The President's Trophy (formerly Patron's Trophy) is a
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
competition that is held in Pakistan. It was previously held between 1960–61 and 2018–19 but was refounded from the 2023–24 season. It consists of teams representing the government and semi-government departments, corporations, commercial organisations, business houses, banks, airlines, and educational institutions.
Matches in the competition were afforded
first-class status in most seasons until 2006–07,
[ when the domestic first-class competition was reorganised and merged into the ]Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has been staged annually since it was first played during the 1953–54 season. Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone many reorganis ...
by the Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...
(PCB). From then on, the Patron's Trophy was a Grade II competition until a major revamp of domestic cricket in 2019 brought an end to the competition.
For the 2012–13 domestic season a new first-class competition, called the President's Trophy Grade I, was created for departments. It was announced as a renaming of the Patron's Trophy, and ran for just two seasons before the PCB merged the regions and departments back into a reorganised Quaid-i-Azam Trophy for the 2014–15 season. The President's Trophy was refounded again from the 2023/24 season after another revamp of the domestic structure.
History
The competition was founded in 1960–61 as the Ayub Trophy, named after then President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces. , Ayub Khan
Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...
. In 1970–71 the competition was renamed the BCCP Trophy, and two years later it received the title BCCP Patron's Trophy, recognising its purpose as a competition for departmental teams, as opposed to the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, which was primarily contested by teams from regional associations.[ A year later, in 1973–74, the Pentangular Trophy was introduced, contested by the leading teams from both competitions.]
The President's Trophy has most often been contested by all departmental teams, but has been a mixed competition with regional associations and even all associations. Matches in the competition had the first-class status until 2006–07 with the exception of the seasons from 1979 to 1983, and the 1999–2000 season. When it has not been a first-class competition, the Patron's Trophy has commonly acted as a qualifying competition for the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy by means of promotion and relegation.
Winners
References
{{Cricket in Pakistan
Pakistani domestic cricket competitions
Recurring sporting events established in 1960
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2019
Sports leagues established in 1960
Sports leagues disestablished in 2019
1960 establishments in Pakistan
2019 disestablishments in Pakistan
First-class cricket competitions