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

BCCP Patron’s Trophy : The Patron’s Trophy again involved 26 sides, maintaining its position as the season’s largest competition. Despite this, it was fitted as nearly as possible into the short month of February (although the last two days of the final spilled into March). The format was unchanged: 24 teams played on a knockout basis to fill six of the quarter-final slots, with last year’s finalists, National Bank and PIA, allotted the other two places. Defending champions National Bank again reached the final, only to be totally overwhelmed, in yet another final decided on first innings, by Habib Bank , whose monumental total of 722 was built around an innings of 350 by Rashid Israr. Overall, the season had, as usual, been dominated by the departmental sides: National Bank and PIA maintained their leading positions but this year had to share their eminence with Habib Bank and United Bank. No batsman achieved a thousand runs. Javed Miandad, newly shot to fame, came closest with 980 despite spending much of the season on tour in Australia and West Indies. Mohsin Khan (949) and Rashid Israr (911) also exceeded 900, the latter aided by his 350 in the Patron’s Trophy final. Another sensational batting feat was recorded by Karachi Whites in the Patron’s Trophy game against Quetta, where Waheed Mirza (324) and Mansoor Akhtar (224*) added 561 for the first wicket, eclipsing the celebrated record of 555 set by Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe for Yorkshire against Essex in 1932. This feat elicited some disdainful comments, headed ‘Dubious Records’, in the Editor’s Notes in the 1978 Wisden , blaming the Pakistan Board for allowing ‘teams with no first-class status to compete in first-class tournaments’ and prophesying (wrongly) that ‘each and every first-class record will be broken sooner or later in Pakistan’. Two spinners led the wicket-taking, the slow left-armer Khurshid Akhtar finishing on top with 78 wickets at 14.61. But he was 31 and a familiar figure; of much greater promise for Pakistan cricket was the emergence of the 21-year-old legspinner Abdul Qadir, who was not too far behind with 67 wickets at 16.47. These two aside, no bowler exceeded 40 wickets. Note that 8-ball overs were in use in Pakistan this season. Abandoned match: Hyderabad v Habib Bank Limited, Gama Stadium, Mirpur Khas, 1, 2, 3, 4 February 1977. Habib Bank won on coin toss. 74 Pakistan in 1976/77