The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) says that the 2023-24 domestic season will begin on September 10 with the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Hanif Muhammad Trophy.
A total of 18 regional teams will participate in this domestic structure, including 8 teams in the premier first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and 10 teams in the Hanif Muhammad Trophy.
It should be noted that Hanif Mohammad Trophy is a non-first class 4-day tournament.
This will be the first domestic season after the PCB 2014 constitution reform whereby regional and departmental teams have returned to the domestic circuit.
Abbottabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi will host the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. There will be 29 matches in four venues across the three cities.
Peshawar, Karachi Whites, Lahore Blues, Rawalpindi, FATA, Multan, Lahore Whites and Faisalabad are the first class cricket playing teams.
The inaugural phase of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will begin on September 10. Lahore Whites will face Lahore Blues at Gaddafi Stadium while Peshawar and Karachi Whites will face each other at Abbottabad Stadium.
Faisalabad and Multan will compete at Shoaib Akhtar Stadium Rawalpindi while FATA and Rawalpindi will compete at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
The second phase matches will start from September 16.
There will be a total of seven rounds in which each team will play each other before the top two teams face each other in the final scheduled from October 22 to 26 at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Players participating in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will get Rs 80,000 as match fee and players participating in Hanif Muhammad Trophy will get Rs 40,000 per match.
Non-playing members of the first-class team will get Rs 40,000.
There will be 26 matches in the Hanif Mohammad Trophy, in which 10 teams have been divided into two groups.
The 10 teams participating in the tournament include Abbottabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bahawalpur, Dera Murad Jamali, Hyderabad, Karachi Blues, Larkana, Quetta, Sialkot and Islamabad.
At the end of the group stage in the tournament, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 4 stage where each team will play three matches in this stage.
The top side at the end of the Super 4 stage will qualify for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy next year. The first round matches for Group A will be played between Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in Muzaffarabad and between Larkana and Sialkot in Mirpur.
The first round matches for Group B will be played between Hyderabad and Karachi Blues in Multan and Bahawalpur and Dera Murad Jamali in Rahim Yar Khan. The purpose of the Hanif Muhammad Trophy is to serve as a pathway for regional teams to qualify for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
This domestic structure is developed by the PCB Cricket Technical Committee. The structure replaces the previous model, which was introduced in 2019 which focused on six cricket association teams.
The new domestic structure includes a large player pool with up to 360 cricketers set to take advantage of the increased earning opportunities.
The previous edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was won by Northern led by captain Umar Amin. In the final at the Gaddafi Stadium, Northern defeated Sindh by an innings and 55 runs.
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