The forthcoming National One-day Cricket Championship, organized byPakistan Cricket Board (PCB), with a record 28 teams in the fray ismost likely to get inadequate media coverage when the tournamentbegins from Friday

03-Mar-2002The forthcoming National One-day Cricket Championship, organized byPakistan Cricket Board (PCB), with a record 28 teams in the fray ismost likely to get inadequate media coverage when the tournamentbegins from Friday.The tournament, which runs from March 8 to April 7, features anincredible total of 96 matches in 10 playing days before the foursemifinalists are decided.The PCB’s domestic cricket planners have come up with the whimsicalidea of staging 12 matches in each of the seven preliminary roundswhich are scheduled on every alternate day from March 8 with a restday in between.With printing deadlines and lack of space, some may not be able togive detailed scoreboards along with reports of all the 12 matches.It would make a lot of sense if the rest days between the matches areutilized to cut down the number of matches per day from 12 to six. Forexample, Pool ‘A’ and Pool ‘B’ fixtures should be held simultaneouslyon the same day while the matches in the Pool ‘C’ and Pool ‘D’ can beplayed on next day.This arrangement, if implemented, sounds more appealing because thensix matches are guaranteed every day from March 8 to 20, when thepreliminary rounds conclude. Otherwise, if the original schedule isretained, some of the matches mat get abbreviated coverage with briefscores.