Consequent upon International Cricket Council's decision to bring women's cricket under its umbrella, Chairman PCB immediately established the PCB Women's Wing and made the following appointments:

Dr Mira Phailbus (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) - Chairperson
Former Test Captain Mr Imtiaz Ahmed - Advisor
Ms Shamsa Hashmi - Secretary

The developments relating to Women's Cricket in Pakistan that have taken place following the establishment of the PCB Women’s Wing are summarized below:

1. Events

(i) The inaugural National Women's Championship was held in Lahore in March 2005 in which teams from eight regions of the country participated.

(ii) PCB Women's Wing patronized an Under-17 Schools Tournament in Murree in May 2005. 17 teams from all over the country participated in this event.

(iii) A tri-Regional Tournament was staged in Quetta in July 2005. Teams from Quetta Region, Karachi Region and Lahore Region participated in this event.

(iv) An Exhibition match between PCB Whites and PCB Greens was organized in September 2005 at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore in collaboration with UNICEF as part of a campaign to promote the rights of girls to play and educate themselves. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was the Chief Guest at the occasion and lauded the initiative. Around 10,000 girls from various schools and colleges witnessed the match.

(v) India Under-21 Women's Team visited Pakistan in October 2005 for a Series of four One Day matches with the Pakistan National Women's Team in Lahore. Pakistan lost the first two matches by narrow margins. The trip was the first ever by an Indian Women's Cricket Team to Pakistan and gave the Pakistan Team valuable international experience as it was their first exposure to international cricket.

2. Women were encouraged to attend Coaching Courses and Umpiring Clinics to help train them for future women’s tournaments (there are now four qualified women umpires). Training Camps of Regional Teams as well as the Pakistan National Women's Team have also been conducted after the establishment of PCB Women's Wing.

3. Pakistan has been chosen to host Asia Cup for Women in December-January at Karachi. A training camp is being organized in Karachi to prepare the Pakistan National Women's Team for the event. The camp will commence at PCB Regional Cricket Academy in Karachi on 26 November with final trials to be held on 3 December 2005.

4. Ms Shaiza Khan has been appointed as Honorary Advisor for International Cricket to the PCB Women's Wing. The Karachi women cricketers including world record-holder Kiran Baloch have given full support to PCB Women’s Wing following the appointment of Ms Shaiza Khan.

5. Ms Shamsa Hashmi, Captain Pakistan Team, who had scored the highest number of runs in the Series against India Under-21 Women's Team has announced her retirement from cricket and will now concentrate on administrative affairs in her capacity as Secretary, PCB Women’s Wing.

PCB Media Department

(Article: Copyright © 2005 Pakistan Cricket Board)