LAHORE: The Pakistan Cric­ket Board (PCB) claimed on Thursday that it has earned several remarkable achievements during the ongoing International Cricket Council’s (ICC) annual meeting in Melbourne.

A press release issued by PCB on Thursday said: “Pakistan has made extraordinarily significant gains at the ICC’s annual meeting held on Thursday. One of the three major concessions that PCB chairman Najam Sethi was able to secure to Pakistan’s great advantage is that after N.
Srinivasan’s election as the first ICC chairman in a landslide, India has officially turned the MOUs signed earlier this year into binding agreements straightaway.

“The six tours are now part of the Future Tours Programme and are to be played from 2015 to 2023. Four of these are to be hosted by the PCB in either the UAE or Pakistan with mutual consent.

“Another major achievement is the ICC agreeing on Thursday to grant Pakistan the status of the fourth nation in addition to the ‘Big Three’ — India, England and Australia — in terms of the percentage of revenue to be received from the ICC in the next eight years from broadcasting and other rights on ICC fixtures.

“The third big recognition is the ICC confirming Pakistan to get the position of the global body’s president for one year with effect from June 2015,” said the official statement from the PCB.

The PCB press release further states: “This is a sea change from the situation when Pakistan stood utterly isolated when Sethi was reappointed as the PCB chairman by the patron of the Board, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the second week of February.”

“The PCB had organised itself and planned to get maximum advantage for Pakistan cricket from an extremely precarious position. We have accomplished all our objectives. And we are positive that in the times to come Pakistan cricket shall greatly benefit from what PCB has been able to obtain for it today,” concludes the press release.

However, it must be mentioned here that a closer analysis of facts prove that what PCB claims to have achieved in the ICC moot is not too significant when seen in the backdrop of its recent, unequivocal support to the BCCI’s suspended president N. Srinivasan as chairman of the ICC in the same meeting.

Following the support PCB offers to Srinivasan as the new ICC chairman, it seems to have lost its independent position in the ICC and will now be compelled to follow the instructions from India on most issues.

As for Pakistan becoming the fourth member to join the Big Three, it seems to be no significant achievement since the offer was already made to Sethi’s predecessor Zaka Ashraf last year which was turned down by the ex-chairman who disagreed with the whole concept of a bunch of nations controlling the game in world cricket. Sethi himself confirmed this fact in a media talk on April 7 at the Lahore Airport when he regretted that the chance for Pakistan attaining the status of ‘Big Four’ was squandered by Zaka in a strategic blunder.

As for the six series planned against India, though there is no denial of the fact that a binding agreement has been signed with the BCCI, there is no security cover to ensure that they will definitely materialise as the final decision lies with the Indian government which has time and again backed out of such commitments made by the BCCI to Pakistan in the past.

Regarding the PCB’s other claim about Pakistan being offered the position of the ICC president in 2015, it must be clarified here that the arrangement is decided on rotation basis and the ICC is not doing any extraordinary favour to Pakistan or the PCB in this regard.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2014