ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2011

Pakistan in 2010/11 Pakistan finished 2010/11 in sixth place in the world rankings but facing enormous unresolved problems, including the impossibility of playing international fixtures at home, persistent political interference in the running of the game and, worst of all, the allegations of corrupt practices on the field of play. For security reasons, Pakistan’s international cricket continued to take place entirely outside the country. In the 2010 season this involved two ‘home’ Tests against Australia, played in England, in which Pakistan achieved a creditable 1-1 draw. This was followed by a four-match series against England; Pakistan lost this 3-1 but far more worrying than the result were the allegations of corruption against three players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif. This was a particular tragedy for the 18-year-old left-arm opening bowler Mohammad Aamer, who had taken 19 wickets at only 18.36 in the four Tests against England after having taken 11 in the two Tests against Australia. But if the bowlers were generally effective, Pakistan’s batting was erratic and unreliable: all-out scores of 80, 72 and 74 (all against England) told their own story. In 2010/11 Pakistan played two ‘home’ Tests (actually in the UAE) against South Africa and a further two Tests in New Zealand. Lifeless wickets meant that neither Test against South Africa came close to a result, but the series in New Zealand was won 1-0. These series are covered respectively in the Rest of the World and New Zealand sections of the annual: the earlier matches in England are in the 2011 Wisden . The principal domestic first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, was restructured in 2010/11. It continued to comprise 22 sides that were a mixture of provincial and departmental sides, but compared with 2009/10, when the teams were divided into two groups of equal status, in 2010/11 they were reorganised according to playing strength into a first and second division. Division One was made up of twelve teams: the top six departmental sides from 2009/10, together with the top six provincial sides. Division Two consisted of the remaining ten teams. The Trophy used a round-robin format with a final in each division between the top two teams, the winner of the Division One final to be Quaid-e-Azam champions for 2010/11. This proved to be Habib Bank, who made up for losing both first-class finals in 2009/10 by beating Pakistan International Airlines by five wickets in the Division One final. In the league meeting between these teams, Habib Bank had collapsed to an innings defeat; but in the final, Aftab Alam made a battling 109 to steer his side to a demanding target of 235 to win an acrimonious match. It was played as a day/night fixture with the use of floodlights, an innovation in Pakistani first-class cricket. The Division Two final was drawn but State Bank of Pakistan became champions by securing a first-innings lead over Khan Research Laboratories (and even this outcome was possible only after the match had been extended to a seventh day). This was a remarkable triumph for State Bank of Pakistan on its return to first-class competition from which it had been absent since 1983/84. It was striking how much the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was dominated by departmental teams, which occupied six of the top seven places in Division One; only Rawalpindi, in third place, broke the departmental monopoly of the top places. It was a similar story in Division Two, and in both divisions it was a provincial side that brought up the rear. In Division Two, Quetta endured a dreadful season, while Multan fared little better in Division One despite heroic performances with the ball by Abdur Rauf. 239