BEING a former first-class cricketer, organiser and official who has been attached with the game for the past three decades, if not more, I whole-heartedly welcome the change at the top — both at the government level where former Pakistan captain Mr Imran Khan has been elected as the prime minister, as well at the Pakistan Cricket Board where Mr Ehsan Mani has taken over as the new chairman.

The cricketers of this country in particular, and the sportspersons in general, have high hopes from these two highly competent personalities that they will take measures to improve the performance, the quality and discipline in the field of sports, especially in cricket and in the working of the PCB and other sports organisations.

I would like to draw their kind attention to the amount of mess there is in the PCB and the kind of nepotism in practice there, especially when it comes to domestic cricket affairs. I am confident that the PM, being the patron of PCB, and Mr Mani will be able to get rid of the mafias operating in the Board and Pakistan cricket comprising liars, incompetent and corrupt people who have been like parasites, scratching each other’s back and doing lot of damage to the game for nearly two decades now.

These people certainly do not deserve to be in the PCB at all since they are just out to save their respective jobs at the expense of the game, either in the role of advisors or selectors or managers, liaison officers and what not. And I am sure most of them do not even know the spelling of the designations they hold.

I once happened to visit an ex-cricketer, who is holding a key position in the Board, and saw him surrounded by dozens of files on his table. I complimented him on working hard but got the shock of my life when he said he does not know the spelling of the word ‘recommendation’ and was trying to look for it in the files.

I wonder why an organisation like the PCB could never find honest, competent people to work in the set-up because there are still quite a few of them around in this great country who can do a great job of streamlining things and run the cricket affairs in an efficient manner.

Even the cricket academies have not been spared. A number of these officials are either permanently residing in the rooms at the academies or visiting them daily for elaborate lunch and meals being served there. I request the prime minister to act quickly and strictly in curtailing down PCB’s massive expenses and get an immediate audit done in the Board to put things in order.

As for domestic cricket, I urge the PM and Mr Mani to swiftly put in place a solid policy which should lay down clear rules and regulations for domestic cricket as well as for the umpires. Literally every year, not only the brand of cricket balls get changed but also the format of the game, be it the Patron’s Trophy or Grade-II cricket or limited-overs tournaments.

There are lots of irregularities I could find in Grade-II cricket where our own team has competed since long. Once, about four years ago, our team had lodged a protest against some of the umpiring decisions made in our matches but we were made to wait for nine full months for a decision. And finally the decision that came was very surprising as they disaffiliated the team’s registration and offered us new registration if our team could pay them a whopping sum all over again. It was so ridiculous that the team owners were forced to withdraw the team and about 25 players lost their jobs.

An overhaul at the PCB, therefore, is imperative I feel because it will be hugely beneficial for Pakistan cricket!

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2018