Loud Thinking

Dawn News Reports:

PCB top brass in firing line as implementation of IHC order begins

MOHAMMAD YAQOOB

LAHORE: Major changes are in the offing at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as the implementation of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) historic order is about to commence in the Board.

The PCB must start implementing the measures suggested by the IHC now because, in case of further delay, the Board might be faced with contempt of court charges.

The IHC had given its decision on July 21, 2013 on a petition filed by Nadeem Suddle against the sham elections of Zaka Ashraf as PCB chairman. Honourable Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, besides ordering the removal of Zaka Ashraf as PCB chairman, had ordered various measures in his ruling to make the Board a clean and transparent institution.

As a result of the implementation order by the IHC, the status and future of many top officials in the Board including caretaker PCB chairman Najam Sethi, director general Javed Miandad, head coach Dav Whatmore, Intikhab Alam, Haroon Rasheed, Shafiq Papa can be jeopardised or altered.

The PCB has decided to implement the IHC decision after having lost all hope of a hearing in Board’s intra-court appeal by the IHC double-bench against Shaukat Siddiqui’s verdict which says the 90-day tenure of caretaker chairman Najam Sethi ends on Oct 19 till which time he has to conduct fresh elections. However, the decision to implement the court order has been taken rather late by the PCB as many steps are required to be completed before the given deadline which seems like a race against time.

In the first step, an additional secretary of the DMG Group Aamir Tariq Zaman will join the PCB this week as its secretary, with the task at hand to sack all the excess staff.

The IHC order says: “In view of the matter, it is directed that the federal government may appoint some official of DMG Group, not below the rank of Additional Secretary, as the secretary of the PCB and all the officials in the PCB who have no utility be removed forthwith and amounts paid to them may be utilised for improving the cricket structure and the welfare of cricketers.”

A list of 68 officials, who were appointed by previous chairman Zaka Ashraf, was also issued by the IHC in its ruling and these officials are now fearing that the axe may fall on them anytime now.

While Sethi himself is yet to clarify his intentions of contesting the post of regular chairman, he may not be able to run for the top post in the upcoming polls since the IHC order clearly states:

Every voter of the Electoral College shall be eligible to contest the elections provided he qualifies on the touch stone of Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, remained first-class/Test cricketer, a graduate and not a defaulter of the PCB.
According to the Transparency International Pakistan, Sethi is a tax defaulter and he is also not a Test or first-class cricketer.

The judge has further pointed out: “Even an ordinary citizen who possesses limited knowledge about the game of cricket can understand the reasons of the appointment of PCB chairman on political considerations instead of merit.”

Since Sethi’s appointment is also a political one, the IHC decision can stop him from contesting the polls.

On the other hand, the IHC decision will give opportunity to a number of cricketers to run for the PCB chairman’s post. The past presidents of Pakistan, being the patrons of the Board, had obliged many friends who had no relation with cricket.

Celebrated batsman Javed Miandad, who is working as PCB director general, may lose his position as the IHC’s decision urges a coaching role for the former captain.

“This court has great respect for Javed Miandad, a legend of the game, who is also a man of immense skills and pride for Pakistan. But question arises: why has he been appointed director general in the PCB? Is this post in accordance with his batting skills and understanding of the game? It is disrespect to his name as a great cricketer. The court is constrained to observe that, apparently, he has been given this post to keep him away from the proceedings and to keep him from making a contribution in finding the batting talent and grooming them to play for Pakistan.”

The future of the incumbent head coach Dav Whatmore is also under a spotlight as the judge has also observed the performance of foreign coaches as not being satisfactory and suggested that local coaches such as Javed Miandad, Mohsin Khan, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf be tried to spot the talent at the grass roots level.

The trend of bringing foreign coaches, set in the late 90s and for the vested interest of certain individuals, failed to yield dividends. Richard Pybus, Geoff Lawson, Jonty Rhodes, Bob Woolmer (late), Trent Woodhill, Daryl Foster, Dav Whatmore, and Julian Fountain, etc have had very little impact on Pakistan cricket.
“They may be professionals but their contribution to Pakistan cricket culture is just negligible. It must be an admitted fact that the performance of Pakistani coaches in comparison to foreign coaches was much better. In the 1992 World Cup there was no foreign coach. Similarly, performance of Wasim Raja (late), Javed Miandad, Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed was much better.”

“Cricketers who represented Pakistan in 1960s and the 70s and who even crossed the age of superannuation are still in office. Question arises that when any player is not allowed to play the game in his late 30s, then how come and under what principle are the seniors still glued to their seats. In this regard the names of Intikhab Alam, Wasim Bari, Zakir Khan, Shafiq Papa and Haroon Rasheed etc come to mind. They are drawing handsome salaries ranging from Rs300,000 to Rs500,000 along with other facilities,” the court order stated.

Moreover, the orders are also passed for the audit of the PCB and the National Cricket Academy (NCA) accounts for the last five years which can open yet another Pandora’s Box.

“According to media reports, funds with the PCB which were about Rs8 billion have been reduced to less than Rs3 billion in the tenure of Zaka Ashraf. This court will refrain from commenting upon such reports and rather would direct for special audit of the PCB as well as the NCA of the last five years to be conducted by the Auditor General of Pakistan which shall later be made public,” the honourable judge had stated.

It may be mentioned that during his tenure, Zaka Ashraf had said on April 19 while announcing the bonus for the PCB staff that the Board had Rs300 million more in its coffers compared to the amount he received at the time of taking charge from his predecessor Ijaz Butt.

It is worth mentioning, that when Ijaz left as chairman he had declared that the PCB has Rs5.5 billion in its kitty. However, Zaka in an interview to Dawn had refuted his claims and stated that the amount he received from Ijaz was around Rs4.5 billion as some payments were still pending at the time.