LAHORE: Ex-batting icon Javed Miandad on Tuesday said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should have drawn on the vast experience of legendary batsman Zaheer Abbas instead of nominating him for the ceremonial post of International Cricket Council (ICC) president.

On the other hand, former left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim said the post of ICC president should have been a strong one to take maximum advantage of any cricket icon’s vast experience.

The world’s cricket governing body is expected to approve its decision regarding Zaheer joining the ICC as its president in its upcoming meeting to be held in Barbados later this week.

When asked if it was fair that an iconic cricketer like Zaheer would do his job as ICC president without any say in its affairs, Miandad said the PCB should have nominated any other legendary cricketer for the ceremonial post.

“The real job of the Board is to pick a deserving person for the said post,” Miandad said while stating had the PCB fully analyzed credentials of the said post, two other icons Hanif Mohammad and Imtiaz Ahmad would have been the better choices, instead of Zaheer.

“To me, Zaheer in his current age can serve Pakistan cricket in many ways but recommending him for a ceremonial ICC post is not a wise decision. And now asking the ICC to give powers to its president is not fair,” maintained the former captain.

And when asked the ICC should have given some powers to its president when it had decided to dedicate the post for an iconic cricketer, he said: “I bet Australia, England and other countries will only recommend their old cricketers since they will have no further role in their national cricket.”

“I have already congratulated Zaheer Abbas for earning the honour but my point is that the PCB should have made a better use of the stalwart cricketer at home instead of recommending him for a ceremonial post at the ICC,” Miandad argued.

The former batting legend said initially former PCB chairman Najam Sethi made efforts to get his name recommended for the said post but later when he realised that he had to leave the PCB, wherein he could enjoy more perks than the ICC, he withdrew his name to recommend Zaheer.

On the other hand, though former spinner Iqbal did not echo Miandad’s reservations that the PCB should have taken advantage of Zaheer’s experience, he did say that the ICC should have given some effective role to its president to get more benefits from the vast experience of an iconic cricketer. “At least, a cricketer should have some say in the ICC cricket committee as his contribution as cricketer could serve the game of cricket in a better way,” said Iqbal who said he wished best of luck to Zaheer for his future ICC role.

The game of cricket could not flourish having come into the clutches of the Big-Three (India, Australia and England), Miandad meanwhile maintained.

“All the cricket boards, especially the small ones like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and the West Indies which voted to approve the formula of the Big-Three will soon realize their mistakes,” he said.

He said the ICC’s ten-year activity programme was a guarantee of providing all the nations equal playing opportunities but under the Big-Three formula it would not be possible.

He said only Bangladesh cricket could become stronger as it was getting cricket under the ICC’s 10-year programme.

Miandad said cricket had strong roots in England, Australia and South Africa but others will soon run into problems due to the Big-Three formula.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2015

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