LAHORE, June 19: While challenging the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) wisdom to interview those who did not apply for the post of Pakistan coach in response to the board’s advertisement, Javed Miandad has pointed out that seeking the regional heads’ confidence in Bhurban by the PCB chief indicates his weakness.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Miandad, an icon in the world of cricket, criticised the PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf’s move of taking confidence vote from the regional heads by offering them a tour of Bhurban last Saturday.

Miandad said the move showed that the chairman felt himself insecure and that he was a ‘weak’ man.

“But the move does not matter and it will not serve the purpose of the chairman,” he stated. “The PCB hosted the regional and associations’ heads, some of them went with their families, and I consider it like a bribe and waste of money.”

Meanwhile, Miandad also slammed the regional heads for not raising the voice for their constitutional right in the (Bhurban) meeting.“I think it was better had the regional heads demanded the end of eight-year ad hocism in the PCB in return to give the vote of confidence to the chairman,” he expressed.

“Since ad hocism exists in the PCB, the legal status of the district and that of regional bodies is not in order and so they should first fight for it,” Miandad, suggesting the regional representatives, insisted.

He said the long ad hocism in the board had ruined Pakistan’s cricket structure, emphasising President General Pervez Musharraf, Patron of the PCB, should take notice of it.

He said the ad hoc had always been imposed for a short period just to check the financial or administrative irregularities in the PCB.

“However, as nothing has been done against the wrong practices against which ad hocism was imposed eight years ago, I would suggest the then office-bearers to go into the court to seek justice and reply on which basis they were sacked,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the subject of appointing national coach, Miandad said the PCB while going on the website to look for a new coach in place of late Bob Woolmer had said that only those would be considered who give their CV in response to the advertisement.

However, Miandad continued, now the PCB is interviewing Geoff Lawson, Dav Whatmore and Richard Done, who did not send their CVs in response to the board’s advertisement.

“Now I ask the PCB: where does it stand? Instead of considering the applications of those candidates who have applied for the post, it is contacting those (coaches) who did not apply.

“And I was the first man, who had opposed the PCB policy of giving the advertisement because I believe not a single recognised or well-established coach would like to apply in that way and it proved right,” he expressed.

Miandad, who has had three terms as Pakistan coach, went on to say that now if the board appointed a coach who had not applied for the position, those coaches who had applied had the right to sue the PCB for bypassing its own policy.

Neither Lawson nor Whatmore had applied for the post in response to the PCB commercial till May 15, the last date for filing the application.

Lawson, a former Australian pacer, who was interviewed in Bhurban on Sunday, only made up his mind for the post after the Jamaican police announced officially that Woolmer died of natural causes and not slain during the World Cup in March.

Whereas Whatmore had been more interested in coaching the Indian team.

Regarding approval of the PCB budget, Miandad said the board had sanctioned a huge budget of Rs2.44 billion for the next financial year under one-man show, saying there was no general or executive council to discuss the budget.

“Even the Pakistan government has to get its budget approved from the National Assembly and the Senate, but the PCB is running according to the will of one man and I fear about the financial irregularities since a huge amount is being spent by one individual, without having a proper check and balance system,” he said, stressing, “No one has the authority to ask about the PCB accounts and details about the expenditures and that is a point to be noted.”