#Rickity cricket revolution how to

It was seen as a change that would allow Pakistani batsmen to learn how to play the moving ball. To worsen it, Pakistan cricket moved from the tradition dustbowls of the domestic game to green tops all across the country. I wonвЂ™t go further into the details behind that because it bores even the cricket tragics in Pakistan - but the result of all this has been a decrease in quality all across the domestic game.

Over the last decade, the domestic game has been in constant flux with the number of teams in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ranging from 12 to 22 at various points before settling on an even 16. This restructuring was done along geographic lines rather than historical cricket divisions, meaning a handful of quality teams were left surrounded by a lot of dross. From the turn of the century, Pakistani domestic cricket actually regressed.ДЇrom the 1990s when the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy never had more than a dozen regional teams in it, the number ballooned to 22 by the 2007-08 season. This was followed by a T20 revolution, led by the IPL, something that Pakistanis were ostracised from too.ДЄll that would have meant that staying stagnant in a moving world was a problem, but thatвЂ™s not really what Pakistan did. County cricket itself put limitations on the number of foreign players, especially those who were available throughout the season, meaning Pakistanis were no longer a priority for them. The finances and the workload of the international game, as it emerged in the 1990s, meant that county cricket was no longer a destination. Over the past two decades, however, as the world has gone from one revolution to another, Pakistan have been stagnant. Thus, over the following quarter-century, through a combination of regional cricket which produced players, departments that made them financially secure, and the county game which honed the skills of the Pakistani players, the national team was able to compete with the best. For example, Wasim Bari (PakistanвЂ™s highest-capped wicketkeeper) was the Vice President Human Resource Development for Pakistan International Airlines in 2007. In the absence of a players union and no safety net throughout the state, it allowed Pakistan cricket to cover up the cracks in the society outside its walls. It allowed players to have a job (and therefore earnings) in the off-season, increased their remuneration and allowed them a permanent station for their post-retirement needs. The introduction of departments (like private banks, the national airline, etc) was seen as a boon for domestic cricket.

The late 70s also saw a revolution in the domestic game with the introduction of departments to domestic cricket, a concept somewhat unique to Pakistan. For instance, the XI that beat Australia in Sydney in 1977 (PakistanвЂ™s first win against any team apart from New Zealand in 18 years) included eight players who plied their trade in the county circuit. First-class cricket in England became the graduating school for Pakistani cricketers. But the turnaround from bottom of the table in the mid-70s to being the lead competitor to the West Indies atop the rankings a decade later owed as much to county cricket as the domestic game. The reason behind this decline was that the generation that had grown up in pre-partition Ranji Trophy gave way to a generation that grew up with the Pakistani domestic game.ДЇrom the mid-1960s onwards, the domestic first-class game in Pakistan expanded. But the results were obvious - a decade (1950s) where Pakistan beat each of India, England, Australia, New Zealand, and the West Indies in Test cricket was followed by a 17-year period (from 1959 to 1976) when Pakistan won only three of their 50 Tests: All three of those victories coming against New Zealand, the minnows of the time. Over the following decade, the domestic game was expanded. Thus, a Lahore team that included Majid Khan played only one first-class match that season.

For instance, in the 1961-62 season, the Ayub Trophy (the first-class competition in the country at the time) contained a grand total of seven matches - a knockout competition that began with the quarter-finals. In the 1950s and 60s the first-class game didnвЂ™t really exist in the domestic game. To understand the state of Pakistan cricket, you need to look back at its history. Pakistan's consistent slump in international arena is a result of rickety domestic structure.

Rickity cricket revolution