Cricket to Pakistanis has been second to religion. We have all grown up living it every day. More than religion perhaps, it is the beautiful game that serves as binding thread to our nation. But when we see our cricket being disintegrated due to rash decisions and myopic vision of PCB – our hearts bleed, the proverbial green! It is no secret that changes are in order at the headquarters of PCB. Question is when? If PCB continues to be governed in such dreadful way that it is, then it wouldn’t be long before the PCB engineers our cricket's death.
International cricket is run with by men of intellect who adhere to certain methodology; by recognizing, identifying, developing products and making brands. More than anything, it requires a vision to develop cricket on all levels. Recent press release on M Amir by the PCB is illustrative that those running the show at PCB lack all the ingredients necessary. Frankly, the press release does more harm than benefit to the prospects of Amir’s smooth return. He isn’t the only player or won’t be the first for that matter, who would be laid to waste if deferred to their wisdom. Another victim of PCB’s negligence is our star Yasir Shah who has been suspended by ICC on positive dope test. It’s undoubtedly an egregious negligence made by the medical panel and PCB that he is facing a possible ban of four years for something as silly as this.
On the other hand, India’s meteoric rise in the world cricket can be explained by how they infused professionalism in their management of cricket. BCCI employs ex stars, like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, to nurture the raw talent. And the results are for everyone to see. India is rapidly enhancing its product base. 90s seem a distant memory when they had mediocre talent and no starts barring a couple. India today has a resource pool comparable to Australia and South Africa. And India seems to be building on its new found direction. Much anticipated report of the Justice Lodha Committee is likely to further consolidate the structural revamp in the BCCI. It is expected that the report is likely to bar the industrialists and politicians to be a part of the management of the Board unless they have had a career in cricket prior to entering politics and business.
Things seem only ominous at the PCB. Here, we couldn’t rid ourselves of our petty feuds as non-technocrats valorously berate legends of Pakistan cricket. By no stretch of imagination, can one see our Board bringing sweeping reforms. The wedge between Pakistan and other Boards is colossal. In 80s and 90s Pakistan dominated cricket in the sub-continent but then we deteriorated, being self-inflictive. There was no vision to tap the talent base in the country and the talent that we did have, particularly in the 90s, the Board mismanaged it.
Chairman Selection committee, Haroon Rasheed who has represented Pakistan in only 23 tests, has been associated with the Board in different capacities for a long time now. It is hard to explain why trust is reposed in him time after time. We would like to know though is how often our illustrious panel of selectors visit matches in the domestic circuit before they pick up a combination. Some of the players who have made the cut since the world cup, particularly after the Bangladesh debacle, do cast doubts on credentials of the selectors.
First class structure has to be reoriented operationally and managerially. Plummeting number of teams is merely a baby step. There should be an assured excellence with well-designed base. Instead of settling personal scores (which is a culture at PCB), we require an honest reformation of our cricket. Majid Khan’s call for a rationalisation of size was a decent idea of restructuring our cricket. He proposed limiting first-class cricket to 11 divisions (instead of 16 regions) that will play ten matches each season. Below them should lie another tier of lesser-developed divisions, playing non-first class matches, but with the opportunity for the top team to be promoted every season to the top tier. A variation of this model is also followed in the UK. And it is in my opinion it should be implemented.
We are going through a period of extreme isolation at the International level; shall we not press the panic button? The main reason of downfall of cricket in our country is that it is being governed by non-cricketers and (so-called) cricketers who have hardly played cricket at International level. Pakistanis deserve to know the reasons for sticking with the likes of Intekhab Alam, Zakir Khan and Shakeel Sheikh as they continue to enjoy major posts in the Board? Not only should there be performance appraisals of all the Board Members, but there should be an inquiry, with its report made public on their appointments and subsequent performance.
Cricket should be run by former greats who know the game of cricket inside out. A man with a profound cricketing stature should be the head of PCB like the great Wasim Akram. No doubt, the former legends of the game would run cricket more professionally than journalist Najam Sethi. In the shorter run, a committee of honest technocrats should be established, with a mandate to interact with seasoned cricketers, ex-captains and eminent professionals and discuss whole range of issues pertaining to cricket, including PCB’s organizational structure, its relationship with parent body and affiliate bodies in regions. The committee should then compile its report and offer comprehensive reforms for Cricket Pakistan.