Pakistan has consistently featured among the front-ranking cricketing nations of the world right from the days of its international debut in 1952-53 against India. The country has produced hundreds of wonderfully gifted cricketers over the past decades who on the sheer dint of their talent, ability and panache managed to achieve astounding feats, both at the domestic and international level.

However, in the last decade or so, Pakistan’s cricketing graph has fluctuated faster than a car speedometer while world champions Australia, England and arch-rivals India have dominated the scene, thanks to their established networks of academies which are consistently providing them with good back-up players.

It is being felt by critics and fans alike that the lack of infrastructure, the players’ obstinacy in acquiring the latest techniques and, of course, the failure of the cricket board regimes to ensure a proper system is in place for grooming and development of players have contributed to the slump in standards.

In 2004, the then Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia established the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore in a bid to provide the national players and the budding stars some top-level coaching and grooming facilities. However, not everyone has access to the high-profile NCA facilities and the hundreds of thousands of youngsters aspiring to wear the Pakistan colour have turned to the private cricket academies that have mushroomed since the year 2000 and are being run by well-known former players like ex-captains Rashid Latif and Moin Khan, paceman Jalaluddin, spinning wizard Abdul Qadir and a few others.

The big question, however, remains whether these academies are making any serious efforts to develop players for the future or are they simply being run as commercial ventures to make good money for the stalwarts at the helm of such projects.

Former captain Rashid Latif, who was among the very first people to launch his cricket academy RLCA in 2000, says his aim has been to polish the skills and techniques of the players and prepare them for the challenges ahead. “My academies [RLCA has as many as five branches including two in Karachi and, one in Burewala and two in Haripur, Hazara] hold regular talent hunt and summer camps to unearth under-13 and under-15 players and then train them over a period after which they are free to move on to the national first class scene. Many of our players are part of Karachi teams today and more recently the Port Qasim outfit also which has been doing well on the domestic circuit,” says Rashid.

The ex-wicketkeeper, however, minces no words about how uphill a task it has been to run a cricket academy. “I have fought countless egos and overcome several hurdles to raise my academies,” he says. “Former head of CDGK Mustafa Kamal was kind enough to allot two grounds to us where we hold sessions with players throughout the week, absolutely free of cost.”

Former Pakistan paceman Jalaluddin, who runs his impressive academy in Karachi under the name of Customs Cricket Academy (CCA) since 1998, however, has a different view about the mushrooming academies. “I am sorry to say but a majority of them are not academies, only training schools,” he insists.

“An academy is a full-fledged cricket centre where emphasis is laid on identifying, developing, educating and grooming the players over a certain period under qualified coaches and professionals, the way we go about it at the CCA.”

Outlining the working ways of his organisation, Jalal says, “We try our utmost to run the academy in a professional manner which means devising training programmes for various age groups like U-15, U-17, etc., arranging the best coaches for development of players, arranging matches and tours for the selected youngsters and preparing them for national representation.”

Jalal, who is easily the most qualified cricket coach in the country, further adds, “Fifty per cent of players get free coaching at my academy while the rest of the 50 per cent are charged for services. Round the year, our academy is running some 15 to 20 training programmes which are chalked out by professionals and actually contain a syllabus with the day-to-day sessions marked out.”

To give him credit, Jalal’s academy has successfully undertaken assignments ranging from workshops for the ICC, the Pepsi cricket clinics, PCB projects, etc., besides conducting as many as seven overseas tours with his pupils at one time or the other to places like Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The CCA has diligently run projects like the Emerging Players Programme, which has greatly benefited upcoming players like Rameez Raja Junior, Asad Shafiq, Rameez Aziz, Anwar Ali and dozens of others.

The latest to join the academy bandwagon has been former captain Moin Khan whose cricket academy boasts a most impressive cricket ground, a proper pavilion besides facilities like swimming pool, squash courts, gymnasium, etc.

Moin, who is often seen on TV channels giving out expert comments during Pakistan matches, has put in untiring efforts to establish his academy in 2011, which is now considered a prominent landmark in the metropolis.

His brother and known TV expert Nadeem Khan, who played a couple of Tests for Pakistan, looks after the academy’s affairs. “We encourage youngsters ranging between six to 17 years to enroll with the Moin Khan Academy,” says Nadeem.

“The age bracket that we have set is keeping the U-19 cricket in mind so that we get enough time to groom the kids from an early age.

“Of course, both Moin and me are there at the nets to guide the youngsters at the seven net facilities that we have. We also engage former players for coaching stints that keeps the youngsters involved and excited.”

Nadeem, himself a well-recognised cricket analyst, says the academy is affiliated with KCCA Zone III and the outstanding players get regular chances to represent domestic teams in the national circuit.

However, some of the youngsters approached for their comments said that the Moin Khan Academy is beyond their reach due to its rather steep charges and its slightly odd location at the fag end of Defence Phase-VIII which sort of makes it an institution for the elite only.

The writer is Dawn’s sports editor.

The official academy 

By Mohammad Yaqoob

Established in 2004, the National Cricket Academy (NCA), in Lahore is a state-of-the-art institution. It was built by previous chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Lt. Gen. (retd.) Tauqir Zia and started with ex-captain Ramiz Raja as its first director and former Test cricketers Saeed Anwar and Aaqib Javed along with former first-class cricketer Ali Zia in its coaching fleet.

Great international players including ex-Aussie captain Greg Chappell, South African Barry Richards and Australian coach Daryl Foster have been among the prominent personalities to have conducted high-profile courses and assignments at the NCA.

The activities at the academy came to a standstill during the tenures of Shaharyar Khan and Ijaz Butt, respectively, before resuming operations under the then new director Mudasssar Nazar.

Today, former captain Intikhab Alam heads the NCA while former Test batsman Haroon Rasheed is heading the department of Youth Development and concentrating on the extensive under-16 programmes while former googly bowler Abdul Qadir and ex-Test batsman Ijaz Ahmed impart batting and bowling techniques.

Some of the well-recognised players who represented Pakistan at the international level after going through the NCA Players Development Programme include Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Rahat Ali, Adnan Akmal, Khurram Manzoor, Khalid Latif, Wahab Riaz, Ehsan Adil, Umar Amin, Tanvir Ahmed, Asim Kamal, Mohammad Khalil, Zulqarnain, Hammad Azam, Yasir Shah and many others.

The NCA also has had the honour of providing training to players from many upcoming cricketing nations including Afghanistan, China, Hong Kong, etc.

The large and impressive hall at the NCA is named after Bob Woolmer, the late former coach of the Pakistan team. The hall also provides an alternate facility to hold indoor net practice during rainy weather.

Besides the academy’s picturesque ground, the NCA boasts a huge gymnasium hall which allows the players to maintain their physical fitness.

The NCA is also planning to hold a coaching programme for women later this year while its past programmes included the Emerging Players’ Programme-2012, Specialised PCB Level-I Coaching Course for women in Jan 2012, U-16 Advance Coaching Programme 2011/12, PCB-Pepsi Stars U-16 Tournament 2011-12, etc.