FIrst-Class Matches Pakistan 1980/81 to 1983/84

8 which became a matter of debate in the Pakistan statistical community. The previous season’s Patron’s Trophy had been conducted on similar lines and had not been regarded as first-class by statisticians, although the BCCP itself had issued contradictory statements during the season. This situation was to continue in 1981/82 and 1982/83, and the eventual outcome was that the BCCP, under pressure from statisticians, accepted that it would be anomalous for the Trophy to be first-class in 1980/81 when it was not regarded as such in the season before or the two seasons following. This means that from season 1979/80, when it became the qualifying competition for the QeA, up to and including season 1982/83, the Patron’s Trophy was not first-class; with effect from the 1983/84 season, however, it was definitively ruled first-class by the BCCP and this was accepted by statisticians at the time. This confusion explains the statement on page 1111 of the 1982 Wisden that the Patron’s Trophy was first-class in 1980/81. Wisden ’s treatment of the Trophy as first-class means that potted scores and final tables for the Patron’s Trophy are found on pages 1123 to 1128; it also means that the season did not comprise 109 first-class matches as stated on page 1110. The true number was 64, but even this was a national record, eclipsing the 63 played in 1975/76. Purely on its merits as a competition (leaving aside the issue of its first-class status), the Patron’s Trophy was less than satisfactory in 1980/81. Its structure was logical, with the teams divided into four groups and the group winners progressing to the semifinals. But one of the Group A sides, Hazara, simply gave up part-way through and allowed walk-overs to its remaining opponents; and the Trophy’s credibility suffered further damage when Group B winners Sargodha failed to appear for their semifinal owing to a ‘misunderstanding’. For what it is worth, Rawalpindi beat Karachi Blues in the final, and both these sides qualified for the following season’s QeA (Karachi Blues simply as ‘Karachi’). The season’s batting aggregates were headed by the familiar names of Zaheer Abbas with 1123 runs (although his outstanding average of 93.58 was aided by several not-outs) and Javed Miandad with 1039. The only other batsman to exceed a thousand runs was Ashraf Ali with 1033. The leading wicket-taker was United Bank’s veteran slow left-armer Khurshid Akhtar with 84 at 14.92. The Test players Mohammad Nazir and Abdul Qadir followed with 65 and 63 wickets respectively, and a further five bowlers claimed fifty or more. Pakistan in 1980/81