LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) high officials and National Cricket Academy (NCA) Director Aizad Sayed are in clash over purchase of 1400 new cricket ball for junior cricket.
The sources say that Director Game Development Aizad Sayed gave permission to purchase new balls without any verification and test. One ball costs Rs 1900 and total value of 1400 balls is around 2.6 million. Aizad Sayed claims that PCB chairman and Cricket Committee of the board has given him permission but the sources claimed that no decision in this regard has been made yet. Usually the balls are used in Pentangular Cup on experimental ground and after the report of umpires and experts, any decision is made.
A high official of the PCB said that Aizad had entered the PCB through back doors and was not eligible for this very important post. He has been given this important seat only because of his links with head of the executive committee. The sources also claimed that Aizad had also closed academies of U-16 and U-19 and the consecutive defeats of Pakistan U-19 against Sri Lankan U-19 teams are the results of this decision. “The heads of the different regional academies have demanded the termination of Aizad,” sources added.
Aizad claimed that because of his steps against corrupt officials of the board, some board officials were against him. “I have reduced the national academy budget up to Rs 30 million, decisions to reduce regional academies was made just to increase the number of matches. I am working according to my vision for betterment of cricket.”
Lahore Regional Cricket Association (LRCA) president Khawaja Nadeem Ahmad said that Aizad Sayed was a political personality and he was spoiling cricket through politics. PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, Executive Committee chairman Najam Sethi and COO Subhan Ahmed should take notice of all this mess.