LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has advised all ‘tainted’ players to first clear themselves from fixing allegations by declaring solemnly that they have never been involved in any corrupt practice, only then they will have the right to sue anyone calling them ‘tainted’.

“Soon I will speak on this issue [match-fixing]. But I am hearing through media [reports] that most people, recently employed by the PCB are tainted.

“I am ready to take all of them to any holy place, or the PCB should do it, to take oath that they have never been involved in any corrupt practice in cricket. And after taking that oath, if any one calls them ‘tainted’ they [the so-called tainted players] will have full right to sue them,” Miandad told Dawn in an exclusive interview.

“Unfortunately, we did not take any step to eradicate corruption from our cricket, just to avoid defamation of the country. But then what happened in the end?

“We were more defamed because the outsiders caught our players red-handed,” Miandad said. “Had the PCB itself caught the dishonest persons, as other cricket boards did, there would have been less harm to our country,” Miandad asserted.

“I left my cricket because I couldn’t continue in the presence of such negative elements although I had much cricket left in me. I also left [national team] coaching with the promise not to take this assignment again,” he said.

“I joined the PCB to eradicate corruption and to bring improvement in our cricket. But no one allowed me to work as director general independently, and so I left that post too,” he said.

Sethi's decisions against constitution: Miandad

“But I will seek justice from Allah on the day of judgment against those who forced me to quit cricket, coaching and the post of DG.”

Commenting on the current state of affairs in Pakistan cricket, Miandad reckoned there was no solid player in the current pool of national players.

He added that even a huge 10-member team management announced for next month’s tour to Sri Lanka could not deliver, noting the base of Pakistan cricket was faulty.

The 124-Test veteran held the PCB responsible for lack of quality players in present Pakistan cricket set-up, highlighting that the Board had been removing coaches in case of a defeat, instead of making the players accountable for their mediocre performance.

“That’s why the same cricketers, having failed to give consistent performance for a considerable period of time, are still part of the national team,” he emphasised.

“A solid cricketer is the one who performs magnificently on consistent basis like Hashim Amla, A.B. de Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar and many past Pakistani cricketers like Mushtaq Mohammad, Sadiq Mohammad and even Sri Lanka have several quality players in their ranks,” he stated.

The former skipper also said had he not coached the Pakistan team, top batsmen like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and many others could not have improved to turn as world-class players.

“Inzamam also admits it how I polished him with hard work and even Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistan team’s newly-appointed spin bowling coach, has admitted in front of me that as spin coach of the England team, he used the same coaching methodology which I [Miandad] had been using as coach,” Miandad said.

He said it was ironic that the PCB did not want to work with the country’s prominent former cricketers possessing clean record and the required talent to deliver.

When reminded that Zaheer Abbas (adviser to PCB chairman), Waqar Younis (head coach) and Moin Khan (chief selector-cum-team manager) were working with the PCB, Miandad acknowledged these former players had individual quality to perform in their specific areas, but running the Board was a different thing altogether.

Responding to a question that non-technocrats like Tauqir Zia, Shaharyar M. Khan, Dr Nasim Ashraf, Zaka Ashraf and now Najam Sethi had been heading the PCB, Miandad said if a cricketer headed the PCB he should pick the best administrative staff. And if a non-cricketer was at the helm, he should pick the best cricketing brains, he added.

But ironically, he regretted, it had not been the case with the PCB management.

Miandad said the PCB should not compare itself with other cricket boards in defence of forming a huge 10-member team management or in awarding central contract to players.

“The game of cricket in foreign countries has a thoroughly professional set-up right from grass roots level to the uppermost tier of the game. Contrarily, our grass root level is street, roads and roofs where our youngsters are forced to play cricket.

“And unfortunately, the PCB doesn’t want to improve our grass roots level, and thus they are focusing on the Pakistan team. But I strongly feel that no coach can teach the players basic points of the game at the top level as here the players come to deliver. The coach can only fine-tune them,” he said.

Similarly, Miandad said, the PCB was just rewarding top cricketers by enhancing their match fees and central contract fees, but it was not ready to take care of other players in the national cricketing set-up to maintain the game’s attraction for upcoming youngsters.

“The established welfare system for cricketers in other countries does not depend completely on their boards, whereas the PCB takes care of its cricketers here in Pakistan. But it is only focusing on the welfare of top cricketers, leaving the others to face demanding economic conditions,” Miandad said.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2014