Tauqir Zia is trying to go down in history as the man who reined in the local associations. But has he thought through the process?
WITH PCB already into the international cricket season that will fully test its rebuilding strategies, a revamped cricket structure, a needless nit picking with the ladies that left Gaddafi Stadium drowned in mud, and more matches per season than in the history of Pakistan’s first class season, the timing of PCB’s quarrel with KCCA appears to have been decided by Russian roulette, with all its implications inherent in the action.
The issue for many is not whether PCB is right in the imposition of SCA over KCCA. It is the process adopted and the homework done that is in the spotlight. It was amusing that the PCB Chairman was consulting his legal advisors after announcing the formation of provincial associations and claiming they had the mandate in the constitution, which in itself has become as illusive as a greased monkey.
Perhaps Tauqir Zia is still not aware that there are people who are willing to take him on either because their survival is at stake as they have been pushed to the edge, or because they simply have to protect their stranglehold on Karachi city’s cricket. The fate in recent times of those who have been humbled from power after decades of rule is not lost upon them.
Someone once said that politics and war is a lot like roller skating — you go partly where you want to go and partly where the slippery things take you. As such it is not clear whether PCB at all thought the issue would go so far. The general is also not used to having the barracks occupied after having given the order for abandonment; nor do legal aspects have ever blocked his path from where he comes from.
So what has led to this impasse that now threatens to unfold as legal battles normally do? Is it for control of resources as sponsorship is on the cards for regional teams? Is it personality driven? Or did it start the way great wars have begun, due to poor advice to an ambitious man?
In his groundbreaking analytical book on the major wars of the 20th century, Why Nations Go To War, John G. Stoessinger writes in his concluding chapter: “The case material reveals that perhaps the single most precipitating factor in the outbreak of war is misperception.”
He builds on that by pointing out: “Such distortion may manifest itself in four different ways: in a leader’s image of himself; a leader’s view of his adversary’s character; a leader’s view of his adversary’s intentions toward himself; and, finally, a leader’s view of his adversary’s capabilities and power.”
The way it can be seen, the PCB had been viewing for quite some time the ineptness of the associations in grooming cricketers for the national side. Some past cricketers rued the fact that where Karachi had been the nursery of batsmen and given the national side names like Hanif, Zaheer, Asif Iqbal, Mushtaq, Sadiq, Haroon and Javed Miandad to name just a few, the contribution had dwindled.
This was despite the presence of strong minded selectors in the side like Salahuddin, Nasim-ul-Ghani and Haseeb Ahsan who could be depended upon to speak for Karachi cricketers.
Every administration of the PCB has vowed to look into the registration policies of the clubs and then backed down. Even strong-willed administrators like Majid Khan and Arif Abbasi eventually called a truce and let things be.
It now seems that Tauqir has taken it upon himself to go down in history as the man who broke the stranglehold of the associations. Till last season they were selecting the cricketers that were on view for the national selectors. No more. The policy of direct evaluation by the top management has taken over from subordinate performance appraisal.
It has its merits and demerits. The loyalist to the system worldwide, the supporter of democracy and delegation of rights and sanctity of authority claims it to be wrong. They say that it is against the very principle of management. That it can’t last because it will demand too much from the PCB in terms of resources and cost.
They also feel it is a change of faces. If we agree that human bias always prevails in a system where there are no respect for the law, then the nephew of a selector will now proceed where the cousin of the local association secretary once held the pass to first class representation.
Those who back the move feel that the associations had made the office their personal fiefdom encouraging nepotism and favoritism; the closed club of like-minded thinkers with their personal agendas. The PCB chairman may appear a man overawed by flattery but he has seemingly made up his mind, rightly or wrongly, that the praises about his style of management are to preempt a hard evaluation. He has at last realized that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
At the launch ceremony of Javed’s autobiography, he responded to the flowery speech of Munir Hussein (who extolled him as the saviour of Pakistan cricket), by cleverly and articulately implying that people are not what they seem or pretend to be. It was of course an unnecessary propagation of a point of view at the wrong forum but was perhaps intended as a declaration of war.
The General had, prior to the ceremony, already asked the KCCA to vacate the National Stadium premises and been critical of their ground management which PCB had gifted to them. At some point in time someone high up had even asked why the current set-up is still in control after well over 30 years? Imagine, each executive member has seen Javed Miandad come to the National Stadium as a 15 year-old and are still holding their portfolios now that he is the national coach for the third time at the age of 44!
The American system puts in the condition that a President cannot run again after two terms, so that new ideas, visions and a fresh approach are ensured at least once every decade. When we see that there is not a single batsman from Karachi in the Pakistan side it does raise eyebrows. And when we see that one boy who could have made it from here, Younis Khan, was hounded out to Peshawar from where he was eventually selected, it does lead one to think that something is wrong somewhere.
To come back to the tiff with KCCA, the PCB also asks what the local associations have done to make Test cricketers out of those who didn’t have the supreme talents. What infrastructure did they provide in terms of developing cricket grounds and pitches? Despite substantial resources by at last two associations due to gate-money revenues, there is no proper cricket academy for the city cricketers if there is any at all.
The true test of a coach or association is to make the moderately talented cricketer into a regular match-winner. How many consistent and scientifically regulated coaching schemes have young cricketers gone through?
The PCB has now realized that every time the cricket team fails they are held responsible while no one mentions the lack of effort by the associations. Throughout the world it are the local managements, like Victoria Cricket Association and Surrey Cricket Club, that spot talent, groom him by cricket coaching and physical training and match exposure, arrange for his sponsorship so that the player can earn a living from the game and then leave it to him to impress the national selectors.
Every county club in England and state side in Australia have their own academies which train foreign cricketers as well. Cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar have gone there to regain fitness and improve their cricket skills.
Lately the Australian Cricket Board has been taking seriously its academies project to hone the skills, not develop them. That is still done by the associations. But PCB will now be responsible for not just honing their skills at the national and regional academy but also selecting them at regional level.
That is an arduous task and something that will attract unnecessary criticism toward the PCB much though they have Pakistan cricket’s interest at heart. History has shown us that once powers extend their domains beyond their day-to-day control they start to implode and lose even that which they once had. Their resident managers gain empathy with the locals and appreciate that some measures are designed not for local betterment but control of their resources.
Once criticism comes in, not only are they physically present to face the wrath but also get angry that any credit is shared by the high profile top management while they struggle through the negotiations and compromises.
In conclusion, however, one feels that the associations have only brought about it themselves. They had left themselves vulnerable to a takeover by being complacent over the years thinking that the PCB will mind its own business and that there is enough leg pulling there to keep them preoccupied with themselves.
A wise man once said that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. But the PCB top management must also remember that anyone with physical resources or a mandate can take control, but it takes intelligence, compassion and honesty of purpose to use it well.
It would have been better if the courts had been avoided. It then becomes a people’s war and the first casualties are the innocent bystanders whose lives are affected. Already two sides from Karachi have been announced by each association for the under-19 regional tournament. In the end the young cricketers of the city will be the losers.
Tauqir Zia is trying to go down in history as the man who reined in the local associations. But has he thought through the process? 
