LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday unveiled the schedule for seven tournaments, including two U-19 tournaments, during the 2023-24 men’s domestic cricket season.

The schedule of the tournaments featuring departments will be announced in due course.

The season commences with 29 matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy starting on Sept 10 and concludes on Oct 26.

The eight-team premier regional event begins at the Gaddafi Stadium with Lahore Region Whites facing Lahore Region Blues while the other first-round matches include Peshawar Region vs Karachi Region Whites (Abbottabad Stadium, Abbottabad), Faisalabad Region vs Multan Region (Shoaib Akhtar Stadium KRL, Rawalpindi) and Fata Region vs Rawalpindi Region (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi). The final will also be staged at the Gaddafi Stadium from Oct 22-26.

The non-first-class tournament, the Hanif Mohammad Trophy, featuring 10 regions divided into two groups also starts on Sept 10. The top two sides from each group at the end of the group stage qualify for the Super 4 stage, where each team will play three matches. At the end of the Super 4 stage, the top side will qualify for next year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The matches of the Hanif Mohammad Trophy will be staged in Mirpur, Multan, Muzaffarabad and Rahim Yar Khan.

The one-day tournaments, the Pakistan Cup and the Hanif Mohammad Cup, will follow the red-ball events, both starting on Nov 1.

The Pakistan Cup will be held in Abbottabad, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi. The semi-finals will be played on Nov 16 and 17 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium while the final will take place on Nov 19 at the same venue.

Meanwhile, the Hanif Mohammad Cup begins on Nov 1 and will be hosted in Azad Kashmir, Faisalabad, Multan, and Rahim Yar Khan. Like the Hanif Mohammad Trophy, the winners of the Hanif Mohammad Cup will be the side topping the Super 4 stage.

The two-leg National T20 tournament will be held in Karachi from Nov 24 to Dec 10.

In the first leg, all 18 regional sides will compete to qualify for Super 8, which will be played from Dec 1 to 8. The semi-finals will be held on Dec 9 followed by the final the next day. All the three knockout matches will be held at the National Bank Stadium.

The two U-19 tournaments — the National U-19 Championship (three-day) and the National U-19 Cup (one-day) — take place from Sept 15 to Nov 13. Both the competitions will be held simultaneously, with a one-day gap between both formats in every round.

The 18 regions will be divided into three groups, with top team from each group to qualify for the triangular stage. The top two sides from the triangular stage will play the final of the National U-19 Championship at the Rana Naveed Academy, Sheikhupura from Nov 10 to 13 while the National U-19 Cup final will be played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Oct 26.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2023