LAHORE: Former Pakistan cricketers have expressed their reservations over Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to release some of its top players for the dubious ten-over-a-side cricket tournament dubbed ‘Ten10 Cricket League’ set to be held in mid December in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Former ICC president and Test captain Zaheer Abbas on Friday voiced his doubts over the board’s wisdom in giving a green light to its contracted players to play the league. “It’s difficult to determine the future of ten overs cricket. And it’s very close to Pakistan Super League [schedule wise]. The PCB should not have allowed its players to join the league in such a short window,” the former captain remarked. “Ten overs is too easy. Extremely convenient money. What’s the point of fielding 11 players each side in such a format? Six or seven players are enough. Honestly, I can’t see any future for this format,” the ‘Asian Bradman’ said, further noting that the players would have to be vigilant against dangers of corruption during the league. “The PCB should have considered a lot of things before releasing players like this.” Former cricketer and team selector Mohsin Khan also shared his opinion on the league. “With this T10 League, where exactly are you taking cricket? Are you going to come up with five-overs cricket next?” The former batsman said the PCB should be more selective about where it sends its players. “We should only send our players to selective, good-standard competitions. We should maintain a standard and preserve our cricketers,” he said, pointing out examples of Australia, India and England. The upcoming tour to New Zealand is very important. Our domestic and international cricket should come first,” he added. Former cricketer Aamir Sohail said the conflicting stories about T10 League were disconcerting. “You have to see that if one franchise owner is not doing something benefiting Pakistan cricket, then you have to sit down and talk with him,” he said, adding that it seemed the board had not thought through the whole matter. The PCB issued a press release on Thursday in response to a media story on the upcoming league, in an attempt to justify its reasoning behind allowing the players to participate in the tournament. The board’s statement, however, has raised further questions about a lack of transparency and due process adopted by the PCB in releasing its top players for the ‘non-serious’ T10 League. Published in Daily Times, December 9th 2017.