The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced on Monday the schedule for the 2021-22 domestic season.

As per a PCB press release, a total of 266 matches of different formats will be played in nine tournaments.

The season will feature three tournaments in three categories, i.e. First XI Competitions, Second XI and Pathway Competitions.

The domestic season will commence with the Cricket Associations T20 tournament in Quetta from September 15 where six of the Cricket Association’s Second XI sides will participate.

Meanwhile, the National T20 will be played from September 25 to October 13. Multan will host 18 matches of the first round while the remaining matches will be played in Lahore.

The most prestigious domestic tournament, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, will be played from October 20 to December 29.

The first half of the competition will take place in Faisalabad, Lahore and Multan whereas the rest of the games — including the final — will be played in Karachi.

The Pakistan Cup will conclude the 2021-22 domestic season. The event will be hosted by Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad from February 25 to March 30.

According to Director High Performance Nadeem Khan, allowing cricket associations to field two age-group teams will help improve the pool of young players at the grassroots level.

“This strategy is aligned to the Cricket Associations planning of reviving clubs, schools and universities cricket within their jurisdictions with the best players getting opportunities to express their talent in national tournaments,” he said.

Earlier in the 2020-21 season, the PCB had managed to complete nine tournaments comprising 220 matches.