Three new contests are confirmed by PCB for the domestic cricket schedule

Three additional contests will be added for the forthcoming domestic season, which will now last for nearly a full year, beginning in September 2024 and concluding in August 2025, as stated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). A PCB release states that a five-team Champions competition, first announced by in June, will be played in a variety of formats with the goal of “bridging the gap between domestic and international cricket.”

The five teams, which are the Dolphins, Lions, Panthers, Stallions, and Wolves, will play in three different competitions: the Champions Pentagular (first-class cricket) from May 28 to August 5, the Champions T20 Cup from December 21 to January 2, and the Champions One-Day Cup from September 1 to 29.

These additions have increased the number of senior men’s matches played by the PCB from 203 to 261. The PCB will now host three first-class tournaments (the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and President’s Trophy being the others), two List-A tournaments (the President’s Cup being the other), and three T20 competitions (the National T20 Cup and the PSL being the others).

“Our current standings – sixth in Tests, fourth in ODIs and seventh in T20Is – do not reflect the true potential and legacy of Pakistan cricket,” Mohsin Naqvi, the chair of the PCB, In order to reclaim our rightful position at the top of the cricket world, we need to proactively improve, grow, and fortify our domestic system through innovation. The launch of the three Champions competitions is a daring move in this regard.

“The Champions tournaments will bring together our most talented and consistent performers from domestic cricket with our centrally-contracted players, creating an environment that mirrors the intensity of international cricket.”

About 150 of the best players in the nation will compete in the Champions competitions; however, the specifics of the selection procedure are still to come. Waqar Younis, the new advisor to the chair on cricket affairs, has approved the plans, though, and he accompanied Naqvi during a press conference in Lahore to announce the competitions. Younis, in a broad position akin to Rob Key’s at the ECB, will oversee the cricket-related aspects of board operations.

Every one of the five teams will have a mentor and maybe an owner. This is in addition to the standard coaching staff, which consists of a head coach, an analyst, and a media manager. In addition, every squad will have a special high-performance facility located in Sialkot, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, and Faisalabad.

With PKR 550,000 for Category 1, PKR 400,000 for Category 2, and PKR 250,000 for Category 3, the PCB has also increased the contracts for domestic players. PKR 300,000 for Category A+, PKR 200,000 for Category A, PKR 185,000 for Category B, PKR 170,000 for Category C, PKR150,000 for Category D, PKR100,000 for Category E, and PKR50,000 for Category F were the contracts that were made available in 2023–2024.

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In domestic cricket, match fees have also been raised. They were PKR 40,000 for white-ball matches, PKR 125,000 for 50-over matches, PKR 100,000 for T20 matches, and PKR 80,000 for red-ball matches.