Asher Butt
LAHORE - Controversy and Shoaib Akhtar go hand in hand but this time round, fresh hullabaloo has just missed the most notorious Pakistan bowler with the PCB still in a fix over the extension of his central contract.
According to reports, Akhtar almost invited yet another trouble by refusing to sign the code of conduct during the ongoing tour of England.
Akhtar was asked to sign the code of conduct since the start of the Asia Cup but he kept ignoring it and the PCB on its part was also lethargic enough.
Akhtar has played just two matches in the last 14 months which has put the PCB in a fix weather to give him the contract or not and given his performance, the PCB did not have any intention to give him contract.
Both Akhtar and team manager Yawar Saeed have learnt to live with heated arguments - this time on the signing of the documents. Akhtar was of the view that as he was not a contacted player of the PCB, he would not sign the code of conduct. But he did not realise the fact that he has been playing for the country under the Pakistan cricket banner and he has to follow the rules even if he is not a contracted player.
An official of the board said that the board was not considering to give him contract as yet. "He has played just two matches and his fitness is dicey so judging the player's performance from just two matches would be wrong. There is a question mark on his fitness and in view of all the past stories the PCB has not intention to offer him contract as yet," he added.
The PCB also deducted a fine of Rs 7 million from Akhtar's match fees imposed by appellate tribunal.
Reports said that Yawar has threatened Akhtar to send him back if he did not sign the code of conduct. The situation became serious when both exchanged hot words and Shahid Afridi had to jump in to cool them down and later convinced Akhtar to sign the code of conduct.
Reports said that the PCB has given the team management free hand for not compromising on discipline and if any player violated the code of conduct, he should be sent back immediately.
Friday, July 9, 2010
PCB governing board approves Rs 2.6b budget
ASHER BUTT
LAHORE - The PCB governing board approved the budget of Rs 2.6 billion on Wednesday for the fiscal year 2010-11.
The governing board met here at the National Cricket Academy with no changes in salaries of the employees and would run as it is.
Talking to journalists here after the meeting, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said that the budget had been approved by the PCB core committee and that there had been no salary cuts.
Butt also said commented on the fact that the PCB is an over-staffed body while the BCCI is run by only 29 people and the Cricket Australia by just 46 people.
The PCB's expected income for the current fiscal year is Rs 2.6 billion while Rs 2.3 billion are the projected expenses.
The PCB chief also informed that 75 per cent of the budget will be spent on domestic and international cricket including the teams tours.
He further termed the upgradation work at the Gaddafi Stadium as dacoity and also announced Rs 180 million for a stadium at Gari Khuda Bakhsh. But it has been learnt that the total cost of the project at Gari Khuda Bakhsh is Rs 350 million and the board has approved just half and the remaining is likely to come in the next year's budget. It is also believed that the PCB chairman has borrowed time in office by committing the construction of a stadium at Gari Khuda Bakhsh.
He further stated that the PCB was running in deficit and was unable to sent its accounts to the ICC but now everything is clear now.
He further informed that Raza Ahmed is the new Chief Finance Officer of the board and said that majority (99.9 percent) of the board staff was overpaid. "At the time of his take over, there were 1200 employees in the board while the requirement is of 600 and a summary has been sent to the Prime Minister for the downsizing," said he.
However, he said that the overall expenses of the board have been reduced for which the governing board members have also showed their concern.
Interestingly, the meeting that started at about 11am concluded within three hours and the general belief was that that one of the major opposing member of the governing board Wazir Ali Khoja did not attend the meeting due to his engagements and Ijaz Butt did not receive any resistance in taking decisions on the agenda in hand.
Ijaz said that Khoja would stay as the member of the governing board and he himself had resigned from different committees of the board while Intikhab Alam would look after the domestic cricket. As of Javed Miandad, Ijaz Butt said that he did not know of his whereabouts.
He also refused to comment on Pakistan and India series and stated that the ICC press release has already detailed the things.
Over Malcolm Speed's jibes, he said that he had written to the ICC and it would seek answers from Speed and he did not want to comment. "I believe he is not worthy to be commented on," he said and added: "Speed does not have any importance so I don't consider him worthy of an answer."
Furious over the rejection of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard's bid for the ICC vice president's post, Speed had called Ijaz a 'buffoon'. Many former Pakistan cricketers criticised Speed for his derogatory remarks against the board and its chief and some of them suggested that the board should condemn his statements in the strongest terms and seek an apology from him.
On giving central contract to Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar, he said that the players would be given contracts on their performance and not on the demand of the players.
On relations with COO Wasim Bari, PCB chief shunned all the reports and said that he had the right to send anybody to the ICC meeting and there was no truth that he was sidelined.
However, reports said that there were rifts between the two and Federal Minister for Sports Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani had mediated between them.
LAHORE - The PCB governing board approved the budget of Rs 2.6 billion on Wednesday for the fiscal year 2010-11.
The governing board met here at the National Cricket Academy with no changes in salaries of the employees and would run as it is.
Talking to journalists here after the meeting, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said that the budget had been approved by the PCB core committee and that there had been no salary cuts.
Butt also said commented on the fact that the PCB is an over-staffed body while the BCCI is run by only 29 people and the Cricket Australia by just 46 people.
The PCB's expected income for the current fiscal year is Rs 2.6 billion while Rs 2.3 billion are the projected expenses.
The PCB chief also informed that 75 per cent of the budget will be spent on domestic and international cricket including the teams tours.
He further termed the upgradation work at the Gaddafi Stadium as dacoity and also announced Rs 180 million for a stadium at Gari Khuda Bakhsh. But it has been learnt that the total cost of the project at Gari Khuda Bakhsh is Rs 350 million and the board has approved just half and the remaining is likely to come in the next year's budget. It is also believed that the PCB chairman has borrowed time in office by committing the construction of a stadium at Gari Khuda Bakhsh.
He further stated that the PCB was running in deficit and was unable to sent its accounts to the ICC but now everything is clear now.
He further informed that Raza Ahmed is the new Chief Finance Officer of the board and said that majority (99.9 percent) of the board staff was overpaid. "At the time of his take over, there were 1200 employees in the board while the requirement is of 600 and a summary has been sent to the Prime Minister for the downsizing," said he.
However, he said that the overall expenses of the board have been reduced for which the governing board members have also showed their concern.
Interestingly, the meeting that started at about 11am concluded within three hours and the general belief was that that one of the major opposing member of the governing board Wazir Ali Khoja did not attend the meeting due to his engagements and Ijaz Butt did not receive any resistance in taking decisions on the agenda in hand.
Ijaz said that Khoja would stay as the member of the governing board and he himself had resigned from different committees of the board while Intikhab Alam would look after the domestic cricket. As of Javed Miandad, Ijaz Butt said that he did not know of his whereabouts.
He also refused to comment on Pakistan and India series and stated that the ICC press release has already detailed the things.
Over Malcolm Speed's jibes, he said that he had written to the ICC and it would seek answers from Speed and he did not want to comment. "I believe he is not worthy to be commented on," he said and added: "Speed does not have any importance so I don't consider him worthy of an answer."
Furious over the rejection of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard's bid for the ICC vice president's post, Speed had called Ijaz a 'buffoon'. Many former Pakistan cricketers criticised Speed for his derogatory remarks against the board and its chief and some of them suggested that the board should condemn his statements in the strongest terms and seek an apology from him.
On giving central contract to Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar, he said that the players would be given contracts on their performance and not on the demand of the players.
On relations with COO Wasim Bari, PCB chief shunned all the reports and said that he had the right to send anybody to the ICC meeting and there was no truth that he was sidelined.
However, reports said that there were rifts between the two and Federal Minister for Sports Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani had mediated between them.
Is PCB really victimising Younus?
Asher Butt
A lot is being said about the alleged unfair treatment being extended to former Pakistan captain Younus Khan but given his performance in the last 12 months or, he does not deserve place in the team.
An objective analysis of Younus' career as well as tantrums indicate he has had a turbulent twists throughout and of late his performance has touched new lows. That makes his exclusion more a case of merit than the alleged victimisation.
For Younus, February of 2009 will always remain an unforgettable time in his career. This was the time when he became the third Pakistani to hit a triple century. Younus achieved the feat against Sri Lanka at Karachi during the first test of the series after he had taken over the captaincy from Shoaib Malik. However, without taking any credit from Younus, he was not the only player who got amongst the runs in that match. In fact Sri Lankan batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Samaraweera both slammed double hundreds as Sri Lanka scored 644. Pakistan replied with 765. Over 1500 runs were scored in the match so one don't need to be a genius to realise that the wicket was a batsmen's paradise.
Prior to the Test Series against the Sri Lankans, Younus played in three ODIs against the Lankans scoring only 28 runs in three innings. Then as Pakistan took on Australia in the UAE, Younus managed just 74 runs in five matches on pitches that he should have thrived on.
The next event for Pakistan was the unforgettable 2009 ICC World T20 World in England and won by Pakistan. Younus somewhat improved his performance in this tournament registering the 50 and 46 not out in the early group games. Ironically Pakistan lost both the games that Younus scored in.
A cursory look at Younus' record in ODIs in the last 12 months make for some interesting reading. During Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka, Younus was once again out of touch. Once the five match series had been lost 3-0, Younus briefly regained his touch and managed two fifties in the last two ODI's.
This was followed by Younus managing a paltry 53 runs in three innings at the ICC Champion Trophy 2009. While against New Zealand on batsmen friendly pitches, Younus managed just 22 runs in three innings. The ODI series against Australia didn't bring any change in Younus' form and he managed just 67 runs in five innings against the OZs.
So what is one to infer from the above mentioned statistics. The thing that jumps out from all these figures is that Younus Khan has been totally out of sorts. In these circumstances it would be wrong to blame the PCB entirely when its the players himself is to be blamed particularly in the backdrop of the fact that he abandoned the team at the time when it required him the most.
If the national team selectors had picked Younus for the current tour of England, they would have been victimising several of the young batsmen who have made it into the side after giving consistent performances. The case of Shoaib Akhtar can be used as an example to show that despite having a lot of doubters, when Shoaib worked hard and regained his form he was picked for Pakistan regardless of popular opinion which was quite against him.
Younus needs to find some form with the bat rather than trying to play victim. Similarly, attention should be given to the fact that Pakistan has a lot of talented youngsters, such as Umar Akmal, who are not only consistently performing but their innings are leading to victories.
Younus also need to handle his legal team who are leading him into even more isolation from the game. The Pakistan cricket needs to move on and find young talent.
A lot is being said about the alleged unfair treatment being extended to former Pakistan captain Younus Khan but given his performance in the last 12 months or, he does not deserve place in the team.
An objective analysis of Younus' career as well as tantrums indicate he has had a turbulent twists throughout and of late his performance has touched new lows. That makes his exclusion more a case of merit than the alleged victimisation.
For Younus, February of 2009 will always remain an unforgettable time in his career. This was the time when he became the third Pakistani to hit a triple century. Younus achieved the feat against Sri Lanka at Karachi during the first test of the series after he had taken over the captaincy from Shoaib Malik. However, without taking any credit from Younus, he was not the only player who got amongst the runs in that match. In fact Sri Lankan batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Samaraweera both slammed double hundreds as Sri Lanka scored 644. Pakistan replied with 765. Over 1500 runs were scored in the match so one don't need to be a genius to realise that the wicket was a batsmen's paradise.
Prior to the Test Series against the Sri Lankans, Younus played in three ODIs against the Lankans scoring only 28 runs in three innings. Then as Pakistan took on Australia in the UAE, Younus managed just 74 runs in five matches on pitches that he should have thrived on.
The next event for Pakistan was the unforgettable 2009 ICC World T20 World in England and won by Pakistan. Younus somewhat improved his performance in this tournament registering the 50 and 46 not out in the early group games. Ironically Pakistan lost both the games that Younus scored in.
A cursory look at Younus' record in ODIs in the last 12 months make for some interesting reading. During Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka, Younus was once again out of touch. Once the five match series had been lost 3-0, Younus briefly regained his touch and managed two fifties in the last two ODI's.
This was followed by Younus managing a paltry 53 runs in three innings at the ICC Champion Trophy 2009. While against New Zealand on batsmen friendly pitches, Younus managed just 22 runs in three innings. The ODI series against Australia didn't bring any change in Younus' form and he managed just 67 runs in five innings against the OZs.
So what is one to infer from the above mentioned statistics. The thing that jumps out from all these figures is that Younus Khan has been totally out of sorts. In these circumstances it would be wrong to blame the PCB entirely when its the players himself is to be blamed particularly in the backdrop of the fact that he abandoned the team at the time when it required him the most.
If the national team selectors had picked Younus for the current tour of England, they would have been victimising several of the young batsmen who have made it into the side after giving consistent performances. The case of Shoaib Akhtar can be used as an example to show that despite having a lot of doubters, when Shoaib worked hard and regained his form he was picked for Pakistan regardless of popular opinion which was quite against him.
Younus needs to find some form with the bat rather than trying to play victim. Similarly, attention should be given to the fact that Pakistan has a lot of talented youngsters, such as Umar Akmal, who are not only consistently performing but their innings are leading to victories.
Younus also need to handle his legal team who are leading him into even more isolation from the game. The Pakistan cricket needs to move on and find young talent.
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