January 13, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 03, 1429

LAHORE, Jan 12: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf is likely to face severe criticism from some members of the newly-appointed Governing Board in its next meeting, scheduled to be held in Karachi on Jan 25.

Sources told Dawn on Saturday that at least four members of the board have already expressed their unhappiness over PCB finalising major decisions without taking the committee members into confidence. They will, apparently, be sharing their concerns with other colleagues prior to the crucial meeting in Karachi.

“The PCB has already started implementing many of its major decisions and the chairman will only put it before the committee as a formality to get their approval,” said the sources.

The members had reached a consensus last November that PCB’s constitution requires the Governing Board to be responsible for all affairs and the decisions made by them can later be implemented by the cricket board.

“But the situation is quite different here. The members are kept in the dark as PCB is going ahead with projects such as improving the national teams, recruiting new staff, etc,” said the concerned members.

The board is holding its second meeting after almost two and a half months — the first held way back on Nov 9 — and the PCB has not bothered to approach the Governing Board for anything during this period.

The PCB allegedly appointed Ahmed Farooq as the event director of the ICC Champions Trophy without taking approval from the committee.

On Friday, PCB’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Shafqat Naghmi left for Dubai along with the chairman of Capital Development Authority (CDA) Kamran Lashari to meet one of the sponsors for building a stadium in Islamabad which is, indeed, a mega project. The project is worth billions of rupees and the Governing Board members have not been made aware of any development in this regard.

It is said that the CDA is willing to allot 40 acres of precious land at Zero-Point for the project. The Dubai sponsors will build the stadium and use its outside area for commercial purposes. Though the PCB is getting a new stadium at a reasonable cost, its commercial use would generate around Rs500 million per month and so the PCB’s and the CDA’s share should have first been cleared by the committee members.

Also, a specific sponsor had been selected instead of offering open bids for the project while some members have contended that instead of sending its officials to Dubai, the PCB should have invited the sponsors here for the presentation.

Similarly, the PCB has also started renovation work at the Pindi Stadium without intimating the Governing Board. Renovation work at the Pindi Stadium, according to the sources, would cost up to Rs240 million which is rather steep compared to the Rs80 million spent on the construction of the Bugti Stadium in Quetta in 2003.

The PCB, apparently, is also considering to fill the vacant post of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) without taking the committee into confidence. According to the constitution, the task of appointing the CFO and COO lies with the Governing Board but it has not been properly consulted in the issue. The post has been lying vacant since December when Hasan Ahmed tendered his resignation after learning that he had to make a presentation on financial affairs to some members of the Governing Board.

Similarly, the PCB appointed former Test batsman Ijaz Ahmad as the fielding coach and Mushtaq Ahmad as the spinning coach at the National Cricket Academy without intimating the committee members. Now it is also appointing former first-class cricketer Sultan Rana as director, domestic cricket.

The decision of imposing a ban on six Test cricketers for giving preference to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) instead of domestic cricket is another glaring example of how the Governing Board has been bypassed.

Moreover, the PCB has taken a big step of starting the next domestic season from Jan 23 with an Under-19 competition besides announcing the national U-19 team for the World Cup, allegedly without getting the Governing Board’s approval.

Furthermore, the PCB has inducted its officials in almost all the sub-committees of the Governing Board which is also affecting the board’s independence. An objection was also raised over the presence of PCB officials in the meeting room in the Governing Board’s last meeting but to no avail. This time the members are considering the meeting to go on for the duration of two days in order to discuss each of these aspects in detail.