30 June 2004	Wednesday	11 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

PCB's bigwigs are in London attending ICC meetings and will not be in the country when Bob Woolmer arrives to take up his assignment as the national coach.

It might have been useful if someone senior had been around so that there could have been an introductory meeting and the players including the captain could have met the coach.

The key to Woolmer's success will be his equation with the players. He has to be seen as someone who has been employed to help them, not as someone imposed on them. Woolmer, one hope will bring discipline in the team but not a parade-ground discipline but with a professional fitness-trainer to assist him the easy times may be over.

Against the social and economic background of this country, the cricket players have become among the best paid of all professions. They're being no such thing as a free lunch, the substantial fees that they get has to be justified and has to be earned.

We have come a long way from the days when a social stigma was attached to a professional cricketer. In 1954-55 when the Indians toured Pakistan, Maqsood Ahmed (Merry Max) asked for a fee for playing since cricket was his career.

There was a disapproving rumpus and extra-patriotic fans wrote irate letters to newspapers and when he failed to get too many runs in the first two best matches, these patriotic fans got even more irate and calculated the rupees per run.

It was when he made 99 at Lahore did the furore die down.Now, of course, there has been a complete turn around and there is no such person as an amateur at the highest level of cricket. Everybody gets paid.

Perhaps, it may not be a bad idea if the salary scale was to be performance-related rather than seniority related. It might provide the best incentive. Woolmer has a tough job but far tougher will be the job of the fitness-trainer.

I think our cricket authorities have been lax about fitness. I have long been an advocate of a player being hundred per cent fit as a pre-qualification for selection. When Steve Harmison first appeared on the Test scene, it was felt that he needed to strengthen his muscles and get his body in better shape.

He spent a winter with a football team and trained with it and found out first hand what drills he had to undergo to achieve peak fitness. It was very hard work but this is what it takes to become the world's best bowler.

Natural talent has to be augmented and as George Bernard said in a different context genius was one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

The example will have to be set by the captain and the senior players. I may be doing an injustice to Inzamamul Haq and Yousuf Youhana but neither seem too keen to sweating it out in long training sessions.

So much cricket is being played these days that injuries have become unavoidable and every team has had its share. But half-fit players are more injury prone. Finally, Pakistan has a proper support-structure and it will be up to the players to take full advantage of it.

It is also very important that the captain and coach are on the same wave length. Whether it is engraved on stone or not, the ultimate responsibility is that of the captain.

He is the one who has to lead the team, take the tough decisions on the field, improvise and rally his players so that they remain focused. Inzamam gives the impression of being laid-back and a man of few words. That's been his style.

Sometimes he allows things to happen rather than make things happen but he has proved to be a good captain. I don't think Woolmer will be intrusive and will not want to stamp his authority on the team.

But Inzamam should listen to him and should not be shy of taking advice from him. John Wright has done wonders with the Indian team but there is no doubt in anyone's mind that Saurav Ganguly is the boss.

That's the sort of relationship Inzamam should have with Woolmer. There are a number of reasons why the Pakistan did not perform to its potential against India. In the end no one was prepared to accept responsibility and there was much undignified buck-passing and we searched for a scapegoat.

The irony is that had Pakistan won, there would have been a scramble of those who would have come forward to claim the credit. I don't think Inzamam made any serious captaincy mistakes and he batted brilliantly but what was missing was a spark of inspiration.

This is what the captain has to provide. Inzamam has to be more assertive and more pro-active and if his bowlers are all over the place, he should let them know in no uncertain terms.

And if his batsmen get out playing irresponsible shots, they should get a dressing-down. He has to set the standards and the players must adhere to them. That is the true meaning of discipline.

It will not be Woolmer's responsibility to get the players functioning as a well-drilled unit. This is the captain's job. If a player has an attitude problem it is for the captain to drop him from the team.

A captain's job is a lonely one. Friendships cease to exist. As they say of a political leader, he should be a man of the people but not one of the people. Inzamam has a great example before him, that of Imran Khan. Imran was perceived as being aloof but that was not out of choice.

It is in the nature of the job that a leader should keep his distance. This is not meant to be a criticism of Inzamam. But after the experience of the Indian series, he should know that he will have to be a "take-charge" captain.