January 14, 2007	Sunday	Zilhaj 23, 1427

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LAHORE, Jan 13: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Dr Nasim Ashraf is sincerely committed to the betterment of Pakistan cricket and its reorganisation on modern lines and effective steps taken in this regard during the past three months have boosted the game in the country.

This was stated by PCB’s Director Communications and Media, Dr Ahsan Hameed Malik in an exclusive interview with Dawn on Saturday. “There were many thorny issues confronting the PCB when Dr Ashraf took charge but, by the grace of God, almost all of them have been resolved amicably with wise, intelligent and purposeful efforts,” says Ahsan.

“It has been just three months since Dr. Ashraf took over and already a lot has been accomplished,” he says. “For instance, the long-standing issue of ad-hocism is now finally set to get resolved as the PCB Constitution is expected to be implemented this month. Also, a complete audit of the organization has also been carried out by reputable firms like Fergusson Associates and KPMG,” discloses Ahsan.

Citing discreet but firm handling of The Oval Test incident by the PCB - which successfully culminated by convincing ICC to fire umpire Darrell Hair – Ahsan emphasises that Pakistan’s name was cleared in a dignified manner. And, though, he admits that Pakistan team’s morale was considerably lowered by a not so successful tour of England and ordinary faring in the Champions Trophy in India, “the resounding victory against the West Indies in both the Test series and ODI matches should be proof enough of the professional management skills of the current board,” he says.

He also proudly states how the central Secretariat for the next World Cup 2011 to be held in South Asia was recently brought to Lahore and the Chairman PCB has been unanimously elected to be the convener for the 2011 World Cup. “This is testimony to the confidence International cricket administrators have in Pakistan,” he points out.

On the domestic front too, Ahsan believes Dr Ashraf and his team has put in place a number of effective measures. “New coaches have been hired at the Academy and an Under-15 talent hunt was launched,” he says. “The organization of National School Cricket Championship which will eventually see 25 talented youngsters undergoing a month’s training at NCA Lahore with subsequent tours to South Africa or Sri Lanka is also a great achievement.”

Ahsan adds that new partnerships are being created in the corporate world and in the media for the revenue generation and promototion of domestic cricket and the revenues earned be used for developing cricket grounds and club members.

“Prize money for Quaid-i-Azam Trophy and the Patron’s Trophy have been increased significantly, Junior level tours are being increased to provide experience to the youngsters while women Cricket has also been given special attention and Pakistan has now earned the rights to host Women World Cup qualifying round this year.”

According to Ahsan, a pension scheme for the Test Cricketers and a Welfare Fund have also been established while special priority has been given to strengthening and empowering the regions and local associations.

He, however, disagrees with the approach which most critics adopt today and feels people should be made accountable for what they write or say. “Anyone can say whatever they please without regard to facts with no fear of accountability,” he complains. “For example, recently there were some untrue assertions reported in an article in Dawn dated Jan 10. For the record, let me categorically state that there is no relative of the chairman employed in the Board, as erroneously reported in that article. Secondly, it is totally false that any journalist was sent to South Africa by the PCB at its expense. As a matter of fact, we are developing an open and transparent policy where sport journalists would be asked to cover international tours on rotation basis with cost sharing by their respective Newspapers/organizations,” explains Ahsan.

As for the much-publicised ‘doping scandal’, Ahsan insists it was handled in a pro-active manner by the current board. “Pakistan is one of the four countries carrying out internal voluntary drug screening since 2003. We recalled fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif from India on the eve of Champions Trophy 2006 rather than sweeping the issue under the carpet. The PCB management then boldly followed the laid down procedure and appointed an independent commission to deal with the doping case against Shoaib and Asif which was overturned by an Appellant Tribunal on technical/legal grounds. But whatever the final outcome, the PCB handled the issue in a transparent and an open manner,” he concludes.