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Published 30 Dec, 2004 12:00am

Senator urges Musharraf to intervene, save cricket

ISLAMABAD, Dec 29: Senator Muhammad Enver Baig on Wednesday called upon President Gen Pervez Musharraf to intervene and prevent Gaddafi Stadium from being turned into a graveyard of Pakistan cricket.

Addressing a new conference after Pakistan's nine-wicket drubbing Down Under in the second Test, Enver said that cricket chief Shahryar M. Khan and coach Bob Woolmer should both be sacked.

"As long as Shahryar is at the helm of affairs and Woolmer is in charge of the team, our cricket would soon be dead; it is now time for Gen Musharraf to take notice of this." Woolmer's charges, as they did in Perth in the first Test, capitulated again, this time in Melbourne to go 0-2 down in the three-match series.

"Our cricket is at the worst today and Woolmer is being paid a hefty salary although he has failed to deliver. It is a total waste of money." Woolmer, an Englishman, was hired by the PCB in July on a yearly salary of 80,000 pounds besides being offered a string of bonuses.

"Having a foreign coach does not make sense when we have such legends as Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Zaheer Abbas who would do a whole lot better than Woolmer." Enver pointed out that team manager Haroon Rasheed was a "weak man" and felt that on a tour as important as this, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should have appointed a person who could have held the team together.

He questioned that how could the chairman of selectors Wasim Bari, a paid director of Pakistan International Airlines, spare time for cricket when he had a nine to five job to handle.

Accusing Shahryar of purposely delaying bringing to light the new PCB constitution, he said that the chairman had now sought time till April 2005 for finalising the document. "It is a deliberate design to sabotage cricket."

"With unprofessional people who have no clue about the game running the affairs and no accountability whatsoever, our cricket is fast headed for the graveyard." He alleged that there were reports that top PCB officials who appointed their "relatives" in the PCB while Director Marketing Zahid Bashir was still being paid around Rs 100,000 a month despite not being on the job.

Alleging that there was massive corruption, especially in the context of the Pakistan-India series held earlier this year, Enver reiterated that PCB officials be held accountable.

Enver said that in order to rescue Pakistan cricket, Gen Musharraf should bring in professional people to run the game and order that the Board's constitution be finalised within 15 days.

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