LAHORE: The inaugural Malala U-21 National Women Cricket Championship is scheduled to be held from Dec 4 to 18 at the Lahore Country Club, Muridke.

The event replaces the U-19 National Women Cricket Championship, which was successfully organised by the PCB Women’s Wing from 2009 to 2013.

A PCB press statement stated: “The prime objective behind increasing the event’s age bracket — from Under-19 to Under-21 — is to give greater opportunity and exposure to promising young talent so that they could hone their skill-set at a highly competitive level prior to earning their spurs for national duty.

The statement added: “The naming of the event after Malala Yousufzai is not only a tribute to the youngest Nobel laureate ever but also meant to inspire our women cricketers to attain similar levels of excellence in their chosen domain.”

Twelve teams will feature in the event. The qualifying round will be held from Dec 4 to 7 while the final round will start from Dec 8.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2014