Mani terms 2019 landmark year in Pakistan cricketing history.

LAHORE -- Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani Tuesday said that the year 2019 will be remembered as a landmark year in Pakistan's cricketing history.

'It ended with the country taking a major stride in ensuring full resumption of international cricket in Pakistan as Sri Lanka played two Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi in December. Prior to the Test series, Pakistan had staged eight HBL Pakistan Super League matches in Karachi in March, while Karachi and Lahore played host to Sri Lanka in white-ball cricket in September/October, he said while reviewing year 2019 here.

'Furthermore, the revamp of the domestic structure led to riveting cricketing action on-field which renewed the fans' interest in domestic events and various steps were taken to make the PCB a transparent corporate body. On the field in 2019, Pakistan produced mixed results,' he said.

'The men's side lost four Tests in South Africa and Australia before ending win drought in Karachi, while it missed a place in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final by a fraction of a point after they ended up on equal points with losing finalists New Zealand. This performance came after they were swept aside by Australia and England in the lead up to the ICC's pinnacle 50-over competition,' added the PCB chief.

Mani said: 'Pakistan emerging sides produced more consistent performances. The U19s won the series in Sri Lanka and South Africa, while the Emerging side won the ACC tournament in Bangladesh. Women were not too far behind and despite being on the losing end against England, they were impressive in their shows against the West Indies and South Africa.'

The PCB got unprecedented recognition in the ICC with PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, Chief Executive Wasim Khan and Senior Legal Counsel Barrister Salman Naseer sitting on five influential committees. Implementation of the new PCB Constitution 2019 and rolling of transparency and accountability with the PCB uploading its Chairman's Statement of Expenses and Benefits are the administrative achievements of the year.

Mani said: 'We had four objectives for the year 2019 and we have successfully met all of them. We had to reform our constitution, make the...