“Department cricket is a big need for Pakistan,” Azhar said. “It’s contributed a lot to our cricket. We shut it down a few years ago, and my personal view is that the slide in Pakistan’s international cricket right now has a lot to do with department cricket being shut down. After that it took department cricket a long time to recover. It was the biggest nursery for Pakistan cricket, and today again it feels like it’s being pushed out.”

I’ve seen young players who had to leave Pakistan after department cricket was abolished here. They didn’t see a future here

Azhar Ali on the impact of department cricket being shut down

For Azhar, this constant churn has left Pakistan’s cricketing structure unable to breathe and develop on a long-term basis. “The first thing I’d do is to give any system we implement a few years. If you change every year, then you were either wrong last year, or you’re wrong now. At the PCB, our problem is we’re never wrong, but perhaps we’re never right either because when you change every year, it means there was a mistake. And we promise every year that this is the year we’ll get more developed players coming through the system. But we’re not getting that answer. Every year we change, and then we say, ‘that season didn’t go according to plan, but the next one will’.”

“I was moulded in department cricket, as so many others have been,” Azhar said. “At times, no one in the regions used to pay us any heed whatsoever. But the departments gave us salaries and financial security, and stuck with us. It’s very important in Pakistan’s cultural and economic reality. Even the PKR 30-40,000 Grade 2 teams and smaller departments pay is vital in our country. Otherwise, young players’ parents won’t let them play, and will tell them to find proper jobs instead.”

While other South Asian sides have also incorporated department cricket into their first-class structure, the scale at which commercial departments have operated within Pakistan is unique. Departmental sides have been part of Pakistan’s domestic cricket since the inaugural edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 1953-54, and expanded significantly in the 1970s. Their ability to pay cricketers a stable salary provided a level of economic security regional teams could not match, and departments have historically dominated Pakistan’s domestic structure.

At the PCB, our problem is we’re never wrong, but perhaps we’re never right either because when you change every year, it means there was a mistake

Azhar Ali doesn’t like the constant changes being made to the QeA Trophy

Their marginalisation, according to Azhar, has had pernicious effects, reaching down to the grassroot level. “Desire to play is not a problem [in Pakistan]. In England and Australia, you have to do special programmes in schools and counties to tempt them into playing cricket. Here, they’re playing, they just need to be able to give something back to their family when they’re 18 or 20. It needs to be financially viable; we’re not a rich, developed country.

“It’s easy to say, reduce the teams in domestic cricket. But if you’re not getting financially rewarded for it, how many kids will be able to afford to take up cricket? I’ve seen young players who had to leave Pakistan after department cricket was abolished here. They didn’t see a future here.”

“You wonder why Pakistan’s talent has suddenly run dry,” Azhar said. “You can feel the quality, through international cricket and right down the divisions, dropping. Because we stopped a functioning aspect of domestic cricket right in its tracks. It also ended that combination of experienced and young players that you got in domestic cricket. Now you’ve just got young players. Who will they learn from?

“You have three young fast bowlers who are struggling. If you’ve got one experienced fast bowler, he’ll be able to guide them through it. The same goes for an experienced batter building a partnership with a young player. A coach can’t just do it all; they need hands on the pitch and support from experienced players who can pass on quality knowledge, player to player. You’ve just got rid of that, and then you see a drop in game awareness and cricket smarts.”