The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced a new $200,000 Cricket Development Excellence Award to recognise the HBL Pakistan Super League franchise making the strongest contribution to the development of cricket.
Franchises will be evaluated across several areas, including player development pathways, grassroots programmes, high-performance infrastructure, player welfare and their contribution to domestic cricket.
“The PCB has today unveiled the procedure to award one franchise the prestigious and inaugural HBL PSL Cricket Development Excellence Award worth USD 200,000,” the board said in a statement.
For the inaugural 2026 award, the PCB will assess development work carried out by franchises from HBL PSL 3 through HBL PSL 11, covering the period during which at least six franchises competed in the league.
“After the 11th edition of the tournament, only the development work done between two latest editions will be considered and evaluated for this award,” the PCB said.
In the first stage, franchises will assess their own development activities using a scoring model created by the HBL PSL and submit their scores, along with supporting evidence, to a PCB-appointed assessment committee.
A five-member committee comprising independent experts and internal stakeholders will then examine the submissions and verify the scores against supporting evidence and measurable data. This assessment will account for 80% of the final result.
The remaining 20% will come from fan voting. Each competing franchise will publish a presentation highlighting its cricket development activities on official PSL social media platforms, after which supporters will be able to assess and rank the teams. The PCB said fans would receive scoring guidelines when voting opens.
Under the overall scoring system, player pathway and development will carry 25%, grassroots and domestic engagement 20%, high-performance infrastructure and innovation 15%, player impact and match contribution 10%, and player welfare and education 10%. Fan voting will make up the remaining 20%.
The award introduces a formal financial incentive for PSL franchises to demonstrate measurable investment in cricket development beyond their performances in the league itself.