Here's Pakistan's domestic cricket schedule for 2021-22

LAHORE: Pakistan's domestic cricket schedule for 2021-22 is ready and the Pakistan Cricket Board just announced what it it will be.

The season will start with the T20 tournaments, followed by red-ball versions of the game before culminating with the 50-over Pakistan Cup.

Matches in the 2021-22 season will be held in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Muridke, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sheikhupura and Sialkot.

A total of 10 tournaments, comprising 266 matches, will be held.

The PCB issued a statement saying that domestic competitions in the 2021-22 season are separate to the home international matches against New Zealand, England, West Indies and Australia, and the HBL Pakistan Super League, which will be held between September 2021 and March 2022.

The ongoing CCA tournament matches and the CCA U19 tournament scheduled for September 1 are not included in the domestic matches' schedule for 2021-22.

PCB has allowed the six Cricket Associations to field two sides each in the U16 and U19 tournaments. This means 12 sides will feature in the 62-match National U19 three-day championship and One-Day Cup, which will run side by side, from 3 October to 12 November in Gujranwala, Islamabad, Muridke, Rawalpindi and Sialkot.

Another 12 sides will take part in the 31-match National U16 Cup from 8 to 19 March 2022, with Rawalpindi hosting the single-league competition.

This year, the National U13 One-Day Cup will be held in Faisalabad from 8 to 18 February, 2022. It didn't happen last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For the 2021-22 age-group cricket season, each Cricket Association will be allowed to field two U16 and U19 sides so that we can increase the pool of players at the grassroots level with a focus on providing more opportunities and exposure to our next generation of cricketers," High Performance Director Nadeem Khan was quoted as saying in the statement.

He said this strategy is aligned to the Cricket Associations planning of reviving clubs, schools and universities cricket within their jurisdictions.

The 2021-22 season will kick-off with the eight-day Cricket Associations T20 tournament on 15 September in which the six second XI Cricket Association sides will go head to head in the shortest format of the game in Quetta.

The National T20, featuring the country’s best shortest format players, will be held from 25 September to 13 October. Eighteen first round matches will be held in Multan, while the remaining 15 matches, including the two semi-finals and the final, will be held in Lahore.

The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will start on 20 October. The first half of the 10-round single-league competition will be held in Multan, Faisalabad and Lahore. The event will then move to Karachi where it will culminate with the five-day final from 29 December.

The three-day double-league Cricket Associations Championship for second XIs will be held from 28 September to 14 November, while the 50-over single-league Cricket Associations Challenge for second XIs will be played from 19 to 27 November. Both the tournaments will be held in Faisalabad, Lahore and Sheikhupura.

The curtains will fall on the 2021-22 season in Lahore on 30 March 2022 with the final of the Pakistan Cup One-Day Tournament, which will get underway on 25 February and will be played on a double-league format. The other two event venues will be Faisalabad and Multan.

“With the amount of international cricket across all three formats scheduled in the 2021-22 season and beyond, the upcoming season will prove to be a pathway for all those aspiring to serve Pakistan cricket and making a name at the international level," said Khan.

“Most of the first XI matches will be televised and promoted digitally, meaning no performance can be ignored or overlooked," he added.

Details on the tournament schedule, squads and match official appointments will be released in the lead up to the events.

The schedule or now is as follows:

First XI competitions

National T20 (six teams, 33 matches) – 25 September-13 October

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (six teams, 31 matches) – 20 October-29 December

Pakistan Cup (six teams, 33 matches) – 25 February-30 March 2022

Second XI competitions

Cricket Associations T20 (six teams, 15 matches) – 15-22 September

Cricket Associations Championship (three-day) (six teams, 30 matches) – 28 September-14 November

Cricket Associations Challenge (50 overs) (six teams, 15 matches) – 19-27 November

Pathway competitions

National U19 Championship (three-day) and Cup (one-Day) (12 teams, 62 matches) - (3 October--12 November)

National U16 Cup (One-Day) (12 teams, 31 matches) – 8-19 March 2022

National U13 Cup (One-Day) (16 matches) – 8-18 February 2022