Pakistan News – It’s October 19 and still no clarity on Quaid-e-Azam’s schedule 2024-25

There is no clarity on when the 2024-25 Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy season will begin despite Pakistan’s international test season going well. The schedule tentatively released by the PCB in August had Pakistan’s first-class tournament starting on October 20, but on the eve of that date, the fate of the tournament remains uncertain.

While the dates for all the domestic matches announced by the PCB in August have not been changed and are subject to change, a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo as recently as last month that the QeA should have kept its October 20 schedule. ESPNcricinfo understands that no, even and those in charge of domestic affairs at PCB, who knows when the tournament schedule will be announced.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that the tournament is waiting to be cleared by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

The PCB declined to comment on what is delaying the approval at this stage, although the approval of the budget works from the chairman, and is understood to be one of the factors causing the delay. However the lack of knowledge about QeA is in stark contrast to the Champions One-Day Cup fans, who were in September, marked by the board.

QeA has never been able to maintain a schedule or format, but there is no word on its unprecedented late-season debut. In two of the last 15 years, the tournament has started as late as October 26, and the schedule usually comes out before October. Each of the past two seasons saw it begin in September; Last year’s competition started on September 10, and ended on October 26.

The situation is very tense this season when Pakistan is scheduled to play more Test matches than any other in this century. They are already more than halfway through the seven Test matches they play between August 2024 and January 2025, as well as two Test matches in South Africa at the end of the year.