After thoroughly enjoying his first cricket trip to UAE, developing interaction with the ICC, enjoying rare protocol at the Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka matches and sight seeing, Ch. Zaka Ashraf the newly appointed chairman of the PCB is back home to face a tsunami against his appointment. It is highly disappointing that our high ups in the government do not realise how prestigious is the appointment of chairman of a cricket board in the eyes of the cricket world. The ICC, its member countries, other sports bodies of the world and cricket lovers around the globe expect the cricket boards to be headed by the high profile cricket personalities or otherwise specialists in the game and not by the bankers with corruption cases chasing them and possessing zero knowledge of cricket. Just as the good conduct and impressive performance of a team raises the countrys image in the world, same does the personality of a person heading the cricket board. Being a former CEO of the PCB and keeping constant touch with both print as well as voice media, I have not found even one person praising the appointment of Zaka Ashraf. In contrast the newspapers are full of headlines like 'Presidents buddy appointed as cricket chief, 'Zaka Ashrafs appointment absolutely political etc casting aspersions on President Zardari and insult to the PCB. The cricket lovers have filed numerous petitions against this appointment in the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan requesting to set aside the same. One of the advocates has alleged that 'Zaka Ashraf has neither any experience of cricket management nor educational qualifications to hold this prestigious office. His appointment was not made on merit but on political considerations. The petitions being too many, the judge concerned directed his registrar to combine all the petitions challenging the appointment for the next date of hearing. In a similar petition filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan by the vice president of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) has accused Zaka Ashraf of being involved in corruption, committing serious irregularities and indulging in favourtism during his term as President of the bank. Otherwise too it is the violation of a latest ruling by the ICC forbidding all cricket appointments on political grounds. In addition to protests by scores of cricket lovers, in a letter the former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has urged President Asif Ali Zardari to review the appointment of Zaka Ashraf. In his letter Sarfraz mentioned 'I was embarrassed to learn that the news about Zaka Ashraf facing corruption charges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan had also appeared in the British media. I earnestly request you to revisit this case and appoint an honest, dedicated, upright and a knowledgeable person on the job. It will save the country from further embarrassment. It is highly disappointing that merit, qualifications, knowledge of the subject, suitability for the job etc carry no value for the present government when the matter relates to the appointment of their dear ones on high profile cum lucrative jobs. The administration of Pakistans cricket with a mountain of corruption and irregularities left behind by Ijaz Butt is not an easy job. Secondly with such a bad reputation and virtually no knowledge of the intricacies of cricket, how can Zaka Ashraf face the comity of highly brilliant and experienced cricket administrators of the world in international meetings and conferences. I therefore fully endorse Sarfraz Nawazs suggestion of revisiting the case and appointing a more suitable person as chairman PCB. RAFI NASIM, Lahore. November 24.