Pakistan’s first-class tournament, the Quaid e Azam Trophy (QeA) is underway. The defending champions, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and the other fives teams, namely Central Punjab, Northern, Balochistan, Sindh and Southern Punjab will be competing in the 31-match tournament. 

Three simultaneous games have commenced in the following venues; Abbottabad, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. The greater part of the tournament is scheduled in the Southern and Central Punjab region with the final to be played on November 26. Initially set as venues, Karachi and Islamabad have been replaced by Multan and Lahore owing to logistical challenges.

Parallel to the QeA trophy, the Cricket Associations Championship (a non-first-class red-ball tournament consisting of second-XI players) will commence at three different venues within Karachi; UBL complex, NBP sports complex and KCCA stadium. Three games are also scheduled for the Bugti Stadium in Quetta.

Five of the six teams in the tournament will be led by Test players, with KP being the exception, captained by the domestic allrounder Khalid Usman. Hasan Ali will debut as  South Punjab’s captain while Azhar Ali will be captain Central. Sarfaraz Ahmed, the former Pakistan captain, will be leading Sindh. Northern will be led by Umar Amin while Yasir Shah will take charge of Balochistan.

For the final last year, in December 2021, KP faced Northern and came out victorious, effectively securing the title. Backing on a century by Iftikhar Ahmed, KP won by 169 runs. Sindh, which finished third, had the equal number of wins, losses, and draws as KP. Central Punjab and Southern Punjab had two and one wins respectively. Balochistan, winless, had finished last.

Muhammad Huraira, last season’s breakthrough, became the first player to top the runs chart, a feat he achieved at the mere age of 19. He also became the second-youngest batter to score a triple century in first-class, behind only Javed Miandad’s 311 in the Kardar Summer Shield final, at 17 years and 310 days. Ahsan Ali, playing for Sindh, had also scored a triple century; his 303* had come before Huraira had registered his triumphant triple century in the season. 

The player of the tournament was awarded to Mubasir Khan – off spin all-rounder – for his 58 runs at 32.71, positioned mainly at number 6, along with securing 30 wickets to his name. Ali Usman, the left-arm-spinner, was the leading wicket-taker; 43 at 27.93 to his name. Sohail Khan (30) and Sameen Gul (31) were the only pacers amongst the top five leading wicket-takers. Rohail Nazir was the most successful wicketkeeper of the season, with 21 catches and 10 stumpings. 

Last year, while batting for Central Punjab, the Pakistani opening batsman Abid Ali withdrew from the match against KP after complaining about chest pains. He was diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and had to undergo stenting in one of his arteries. The coming season of the QeA trophy will mark his return to first-class cricket since his forced break last year. 

This year, the tournament will continue its double-league basis, according to the set precedent. The arrival of some foreign coaches will make the tournament an interesting one to follow; Paul Franks, Nottinghamshire assistant coach, will serve as the head coach for Central Punjab, Bilal Shafayat, assigned to Notts' age-group levels and second XI, will serve as the fielding coach for Central Punjab. Richard Stonier will help with strength and training. Paul Nixon, Leicestershire head coach, will take up Sindh’s responsibility. John Sadler and Ian Fisher will be taking care of Sindh’s fielding, and their strength and training respectively. 

It is also important to note that PCB has issued increments for the domestic players, ahead of the first-class season. . According to the new model, a player featuring in the QeA Trophy will get a match fee of PKR 100,000 (which previously stood at PKR 60,000). The fee for CAC matches has been increased to PKR 40,000, from PKR 25,000. 

With the bar set high from last season, and special improvements made for this year, the QeA Trophy promises to live up to the high expectations ascribed to the premier first-class tournament of Pakistan.