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Work has been started on scrubbing of the grass of Arbab Niaz Stadium, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) curator in NWFP Mir Bashar Khan said here on Monday.

It would take another month to make the stadium playable for any class of cricket activities, Bashar added. Bashar, who is also assistant director in the NWFP Sports Directorate, disclosed that earlier they had scrubbed the grass and levelled Arbab Niaz Stadium in June 1998, it had decided to repeat similar work after eight years in order to shape up the stadium according to international needs.

It would cost Rs. 0.5 million, Bashar said. Currently 40 labourers, including the ground staff of the Arbab Niaz Stadium, have been working day and night to complete the work as early as possible.

Besides the scrubbing work, trucks of the local mud from the nearby Kabal River are being used to level the surface. After using of local mud it would make the surface softer and safer for the cricketers during their dives.

Bashar disclosed that they had found one and a half feet deep grass roots which will be vital for attaining superior growth at the surface. Bashar, a qualified curator, said there were nine pitches but now work has been carried out to get good pitches. “We have obtained mud from Gujranwala for the pitches to be prepared for national and international matches,” he disclosed.

Bashar said as far as the Arbab Niaz Stadium is concerned no complaint had been recorded from any quarter. The stadium, he said, has been neglected but with such development, he added, it can be hoped that more national and international matches would be allotted to the Arbab Niaz Stadium.

Source:The News