Cricket in Pakistan Myths and Reality
by Dr Ahsan Hameed Malik
DateLine: 13th January 2007
Like in war, it appears that in Pakistan Cricket, truth is the first casualty. Anyone can say whatever they please without regard to facts and with no accountability. Even peoples' ancestors are not spared which is not only sad but totally in bad taste. Somebody once said "Never let facts stand in the way of a good story".
Let us look at some facts. Over the last two decades, Pakistan has achieved an impressive standing in the cricketing world. Not only did it host the first World Cup outside England in 1987 - thanks to the efforts of the then Chairman, Air Marshall Nur Khan but we also won the World Cup in 1992. By the Grace of God, Pakistan today stands at 3rd place in the ICC Test as well as ODI rankings. Today Pakistan has 5 umpires on the ICC Elite Panel and 11 umpires on the ACC. Panel. Mr. Aleem Dar has thrice been nominated for Best Umpire. It is the system in Pakistan that has produced these quality umpires who bring fame to the country. All Chairmen in the past have contributed in their own way to promote the game of cricket in Pakistan and enhance its prestige.
Lt.Gen.(Retd) Tauqir Zia's vision of academies led to the establishment of a world class facility at Lahore and Regional Academies all over the country. Most of the current lot of the young players like Shoaib Malik, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed are the product of this initiative. Tauqir Zia also dedicated himself to the creation of more than 60 cricket grounds all over Pakistan where the First-class matches are being played.
The last Chairman, Shaharyar M. Khan, a dignified and respected diplomat boosted the image of Pakistan internationally and at the ICC level. He brought stability and steadied the ship during his tenure. Because of his efforts, the influence of Pakistan grew in International circles. Of course, there are always challenges and controversies mainly because cricket is such a high profile passion in Pakistan. Everything is in the public eye where even a small issue becomes a raging national controversy.
The new Chairman took office about three months back. Let us look at the record but before doing that let me correct some totally untrue assertions reported in an article in the Dawn dated 10th January, 2007.
For the record, let me categorically state that there is no relative of the Chairman employed in the Board, as erroneously reported in that article. Secondly, it is totally false that any journalist was sent to South Africa by the PCB at its expense. As a matter of fact, we are developing an open and transparent policy where sport journalists would be asked to cover international tours on rotation basis with cost sharing by their respective Newspapers/organizations.
In the first three months, since Dr. Nasim Ashraf, took over, the following has been accomplished:
Draft of Constitution has been submitted to Patron for approval and is expected to be implemented this month. This would end the ad-hocism prevalent ever since July, 1999.
A complete audit of the organization both financial and management has been carried out by the reputable outside firms like Messrs Fergusson Associates and KPMG.
The Oval Test incident was successfully culminated by convincing ICC to fire umpire Darrell Hair for incorrectly accusing Pakistan of ball tempering. Thus Pakistan's name was cleared in a dignified manner.
The ban on Pakistan cricketer Ata-ur-Rehman was removed from the ICC so he could resume playing cricket and earn a livelihood.
Pakistan Team with its morale lowered after the Oval incident and a not so successful tour of England and Champions Trophy in India, was rejuvenated and reunited which led to a resounding victory against the West Indies in both the Test series and ODI matches. West Indies tour was managed in a professional way.
New coaches were hired at the Academy and an Under-15 talent hunt was launched led by Mr. Mudassar Nazar. Under-15 tournament will start soon where more than 100 youngsters picked by Mr. Nazar will be participating.
National School Cricket Championship was organized and final played between Lahore Muslim Model High School and Peshawar Government High School Nanakpura. 25 talented youngsters were picked and will undergo 1 month training at NCA Lahore after which they will be sent on a foreign tour to South Africa or Sri Lanka. PCB strongly believes that the future of Pakistan Cricket is dependant on an organized nursery programme through School Cricket which will be given top priority by this Board.
For the first time at the start of the domestic cricket season, certified trainers were provided to each region to help and train the local teams and improve physical fitness. Very soon proper physios will also be provided to each region.
The central Secretariat for the next World Cup 2011 to be held in South Asia was brought to Lahore (Pakistan) and the Chairman, PCB, Dr. Nasim Ashraf was unanimously elected to be the convener for the 2011 World Cup. This is testimony to the confidence International Cricket administrators have in Pakistan.
Doping case of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif was handled in a pro-active manner. Pakistan is one of the four countries carrying out internal voluntary drug screening since 2003. PCB recalled fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif from India on the eve of Champions Trophy 2006 rather than sweeping the issue under the carpet. The PCB Management boldly followed the laid down procedure and appointed an independent Commission to try the doping case against Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. An Appellant Tribunal overturned the verdict on technical/legal grounds. But whatever the final outcome, the PCB handled the issue in a transparent and an open manner.
A Pension Scheme for the Test Cricketers and Welfare Fund has been established. Under this plan, Test Cricketers will be paid monthly pension ranging from Rs. 15,000 to RS. 25,000. Many past cricketers who were in dire financial straits due to illness or other reasons have already been given cash from this Welfare Fund established by the PCB.
New partnerships are being created in the corporate world and in the media not only for the revenue generation but to promote domestic cricket. The recently concluded Twenty-20 tournament sponsored by ABN AMRO was a huge success and the negotiations are underway to select a partner for domestic TV coverage for 2007 season. Revenues earned from this would be used for developing cricket grounds and club members.
Prize money for the matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Patron Trophy has been increased significantly with the winner of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to receive Rs. 600,000 this year. The winning team of each match gets a bonus of Rs. 100,000.
Soon after taking over, Dr. Nasimn Ashraf organized a National Workshop on Cricket Pakistan where over 70 experts including many former captains, administrators, senior sport journalists and Newspapers Editors participated at the National Academy, Lahore. Their recommendations formed the basis of new plan which will be implemented by the PCB management over the next 5 years. This is in line with the policy of involving all stakeholders.
Junior level tours are being increased to provide experience to the youngsters. In 2007, five tours of the U-19 Team, Academy Team and the A-Team to Australia, England etc. have been finalized.
Women Cricket has been given special attention. Pakistan has earned the right to host Women World Cup qualifying round this year. The recent Cricket Blind World Cup was held in Pakistan which Pakistan won.
Unfortunately an unwarranted controversy was launched by some vested interest regarding religion and the Cricket Team. For the record, it may be mentioned that the new Chairman is a practicing devout Muslim himself. PCB only wished to reiterate that selection in the Team, as in the past would only be on the basis of performance and merit. There is no question that "faith" is strong motivating factor in all Pakistanis including the cricket players.
Special priority has been given to strengthening and empowering the regions and local associations. In this regard, a decision has been taken to plough all revenue from gate-money back to the local associations. In addition, PCB would also work with partners in Provincial Governments, District Governments and private entities to develop new infrastructure for cricket at the grass roots.
Efforts are being made to involve local/regional Cricket Associations in development of Cricket at grass root levels. To that end, elections of 9 out of 11 regions have already been completed by the Election Commission of PCB.
Let me also set the record straight regarding the resignation of Waqar Younis. After an unauthorized absence of nearly two weeks, during which Waqar Younis was not available for Pakistan Cricket Team Camp in Lahore prior to the South Africa tour, he wanted to dictate where his services should be utilized. The Board Management wanted Waqar to assist the National Team as a coach for the Test series in South Africa and to return to help with the other fast bowlers in Pakistan as the role of the bowling coach during one-day series is quite debatable. In a burst of anger, Waqar told the PCB Chairman quite in an inappropriate manner over the phone that he was going to resign the next day. PCB simply accepted his resignation even though out of consideration for Waqar, Chairman had told him over the phone that his contract would be honoured till its expiry.
When we talk about good governance, the first prerequisite is discipline and professionalism. Contracts have to be honoured and there should be no compromise on this. No one is above the law or bigger than the game.
In conclusion, let me reiterate that there is a clear vision and commitment of new Chairman, Dr. Nasim Ashraf to introduce a good corporate governance model. Transparency, due process and accountably are the core values which will be our guiding principles and discipline will not be compromised at any cost. All players and staff will be treated with respect and dignity and same is expected in return.
The most difficult thing in restructuring an organization is the change of mindset and the culture of the organization. This is a challenge which PCB boldly accepts. But it takes time to implement these changes and vision. We are asking all our stake-holders, specially the media to help us to achieve this vision with constructive criticism and inputs. You will find us a keen listener and a willing partner.
(Article: Copyright © 2007 Pakistan Cricket Board)
