Karachi:Eight-week long Regional U19 Academies activities, as part of a National Cricket Academies Program 2019-2020, kicked-off Monday at 14 different regions of the country.
A total of 320 teenage cricketers, 20 from each of the 16 regions, are taking part in the programme that has been designed keeping in mind future pathways and better career opportunities, including potential selections in the upcoming PCB U19 and first-class tournaments, as well as the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020.
The regional cricketers were selected earlier this year and the 20-player groups also comprise players from all the districts who had been invited for open trails in their respective regions.
While Karachi and Multan are also housing cricketers from Larkana and Dera Murad Jamali, respectively, other regions hosting the academies include Abbottabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Faisalabad, FATA, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Sialkot.
PCB Director – Academies, Mudassar Nazar, said: “The academies are our nurseries that produce raw talent which we can nurture and improve. The main emphasis of the all the qualified coaches over the next eight weeks will be to improve the fitness, technical, tactical and mental skill competencies of these youngsters keeping in view the upcoming season and opportunities that lay ahead.”