For all those still scratching their heads, wondering why our cricketers do what they do, the time has come to rest easy: the greatest unsolved mystery after The Bermuda Triangle and Who Killed JFK has in fact been solved.
The clues were always there, they just had not been presented to the public in court. A private channel decided to convene a ‘hearing’ of sorts, beamed in the form of a five-hour live transmission. The prosecution and witnesses included former PCB chairmen, politicians linked to cricket administration, former cricketers (most of whom have served in an official capacity with the PCB), media people, the PCB Governing Board members (who can be considered both former and current at the same time – another novel claim emanating from Pakistan).
The only role that remained unfilled was that of the defense. No one from the PCB made an appearance, except the man who refuses to leave and is leading a public rebellion from within. And no one was forthcoming when a former selector was accused during the program of taking a million-rupee-plus bribe to induct a player or a national captain whose integrity was questioned.
Present in the ’galleries’ were the people who own the country’s cricket. Every 15 minutes they were heard through live feeds from all major cities of Pakistan.
An hour into the show and the ‘jury’ had already reached a decision without waiting for a summary at the end of the proceedings: Don’t blame the cricketers; it’s the board, people. Normally this would read ‘It’s the Board, Stupid,’ but in this case, no one’s stupid except those claiming to be the messiahs who will part the seas and walk us through.
There is more purpose and coordination among street janitors when they change shifts. In those five hours, it became evident that not a single board administrator had spent an overlapping period with his predecessor after taking up a function; worse, no one had set up a system for that.
No one presented solutions for a first-class structure. There were random references to what they had personally ‘achieved’ in the past, finger pointing at predecessors for leaving a mess, and jibes at successors for not taking past initiatives forward.
Not one official backed up their gripes with documentary evidence, if there exists any at all, created in their time. Sen. Enver Baig’s references to documents were ignored, avoided or denied because of sheer bigotry and a strategy of almost all that this program should be used for conveying that the speaker is the only intelligent, decent and patriotic person among them all. This was not a muqadma (trial). This was a set of people who had little respect for each other’s presence, let alone views.
Not a single official had a copy of any written minutes for reference purposes. Not one person presented the existing selection policy for captain and team; everyone blamed lack of discipline, but no one carried with them the credibility of being disciplined themselves or disciplining anyone in a timely manner when they were in charge, including Jamshed Dasti of the Muzaffargarh incident.
Everyone cited the high salaries of board officials, but no one rationalised the salary structure with any calculated presentation, nor was the suggestion of halving salaries floated. There is more planning for display and selling in Sunday bazaars than there was by past and present officials.
We also found out that no chairman (who also holds the power of CEO) came to the office regularly; in fact, mostly lived in other cities because of the core function they were doing for the government. Their accountability was to the president, who has always been too busy ensuring his own survival.
And then there was the unproductive mudslinging. Javed Miandad made all the problems of the PCB and its chairman public, but was miffed as to why his salary and allowances (amounting to a million rupees per month before taxes) had been made public. And that too as part of an accusation that he’s only put in a week’s worth of work.
Meanwhile, Dasti, head of the parliamentary sports committee in which he charged Younis Khan with matchfixing kept totally mum while Imran Khan castigated his committee for having no right to call for explanations of cricket issues.
Sadly, the ‘neutral lawyers’ did not ask the former chairman about specific instances in which they had personally overruled their subordinates’ publically announced decisions or interfered in selection decisions. Why, for instance, did no one raise the issue of a player being pampered with an individual coach and doctor at the board’s expense? Or why an injured bowler was sent as reinforcement without the go-ahead of the then CEO or selection committee? And why interfere at all?
And if the chairman and director general seem to be starring in their own version of The War of The Roses, what can one expect from the Akmal brothers, the coaches, and the cricket team itself. No one will respect instructions from officials who cannot get beyond blue collar supervisors in a professional organisation.
Sohaib Alvi has been a cricket writer since 1979, and has edited The Cricketer International (UK) Asian Edition. He also has 25 years’ top management experience and now works as a strategic and marketing consultant.
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
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Nobody is going to believe such stories.
Discipline is most important in daily life or any field like politics, sports, and official duties, cricket is our most popular game, where our national team has got lot of success in the past.
Now a day’s team has not confidence to get victory. We will pray for their success in future.
Strict action must be taken against any one who break the rules be it be any player or board member.
By the way Ejaz butt need to go and so does Barri, these guys are still living in time when they were playing cricket.
If the team is not performing, the managing & selection board should be accountable as they fail to perform their duty.
It always happen, win or lost is the part of game but the basic thing is you play for your country not for money or fame. Now we need a strong captain like Imran khan or Inzimam though they are not more but now we need a captain like them to up the team and I think Younis and Afridi both have the ability both are patriotic if we see the record they are never part of any thing which harm team and both have played good cricket in the regime of every captain. Malik we all know is not bowler not batsman he is a mini al rounder and Pakistanis have make from him what thing we don’t know just drop him and take a new player now Afridi should lead the team in one day and t 20 and Younis in test both should be appointed for minimum 2 years, otherwise we’ll be like West Indies or Zimbabwe.
I know it hurts when we lose a game with out a fight and it hurts even more when you spend whole night watching the game and guess what. We get an embarrassing defeat. In my humble opinion what Pakistan cricket team need is.
“Self believe”
Dear fellows,
We all support Pakistan Cricket Team no matter we live in Pakistan, England or US. In Fact, I support all cricket teams, enjoy watching this game and collects statistical data. Success or failure is the part of the game, but the courage, determination, discipline, planning, unity and understanding is the main characteristics of your professionalism. If you acquire these qualities, then you will be successful in your profession. No matter how good Team Coach is, if the player is not sincere and faithful with their own self, then he or she will not be sincere with their Team mates. It’s time for a young and energetic blood take a step ahead and hold the responsibility for their nation. We all have to work together and provide our assistance in any field in order to proceed towards great achievements and honorable reputation in the world. God Bless You All !!!
I love the comments on this article. Personally I am a big fan of cricket, but when I look around the country, cricket is the last thing in my mind.
Dear Sohaib,
What is the use, there have been discussion, debate and many more. But as one say what is the bottom line. I do not know why is Ejaz butt insisting on continuing as head of PCB. What is there for him. I am a man of sixty years fond of cricket but I think I should now take interest in some other sports to avoid blood pressure or heart disease.
The signs were always there, Nassem Ashraf tried to managed it with a diplomacy and current Chairman is not big enough to give explanations on his own views, let alone the affairs of the board. I guess you will see more misery in the coming days as now players fighting like our politicians and officials fighting for their seats….
Well I have always felt that Pakistan cricket team when it played against major teams like Australia or South Africa really represented a clash of systems more than players versus players. The recent series against Australia just proved my point. The cricket team from the worst run cricket system played against the cricket team produced by the most professionally run cricket system in the world. The results are for all to see. Against Pakistan Australia just refuse to give up (especially in Australia) even if their Third Eleven is playing, as happened in 1979 when a full strength Pakistan team barely managed to level the series, while playing against a team whose main players had defected to Kerry Packer’s cricket show.
With a sound cricket structure a team like South Africa managed to be a competitive unit within no time after it was allowed to play other teams after the end of apartheid in that country in 1992. That country’s cricket had been in isolation for 22 years. But when Pakistan misses test cricket for a period of only one and a half years due to political problems, our cricket team officials start crying about the lack of Test match cricket.
I do not agree that “Don’t blame the cricketers; it’s the board, people”. I would blame both the board and the cricketers. For the last so many years the board is being run by unqualified people viz., Ejaz Butt, Nasim Ashraf, Tauqir Zia, Salim Altaf, Intikhab Alam etc. What are the qualifications of Ejaz Butt and Intikhab Alam – extremely mediocre record? The current board must be removed and new qualified cricketers must be appointed. They should adopt a policy of zero tolerance as far as fair team and management selection and discipline in the team. I think if Imran Khan wants to contribution to the country then he should take up the PCB chairmanship. He should do more action than talk. Currently he is in a wrong field.
Look at the discipline in the team – the behaviors of Afridi, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Amer, Shoaib Malik, and under 19 cricket team members. The team and captains selection must be only on merit based on their records (domestic and international). Some of these players (e.g., Shoaib Malik) do not have any place whatsoever in the team. The power players must be addressed. It is unfair to blame Mohammad Yousuf for poor performance in Australia. He has been treated poorly by the management – he should have been the captain right after Inzimam. The team and the management has regional biases too. Merit is the need of the hour!
Dear Sohaib,
I don’t think I can entirely agree with your statement “Don’t blame the cricketers; it’s the board, people”.
Judging from accounts emerging about team behavior and lack of unity, it is disturbing to note that even the youngsters Mohd Amer and Umar Akmal at the tender ages ( 17 and 19 – if these are their true ages, they look like more like 21+ to me) were involved in dressing room fracas. How in the world young boys who haven’t even quite shown their worth yet rise up to such level of bad behavior and arrogance? Imagine what they will be once they reach a certain level of seniority – totally unapproachable.
We need to be tough on discipline – period. There is no one above the game. Unfortunately, the modern player often lacks this, the little gain in success goes straight to their heads. Very common in our sub-continent.
Salams
Chewing the ball like an apple is Inhuman… Why PCB still has the players like him.
Could’nt agree more. No man is indispensible. Twice Shahid Afridi has been caught and punished for ungamely behaviour and yet the PCB brings him back? And now the third time. Shahid Afridi must be dropped!!!
The team selection should be based upon the recent (1-3 years) averages of the players. Once the team is selected, the player with the best leadership qualities be appointed captain. Just like the list of medical and engineering selection, open and transparent.
However, there is a strong lobby for Shoiab Malik, Afridi and likes. These players with the most mediocre test averages still find supporters, no matter what.
As the many recent and past incidents show, Pakistan and Afridi deserve each other. After his multiple acts of digging up the wicket, chewing the ball, etc., he deserves to be promoted to lead the team in all forms of cricket, no matter what his average is!
Even though Afridi can be selected as an all rounder but Shoaib Malik can not even find a place in any cricket playing team in the world except Pakistan. The day players averages are published with their names and the selection is based upon the cold hard facts, the team would again become a winning combination.
That trial was another talk show by TV channels which are already airing many of them regarding politics and we know what we have witnessed in those shows over the years. This is just another attempt to improve PR and find some bucks for a channel which brings opportunity to certain people to promote their agenda. That was another try to make fool of us and luckily many of us will be left fooled at the end.
But now and then their is always something slipped out of those turning tongues which provide us some insight and idea what is going on and that is the only benefit of those shows but only for those who still have some sense left in them after all the turmoils.
Dear what was aired live on a television was not more than a stage drama, showing how much we can disgrace our national team. Please wake up. I request you. This is really something un acceptable.
If you look closely ignoring the final score, our team didnt do badly. There were similiar final score line in the past too but it is the way in which they have lost. If you look at the catches they have dropped you might think that it will take some hard work to even drop those catches!!!
They are the same players who have done exceptionally well in ICL,IPL and BigBash. None of the players are playing for the country.
It is the just the lack of commitment because everyone in the team or officials know that they will not be held accountable for what they do as long as they are in good books of the key persons.
In this program the chairman didnt come, why??? because he knows that as long as he is in good books his position is not threatend. He doesn’t care that people are heart broken at the team’s performance.
What programme was this ?
I think one way of making the selection criteria transparent is to extend public access to domestic cricket through the media. As Imran Khan has always stressed, people need to be aware of their local teams and support them against the other domestic teams. This way people would know exactly who their stars are and who really deserves a spot at the highest level. Currently, the only time we hear about a player is when he makes it to the playing 11. No one really knows how good that player is and why him of all the others deserves a chance in the team.
I don’t see a point in criticising the board at this stage. If they ever were guilty, it was when they structured the domestic cricket setup in Pakistan. What’s happening now is just a continuation. No one pointed fingers at any one when Pakistan won the T20 world cup. So at this point, when Pakistan lost to Australia, we still have the same domestic setup, same selection criteria (if it’s even there in the first place), and more or less the same people. What could the board have done differently on the 4th day of the Sydney test? Everyone seemed happy with the first 3 days of play but then on the 4th day suddenly people realized that there’s something horribly wrong. Not to mention that this private TV channel did a fine job of cashing in on the whitewash, as someone already mentioned in the comments.
I agree with Rizwan . I don’t think there is a major problem with Pakistani Cricket team , it just needs a strong leader who can encourage them to fight till the end and we saw that in Shahid Afridi in the last One Day game , only if he does not chew ball like an apple he can be a very good captain.Pakistani cricket team gave us the most exciting and entertaining cricket Australian people have seen in ages , it was just a bad luck that they failed to score a win but may be they need to come here more often not like once in ten years. Changing the captains at the end of every series does not make any sense either.
Most fundamental problem is if team is not good how can they win? No one asked questions about the capacity of the current team. It does not matter if it President or anyone else. What matters is players. Did they select a proper team? If yes then there is basic problem here. Everyone trying fry their fish on this heat. People should keep quite make players to practice hard. Name a captain for three years. Need not change loose or win. Bring stability to the team. With So many Military dictators is it still difficult to bring some discipline in a 16 member squad?
Dear Shoaib, good commentary on a TV debate that, at least, exposed defects in a game loved by every Pakistani. Criticism, about TV channel’s objectives not withstanding. The debate rightly concluded that it’s the board, people! I remember Air Marshal Noor Khan used to say as the head of PCB that it is the Management who is responsible when the team gets defeated and players are responsible when it wins. He along with Mr. Kardar are the only cricket bosses when the team had its period of glory. Personalities are important but the system is more important and should work. Most participants in the TV debate were exposed to international cricket and how the affairs are run in England and Australia but they could not come up with proper suggestions to run the board and its affairs in a professional way. At least copy their system if we are unable to bring ourselves and enforce it honestly. As for players, give them tough competition and provide and test them on pitches where their skills match their counter parts in other countries. This aspect was so far ignored because the team used to have players who experienced the county cricket in England, now there is none. Cricketers like Mushtaq Mohammed, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Waseem & Waqar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Majid Khan, Asif Iqbal and many more, all played county cricket and made their name and played their part in bringing laurels for the country. But, there is no player in the current bunch of cricketers who played for any county. They are all used to the dead wickets at home, this is the reason of their failure to cope up with conditions abroad.
By the way, talking of shocks at the hands of the current team, please do not forget world cups of 1999, 2003 & 2007. Throwing away matches is a tradition that can only be done away with what I have suggested above, a board run on professional ethos without fear or favor.
I ask my self why so much inconsistency has seeped into our cricket over the years. It has brought in a feeling of despondency. Cricket has been the pride of the country. Why has that honourable feeling dissipated? Dont the Board and the cricketers of today realise that it is one thing that will stop the downhill spiral of shame? Changing captains at will and petty squabbles must stop. Whoever the captain is chosen must be given respect as much as the team members should have for each other. By the same token captain must not play God and earn the respect of the team. Playing ‘Brutis’ must stop if magnanomity is to be restored in our cricket and above all the country.
What exactly were the organizers of this program aiming for? What was the objective of this program?
It seemed like a or few producers of one of the biggest TV channels in Pakistan decided to cash in the defeats of the national cricket team of the country.
The demoralised cricket team could not bring any joy for themselves.
A program, which very rightly pointed out by one of their own guests, Rashid Latif, that should have been hosted by someone who had more knowledge and grip on the game (which was the subject). This comment was not taken lightly by the host and the way he tried to defend himself or his position was childish to me.
Dear Sohaib, great to hear from you about the Drama presented last Sunday on one of the Largest Media House of Pakistan (Unfortunately). I must admire for your courage since you are/were part of that group for some time.
Keep up the Good Work!!!
@Omer, My observation centered on the individuals not on the channel who I believe took a great initiative that was messed up by the participants. I was never an employee, only a consultant, and quite proud of being in that team as I am in this one. Thanks for appreciating though.
Sohaib – Thanks for sharing your findings and feelings with us all. I have got one suggestion and I am sure you and other readers will agree. We should impose ban on ourselves from all forms of cricket. We have had excellent teams who brought many laurels to the country with less resources and more commitment. I and many like myself can’t bear the disgrace our cricketers and subsequent boards have caused to our nation. There is a word such as “Pride” which seems non existent in today’s Pakistan Cricket be them cricketers and those who are at helm. Every one is busy in fulfilling their own vested interests. There should be no inquiry by standing committee on any other body for that matter. Let’s forget about cricket and get back to basics. Sports were the only reason of joy and pride for us Pakistanis for many decades.
Banning ourselves from all kind of cricket wont bring the pride back and will label us as quitters.
Great nations find their ways in the midst of the storm. I am as disappointed as anyone else but I am also sure that all this will be soon forgotten after just another good win.
All we need is a good captain cause we already have the talent to take us through, its all about believing in ourselves.
Until pakistan cricket board is not able to enforce discipline in the pakistani cricketers its no use playing
in international arena ,winning or losing is one thing but bringing disgrace to one nation or team is unacceptable and unpardonable.
The main thing is the board is that the director have the responsibility but he don’t have the authority to do the work. When the director of the board don’t know what to do then how can a players know his job. And if these board people switch captains every day, So its better that they shouldn’t exist. There should be no board in the country because in every tour we win we will send the same 11 players and when we will loose we can get another team of 11 in this population of the country. Once we give respect to the senior player and bring him as captain then later criticize him that and say he don’t have the skills of leadership. We need a strong chairman who can lead his team and who has the ability of leadership. Arif abbasi is one of the right person I think who can lead. And chairman said in a statement that it is not a big deal that our team is down against Aussies because team perform always like this against them. If chairman cannot do anything then he should resign. We need to back up our captain and give him the authority and responsibility to select player and give him time so that the whole country should know even if we loose for the next 3 years he is our captain. So every player should back him and perform to play in the team. We will never win until and unless we stop changing our captain and coaches.