LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Wasim Khan as the board’s managing director on Thursday.

The position is a newly-created one and the country’s cricket governing body chose Wasim from a pool of over 350 candidates who applied for the position.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board is pleased to announce that it has appointed Wasim Khan MBE as its Managing Director,” a PCB press release issued on Thursday said.

Wasim was selected after holding interviews in two phases. For the second phase, the list of the candidates had been reduced to three and they were interviewed by chairman PCB Ehsan Mani and assisted by Asad Ali Khan and Lt. Gen. (R) Javed Zia.

“Wasim Khan, an MBA from Warwick Business School (one of the top-10 business schools in the world), is a former professional cricketer with a wealth of experience in cricket and cricket management,” said the press release.

Meanwhile, commenting on his appointment, Wasim said: “I am delighted to be offered the position of managing director of PCB – a role which I have accepted as a challenge. “Wasim, 47, played county cricket in England from 1995 to 2001, during which he represented Warwickshire, Sussex and Derbyshire. He also has playing experience in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.”

“Wasim was awarded MBE in 2013 and two years later, he was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Leicestershire County Cricket Club where he has enjoyed an extremely successful stint. In 2005, he was recruited by Lord Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England, to lead a £50million community development project that operated in 11,000 state schools and engaged 2.5 million children across England and Wales.

“Wasim is on the board of Sport England, which oversees strategy and policy setting of 55 National Sports Governing Boards. He has also served on the Equality and Human Rights Commission Sports Group, and The Prince’s Trust Cricket Group, while he has been on the ECB’s Anti-Corruption and Integrity Unit for the last seven years. He was also recently given the responsibility by ECB of chairing a working group that assessed and made recommendations on the domestic structure from 2020.

“I have my roots in Pakistan, a country which is full of talent. I will be relocating to Pakistan with my family who are as excited as I am.”

Mani said Wasim was ‘selected unanimously following robust interview process’. “We welcome Wasim who will be joining the PCB soon,” said Mani.

“Wasim brings with him fresh ideas and knowledge of cricket, and he will receive the support of the Board and the management of PCB.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2018