KARACHI, May 29: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will honour the decision of Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a good spirit, former Pakistan captain and senior official Wasim Bari said on Wednesday.

The IHC in a decision on Tuesday ordered PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf to refrain from exercising his power within his incumbency.

It was responding to a petition filed by a former Rawalpindi Cricket Association official against the Pakistan board’s elections that were held on May 8 in which Zaka was elected to a four-year term as chairman.

Bari, while speaking to reporters in a news conference at the National Stadium, said the current set-up of the board was trying to broaden the base of Pakistan cricket by including new regional cricket associations on rotation basis and departments in the governing board.

Bari, who is employed with the PCB as director education and training, said the PCB was making end-eavours to follow the constitution.

He said the main objective of the board was to see cricket progressing and flourshing in the country and all the stakeholders, regional associations should work within the parameters of the constitution.

The former Test wicketkeeper regretted that this controversy over PCB chief’s elections was created at a time when Pakistan is preparing to launch its Champions Trophy campaign which could be harmful for the game.

To a question why big associations like Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Abbottabad were overlooked and neglected in the chairman’s elections held in Islamabad, Bari replied that it was done to accommodate new members under a rotation policy.

It be mentioned here that relatively smaller associations like Larkana Cricket Association and Dera Murad Jamali were inducted in the governing board despite not having any first-class teams of their own and they were surprisingly allowed to cast their vote in what the IHC described as ‘controversial elections.’—APP