The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed updated guidelines for the inclusion of new departmental teams in the Grade-II cricket.
According to the details, the guidelines have been designed to improve the quality of the sport and also to ensure that new entrants meet the required standards in terms of players’ eligibility and salary, infrastructure and qualification of the coaches.
As per the defined eligibility criteria, the players must have previously participated in international or domestic level of cricket. The U19 players, who have competed in any cricket event in the past three years, have also been regulated.
For government departments, the salary of the players must adhere to the bylaws of the Government of Pakistan, while for the private departments, the income of the players should be at least 50,000 PKR, along with a daily allowance of at least PKR 2,000 and other facilities.
The guidelines also addressed the coaching standard of the Grade-II cricket with the compulsion for each team to have a Level 1 qualified coach, preferably an international or first-class cricketer.
The registration and annual fees of the new Grade-II departmental teams also faced a spike.
For private departmental teams, the registration fee has been increased from PKR 500,000 to PKR 3.5 million, while the annual fee has risen from PKR 500,000 to PKR 3 million.
Meanwhile, government or services teams will be required to pay a registration fee of PKR 700,000.
To ensure adequate playing conditions, the cricket board has also made it mandatory for the departments to have access to turf pitches, either through ownership or lease agreements.
Atique ur Rehman Atique ur Rehman is a senior reporter for Geo News.
