KARACHI: The Executive Council of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) has decided to ask the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to allow it to field atleast two teams in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Inter-Regional Grade-I Championship this domestic season.

The council meeting held on Friday evening at the National Stadium expressed concern over the inclusion of just one Karachi team in the inter-regional first class championship and felt it would provide inadequate representation of the talented cricketers of the city.

"The council has decided unanimously that the Board be requested to allow us to field atleast two teams in the Quaid Trophy and a third team in the Grade-II competition this season," KCCA Secretary Sirajul Islam Bukhari said.

Bukhari said that the members had expressed reservations over the new regional based domestic structure announced by the Board as it would basically reduce the representation of major cities in the domestic competitions.

"It was also felt that if the Board was trying to revamp the domestic structure on the insistence of former captain Imran Khan it would serve no purpose since his insistence was eliminating the departments completely from the domestic competitions," he added.

He pointed out that in the past, Karachi always had two teams in the first class premier competition every season. However, independent sources disclosed that apart from a heated discussion the KCCA acceptance of the revised domestic structure by the Board, there was also hue and cry raised by some members over the performances of the President and Secretary.

"One member wanted to know how Bukhari had assured the Board Chairman that the KCCA would not go to court challenging decisions of the Board relating to domestic cricket," a source disclosed.

He said one of the Vice President's had also objected to the manner in which the President and Secretary had awarded contract to a construction company to build the KCCA stadium pavilion and other works without approval of the council.

But Bukhari when asked about this denied that things had been as bad as projected by some quarters.

Bukhari said that the construction work had been awarded after seeking the help of the PCB and the responsibility was given to the manager development of the Board.

He said the executive council had also decided to have wings to deal with women's cricket, multinationals cricket and academies.

"Because these are all realities and the KCCA wants to offer them specialised help in organizing tournaments and selecting teams and coaching facilities."

He said the Council had also asked a council member Munir Qadri to refrain from indulging in any cricket activity until he clears accounts for a inter zonal tournament.