As the demand increases for university cricket to be made a permanent feature of Pakistan’s domestic structure, the University of Central Punjab (UCP) has offered its facilities and nationwide educational network to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for a joint cricket talent-hunt program.

Punjab Group Chairman Mian Amer has proposed a cooperation to discover talented young players, provide training chances and create a clearer pathway from university competitions to first-class cricket. Speaking at the UCP’s annual sports prize distribution ceremony held in Lahore, which was also attended by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and HEC Chairman Dr Niaz Ahmad, he also asked the government to ensure that financial restrictions do not come in the way of outstanding students to pursue sporting careers.

Mian Amer commended the move being taken under the leadership of PCB and HEC that permits universities to send their teams instead of a limited group of players representing the whole university sector. The former set-up, where one HEC squad represented some 280 universities with only 11 players, was unable to provide opportunities to the whole pool of available talent.

The revamped approach allows for any university to send its squad to take part in the event, which was discussed at the ceremony. Mian Amer said the higher participation may help in unearthing a few hundred more players, providing the PCB a bigger pool from which to pick those good enough to represent Pakistan.

“He also commended Mohsin Naqvi and Dr Niaz Ahmad for opening new avenues for university cricketers, saying the move could help universities develop a direct link with the national cricket system.

Talent quest around the country

Mian Amer offered the cricket fields, facilities and sporting experience of UCP for joint training camps with PCB and HEC. He also suggested using the Punjab Group’s network of over 1,000 colleges across Pakistan to scout prospective players outside the big cities into smaller towns and rural regions.

The proposed agreement would involve a pooled database of university cricketers, PCB accreditation for campus coaches and specific cricket scholarships for promising players. Such metrics could help to detect rising potential and enhance coaching standards, as well as create a more systematic system for tracking players as they proceed through university competitions.

Mian Amer said that there was no dearth of sporting talent in Pakistan but the young athletes required the correct opportunities and encouragement to hone their ability. UCP has worked hard to polish the potential available to it and he expressed confidence that the sporting leadership of the university would continue to find promising athletes from around Punjab, he added.

Another issue raised by Mian Amer was women’s cricket and he appealed for the inclusion of female players from the start of the talent development program. He called on authorities to offer women athletes opportunity to receive structured training, to compete at higher levels and to move through the sporting system.

He also asked for a permanent place for university cricket in Pakistan’s domestic framework saying that development needed continuity rather than decisions being limited to certain seasons. He said sustained funding, scholarships, coaching, recognition and educational opportunities were crucial, warning that breaks might scatter talent and make it hard to restore a strong player base.

Talking about the changes in the domestic cricket structure of Pakistan, Mian Amer observed, “Discontinuation of departmental cricket had disrupted the flow of talent. Players have been dropped from departmental teams. It was some four years before any real effort was made to bring the pool of talent together again.

He praised Mohsin Naqvi for keeping his promise of reviving possibilities for cricketers and stated the national team of Pakistan started winning matches as the players got renewed opportunities to develop and compete.

Same chances

Mian Amer requested HEC to extend help to the public sector universities which find it difficult to compete in contests due to lack of funds. Financial restrictions should not be a barrier to pupils competing, developing their skills or pushing for positions in national squads, he said.

“Students from all backgrounds should be given a fair shot to succeed,” he said, calling for more support to institutions that can’t afford the expense of university competitions. “No player should be denied the opportunity to progress because their university is not well funded,” he remarked.

His pitch was not only to that particular sport, but to the whole sports system, for an atmosphere in which young athletes might develop their talent without undue restraint or financial impediment. He said all the students should be given a chance to compete for medals and bring laurels to Pakistan in sports at national and international levels.

The proposed partnership between HEC and PCB will increase participation in university cricket and also allow PCB to have access to a bigger pool of emerging talent. The format could provide more avenues for spotting talent and assist aspiring cricketers in their journey to domestic and international representation by enabling individual universities to compete.

The UCP has already made an impact on domestic cricket, with their side earning promotion to the Grade-II Gold League. Under the plan set out at the event a university that maintains Gold Category status for two years might see a university playing first-class cricket.

UCP planned to remain champions for the next season and attain first class status through the new pathway, Mian Amer remarked. The idea puts university tournaments at the heart of a more structured development system, connecting campus-level excellence with chances in the domestic game.

Athletics at UCP

Mian Amer added that Punjab Group of Colleges and UCP are committed to sports for the last three decades and the student athletes are encouraged to have academic qualifications along with their sports careers.

“The UCP’s specialised degree programs for sports students have been developed with the guidance of HEC and are designed to help athletes to continue their education while competing,” he said. The institutions’ athletic strategy also include coaching facilities, nourishment, travel accommodations, scholarships and long-term investment in athletes’ development.

Mian Amer said the Punjab Group of Colleges had won the overall champions’ trophy competitions held by the educational boards in Punjab for the last 30 years. UCP won the men’s General Trophy of HEC for 15 consecutive years out of over 280 universities.

He also pointed out the universities’ ties with Pakistan’s national cricket team, listing captain Salman Ali Agha, along with Abdul Samad, Tayyab Tahir, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf and Wahab Riaz as players linked to the Punjab Group of Colleges.

Mian Amer also spoke on Pakistan hockey and said the national team had to suffer lot of hardships before getting backing under Mohsin Naqvi’s leadership at PCB. Nine of the 11 members of Pakistan hockey squad were linked with Punjab Group of Colleges, he said.

The institution’s sporting affiliations are not limited to cricket and hockey. Mian Amer further mentioned wrestler Inam Butt who is a world champion and is linked with the Punjab Group of Colleges and also spoke about the successes of its students at the Commonwealth Games where they bagged one gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

The students of the group have competed in 22 international sports and the girls have continued to win trophy competitions conducted by the educational boards for the past 30 years in a row. The institutes have also lured athletes from rural areas across Punjab, where sports like kabaddi offer an entry point to competitive play. Mian Amer claimed that players from rural areas used to join Punjab Group’s program frequently and competed successfully for HEC awards.

UCP said that some 100 present and past students of Punjab Group of Colleges and UCP have represented Pakistan at world level in 22 sports.

During the occasion UCP emphasised its readiness to contribute its grounds, facilities, coaching resources and institutional network to the envisaged PCB-HEC collaboration. The objectives include a bigger talent assessment procedure, specialist coaching, scholarships and better possibilities for women cricketers. Calls for financial help seek to make sure that public-sector colleges can also participate.

The idea is to link university contests with a more regular route into domestic cricket so the PCB can gauge a larger pool of players as institutions battle for chances to go up to first-class cricket.

• Thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, three days ahead of a general election seen by many as a referendum on his leadership.

The demonstration was sponsored by the October Council, a group set up by families of those killed or held hostage in the Hamas-led onslaught on Israel on October 7, 2023 The group is calling for accountability for the security flaws that allowed the attack to happen.

Israeli media claimed the event included representatives from the four main opposition parties, including former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who is opposing Netanyahu and received a rousing reception from the crowd.

“Three days before the election we will hold the culminating event marking three years of struggle to uncover the truth, demand accountability and establish a state commission of inquiry,” the October Council announced on X prior of the demonstration.

Neither bloc was expected to win a majority in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset according to the latest opinion polls released before a blackout on political polling took effect late Friday.

A poll published by public broadcaster KAN forecast 52 seats for Eisenkot’s bloc and 50 for Netanyahu’s, with the remaining seats going to parties outside the two blocs, including Arab parties.

An AFP correspondent saw thousands of protesters march from Rabin Square to Hostages Square, where previous protests had been held to demand the release of hostages held in Gaza.

“The job done by whoever has been leading us for the past four years is so terrible,” Hadas Feuershtein, 68, told AFP moments before the rally began, referring to Netanyahu’s government which took office in late 2022.

“Israel has never been in a situation like this,” she added.

The October Council had warned law enforcement in advance of the protest that pro-government agitators would be planning “provocations.”

Israeli police announced Saturday evening they detained a suspect in the assault of the security team of a public figure in Tel Aviv. Israeli media said the target was opposition leader and former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

The gathering came after years of demand by Israeli civil society groups and opposition parties for an independent commission of investigation into security failings around the Oct. 7 attack.

Netanyahu’s government has refused to establish a commission, the kind that Israel typically has formed to review grave national failures. Instead, it has suggested a political commission with its members to be equally nominated by the governing coalition and opposition parliamentarians.

Opposition leaders have promised to boycott a commission constituted by politicians.

As the campaign winds down, Eisenkot and Bennett are to conduct separate talks with voters in Tel Aviv Sunday evening.

‘bbCoin’ problem

“I’m sure that the bloc that I’m voting for and that is anti-Netanyahu will win,” said 18-year-old first-time voter Naama Bitterman, who attended Saturday’s event. “I think it will make Israel look better in the world.

She added that years of war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, as well as escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, have eroded standing.

“I think if we win — and we are going to win — we can change how other people in the whole world see us,” she told AFP.

Britain and other countries have sanctioned goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank amid worries over settler violence against Palestinians and settlement expansion sanctioned by Netanyahu’s right-wing administration.

Israel may need to build an alternative digital economy to fight its rising international isolation, Netanyahu said Friday.

Prime leader has repeatedly urged for more military self-sufficiency. Multibillion-dollar arms deals from important partner the United States “won’t keep coming”, the prime minister said.

Opposition leaders denounced the ideas Saturday.

Eisenkot had cynically labelled the proposed competing digital currency “bbCoin” – a frequent nickname for Netanyahu, Bibi.

“If Netanyahu is re-elected, Israel will disconnect from the global economy, he says. No online commerce. No high-tech investments. No security. “bbCoin must not be allowed to destroy Israel,” he wrote on X.

Former prime minister and current opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of warning Israelis they could suffer tremendous economic hardship if he won another term.

Lapid told Israel’s Channel 12 in an interview, “That’s what will happen if he wins the elections: there will be sanctions, there will be no security agreement with the United States… and there will be no Israeli economy.”

A family event was inaugurated here on Saturday by Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab.

Murtaza Wahab, speaking on the occasion, said the government wanted to draw younger generation to these locations by restoring the ancient heritage of Karachi.

He noted that in the past a Bohra Food Festival was conducted here, while today a women chefs’ festival is underway. Plans are in place to conduct a World Biryani Festival, and then a Pulao Festival in the next days.

“There was a time when we could hear gunfire here, now there are celebrations,” added the mayor. Empress Market has been restored with the collaboration of a private bank and efforts will be made to make this site more busy.

He stated building of roads will help regular residents. The critics will continue to condemn, but the development process should go on.

He stated that he has informed KDA, KMC and police that they will have to come on the same page to clear encroachments, if any officer is caught doing wrong, action will be taken against him.

The government has decided there should not be parking taxes and the municipal administration should assure execution of this decision on the issue of parking fees, the mayor added.

Murtaza Wahab stated if KMC is collecting parking fee on any road, it should be pointed out and action would be taken.