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

Pakistan in 1975/76 In the 1970s cricket’s international schedule was conducted in a slightly less hectic manner than would become normal in the decades to follow. This was reflected in the programme of the Pakistan team, which involved no Test commitments at all during this season. However, the team had travelled to England in the summer of 1975 to take part in the inaugural World Cup, in which it lost two of its three group matches, beating only Sri Lanka (not then a Test nation), and failed to progress to the semi-finals. Nor was the national side entirely inactive during the 1975/76 season: a fairly strong team, although lacking some key players, visited Sri Lanka in January for a short tour involving three first-class matches. The two representative games were shared 1-1, an encouraging outcome for Sri Lanka’s Test aspirations. The 1975/76 first-class season was wholly domestic in nature and involved 63 matches, a record for Pakistan at that time (previously 58 in 1969/70). It included no fewer than six tournaments: compared with 1974/75, the Kardar Shield was dropped but the Bhutto Cup was restored. The tournaments took place more or less sequentially throughout the season as follows. Sikander Ali Bhutto Cup : This knockout competition was restored to the programme after missing 1974/75. Eight sides were initially entered but National Bank failed to appear for their first-round match against Karachi Whites, effectively giving the latter a bye into the semi-final. Based in the south of the country with matches played at Karachi and Hyderabad, the competition took place in August and September except that the final had to be postponed to November to allow Pakistan International Airlines to undertake a short tour of Guyana. On their return, PIA beat United Bank on first innings. BCCP Patron’s Trophy : Another knockout competition, this took place in October and early November. It involved as many as 26 teams, of which National Bank and Railways, respectively champions and runners-up in 1974/75, each received a bye to the quarter-final. The other 24 sides played two rounds of matches to whittle them down to six teams to fill the remaining quarter-final places. In the final, National Bank A (so termed because this season the Bank had also fielded a ‘B’ team) beat PIA on first innings to retain the Trophy. Punjab Tournament : This competition took place during November and was, as its name suggests, confined to teams based in the Punjab. Lahore A beat Sargodha in the final. Quaid-e-Azam Trophy : Inaugurated in 1953/54 and contested with only occasional intervals right down to the present day, the Quaid-e-Azam is easily the most durable tournament in Pakistan cricket. But in its time it has undergone countless revisions and revamps, making it at some times a true national championship and at others a decidedly less eminent affair. 1975/76 found it at one of the quieter junctures in its history, held in November and early December with only eight teams in the first round (one of which, Baluchistan, failed to turn up). The original plan (slightly varied in the event) was that two of the first-round winners would go on to play two further sides, Sind A and Punjab A, at the quarter-final stage, while the other two first-round winners would get byes to the semi-finals (which explains the oddity of only two quarter-finals). In the final, National Bank beat defending champions Punjab A to claim a second first-class trophy for the season. Pentangular Trophy : Held in December and January, this was Pakistan’s only first-class competition to be conducted on a league basis in 1975/76. As the name suggests, it involved five sides, an observation that is not so trite as it may appear: in 1974/75 the Pentangular had included six teams and it was due to do so again this season, but the proposed Universities side did not materialize. This left the three preeminent departmental teams, National Bank, PIA and Railways, to play a round-robin with sides representing Pakistan’s two most important 7