Ricky Ponting finds Pakistan model interesting amid club vs country debate

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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has shared his perspective on the ongoing debate between club commitments and international duties in cricket.

Earlier in March this year, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi during a presser in Karachi opened up about players’ NOC for foreign leagues, and said, “We will be working on the NOC policy designed by the previous regime. We want to implement the policy introduced and strictly regulate the two-league rule. There will be no relaxation on this. The bottom line is, you need to prioritise the national team. All PCB employees will be required to work fulltime for this organisation, and will not be allowed to work in the private sector alongside.”

In an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, Ponting was asked about his position on the club versus country topic.

Ponting highlighted the plight of Test cricket, suggesting that traditional powerhouse nations are not as dominant as they once were, partly due to players opting for lucrative franchise leagues instead of international duty. 

“Yeah, the game's in a pretty dangerous phase right now. I have said that for the last couple of years actually with Test cricket - some of the stronger, bigger Test-playing nations that we once talked about 20, 30 years ago, are probably not in the position of strength that they once were for those reasons being talked about. Because there's so much other cricket for their players to go and play that they are opting to go to rather than represent their country. But the other thing we have to understand is that a cricketer's career is a very short one. So you can't really begrudge players for going and doing what they are doing now,” Ponting said.

However, Ponting found Pakistan's model intriguing, where international players are restricted to participating in a limited number of T20 leagues annually.

“The interesting model for me is Pakistan's, where their international players are only being allowed to play, I think, two T20 comps a year,” he said.

In a press conference held in Karachi earlier this March, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi discussed the issuance of players’ NOCs for participation in foreign leagues. He mentioned the intention to adopt and enforce the NOC policy established by the previous administration, emphasizing strict adherence to the two-league rule.

“We will be working on the NOC policy designed by the previous regime. We want to implement the policy introduced and strictly regulate the two-league rule. There will be no relaxation on this. The bottom line is, you need to prioritise the national team. All PCB employees will be required to work fulltime for this organisation, and will not be allowed to work in the private sector alongside,” Naqvi said.

When questioned about the possibility of resolving the issue, Ponting expressed skepticism, indicating that the trend might lean towards players prioritizing club commitments over international obligations, akin to the structure seen in soccer.