21/12/2022
It was indeed a very historic moment as the England Cricket Team left the premises of Lahore and set foot in Multan for the first time in 17 long years to play a test. Not only was it a hiatus over for England but Multan itself hadn’t hosted a test match since 2006. Hence, the off-the-board excitement for the people of Multan was inevitable. Throughout the span of the test match that was held in Multan, amidst the reverse-swinging brilliance of Jimmy Anderson coupled with the resilient cover drives from Babar Azam, canopied by all the Baz-Ball noise, people from the City Of Saints made sure that all the visitors had a time that they would never forget.
A day prior to the test match the Chairman of SPCA Anees Khawaja had joined the England Cricket Team along with Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, and the SKY Sports Broadcasting Team to play a bit of Golf at the Rumanza Golf Course followed by a dinner he hosted in the honor of the PCB Chairman during which important board officials and media personnel from both the teams were present. Also during the dinner, the Chairman and CEO of SPCA met with John Carr, who is the Director of Operations for England Cricket, and discussed the prospects of more tours of England Cricket Teams to Pakistan.
The Day 1 of the Multan test match, proved to be fairly significant for the Pakistan Cricket Board as they signed a lease agreement with the District Government which officially gives them the acquisition of the Multan Cricket Stadium for the next 5 years.
Day 2 saw another important milestone being achieved in the shape of SPCA signing an agreement with Emerald Solutions Group in order to further upscale the SPCA 100 Best Program. Key personalities such as Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja, Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim, Board Member Hassan Hussain Qureshi, CEO SPCA Abdul Saboor as well as the leadership from Emeral Solutions Group were present during the signing. The Chairman and CEO of SPCA are grateful to Board Member Hassan Qureshi for playing a key part in materializing this agreement.
The following day also proved fruitful as Chairman SPCA met Chairman PCB and discussed future plans along with conveying to him the current issues that the administration is facing. The problems faced by people while making their entrance to the stadium were duly noted and are expected to be fixed soon enough.
On the same day, Ms.Zoe Wares who is the Political Councillor in the British High Commission also paid a visit to Ground-Up Girls Cricket Academy and interacted with the girls of the academy. She was particularly impressed by them and showed interest to the CEO of SPCA Dr.Abdul Saboor in enhancing future collaborations with the SPCA in order to promote female cricket.
Chairman SPCA also met with PCB BoD member, Arif Saeed and Chairman of the Somerset County Cricket Club, Sir Michael Barber, and talked in depth about how to further develop grassroots cricket in our region. In addition to that, the Chief Secretary who is also Chairman of CPCA Arif Sumbal also met the Chairman of SPCA, watched the test on Day 4, and discussed many matters of common interest at length such as what initiatives can be taken to promote cricket in the Southern Punjab region by developing more high-performance centers
Throughout the test match, the SPCA made sure that the guests were made to feel at home. From delicious meals to spectacular coffee arrangements for the British everything was duly taken care of!
Furthermore, our Chairman along with our Board Member, Taimur Malik went ahead and delved into the infamous group of fans, England's Barmy Army, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the company of their trumpet man, Mr.Simon. Recognizing the passion of this splendid group of fans, the Chairman hosted them for a meal to spend more time and get to know them better.
Unfortunately, the test match came to an early closure on day 4 as Pakistan lost to England, however, it resulted in an additional off day for the players who then again went with Chairman SPCA for a session of Golf.
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