Abbas highlights lack of professionalism in Pakistan's domestic cricket compared to English county

Pakistan's Test pace sensation, Mohammad Abbas, has voiced his disappointment and sadness at being left out of the national team, despite his exceptional performances in domestic cricket and the English county circuit.

In a recent interview on a local sports channel, Abbas discussed his selection for the national team, expressing that he has left everything in the hands of the PCB. Despite being a consistent performer with an impressive bowling average on the global stage, he remains hopeful for his consideration.

"As a human being, things come to your mind, but these things are not in my control. The only thing I have in my control is hard work; apart from that, I cannot do anything. I look forward to doing my best in Pakistan's domestic cricket, England's domestic cricket, or anywhere I get the opportunity in white-ball or red-ball formats," Abbas said.

Reflecting on his remarkable statistics, Abbas who has taken 710 wickets in first-class cricket expressed gratitude for his achievements.

"When I look at my stats, I thank God. Recently, Kyle Abbott played with me; he is the second overseas player for Hampshire, and he completed his 600 wickets two matches ago. He told me, 'You know who's number one right now in terms of bowling average these days, who got 600 wickets?' I said I don't know, and he said, 'I am the second one, and you are the first one. You are top in the world right now.' I thank God for having such stats, where I have over 600 wickets, and in the world, I am number one. Many big names are behind me," he said.

The 34-year-old right-arm pacer highlighted his outstanding performance in Pakistan's domestic cricket, noting, "As for Pakistan's domestic cricket, I currently have the best average in Pakistan's history. Talking about Test cricket, I haven't played for three years, but even then, I'm number two in average. Imran Khan is number one. As a human being, things come to mind, and negativity can make you feel a little sad. However, I believe that if we want to take Pakistan cricket forward and improve further, the biggest reason is communication, which should be clear between players and management. I miss that greatly."

In his remarks, Abbas also drew a contrast between the English county and Pakistan's domestic cricket structures, citing a lack of professionalism in the latter.

"There is a lot of professionalism here [English Country]. You will see that from April to September, matches are held, including four-day matches, T20s, one-day tournaments, and even 100-ball games. But when the season finishes on September 30, they take only one and a half months to announce the schedule for the next season. I believe that by mid-November or the end of November, they announce their schedule. This is my sixth year, and not even a second of the schedule changes. Even with the death of Queen Elizabeth, the schedule did not change, and matches continued," he said.

He also praised the organization of English cricket, stating, "The grounds are available, food, clothing, match fees, salaries—everything is handled with great professionalism, and everything is done on time. These things should happen for the betterment of domestic cricket in Pakistan. There should be a player association in Pakistan that can benefit the PCB because PCB has to manage everything. But if a players' association is formed, it will address the players' problems instead of the PCB. They can hold meetings and discuss the players' issues with PCB."