19th PVCA National Seniors Cup being contested by 103 teams

Pakistan News & Features Services

A total of 103 outfits from 50 cities, having been divided in 31 groups, will be participating in the 19th edition of the National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament 2017-18 being organized by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) and sponsored by Omar Associates (Pvt) Ltd while Naya Nazimabad will be the co-sponsors.

The details about the event, whose Southern Zone matches will be getting underway on February 10, were shared by Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, PVCA, in a media briefing at the Karachi Gymkhana on February 6. 

Nadeem Omar, Managing Director, Omar Associates, was also present on the occasion alongwith Akbar Iqbal Puri, President, Karachi Gymkhana, Abdul Haq, representing Naya Nazimabad, and the PVCA officials, Alamgir Ahmed, Amjad Islam Rishi, Shariq Hasib Khan and Mujahid Hamid. 

Fawad Ijaz Khan noted that the level of fitness of the cricketers, having crossed the age of 40, has improved considerably over the years primarily due to the introduction of the National Seniors Cup. 

Nadeem Omar reckoned that the senior cricketers were also making a significant contribution in the development of the sport, complimenting the PVCA to have withstood the challenges and delivered against the heaviest of odds. 

Akbar Puri informed that besides installing floodlights at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground, the club was looking forward to having more proactive role in cricket in near future. 

It was disclosed that 34 city teams from Punjab, 8 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 from Sindh, 2 from Islamabad one from Baluchistan will be taking part in the tournament whose national final, to be contested between the Champions of Northern and Southern Zones, will be taking place in Karachi on 22nd April. The total prize money in the event will be Rs 694,000. 

Karachi Gold Bridge will be taking on Karachi Lucky Knitts in the inaugural match of the Southern Zone  at Naya Nazimabad Cricket Ground on February 10. 

In the Southern Zone competition, Omar Associates, Fact Date Engineering, A A Pakwan, CAA and Quetta are placed in the Group A while the Group B comprises of RLCA, Gold Bridge, Airport Gymkhana, Haseen Habib and Lucky Knitts with Hyderabad, Badin, Jamshoro and Mirpurkhas being the drawn in the interior Sindh group. 

The group matches of the Southern Zone, taking place at Karachi and Hyderabad, will be of 20 overs each innings whereas the Zonal finals as well as the National Final will be of 30 overs per innings. The group matches will be organized on single league basis. 

The matches of the Northern Zone, having got underway last November, are being played at Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Multan, Okara, Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Muridke, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot while the matches of the Southern Zone will be played at Karachi and Hyderabad.

Amjad Islam Rishi will be the Tournament Coordinator while the Southern Zone Committee will be headed by Alamgir Ahmed. 

The National Seniors Cup, contested annually between the selected teams of the various cities, has been organized by the PVCA every season since they its launch in 1998. 

The PVCA has attained not only national but international recognition. It has played three series of limited overs matches against Indian Veterans featuring mega stars on both sides. It also organized a series of matches against touring Canadian Veterans Cricket team in February 2017 and they are again touring Pakistan later this month to play a series of matches in Karachi and Lahore. 

Besides organizing Seniors/Veterans/Super Veterans Cricket, the PVCA is also promoting School Cricket as well having already organized eight successful editions of Inter-School Cricket Tournament in Karachi.

PVCA board includes three Test cricketers

Pakistan News & Features Services

The Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) has elected new board members and officials during its annual general body meeting held in Karachi and Lahore by video conferencing on November 14.

According to a notification issued by the PVCA, there were a total 16 directors, including three Test cricketers, Intikhab Alam, Ejaz Faquih and Kabir Khan, having been nominated by the four provinces and Islamabad. 

Fawad Ijaz Khan, Nadeem Omar, Alamgir Ahmed, Amjad Islam Rishi, Salman Butt and Ejaz Faquih have been elected as the PVCA Directors from Sindh while Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, Intikhab Alam,Mujahid Hamid, Asad Ali Khan, Zahid Hussain and Rizwan Nisar are the elected Directors from the province of Punjab. Kabir Khan and Tariq Khan Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shariq Hasib Khan (Balochistan) and Najeeb Sajid (Islamabad) are the other PVCA Directors elected from the respective territories.

Meanwhile Fawad Ijaz Khan and Ashiq Hussain Qureshi were unanimously re-elected as the new Chairman and Chief Executive of PVCA respectively for the three year term of 2016-19. Nadeem Sarwar was nominated as the Honorary Secretary and Rizwan Nisar was appointed as the Honorary Treasurer. 

The PVCA, which came into being in 1998, has emerged as one of the most proactive sports bodies, having organized numerous events. They have attributed the success to their consistent policies and the democratic set-up which they have had since its inception. 

Besides organizing cricket for the veterans, which remains its core objective, the PVCA has also played its role in promoting the game at the grassroots level, having organized eight editions of high-profile Inter-School cricket tournaments in Karachi, the last one of which concluded only a couple of days ago.

Indo-Pak veteran cricket series called off

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) has cancelled its upcoming tour to India amid escalating tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, PVCA, has announced that, in view of the prevailing tense conditions at the Indo-Pak border, the series which was due to be held in India during the months of December 2016 and January 2017 stood cancelled. 

�The PVCA had planned to send its Over-50 veterans squad to play four in the Indian state of Kerala from December 26 to January 3. The proposed tour included a couple of 50-overs-a-side contests besides as many Twenty20 games. We were going there upon the invitation from the Board of Veterans in India (BVI),� he disclosed. 

�All the four matches were scheduled to be staged in Kerala which is the busiest centre of veteran cricket activities in India as they also organize the veteran league tournaments regularly,� he added. 

The PVCA Chairman disclosed that the decision of cancelling the tour of India has been conveyed to the BVI. 

The decision of the PVCA has come just a day after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to not place India and Pakistan in the same group during upcoming international events. The two teams are currently scheduled to play each other in the ICC Champions Trophy to be held next year in June in England. 

Previously the BCCI had ruled out the possibility of an Indo-Pak bilateral series although as of late no proposal from either side was made for a bilateral series. There hasn�t been a complete bilateral series between the Asian cricketing giants since 2007-08. The BCCI statement seemed to have cemented the notion that they were unwilling to play a series with Pakistan in the foreseeable future.

Pakistan Veterans remain undefeated on England tour

Pakistan News & Features Services

Pakistan Panthers Veterans remained undefeated on the tour of England as they overpowered Middlesex County Cricket Club by 33 runs in their last game staged at the St Mary Cricket Club Harrow Ground on August 28.

Batting first, Pakistan Veterans posted a healthy total of 276 for nine in the stipulated 40 overs. Then they contained Middlesex CCC to 243 for seven in 40 overs to win the match handsomely. 

They had defeated Dorset Veterans by 34 runs in their opening match at the Dean Park in Bournemouth while their other two games, against Surrey CCC and Hampshire CCC, were abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rains. 

Sajid Ali was the declared as the batsman for Pakistan on the tour while Fawad Ijaz Khan was adjudged as the best bowler. 

Rain stayed away from their fourth and final game which turned out to be a high-scoring fixture with as many as 519 runs being scored in 80 overs of play. 

The Pakistan Veterans skipper, Fawad Ijaz Khan, won the toss yet again and opted to bat first. Opener Sajid Ali picked up from where he had left in the last game in which he had scored 94 off 89 balls. His 108-run partnership with Rizwan Nisar laid the foundation for a mammoth score. 

Sajid Ali, having represented Pakistan in One-day Internationals, smashed four sixes and six fours in his 70 off 54 balls while Rizwan Nisar hammered half a dozen boundaries in his 50 off 41 balls. The loss of a few quick wickets slowed down the rate of scoring but the innings was revived by Moin Khan, a former Pakistan captain, who whacked two sixes and three fours in his 31 off 28 balls. 

The onslaught in the death overs by Raja Arshad, who blasted five sixes in his breezy 39 off 17 balls, lifted the total with Naeem Ashraf (36 off 25 balls) and Sajjad Ahmed (22 off 16) also making useful contributions down the order. Alexander Keith (3-79), K Desai (2-38) and Reingold Mark (2-48) shared the wickets for the home side. 

Chasing a formidable target of 277, Middlesex CCC lost early wickets and even the centurion Reingold Mark, who unleashed five sixes and 15 fours in his 116 off 74 balls, could not change the course of the match. 

The hosts were restricted to 243 for seven with medium-pacer Shahid Mahboob (2-21) and left-arm spinner Fawad Ijaz Khan (2-56) being the most successful bowlers from the visiting side. 

A sizeable crowd watched the match which was also attended by former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal, West Indian fast bowling great, Michael Holding, former Pakistan fast bowler, Jalaluddin, and celebrated cricket writer, Qamar Ahmed. Later in the evening, a dinner reception was hosted in honour of the team by the local Pakistani Community which was largely attended and covered extensively by media.

Sajid Ali, Fawad Ijaz Khan excel in Pakistan Veterans� victory in England

Pakistan News & Features Services 

Opener Sajid Ali powered Pakistan Panthers Veterans to 34-run victory over Dorset Veterans in their first match of the tour of England held at the Dean Park in Bournemouth on August 23.

Batting first, Pakistan Veterans scored 174 for eight in the allotted 30 overs. Then they restricted Dorset Veterans to 140 for nine in 30 overs to win the match comfortably in the end. 

The start to the game was delayed due to rain and it became 30-overs-a-side encounter instead of being the originally planned 40-overs-a-side contest. 

The Pakistan Veterans skipper, Fawad Ijaz Khan, won the toss and elected to bat. Sajid Ali held the innings together with a gritty 94 off 89 balls, hitting 14 boundaries, after the loss of a couple of early wickets. 

He received invaluable support from Nadeem Omar (18 off 26 balls), Najeeb Sadiq (18 off 28 balls) and Fawad Ijaz Khan (14 off 14 balls) as the total reached respectable proportions despite fine bowling from Joe Wilson (3-33) and Jim Ryall (2-25). 

Chasing a target of 175 in 30 overs, Dorset Veterans got off to flying start through the opening pair of Jim Rayall (35 off 40 balls) and John Young (26 off 29 balls). It was Fawad Ijaz Khan�s left-arm spin which turned the tide in the visiting team�s favour. After breaking the 67-run opening partnership, he picked up a couple of more wickets to return the figures of three for 36 off six overs. 

Dorset Veterans lost the plot after the fall of wickets in rapid succession and the run outs of two too-order batsmen, Mike Harper and Dave Miller, didn�t help their cause either. They were contained to 140 for nine in the stipulated 30 overs. 

Sajid Ali was adjudged Man of the Match in the presentation ceremony in which souvenir and mementos were also exchanged between the officials of the two teams. Richard Turner and Ian Vaughan-Arbuckle were the two umpires during the match. 

Meanwhile Pakistan Panthers Veterans, besides undertaking a visit of the historic Lord�s Cricket Ground on August 25, will be playing matches against Surrey CCC, Hampshire CCC and Middlesex CCC, during their one-week tour.