Rs 500 million on expansion of National Stadium: PCB constitutes 'Cricketer of the Year' award by Agency

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Ground:

National Stadium, Karachi

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DateLine: 27th June 2005

 

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday constituted 'Cricketer of the Year' award to be presented to the best cricketer on the basis of performance in Test, one-day internationals and domestic cricket. The details of the award were announced by PCB director operations Abbas Zaidi here at the National Stadium.

 

He said the basic purpose of the award was to recognise the outstanding performance of a player. "A panel comprising former Test cricketers, media representative and others will be formed to select the player for the award." He said the criteria for selection would be formulated shortly but it would be basically Test, ODIs and first class cricket on the basis of which player would be picked. Abbas said the board would also be launching a three-day nationwide programme to unearth talented super fast bowlers in the country.

 

"A speed-gun will be used to determine the speed of the bowlers and later they will be picked to attend a training camp supervised by coaches."

 

Abbas said the idea was visualized few days ago and the dates and venues for the trials would be announced in due course of time. He added the PCB was also considering to award scholarships to the budding cricketers.

 

Abbas said the PCB would spend around Rs 500 million on the expansion and renovation of National Stadium Karachi (NSK). "The expansion and renovation work at NSK will start in August and its present capacity will be increased from existing 28,000 to 50,000. The project will be completed in two and half years."

 

He said the PCB wanted to bring NSK among the top stadiums in the world with all modern facilities for the spectators. "Floodlight towers and electronic scoreboard will be installed at Multan and Faisalabad stadiums." Former Test cricketer and regional development officer Nasimul Ghani and manager projects Zahid Hussain were also present on the occasion. APP

 

This article appeared in The Daily Times on 16 June 2005

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