Loud Thinking

Archive for the ‘Cricket’ Category

 

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

AoA.

Sir,

I take this opportunity to invite your kind attention, towards the press release issued by the PCB (published in the daily “Dawn” dated 13 June, 2015) on the findings (submitted on 4th April, 2015 i.e., well before the BD tour) of the World Cup-2015 debacle Review Committee (RC) of the PCB, which consisted of 80% or four PCB’s own personnel (M/s Shahryar Khan, Najam Sethi, Subhan Ahmad & Iqbal Qasim) and only 20% or ONE external member, Mr. Wasim Bari.

According to the above mentioned press release of the PCB, the RC found the following 5 reasons of the Pakistan’s downfall, at this years World Cup:

1. Poor fielding.
2. Low fitness.
3. Inconsistent selection.
4. Lack of positive approach.
5. Dearth of strategic thinking.

Furthermore, the RC held the following responsible for the Pakistan’s poor performance:

1. Players.
2. Coaches.
3. Selectors.
4. THOSE RUNNING AFFAIRS OF THE BOARD.

Mr. Prime Minister, Sir, there is no need to remind you that leaving aside the World Cup debacle, our nation was even more badly humiliated by the pathetic performance of our cricket team, during the recently concluded tour of the Bangladesh, which CLEARLY proved that either the people at the helm of the affairs of the PCB, were absolutely nincompoop; or they were NOT ready to learn any lessons from the World Cup debacle.

Now, a stage has come where the PCB has virtually turned into a torture giving and insult inflicting organisation, for the cricket loving masses of Pakistan; who can only vent their anger, by not calling your government with good names.

Sir, as a غیرت مند قوم we can digest defeats in sports field, but can never forgive and forget those responsible for bringing heaps of shame and humiliation, to the name and prestige of Pakistan.

Now, since the OWN Review Committee of the PCB has held responsible “THOSE RUNNING AFFAIRS OF THE BOARD” and after this verdict against their own-selves, the PCB top notches have not yet resigned, it is time for striking your Zarb-e-Azab, on the whole rotting edifice of the PCB.

You are requested to IMMEDIATELY dissolve the Board of Governors of the PCB; and please Mr. PM, this time, set an example of NOT APPOINTING as head of the ad-hoc PCB board, from amongst your RELATIVES or FRIENDS.

Rather, the new head of the PCB may be a VISIONARY person, who is ready to accept the challenge of turning (in one year) the PCB into a world class organisation.

This goal can be easily achieved by splitting the cricket board in two units of Administrative Affairs & Cricketing Affairs, headed by persons with the designations of Director General, who are known for their competence, integrity and honesty.

The new head of the PCB must only be appointed, when you are personally satisfied about his capabilities, after his one on one, interview with you.

The DG Cricketing Affairs must also be a legendary competent Pakistani cricketer.

Wishing you all the success in your endeavours to make Pakistan, the best of the best in the world.

Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

 

Come on #ICC learn from #FIFA ..!

When one of the core values of the #ICC is #TRANSPARENCY then why #ICC is NOT demanding from the #BCCI to disclose the names of ALL Indian cricketers found involved in Indian SC’s appointed #Mudgalcommissionreport (http://m.firstpost.com/sports/forget-srinivasan-the-biggest-concern-is-dhoni-lying-to-mudgal-commission-1814681.html).

Quote. “Forget Srinivasan, the biggest concern is Dhoni lying to Mudgal commission
by FP Sports Nov 21, 2014 11:12 IST

The 25-page Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee’s report on IPL spot-fixing is out and while it has named four out of the 13 individuals probed, the identity of the remaining nine haven’t been revealed to protect their privacy.

Gurunath Meiyappan is mentioned as individual No. 1, Raj Kundra No. 11, Sundar Raman No. 12 and N Srinivasan No. 13.

The interesting part of the report is that two persons – individual 2 and individual 3 — who find a mention in the report.

The mysterious individuals have raised a lot of questions. The report says that N Srinivasan and other four BCCI officials were aware of the violation of the Players Code of Conduct by Individual 3 but didn’t take any action. The report also mentioned that individual 2 was in constant touch with Gurunath Meiyappan and frequently met him in the hotel room.

Questions have now surfaced whether the individual 2 is India and CSK captain MS Dhoni?
Pradeep Magazine in this article on Hindustan Times says, “I, like a million others, am curious to know who are Individuals 2 and 3 referred to in the report, and why have they been mentioned.

“The report says that Individual 2 met Gurunath Meiyappan in his hotel room a number of times.
Why should this constitute a crime?

If he is a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player he is bound to meet a man acting as a team official. To decipher this mystery, one has to go back to the first report on the basis of which the Supreme Court had ordered a second probe.”
“In it, India and CSK captain MS Dhoni was recorded as saying that Meiyappan was not playing the role of a team official and Dhoni had not or rarely met him outside the playing field. But the Mudgal panel felt Dhoni had lied, and this point was heatedly debated in the court.”
Firstpost’s Tariq Engineer had earlier written an article where he has mentioned how Dhoni hid the truth about Meiyappan.

“The report, a copy of which is with Firstpost, states that “Mr. M.S. Dhoni, Mr. N. Srinivasan and officials of India Cements took the stand that Mr. Meiyappan had nothing to do with the cricketing affairs of Chennai Super Kings and was a mere cricket enthusiast supporting CSK.”

It is worth remembering that in a 2011 interview with the Hindu Business Line, Meiyappan said the following:
“Before every game, Dhoni, Fleming and I exchange our elevens at 5.45 p.m. (for the night matches).”
And this:
“Fleming and I spent countless hours in the lead-up to the auction. In the last three days, we conducted mock auctions, picked around 45 different combinations.”

That certainly sounds like Meiyappan had a lot to do with the cricketing affairs of CSK.”

Magazine goes on to say, “In their second report, when the panel says that Individual 2 met Meiyappan a number of times in his hotel room, it should become clear who this player is and why this “trivial” fact is significant. It shows Meiyappan was in regular touch with the captain, and that the captain had lied to the Mudgal panel.”

A report in Mumbai Mirror revealed that the individual 3 in question is a ‘star Indian player who is a part of the current Indian team’

These are indeed worrying signs for Indian cricket.”Unquote.

#NocricketloverwantstheICCtomeetthefateofFIFA

Why #ICC is mum over #IPL match fixing scandal and not forcing the #BCCI to expose the names of the players found involved in the match fixing inquiry report of #Mudgal Commission?

#ICC must not be a party with those who are protecting match fixing criminals. And if the #BCCI is refusing to disclose the names of the match fixing Indian players, then it should ban all international cricket with #India till such time the #BCCI comes clean on this issue.

#India must not be allowed to hide and protect its players who are involved in #match #fixing.
#ICCmustcomecleanonIPLmatchfixingscandal

PCB must pull up the TV broadcaster of the ongoing Pakistan vs Zimbabwe cricket series; M/s Ten Sports, for immediately improving their extremely dud quality of telecast, by attending to the following deficiencies for the remaining 2 ODI matches:

1. Telecast is hazy and not looking sharp and crystal clear like the HD and Ultra HD telecast, which is already available with
Ten Sports HD channel.

2. These days showing of bowling speed is a must, but this essential item is missing in the Ten Sports telecast of our ongoing, all important series.

3. Also the distance of a sixer shot, must be shown as part of the graphics.

4. Overall graphics and the LBW mat are of very poor quality, giving minimum information and needs improvement in comparison with other sports channels.

5. Like other sports TV broadcasters, ball direction, bounce, spin revolutions must also be shown to the viewers in the graphics.

6. The standard of commentary also needs huge improvement.

7. Now a days, spider cam and umpires cam is also very common, which should also be available for the current series.

8. Last but not the least, the size of boundaries all around the pitch, must also be informed during the start of the commentary, preferably during the telecast of the pitch report, as was done during recently played matches telecasted from Bangladesh.

Few proposals for the re-structuring of the PCB..!

As they say the proof of pudding is in the eating.

Let us evaluate only the ODI results since Mr. Najam Sethi and later on Mr. Shahryar Khan, took over the charge of the PCB:

1. Pakistan after losing all the matches, came last in the 8 nation champions trophy, played in the UK, in June-July 2013.

2. When Pakistani team visited Zimbabwe, it was defeated in an ODI and also in a Test match, in August 2013.

3. Pakistan lost the ODI Asian championship and in the T20 World Cup, for the first time we did not even play the semi finals in Dhaka, during February & March 2014.

4. Now, during the tenure of Mr. Shahryar Khan, we lost 2-1 to SL in SL, 3-0 to Australia & 3-2 to NZ in UAE. Went to NZ & lost 2-0 to its B team and then again 2-0 to NZ.

5. PCB deliberately kept under the carpet the review report of the World Cup debacle, submitted on 4 April, 2015.

6. The Chairman PCB, promised another review of the BD debacle, where we even lost to the B team of the BD, in the practise match and were throughly humiliated and consequently relegated to the 9th position, in the ODI team rankings and from 3rd to 6th position among the Test teams.

7. Now the chairman PCB is again silent over the Dhaka debacle and wants to bury the vital issues of the accountability of the three pillars of the edifice of the cricket i.e., the chief selector, captain and the coach.

8. The nation demands resignation of Mr. Haroon Rashid after his statement in a live TV program of Syed Yahya Hussani that he was responsible for the team’s performance in Bangladesh.

9. If Muhammad Sami is to be recalled for the T20 matches vs Zimbabwe, then why not also call back Saleem Jaffer, who is almost of the same age group? Moreover, the inclusion of Shoaib Malik in the T20 team (not even deserving to be in the Test team) proves beyond any shadow of a doubt, the intellectual bankruptcy of all the selectors, who instead of moving forward, are taking our cricket back to veterans era.

10. The chairman must take (for the sake of Pakistan) ruthless and surgical actions in the cricket administration of the PCB, against all the persons (including Mr. Misbah ul Haq) who are responsible for destroying our cricket since after the World Cup 2011, to the extent that we have started losing with consistency, against the B teams of NewZealand and Bangladesh.

11. The worry is not that we are losing against all and sundry. Rather, the point to ponder is that we have regularly started losing in 32-34 overs. Even we lost to Bangladesh in 39 overs. Moreover, our team very rarely bats full quota of 50 overs. We are the shameful holders of the world records for playing highest number of DOT balls, lowest score average of ALL teams in 1st 10 overs i.e., 39 runs and lowest score (14 runs) world record in 1st 10 overs.
All this proves that we are totally out of sync with the demands of the modern day cricket; and the entire cricketing experts in the PCB, are hell bent selecting old cricketers who can be much better off, playing golf very leisurely.

12. Under the circumstances, we should be ready for more humiliating defeats in the coming days, after the euphoria of the Zimbabwe tour is over.

13. If we can’t beat the Sri Lankan team in the tour of Sri Lanka, starting from 6th June, then it will be curtains for Pakistan’s participation, in the next champions trophy.

14. As such, the only way for improvement is ruthless accountability for all those directly and indirectly associated with the cricket in the PCB, including the person who allowed paid holidays for the chief selector (s) to the World Cup and then recently to Sri Lanka, on the pretext of witnessing the performance of Pakistan’s A team in Sri Lanka; which by the way was again a dismal story, because our expert selectors headed by the genius chief selector, selected players like Khurram Manzoor for the ODI team.

15. The PCB man who allowed the chief selector and another selector to do commentary in the recently held T20 domestic tournament, in clear violation of the rules of the CONFLICT OF INTEREST, should also be severely taken to task.
This rule is so much important that the Indian Supreme Court removed Mr. N. Srinivasan from the post of the president of the BCCI, just on the basis of conflict of interest.

16. Until and unless, the chairman PCB is willing for an internal overhaul, rather than the current policy of MITTI PAOO, nothing good should be expected, even from the Zimbabwe team’s tour to Pakistan.

17. In this regard, after abolishing the post of the COO, the PCB should be immediately restructured and divided in two areas of Cricket Affairs and Administration Affairs, each to be headed by a Director General.

18. The current COO should be re- designated as DG (Administration) with Finance, HR, Supply Chain, Administration & Logestics, Security and IT departments directly reporting to the DG (Administration).

19. The DG Cricket Affairs should look after all matters relating to the cricket development or Academies, domestic and international affairs, matters relating to the appointments of chief selector and selectors, coaches, team selection etc. DG (CA) should also look after all the domestic and international affairs of the women’s cricket.

The selection of DG (CA) should be decided on the following criteria:

a). Must be a man of impeccable integrity and honesty with spotless cricketing career.

b). Must be a renowned legendary cricketer of international repute.

c). Must have known international connections with officials of the ICC board members and international retired and playing cricketers.

d). Must be a communication expert.

e). Must posses a graduation degree, as a minimum educational qualification.

20. The authority of the chairman PCB to appoint the captains, should remain intact with the chairman PCB and the DG (CA) must be answerable to the chairman PCB for the achievement of the key performance indicators.

Mr. David John
Richardson,

CEO ICC.

Dear Sir,

As you may have also observed that particularly on abrasive pitches, (in Test matches) cricket ball gets awfully scrubbed/roughed up and its upper layer leather is very badly damaged, in the course of play during 80 overs.

As such, it is suggested that like the ODI game, two new red balls may also be used in the Test matches, as well, which may be replaced after 100 overs of play.

However, the two review options available for the two contesting teams should be refreshed after completion of 50 overs.
Best Regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

How to avoid the Bengali whitewash?

The biggest positive from the 1st ODI match of Pak vs BD played on 17 April, 2015, was that our captain Azhar Ali proved to be a lion hearted leader, who not only led from the front, but also led by example.
However, unfortunately he fell into the trap of the head coach, in selection of the final eleven, and opted to go on the defensive, by playing with only 4 regular bowlers. The strategy of playing with 7 batsmen backfired so badly that we not only lost by a huge margin of 79 runs, but also got out in just 45.2 overs.

Now, Azhar Ali will have to learn that offence is the best defence. In test matches you can bat for a draw, but in the ODIs or T20s, you live and die for a victory, which only comes in plan of attack and nothing else.

I am still of the opinion that to strengthen our batting, as per modern day requirements of the hard hitting game, where even non Test playing nations are easily scoring over 300 runs, we need to induct players having potential, to tear apart the bowling of the opponents, in first ten power play overs, when all the fielders (except only two persons) are forced to stay inside the 30 meter circle.

In this regard, AWAIS ZIA must be immediately sent to Bangladesh to open the innings with either Sarfraz Ahmad or Azhar Ali.

Furthermore, the wrongly and undeservedly selected Saad Nasim must be called back (no harm in correcting the error of judgement of the selection committee) and he should be replaced with a specialist batsman, who is also touted as the most talented batsman of Pakistan, namely, IMAM UL HAQ. It is being recommended precisely for the reason that after consecutively failing to bat 50 overs in the 7 World Cup matches, our team again failed 8th time in a row, to bat full 50 overs.

Our selection committee also erred in selecting Saeed Ajmal, just on his name and didn’t consider the fact that taking wickets over 45 degrees arm bend is much easier than bowling and taking wickets or containing runs with an arm bend of under 15 degrees. Today Saeed Ajmal bowled one of the worst spells of his life, when he gave 74 runs in 10 overs. Not only this but he got hit for 3 out of 6 sixes (50%) and 8 out of 35 fours (22.85%). Our selectors also failed in NOT selecting highly talented pacer Imran Khan, for the Bangladesh tour.

If corrective action is not taken immediately, don’t be surprised by our white wash from the Bangladeshi team, in not only the ODIs, but T20 and Test Matches, as well.

However, the selection committee deserves kudos for their find of Muhammad Ramzan, who looks an excellent future prospect for Pakistan. Best thing about his batting was the middling of his shots with his bat.

Moreover, the lack of positive thinking, correct planning and defensive mentality (proved by the fact of playing with 4 bowlers) demands immediate recall of our head coach, to avoid total disaster of the ongoing tour; and he should be replaced by either of the two reputed successful coaches namely, Mohsin Hassan Khan or Kabir Khan (who successfully coached 2 international teams i.e., Afghanistan and the UAE teams).

نہ سمجھو گے تو مٹ جاؤگے اے پی سی بی والو
تمہاری داستان تک نہ ھوگی داستانوں میں

Blunders of the PCB and its selection committee.

1. Azhar Ali never deserves to be the captain of the ODI team, as he proved in the selection of his ODI team that he has neither professional competence, and vision nor the guts of captain material, to ask for right players in his team.
I have a strong feeling that under his leadership, our ODI team will go down further, mainly because he himself don’t deserve a place in the ODI team, as a player.

2. In ODI, fielding is as important a factor as batting or bowling ability. Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil can not find a place in any ODI team of the world, just because of their poor fielding ability.

3. The explosive left handed opener Awais Zia must have been given the chance in the ODI and T20 teams. Everyone remembers how he played like McCullum of NZ, when he was given the chance vs England in UAE, where he hit huge sixes to Finn, forcing him to send wide balls.

4. Instead of Asad Shafiq having poorest of average of 13.07 in last 15 ODI innings, Imam ul Haq deserved a place in the team.

5. Instead of Suhail Tanvir (spent cartridge and poor fielder) talented pacer Imran Khan, deserved a place in the team.

6. Raza Hasan, who is an excellent spinner and recently scored a century, deserved a place in the team. He also bowled exceedingly well, when he was given a chance during the last series, played in India.

An URGENT request to the chairman PCB to hold an INQUEST, why PRECISELY Pak team failed in the areas in which each and every relevant person in the PCB like head coach, selectors and players etc were forewarned, at least half a year before (in September 2014) the start of the World Cup 2015.
STRANGELY our team failed specifically in those areas of the game, which were pointed out in the following write up dated 22 September, 2014.

Link…http://t.co/yP8CGhFsak

How to win the ODI World Cup 2015..? Proposals sent to the PCB on 22 September, 2014 confined to the dust bin..!

From: Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad [mailto:nayyarahmad51@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014 1:59 PM
Subject: World Cup 2015 – Few proposals for our team

Pakistan cricket team always had the potential and talent to win, any and all of the past cricket ODI & T20 world cup tournaments.

As such, there should be no doubt, about its chances of winning the next cricket ODI World Cup, scheduled to commence from 14 February 2015, to be played in Australia and New Zealand, where our (Pool B) 1st match, will be against the Indian team, on 15 February, 2015 at Adelaide.

The details of Pools A and B teams are given below:

Pool A.
England.
Australia.
Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh.
NewZealand.
Scotland.
Afghanistan.

Pool B.
India.
South Africa.
Pakistan.
West Indies.
Zimbabwe.
Ireland.
United Arab Emirates.

Since 4 teams from each pool (total 8 teams from both the pools) will move forward, to play quarter final matches, we can safely assume (barring any upset) that the following teams may qualify for the quarter finals.

Pool A.
England.
Australia.
Sri Lanka.
NewZealand.

Pool B.
India.
South Africa.
Pakistan.
West Indies.

Obviously, for all the teams playing quarter finals, semi finals and the final match, will be a do or die affair. Hence, for all intents and purposes, they will be considering all these matches, as a KNOCK OUT OR FINAL MATCH.

Now, for Pakistan to prepare for this ODI World Cup tournament, it has less than 5 months. Luckily, we also have the opportunity to play 8 ODI matches during coming Oct-Dec 2014, against Australia (3) and New Zealand (5).

PCB must ensure that firstly, it must also pick few newcomers with fresh legs, for the World Cup team, who performs outstandingly in the ongoing T20 national tournament being played in Karachi. This is high time that daring, fearless and hard hitting batsman like Awaiz Zia, is given an opportunity to play in all the 8 ODI matches vs Australia and New Zealand in UAE, to bolster his confidence for the World Cup tournament.

This is all the more necessary, because our low scores in the 1st power play part of the game, during the starting 10 overs, has been the achilles heel (a portion, spot, area, or the like, that is especially or solely vulnerable).

With World Cup almost at hand, we created a sort of a world record in just concluded ODI series vs Sri Lanka, by scoring only 19 runs in the first 10 overs of an ODI, when only 2 repeat 2 fielders, are stationed outside the 30 yards circle.

(On 1 March, 2015 Pakistan created even a more shameful world record that too against minnows Zimbabwe by scoring only 14 runs in 1st 10 overs).
We also possess the world record for playing the maximum number of DOT balls in the ODI’s and the T20 matches.

Pakistan also has the world’s lowest average of scoring the runs in the 1st 10 overs, which is 3.94/ over.

Our basic weaknesses in the ODI’s, as well as, in the T20 matches, have been the failure in scoring during the power play period (as if we have burdened the mind with the fear of losing the wickets during the power play, which in any case, on many occasions, we do lose, even with NOT scoring freely in the power play) and secondly, committing the CARDINAL mistake of not taking singles regularly, or playing huge number of DOT balls.

Both the above problems are obviously due to a negative mind set. And if our coaches particularly Mr. Waqar Younis, fails to address this very serious issue, our team will continue to perform, as we did in recent series in Sri Lanka played in August, 2014.

Our team management, must realise that it is not an issue of the ABILITIES of our players. Rather, it is related to the NEGATIVE mind set, imbibed or embedded in the MINDS of our players; and the only way to come out of this rut, is to do specific practise (particularly during the coming 8 ODI and 3 T20 matches vs Australia and New Zealand) of these two short comings, explained above.

In the coming 8 ODI and 3 T20 games, our tour management committee must give a minimum target of 80 runs, during the 1st 10 overs of the ODI’s; and 60 runs during the 1st 6 overs of the T20 games. Because, if at all we have to be the #1 team of the world, we will have to be BETTER THAN THE BEST.

However, our all batsmen must be told that they are required to play FAST but NOT at all required to play RASH.

They should also be told that the basic difference between cricket and the baseball game is that in baseball, you are supposed to hit every ball; and in cricket every ball has to be played on its merit. However, that doesn’t mean that batsmen should fail to score singles and doubles, if boundaries are not coming.

Moreover, to overcome the chronic problem of our batsmen, in effectively scoring runs of the short balls, coming fast over their shoulders, particularly on the bouncy wickets of Australia and New Zealand, they should be given rigorous practice, with special bouncing rubber balls, bowled over the cemented pitch.

Regarding fielding, the players should be taught that all 11 fielders must focus 100% during the game, just like a wicket keeper; and the best way to NOT to drop a catch and stop a hit, is to EXPECT that EACH and EVERY ball will be coming to me. This mind set will VASTLY improve the catching and fielding.

Further, while throwing the ball for a direct run out, first the fielder must LOCK his eyes on the wickets and then throw the ball towards the stumps, with one bump to the ground, rather than, direct aerial throw to the wickets. Research has proved that one bump throw to the wickets, increases the chances of hitting the stumps, compared with the aerial throw.

In the bowling field, the old adage of bowling wicket to wicket, still pays the maximum dividends. However, in the modern day cricket, disguised slower balls, the balls bowled away from the off stump (just short of wide ball) and surprise bouncers and slower bouncers have proved extremely useful and productive, during the crunch times; and in the case of FREE hits.

In this regard, PCB must prepare a plan named ”Vision 2015″. This plan should be a fool proof strategy with specific focus on winning the 2015 ODI World Cup tournament, considering all risk factors, like sudden unavailability of any player due to various reasons (as happened with Saeed Ajmal and later on with M. Hafeez and M. Irfan), at least five umpiring decisions going against us (two in batting; three in bowling innings), dropped catches/missed run outs and failure of main bowlers and batsmen etc. This plan should be based on preparations of the mind set of the players that in modern day ODI cricket, no score of any team, even if it was 300 or anything way above 300, should be considered a safe score, because the boundaries are small and rules heavily favouring the batsmen.

We should remember that plans never fail, we fail to plan. Moreover, the PCB “Vision 2015″ must state that “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”

Best of luck to the Pakistan cricket team….you can do it…you can win the World Cup…just believe in the fact that InshaAllah, you will be the world champions..!

PCB’s next 5 years media rights auction or loot sale..?

– Is it another future NAB case???
– Does the gap of over Rs.30 billion or $300 million comes under the economic plunder and who are the beneficiaries of the huge earnings gap of the PCB???
– Where is the big 4 status for Pakistan in pure terms of the economic gains?
– Why (as per media reports) the PCB’s revenue share of the World Cup 2015 income of the ICC, will be even less than the the share received by the PCB, from the ICC’s World Cup 2011?

Pak will get the status of big 4 (as per link given below) and revenues of $450 million says Najam Sethi ..!

But now according to the reports, the PCB on 27 March 2015, auctioned its media rights for the next 5 years (including the 4 proposed Indian team’s visits for the home series to be played in Pakistan or outside Pak soil) for less than $150million (as per AB TAK TV channel report the bid amount for the auction was just a peanut of $125 million, with further deductions of production costs and UDRS expenses which may be over $10-15 millions, reducing the net earnings to a meagre amount of around $110-115 million), compared with the PCB’s 2008-2013 five years media rights auction amount of $144 million.

– Link of Mr. Najam Sethi’s claim that Pakistan has got the big 4 status of the ICC and will get $450 million earnings :- http://tribune.com.pk/story/729174/big-four-pakistan-to-earn-450-million-in-cricket-cycle/

Big Four: Pakistan ‘to earn $450 million in cricket cycle’

By AFP Published: June 30, 2014

Lahore. Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi claimed on Monday that his country will earn $450 million from the next eight-year cycle, mainly from four series with arch-rivals India.

India and Pakistan signed an agreement to play six series, four of which Pakistan will host in the next eight years, on the sidelines of an International Cricket Council (ICC) annual conference in Melbourne last week.

The windfall for Pakistan was made possible after they conditionally agreed to approve an ICC revamp that gives major powers to cricket’s “Big Three”, India, Australia and England.

The shake-up, which Pakistan initially opposed, was formally endorsed at the meeting in Melbourne.

“We would have been left isolated and gone bankrupt in two years had we not approved the revamp,” Sethi told media on return from Australia.

“We get the most revenues when we play with India and if all goes well we are set to earn $300 million from the four series we host against India,” he said.

Sethi said Pakistan gained significantly during the ICC meeting.

“Pakistan have been included in the executive committee of the ICC for one year, with India, Australia and England as the permanent members, which means we will be at the forefront of most of the decisions,” said Sethi.

That, Sethi claimed, will get Pakistan the most funds after the Big Three.

“We will get revenues on fourth number, and I can say with confidence that in the next eight year cycle we will get $150 million dollars from the ICC,” he said, bringing the total takings to $450 million.

This compares to Pakistan receiving $10 million from the ICC per year in the last seven-year cycle, Sethi added.

The first of the series with India is scheduled for December next year, likely to be played in United Arab Emirates.

“The agreement is now on paper and I hope that the day will also come when PMs of both the countries clear it, then the two countries will also play in Pakistan. But at the moment it is not possible,” Sethi added.

International cricket in Pakistan has been suspended since March 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus, leaving eight people dead and seven visiting players injured.

But Sethi said there would be no compensation if India does not play due to non-clearance from New Delhi.

“There was no compensation before, there is none now. This is not the norm in mutual series when government does not give permission.”

Mohammad Aamer’s return

Sethi also said banned paceman Mohammad Aamer will be able to play domestic cricket before his worldwide ban expires in August next year.

“The ICC committee will finalise changes in the anti-corruption code in October this year after which the PCB will submit an application on relaxing the ban on Aamer and in the last year of his ban Aamer will be able to play domestic cricket to get ready for the international matches,” said Sethi.

Aamer was banned for five years on charges of spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test against England in 2010. Then-Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were also banned for a minimum of five years in the same case.

– Link of claim of Mr. Najam Sethi that Pakistan set to earn Rs.
30 billion from India series: Sethi
MOHAMMAD YAQOOB — PUBLISHED JUL 01, 2014 05:36AM
Link:- http://www.dawn.com/news/1116131

Pakistan set to earn Rs30 billion from India series: Sethi
MOHAMMAD YAQOOB — PUBLISHED JUL 01, 2014 05:36AM

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi on Monday said he was part of the majority which elected the suspended BCCI president N. Srinivasan as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) at its annual gathering in Melbourne, Australia last week.

Addressing a crowded press conference here after his arrival from Melbourne, Sethi had a lot of good things to say about the tremendous gains and achievements made by Pakistan during the ICC meeting.

However, he was sufficiently grilled over the thorny issue of Pakistan supporting the tainted Indian official Srinivasan as new ICC chairman.

When asked how he saw the future of cricket with a controversial person like Srinivasan now elected as head of the world governing body, Sethi initially appeared a bit reluctant to offer any comment and simply replied: “I can’t say about Srinivasan’s election.”

‘We went with majority to elect Srinivasan as ICC chief’
However, when asked if he raised this point of Indian Supreme Court probing Srinivasan before electing him in Melbourne, Sethi said: “We were part of those who agreed on it (to elect Srinivasan). We elected him and we were part of the majority and it (India court case) would not create any problem whatsoever because Srinivasan has been elected for two years.”

Highlighting his achievements at the ICC meetings, the PCB chairman claimed Pakistan will receive a bumper amount estimated at $300 million (Rs30 billion) from the six Pakistan-India series which will be played in the next eight years, with Pakistan hosting four of them.

“We are estimating to earn Rs30 billion by hosting India in four series and that is the biggest news for Pakistan cricket,” he said.

The PCB chairman disclosed that while India were not willing to consider Pakistan as a possible venue for any of the series, he managed to pull it off by getting a certain term included in the agreement which says either Dubai or any other venue could be selected to host those series with mutual understanding.

However, Sethi admitted that as in the past, the governments of either side will have the final say in holding the series.

He added that a joint statement released from the BCCI and the PCB about the future series was a remarkable achievement by all counts and the decision had now been included in the ICC records as well.

Sethi, obviously delighted at the breakthrough, said the Indo-Pak series was a bigger event than the Ashes (Australia-England series) and the world also recognised that fact.

“The Indo-Pak series have great potential to attract spectators and the sponsors,” he said.

Elaborating further on the bilateral series, Sethi said Pakistan had signed the agreement to hold the series with India some six months back but the instability in the PCB threw a spanner in the whole affair.

“There was a possibility to hold the first series in the current year with India, but the instability (the Zaka Ashraf-Sethi tug of war) and Zaka’s stance on the Big Three issue delayed things.”

Sethi confirmed that Pakistan has been included as the fourth member of the newly-formed Exe­cutive Committee of the ICC for one year.

“Pakistan will be a key part of decision making at the ICC while the next president of the ICC in 2015 will be elected from Pakistan,” Sethi said proudly. “So, in the next two years Pakistan would be able to play an effective role at the ICC level.”

However, he clarified there was no Big Four status for Pakistan but the PCB would have a larger share in the ICC revenues.

“In the last seven years, the PCB had received $70 million from the ICC,” recalled Sethi. “But in the next eight years, it would get almost double, upto $150 million.”

In fact, the revenue will be increased for all four top members including India, Australia, England and Pakistan at the cost of cutting the share of smaller nations like Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and a few others who, it appears, will end up as losers in their support for the Big Three formula.

Regarding the progress made on the front of banned young fast bowler fast bowler Mohammad Amir, Sethi said new rules were being finalised to give the bowler some concessions to his ban imposed on him in a spot fixing case.

He said the PCB had written a letter to the Supreme Court to give a final decision in its case against Zaka Ashraf as soon as possible because the PCB wants to attain stability as it had to take many important decisions to make in the coming days including awarding of the media rights for two ‘home’ series against Australia and New Zealand.

In the end, Sethi mentioned how several people at the ICC meeting discussed with him the negative role played by the Pakistani media against its players and PCB which was proving harmful to Pakistan cricket at international level.

Published in Dawn, July 1st , 2014

Email dated 26 February, 2015 addressed to the PM Pakistan:

Subject: Very urgent message for the PM – Big Four: Pakistan ‘to earn $450 million in cricket cycle’ A news item by the daily “The Express Tribune” of 30 June, 2014

Respected Mian Nawaz Sharif Sahab,

AoA.

Sir,

The subject mentioned news item is being submitted for your kind perusal because PCB is going to auction its media rights (for the next five years) tomorrow on 27 January, 2015 and it is in Pakistan’s interest to ensure that nothing less than $450 million is earned by the PCB from the auction of this rights for the next five years.

Moreover, it is very strange that although it is a marketing department’s domain but the Director Marketing PCB is NOT included in the bidding committee which includes Mr. Najam Sethi about whom conflict of interest is reported.

Sir, in view of the seriousness of the matter and as per 100% transparency policy of your government it is suggested that a member from the following organisations should also attend this bidding process as observers:

– NAB
– FIA
– Public Procurement Regulatory Authority
– Office of the Auditor General of Pakistan
– Transparency International Pakistan

– Mr. Khalid Mahmood Ex. Chairman PCB

In this regard, if it is necessary the bidding process may be delayed for a few days to ensure that the representatives of the above mentioned departments can attend the bidding meetings in due course of time.

Best regards,

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

Link :- http://tribune.com.pk/story/729174/big-four-pakistan-to-earn-450-million-in-cricket-cycle/

9 Questions to honourable Mr. Misbah ul Haq and honourable Mr. Waqar Younis..!

Mr. Misbah ul Haq and Mr. Waqar Younis, while both of you strongly recommending Mr. Azhar Ali to the PCB, for the Captainship of Pakistani ODI cricket team, said that he (Mr. Azhar Ali) was an excellent ODI material; and Mr. Azhar Ali would have been selected for the World Cup team, but narrowly missed the selection.
So far so good.
However, Mr. Misbah ul Haq and Mr. Waqar Younis owes to the nation, replies of the following questions:

1. When both of you came to know about the ODI abilities of Mr. Azhar Ali?

2. If Mr. Azhar Ali’s ODI abilities were known to both of you prior to the announcement of the World Cup probables on 6th December 2014, why as a captain and national head coach, you did NOT suggest and strongly recommend Mr. Azhar Ali’s name to be included in the squad of the 15 players?

3. If Mr. Azhar Ali was such a gem of an ODI cricketer, to be suddenly made captain of the Pakistani team, why he was never groomed by Mr. Misbah ul Haq, as vice captain, during his tenure of leading the Pakistani team since the year 2011.

4. Why Mr. Misbah ul Haq didn’t consider Mr. Azhar Ali at least suitable to play as an ordinary player for the last THREE years?

5. Why Mr. Waqar Younis didn’t consider Mr. Azhar Ali suitable for inclusion in the national team for any ODI match, played during his almost one year old tenure, as head coach.

6. Isn’t it not a sufficient proof of intellectual dishonesty of ALL THOSE, who have recommended a player to the chairman PCB, for elevation as a national team’s captain, who themselves deliberately kept this gem of a player named Mr. Azhar Ali, out of the playing eleven, since the year 2012, when Mr.Azhar Ali last played an ODI for Pakistan?

7. Is there any precedent in any Test playing country, which selected a player as captain of the ODI team, who didn’t represent his national team for ODI matches, for the last 3 years?

8. Is the appointment of a national ODI captain a joke or a serious matter?
If it is a serious matter, then why Mr. Misbah ul Haq and Mr. Waqar Younis are hell bent upon playing a joke with the nation, regarding their own recommendations for appointment of the next ODI captain, who was NOT considered suitable to be included in the national team for the last 3 years?

9. Now, God forbid, if
an ODI discarded player since 2012, who is being sent to lead Pakistani ODI team, as a captain on tour of Bangladesh, fails in his assignment, will Mr. Misbah ul Haq and Mr. Waqar Younis accept their responsibilities of playing a joke with the nation; and leave the arena of Pakistan’s cricket for the good?