RAWALPINDI - The mismanagement and incompetency of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials marred the Talent Hunt U-16 Programme 2014 trials which were due to be held on Monday at Pindi Cricket Stadium as these trials were postponed and new dates were also not disclosed.
Around 200 kids turned up at the Pindi Stadium around 8am, one-hour earlier than the scheduled time, but the ground was wet due to overnight rain and they were told that trials would start around 11am, but situation turned nasty as few persons posing themselves as interim committee members of Rawalpindi District forced their ways into the ground and created scene. They demanded trials couldn’t be held without their permission. They described themselves as true representatives of Rawalpindi cricket according to Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling in their favour and they stand restored.
The matter of the fact was the PCB had abide by the LHC ruling and restored not only Rawalpindi Regional Interim Committee but also District Interim committee as well but the PCB had made changes in both the interim committees with new faces and old ones were released from the duties.
The group was not ready to listen to arguments and demanded office of the district must be immediately handed over to them and claimed conducting of trials falls in district jurisdiction. The situation could have averted had PCB instructed Pindi Cricket Stadium manager Nisar Khan to make necessary security arrangements, as not only Nisar but also others were fully aware that things could turn nasty and it’s his duty to make security arrangements to avoid any untoward incident and he was also responsible for the safety of kids, who turned up in quite numbers.
The group demanded cancellation of trials and handing over of the office, after several hours hot debate, no one was ready to back off from their respective stance. After wasting precious time, it was finally decided to postpone trials till further dates.  The inside sources have confirmed to this scribe that the trials were cancelled after interference of a high-profile PCB person, who advised the trials committee to postpone trials for indefinite period.
The sources further said that the blame of entire episode rested on the shoulders of either the PCB or manager Nisar, as they were supposed to make foolproof arrangements for conducting the trials smoothly.