LAHORE: The Domestic cricket season 2025-26 is set to begin with the 12-team Hanif Mohammad Trophy in August and it will be followed by the eight-team Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The 16 regional teams taking part in both the tournaments are set to conduct fitness tests for their preliminary squads a week before the beginning of the tournament. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has devised a rigorous fitness testing criterion with two different levels, one for the pathways’ players and the other for those set to take part in premier domestic events representing regions or departments throughout the season. The fitness testing first took place for the PCB Challenge Cup and the Senior Inter-District tournaments under the watch of PCB’s strength and conditioning coaches across the 107 districts. In the next step around, 400 players vying to secure spots in their respective regional sides for the upcoming domestic season will be tested at their regional headquarters in August. The Under-19 players are also set to take part in the Regional Under-19 One-Day Cup and will undergo fitness testing before the tournament kicks off. The regional first-class players will go through a number of dynamic tests to establish their fitness for competitive domestic cricket and also bringing their names in contention for the domestic contracts for the coming season. The fitness reports will not only be evaluated by the regional coaches but will also be used by the PCB to address fitness challenges faced by the players. In another first, the PCB will also conduct the fitness tests of cricketers contracted by departments in Grade I, II and III. Before this, the departments used to carry their own fitness testing but with the strength and conditioning being top most priority the PCB has decided to collaborate with all the departments as well. The pre-season testing has also been refined and set up in such a way that fully fit players get the opportunities to take the field in domestic cricket enhancing the quality of the competition and skills. The players who fail their tests despite one re-test will not be able to attend any of the domestic tournaments. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025