ISLAMABAD: Inter-Board Coordination Commission (IBCC), an umbrella organisation for educational boards, Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) have joined hands to promote cricket in educational institutions and have signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) at CDA headquarters on Tuesday.

According to the MOU, PCB will provide technical support to school and colleges for tournaments held every October and November. Cricket competitions will also be organised at university level. The MOU stated that PCB will make efforts to organise international cricket tournaments for university team, both home and abroad.

PCB will take the lead role in organising the tournaments, including planning and executing the cricket tournaments. The cricket board will also provide official umpires, scorers, and other necessary officials to ensure the professional conduct of the tournaments. PCB will develop cricket grounds and provide cricket kits at schools and colleges.

PCB will also provide selectors who will monitor the tournaments for talent hunt. “PCB will give the top performers from school and college players the opportunity to participate in the PCB U-17 and U-19 teams,” read the MOU.

The MOU said that PCB will organize the finals of the tournaments at national stadiums and ensure that these events are broadcasted. Furthermore, PCB will ensure training of the winning schools from each district at the High-Performance Centers.

The MOU also added that the cricket board will also organise special coaching courses for physical training teachers. PCB coaches will visit schools and provide training to boys and girls during school camps.

The PCB-IBCC MOU is valid for five years while PCB-HEC MOU will expire after two years. Whereas, it was also agreed that besides taking some other responsibilities, HEC will also encourage the provision of sports scholarships to promising cricket players in higher education institutions.

When contacted to know the role of civic agency, the CDA Chairman Muhammad Ali Randhawa said that CDA will provide grounds for cricket matches in Islamabad. PCB will use four cricket grounds in Islamabad.“There is no dearth of talent in our country. If provided full support, you never know, you may stumble upon world-class players even in schools and colleges of Islamabad,” he said.

He futher said that CDA is working on a new policy to properly utilise all 17 cricket grounds of Islamabad. “We can get help of PCB to maintain some grounds for promotion of professional cricket,” he said and added that CDA is also working on a proposal to construct a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Islamabad. This will likely be built in F-9 Park, for first-class cricket and PSL matches as well.

Federal interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the chairman of PCB, and federal education minster Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui were present on the occasion along with Chairman CDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa, federal secretary education Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, Executive Director IBCC Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah and others.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2024