Northern cricket team

Northern cricket team was a domestic cricket team in Pakistan representing Rawalpindi Division, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. It competed in domestic first-class, List A and T20 cricket competitions, namely the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan Cup and National T20 Cup. The team was operated by the Northern Cricket Association.

History

The team was introduced as a part of the new domestic structure announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on 31 August 2019. On 3 September 2019, PCB confirmed the first squad of the team.

2019/20 season

Northern were runners-up in the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and won the National T20 Cup, defeating Balochistan by 52 runs in the final. The Pakistan Cup was cancelled this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020/21 season

Northern finished in fifth place in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and were losing semi-finalists in both the Pakistan Cup and the National T20 Cup.

Structure

As of 2019, domestic cricket in Pakistan was reorganised into six regional teams (on provincial lines).

A three tier bottom-up system is in operation with the Tier 1 teams participating in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (First Class), Pakistan Cup (List A) and National T20 Cup (Regional T20). The Tier 2 teams participate in the City Cricket Association Tournament whilst the Tier 3 teams participate in various local tournaments as both tiers feed players to the Tier 1 team.

Tier 1: Northern
Tier 2: Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Islamabad, Mirpur, Gilgit-Baltistan, Poonch & Bagh.
Tier 3: Various Clubs & Schools.