THE tall claims made by the Pakistan Cricket Board regarding the many significant achievements during the recent annual International Cricket Council meeting in Melbourne has sparked a debate. Pakistan’s elevation as the fourth member in the all-powerful ICC executive committee alongside the ‘Big Three’ — India, England and Australia — the signing of MoUs for as many as six home and away series with India between 2015 and 2023, and the nomination of the next ICC president from Pakistan are being dubbed as groundbreaking gains by the PCB. However, there is a sense that it is much ado about nothing as the headway ostensibly made by the PCB in Melbourne was discussed over and over again in the past without anything concrete ever materialising. A delighted PCB chairman, Najam Sethi, said that Pakistan now holds an important and undisputed position in world cricket after the gains at the ICC moot. Nevertheless, it is being pointed out by critics that the PCB should wait for a formal announcement on this score by cricket’s global governing body before celebrating its success.

As far as Pakistan’s elevation is concerned, Mr Sethi’s claims received a setback of sorts when the ICC quickly drafted in the West Indies as the fifth member of its executive committee on Saturday. Besides, the ICC has also clarified that while the original Big Three equation will be a constant, the other two members will be elected annually, meaning that Pakistan’s rise could just be a temporary arrangement lasting a year or so. As for the MoUs signed for six series with India, the Indian cricket board too previously made similar commitments but the Indian government put paid to its efforts by ordering it to suspend all ties with Pakistan cricket when it deemed it necessary to do so. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s nomination for the post of ICC president goes back to 2012 when it was decided that Pakistan would head the ICC in 2015 on a rotational basis as per the governing body’s charter.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2014