LAHORE -The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as part of its con­tinuous effort to unearth women cricketers at the grassroots level, will hold a nationwide women’s cricket trials, across eight cricket academies from 23 to 31 August. 

These trials will provide an exceptional platform for talented female cricketers from various age catego­ries to showcase their skills and progress to the higher levels of the game. The tri­als will be conducted by the National Selection Com­mittee, which comprises of chairperson and former Test cricketer Saleem Jaffar, former international crick­eters Asmavia Iqbal and Marina Iqbal. The trials will be conducted for three age groups: U19, in which players who are born on or after 1 September 2004 are eligible; emerging and se­niors categories. The trials will help the selectors iden­tify talent and select squads for Pakistan emerging and Pakistan U19 teams. 

Pakistan emerging side will compete against West Indies emerging team at home in October this year, while Pakistan U19 will fea­ture in a triangular event in­volving Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Bangladesh in Janu­ary 2024. Head of Women’s Cricket Tania Mallick said: “We have recently awarded first-ever domestic contracts to 74 women cricketers, set­ting the tone for a brighter future in women’s cricket. With the nationwide trials, we are eagerly poised to bring in a new wave of tal­ented individuals forward. 

“We have a great and ex­citing amount of women’s cricket events ahead, and these trials will help us iden­tify splendid talent that the selectors can consider for the national teams’ squads.”