First-Class Matches Pakistan 1975/76 to 1979/80

Pakistan in 1979/80 After a wait of nearly eighteen years for an India-Pakistan rubber, two come along (almost) at once: barely a year after hosting their neighbours, Pakistan returned the visit but could not maintain the previous season’s success. India overcame stubborn Pakistani resistance to record a 2-0 win over the six Tests. Pakistan’s only other Test commitments came at the end of the home season when Australia paid a long overdue visit, having not played a Test in Pakistan since 1964/65 (for comparison, Pakistan had made as many as four tours involving Tests in Australia during this interval). Perhaps Australia regretted not staying away even longer: succumbing on a spinners’ pitch in the first Test they were presented in the remaining two Tests with batting tracks on which no result was possible. In the third match Allan Border achieved a notable Test first by scoring 150 in each innings. The domestic season saw major changes. In the first place, Pakistan, having used 8-ball overs since the 1973/74 season (with a few exceptions, notably the 1978/79 tour by India), reverted to 6-ball overs in all first-class matches in 1979/80. A further important change was the disappearance from the first-class programme of the Patron’s Trophy following its chaotic 1978/79 edition. The Trophy was instead awarded to the winners of the qualifying competition for the Quaid-e-Azam, from which the four semi-finalists emerged to qualify for the QeA proper. In addition to the Patron’s Trophy winners, the Industrial Development Bank, these were Rawalpindi, the House Building Finance Corporation and Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, the last of which withdrew before the start of the QeA proper. There was some confusion about the status of the qualifying tournament with contradictory statements by the BCCP, but contemporary Pakistani publications did not treat it as first-class because it was merely a feeder competition in which the major sides, being automatically qualified for the QeA proper, did not take part. This approach clearly has logic on its side and has been accepted by statisticians both at the time and since. The season, consequently, included only two first-class tournaments and, even allowing for the five matches of the Australian tour, comprised only 35 matches in total. Both tournaments – the Invitation and the QeA – were played on a league basis, a notable shift away from the knockout format that had dominated Pakistan’s domestic cricket in previous seasons. In both competitions, each team’s first innings was limited to 85 6-ball overs. BCCP Invitation Tournament : The season opened with the Invitation Tournament in September and October, which after being conducted on a knockout basis in 1978/79 reverted to its previous format of two mini-leagues of four teams each, with a final between the winners of each group. Original invitees Pakistan Universities withdrew and were replaced by Railways. Habib Bank and PIA both won all their group games to meet in what proved a highly competitive final of moderate scores, in which PIA finally prevailed by the slim margin of 19 runs. Quaid-e-Azam Trophy : It was not until January that first-class cricket resumed in the form of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which was played in a novel format this season. The withdrawal of PSPC left eleven competing sides, which were formed into two mini-leagues of four and one of three. The three leaders, who proved to be PIA, National Bank and Habib Bank, then played each other once each to determine the Trophy winner. The three matches at this final stage all ended in closely-fought draws, but PIA were slightly more successful in the accumulation of bonus points and thus claimed the QeA title to go alongside their earlier success in the Invitation Tournament. With relatively few matches this season it was unsurprising that no one approached either a thousand runs or fifty wickets. Among the batsmen, Azhar Khan led the way with 704 at 70.40 but his highest score was only 113, reflecting a season that generally (except in the last two Tests against Australia) did not witness the very tall scoring that had often featured in previous seasons in Pakistan. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim, meanwhile, claimed most wickets with 35 at 22.57. 249