NA Speaker inaugurates cricket camp for parliamentarians

ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly held a training session at Shalimar cricket ground on Tuesday to start a weeklong camp inaugurated by Speaker Asad Qaiser.

Qaiser along with the ruling and opposition members of the National Assembly will play for Pakistan in the Inter-Parliamentary Cricket Tournament scheduled in the United Kingdom from July 8 to 15.

The teams of parliamentarians from eight countries taking part in the World Cup will play the cricket tournament to be held alongside the ICC Cricket World Cup, a press release.

To ensure participation of a well–prepared team, the NA speaker has involved Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for training the parliamentarians.

The speaker has appointed MNA Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi as convener of the parliamentary cricket team having played cricket at university and district levels.

PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani has nominated the former Test cricketer Mudassar Nazar, the academy director at the PCB as the focal point for preparing the Parliamentary cricket team.

A total of 47 MNAs will attend the initial assessment and training camp with more than 20 lawmakers attending the training session on the opening day.

Speaking to the media, the speaker said sports are important for a healthy society.

The parliamentarians will play friendly matches among themselves till the end of April 2019 so that a befitting team could be selected to take part in the exciting and first–of–its–kind tournament.

The PCB has finalised the schedule of the parliamentarians’ initial assessment and training camp under the supervision of its coaches.