With the ambition of creating a strong talent pool at the domestic level and further strengthening its pathways programme, the Pakistan Cricket Board will hold the first of its kind U19 T20 tournament from tomorrow (Saturday).

The U19 T20 Women Cricket Tournament 2022 will be competed by six Cricket Association teams, comprising 84 players, from 13 to 22 August at the Lahore Country Club, Muridke.

The 10-day tournament will be conducted on round-robin basis, meaning each team will play at least five matches. The league stage will be followed by semi-finals and final on 20 August and 22 August.

The U19 T20 Women Cricket Tournament 2022 serves a perfect opportunity for the players to stake a claim in the national U19 side ahead of the maiden ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa next year and the top performers are also guaranteed places in the senior sides, which will come into action when the senior women domestic season commences from November.

To further incentivise the players to bring out their best performances, the PCB has also introduced financial awards to encourage the players to bring out their best. The winning team will receive PKR400,000 along with the silverware and the runner-up will get PKR200,000.

The player of the tournament will be awarded PKR20,000 and each player of the match will receive PKR10,000. The tournament’s top performers – best player, best batter, best bowler and best wicketkeeper – will be gifted kit bags to encourage them to enhance their skills and pursue their cricketing ambitions.

The PCB has also finalised the six squads, which consist of 14 players each. These squads have been nailed down after country-wide open trials and subsequent practice games amongst the selected players across the PCB-run women regional academies.

Fifteen players have been placed in reserve pool and they can be called up based on a team’s requirement. Only players born on or after 1 September 2003 are eligible to play in the tournament.

Squads:

Balochistan U19 – Humaira Ghulam Hussain (Captain), Alisha Aslam, Aman Fatima, Amina Javed, Azra Habibullah, Dura-E-Nayab, Fakhra Abdullah, Fiza Noor, Kalsoom Kakar, Madhur Moolani, Misha Kareem, Ruqia Nazar, Shakira Ahmed and Shamim Amirullah

Coaching staff – Aqil Khan (coach) and Rizwan Qureshi (assistant coach)

Central Punjab U19 – Shawal Zulfiqar (Captain), Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Farah Imran, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haleema Dua, Jaweria Ali, Komal Khan, Laiba Nasir, Noor Fatima, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam, Warda Yousaf and Zamina Tahir Chugtai

Coaching staff – Mohsin Kamal (head coach) and Shahid Mehmood (assistant coach)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19 – Zaibunisa Niaz (Captain), Aleesha Khan, Aliza Khan, Bakhtawar Arifullah, Gule Nayab, Hansa Zair Gul, Humaira Husain, Jalwa Anwar, Javeria Qamar, Mahnoor Aftab, Malaika Afridi, Sumbal Liaquat, Tayyaba Imdad and Tehzeeb Shah

Coaching staff – Hajra Sarwar (Coach/Manager), Rehmat Gul (coach) and Riaz Kail (assistant coach)

Northern U19 – Maham Anees (Captain), Fatima Sardar, Hadia Mushtaq, Kainat Riasat, Laiba Mubashar, Maheen Irfan, Malaika Noor, Mariyam Shehzadi, Muskan Abid, Noor Fatima, Rida Ashfaq, Sarah Jan Peter, Syeda Hania Zehra and Tahira Malik

Coaching staff – Wasim Yousafi (head coach) and Intikhab Alam (assistant coach)

Sindh U19 – Aroob Shah (Captain), Abeera Kaleem, Aliza Sabir, Anosha Nasir, Dina Razvi, Eman Adeel, Farhia Fahim, Haniah Ahmer, Kainat Eman Shah, Khizra Rani, Sara Fatima, Taskeen Fatima, Tooba Khan and Wasfa Hussain

Coaching staff – Tahir Mehmood (head coach) and Nazim Khan (assistant coach)

Southern Punjab U19 – Aqsa Hafeez (Captain), Anam Bibi, Aqsa Yousaf, Eman Fatima, Javeria Asharaf, Javeria Siddique, Laila Manzoor, Muqadas Bukhari, Rimsha Shehzadi, Sahar Fatima, Sana Khan, Sania Mazhar, Shameer Rajpoot and Uzma Iqbal

Coaching staff – Kamran Hussain (head coach) and Shakir Qayyum (assistant coach)

Reserve players – Areesh Yasin, Ayesha Shahzad, Bushra Bibi, Fatima Ghafoor, Fatima Nadeem, Hasnat Ibrahim, Jennifer Chaudhary, Kiran Akram, Malaika Shahzadi, Memoona Mazhar, Misbah Zaheer, Ramama Nazir, Rida Sajid, Simra Mehboob and Tooba Zafar

Tournament schedule

(all matches at Lahore Country Club, Muridke)

13 Aug – Central Punjab v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Northern v Sindh; Balochistan v Southern Punjab
14 Aug – Balochistan v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Central Punjab v Northern; Southern Punjab v Sindh
16 Aug – Southern Punjab v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Central Punjab v Sindh; Balochistan v Northern
17 Aug – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Northern; Central Punjab v Southern Punjab; Balochistan v Sindh
19 Aug – Sindh v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Balochistan v Central Punjab; Southern Punjab v Northern
20 Aug – Semi-finals
22 Aug – Final