PCB announces Rs1 million rewards for blind and deaf cricket teams

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced Rs1 million rewards for the blind and deaf cricket teams during a general body meeting.

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja, who chaired the meeting, made the announcement, a PCB's statement said. 

The awards were announced in recognition of the teams' performances at the international level.

During the meeting, which took place at the National High-Performance Centre, the general body considered and expressed their views on the audited accounts and PCB annual report, which are now available for viewing and downloading at the corporate website under the "documents" section.

Pakistan men’s sides were presently ranked fifth in Tests and, third in ODIs and T20Is, while they are placed in the fourth position in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, which is a qualifying event for the 2023 World Cup, the documents showed.

The meeting briefed the steps and measures being taken to bolster Pakistan cricket’s foundations by strengthening cricket at the grassroots level.

It also discussed the 2022-23 cricket season for the men’s side, including the tour to Sri Lanka for two Tests and the ACC T20 Asia Cup, Netherlands for three ODIs and Australia for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in October. 

The subsequent home series includes split tours by England and New Zealand, while the West Indies will return for three T20Is in January/February 2023.

The women’s side will feature in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and T20 World Cups in South Africa, while their ICC Women’s Championship fixtures will be against Ireland at home and away in Australia.

The general body meeting was held following January’s elections of the Pakistan Deaf Cricket Association. This meant under Clause 24(1), the requisite quorum was available for convening the meeting.

The PCB chief chaired the meeting, while Syed Sultan Shah, chairman of Pakistan Blind Cricket Council and Irfan Miraj, president of Deaf Cricket Association also attended the meeting along with their office-bearers.