SHANE Hayes ... from Olympics to cricket
SHANE Hayes ... from Olympics to cricket

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar M. Khan on Sunday made it clear that there was no plan to expand the support staff for the national team on its upcoming tour of England while stating any hiring would depend on the requirement of incoming head coach Mickey Arthur.

Addressing a hastily-arranged media briefing at the National Stadium, Shaharyar revealed that the PCB had hired the services of Shane Hayes, an experienced Australian physiotherapist, after consulting Arthur, who is still awaiting his Australian citizenship and visa for Pakistan travel.

Hayes — a high performance sports specialist who has previously worked with the Olympic committees in China and South Korea — will succeed Bradley Robinson of Zimbabwe who quit after Pakistan’s limited-overs tour of New Zealand last January.

“Arthur was taken on board before we decided to bring in Hayes after Robinson left us for personal reasons. But I don’t see more people being called up for the England tour because there is an old saying ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ and we don’t want our plans to be complicated by including more people as support staff,” Shaharyar said. “I think Intikhab [Alam] is doing a fine job as team manager and is a very experienced man who can handle any situation on the England tour. Some people say that the team should also have a [sports] psychologist.

“But I view it differently because it’s a normal thing for teams like Australia, England and South Africa since their system is not like ours. Therefore, we are not going to follow in their footsteps as of now. But if Arthur needs someone for the team then we could rethink on those lines.”

The PCB chief said that Arthur would soon have his travel issues sorted, while expressing his confidence that Mohammad Amir will get the British visa.

“I had already spoken to our ambassador to Australia and requested her to expedite the process of issuing visa to Arthur so that he could join the Pakistan in the coming few days. I understand that Arthur was due to get the Australian citizenship last Thursday but have not heard anything on that front since,” Shaharyar pointed out. “I also had words with the ECB [England & Wales Cricket Board] officials regarding the visa for Amir. I’m sure there would be no hurdles for him to get the visa on time.”

Shaharyar quashed rumours of his quitting PCB as reported in a section of the media. “I have no intention to quit as some people assume,” the 82-year-old said with a big smile. “I am going to England, something I do every year shortly on holidays. I have been reading reports that I’ll leave PCB but that is not the case. There is no intention on my part to throw in the towel.

“Being the first elected PCB chairman, I am keen to complete my tenure [which ends next year] but one never knows what lies next.”

Meanwhile, the PCB chairman again put emphasis on the importance of promoting school cricket countrywide, while saying Karachi and Lahore will be given special treatment because they have the facilities to stage tournaments.

“This is not just school cricket we are looking at. We will also revive varsity cricket to make it competitive to the level where Pakistan would benefit. Bob Woolmer [late Pakistan coach] used to come to me during his time here with the complaint that the boys under his charge were not interested in learning because they lacked the ability to absorb the basics of the game,” the chairman said. “The Pakistan skipper at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh didn’t even know to communicate in Urdu, let alone English. He was only talking in Punjabi. My statement on having more educated cricketers was taken in the wrong context because what actually meant was that the players at least should have the knowledge of the language for better communication skills.”

Earlier, the PCB chief paid a visit to the regional academy, which has been expanded with 95 per cent renovation already completed. He lauded National Stadium general manager Arshad Khan for restarting the construction work which was in the dormant for the past several years.

“This facility and all other regional academies [in the country] would now function under the directive of Mudassar Nazar, who has joined the PCB as the director of National Cricket Academy. But I must appreciate Arshad Khan for his dedication and sincerity in ensuring the regional academy in Karachi is completed on time after a long delay due to some issues,” Shaharyar remarked.

Meanwhile, the PCB chairman said the newly-formed cricket and domestic committees will be chalking out plans for the next home season.

“I think they should earn their keep by coming out with a formula that would enhance the quality of domestic cricket. However, we are looking at organising separate first-class competitions for departments and regions. Moreover, since there is more emphasis on day-night Test matches, we are also planning to play floodlight first-class matches during the season to give players more practice of playing with the pink balls. We may have each domestic side playing at least two games under lights.”

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2016

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