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Inconsistencies and adhocism at the helm of Pakistan Cricket Board are responsible for unpredictable and below par performance on the ground. "The core of the problem is toying up with PCBs constitution which has been changed number of times," said an experienced cricket administrator and ex PCB head Khalid Mahmood.
In 1995, the PCB was registered under the company law and by virtue of that its stakeholder (provincial and divisional level clubs) became its shareholders. The spirit was to form a general body of 40-50 members out of which 8-10 members council to be elected. And even prior to 1995, the club owners used to have a significant say in cricketing decisions.
The elected council was a very effective body and was instrumental in making informed decisions at various levels. Its members were independent advisors to politically-nominated chairman. They used to contribute in making annual cricket calendar, to scrutinize investment on the development of sports and to keep tight check on the other expenses such as unnecessary travel of executives. In a nutshell, it was a true consultative and democratic system with minimum interference of government in it as Chairman was accountable to the council.
That was an excellent approach to keep the interest of cricket contributors as there were clubs which used to form divisional bodies and they used to compete to form general body and in turn council -throughout an electoral process was followed. Interestingly, these clubs which were the nurseries to bring talent at top were financially very weak and were run by sport lovers.
There were many unfamed talent makers running those clubs who have worked really hard to harness raw talent. For example, one M Sadeeq from Ludhina Cricket Club spotted a young boy and nurtured him and the world later knew him as the ICC hall of famer Wasim Akram. Waqar, Saqlain, Inzimam and the list can go on, of cricketers spotted, nurtured and trained by lesser known clubs.
These star-makers would lobby for selection of their boys with no material interest. All they wanted was a contribution to the game and have some of them become members of general body and elected council.
That constitution was shelved in 1999, and ever since, the PCB is facing an institutional demise. In the last 15 years, PCBs constitution has been changed countless times. The common element amongst those constitutions is an ineffective general body. The main features of the body are that it should be elected, its consultation ought to be binding and main board decision have to be in its jurisdiction.
Sadly, the current form of general body has none of the above mentioned features. Today, it cannot interfere in cricket annual programme; it is not authorized to approve expenditure and has no jurisdiction in allocating budget. Its totally out of financial and cricketing matters.
The council which used to be an elected body in good times is now effectively nominated and hence, the members are dependent on Chairman for continuity of their jobs. Its a classic case of poor governance as politically-nominated Chairman and council have nothing to do with cricket.
The board has to be led by professionals who have experience in cricket administration. And they do not necessarily have to be Test cricketers. Even, the top cricketing boards in world don't usually appoint cricketers at administrative posts. How many ex cricketers headed the board of Australia, England or India? But that should not mean people like Najam Sethi or Tauqir Zia be running the show. Where is cricket on their resumes?
In the process, the generation of cricket frantic club owners is long finished and with no incentive for clubs to be part of decision making, the institution is on its way to a systematic death. It was an art to run those clubs with minimum financing as the people were passionate and dedicated.
That is why we don't have replacement of key players. Do we have a replacement for Saeed Ajmal? When was the last time we produced an opener of world class quality? The nurseries are falling apart. We have already seen the demise of hockey and squash. Is cricket moving on the same path?
There are other elements which are contributing to the fall of cricket in the country. With no international cricket in Pakistan for the past few years, exposure of our domestic players is much reduced. Domestic players used to come to practice with foreign teams and had the opportunity to play against in side matches. That was one motivation which is absent now.
Then, our players used to play county cricket in England and domestic structures of other countries as well. But now there are restrictions because counties are no more entertaining more than one international player to have more exposure of their own domestic players. Spot fixing has not helped either, as after the Danesh Kaneria episode, counties are reluctant to have Pakistani players playing for them.
The bigger miss, in terms of financial loss to players and potential exposure to high class cricket, is the IPL. The IPL has taken India to another level in the cricketing world, and Pakistani players are paying the price for inaptness of the authorities.
Cricket is the sports in Pakistan and weakening of cricketing skeleton is responsible for its downfall at home! Better mend it or die in the glory of past success. Here is hoping the Green Shirts do well in the remainder of the tournament. But any performance, good or bad, must not forestall an action towards tackling the core issues that are rotting Pakistan cricket.

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