ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: The set of conditions drafted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for those keen on contesting elections of the district associations has left several questions unanswered.

Almost all the 10 conditions that a candidate is required to fulfil to be eligible to run for a post seem to have been hurriedly put together.

The requirements that were sent out to the associations by the PCB along with the application forms last month have glaring flaws.

There is no need to call nominations of candidates much before deciding the electoral college for each district, meaning that scrutiny of clubs should be held first.

A close analysis of some of the qualifications:

1. Academics: Minimum matric or equivalent, preferably with a basic computer course.

A candidate running for president should not be a matriculate, rather graduation should be his minimum qualification. With the PCB’s entire correspondence being in English, a matriculate office-bearer may find it difficult to understand the board’s instructions. He should be able to speak and write English.

2. Sports: Must have a fairly good knowledge of the game. There has to be some kind of a benchmark to ascertain the knowledge a candidate has of cricket. By merely saying that he needs to have a “fairly good knowledge” is just not enough.

3. Age: Not more than 54 years and not less than 18 on the day of application.

It is not understandable why the upper limit has been set at 54. Why cannot a person, say who is 55, contest the elections. The purpose of setting this limit is not understandable.

6. Political: Not an office-bearer of any political party. It needs to be defined if the political parties include militant outfits too and also those who are office-bearers of registered trade unions.

8. Tenure: Will be four years, not more than two tenures in any one office.

This very condition is perhaps the most confusing. Say, if a person, who has previously headed a divisional association for two tenures of four years each, what would his status be in the district? With the divisions now having been dissolved this point needs to be clarified.

It appears that the PCB compiled these conditions without seeking suggestions from relevant quarters. The Board would now do well to bring together the officials of the associations to sort out the matter and redraft a new set of qualifications.