghulam Ali, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Ilyas Khan, Mahmood Hamid, Zafar Ahmed, Mohinder Kumar, Mohammad Masroor and Irfan Habib, according to a media release of the KCCA.

Conspicuous by their absence were former Test stars Iqbal Qasim, Moin Khan, Basit Ali and Jalaluddin, while Rashid Latif could not join as he was stuck up in Sialkot with the Karachi-based members of the Port Qasim Authority squad following the conclusion of the President’s Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship match on Wednesday.

It was decided in the meeting that every zone should have two regular U-17 teams who should do net practice regularly, cement wickets be revived to raise quality of fast bowlers, coaches and observers be appointed in each zone, at least 10 overs be made compulsory for a fast bowler in every match, fitness levels of cricketers be raised and discipline in senior Karachi teams be improved.

A fast bowlers’ camp will be conducted at all-Karachi level in which Saleem Jaffer, Jalaluddin, Mohinder Kumar, Atiq-ur-Rehman and Irfan Habib will select and train fast bowlers after the U-19 tournament. Later, camps will be conducted for the batsmen, spinners and wicket-keepers.

It was also decided that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) be requested to allow KCCA to stage at least one final of a senior cricket tournament at the National Stadium, while the authorities of Aga Khan Gymkhana, NBP Sports Complex, UBL Sports Complex, Karachi Gymkhana and Aga Khan University Ground will also be urged to allow use of their grounds for PCB inter-district matches.

The KCCA also decided to appoint following coaches for each zone: Ghulam Ali and Iftikhar at Student ground and Custom Academy for Zone I; Ilyas Khan and Masroor at TMC Ground for Zone II; Saleem Jaffer and Mohinder Kumar and Ali Hussain Rizvi at Aga Khan Gymkhana for Zone III; Tauseef Ahmed, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Saeed Azad and Zafar Iqbal at Pak Star Ground for Zone IV; Shakeel Sajjad, Mohammad Aslam and Aamir Iqbal at Jalaluddin Cricket Academy in Korangi for Zone V; Irfan Habib, Moonis Qadri and Rashid Mahmood at KCCA Stadium for Zone VI; Mahmood Hamid and Asim Rizvi at Annu Bhai Park and Asifabad Sports Ground for Zone VII.

The services of these former cricketers will also be requisitioned to join as coaches at zonal level.