Pakistan Cricket Fails again
By Arshad Shami
Phoenix, Arizona
Ever since Ijaz Butt, a former wicket keeper batsman of Pakistan, took over the chairmanship of Pakistan Cricket Board, the game has failed to find its bearing and has been shaken to the hilt. Ijaz Butt, who played his first international match against MCC under my captainship in 1956, rose to gain a place in the Pakistan team that toured the West Indies. He heads Servis Industries, the manufacturers of quality shoes, is related to the current Defense Minister of Pakistan and has been made the chairman of the Board.
Butt has been associated with Pakistan cricket for several years but one never hoped that as Chairman of the Board he would become highly controversial and dictatorial. During his three-year reign he has disposed off four captains, the last being mercurial Shahid Khan Afridi, who welded a weak and young side into fighting whole and restored team morale and discipline. His efforts to rebuild the team bore fruit only to see Butt sacking him as captain and appointing middle-order batsman Misbah ul Haq in his place.
It is surprising that he persuaded Mohammad Yousuf to take over the captaincy of the team for the twin tour of New Zealand and Australia two years back only to remove him from captaincy and drop him from the team altogether. Yousuf announced his retirement from cricket as a result but later was brought back for the series against England only to be dumped once again!
Earlier, successful captain Younis Khan was also deposed as captain and forced to stay away from the team only to be recalled. He was unjustly treated and had announced he will not play for the country again. He has however been brought back and has proved a success as usual. He had helped Pakistan win the T-20 championship before being dropped as captain.
Another all-rounder Shoaib Malik was dumped earlier and has now been forgotten altogether. As luck would have it another young promising cricketer and opening batsman, Salman Butt, was made captain following Shahid Afridi’s decision to step down as test captain and was able to steer the team to victory over Australia and England but then he fell prey to the machinations of the bookmakers and along side two more young fast bowlers - Asif and Ammar - were caught in what is called a spot-fixing incident. This jolted the team and it looked that it will not recover from this shock.
The three have been banned from cricket for five to ten years and are facing trial. The Board has done nothing to salvage their honor and prestige but all the three have been left in a lurch to face the consequences themselves. This left the team without any solid base and at this juncture Shahid Afridi, who was made captain for one day cricket and T-20 version of the game, steered the team to great heights and ultimately led it to play the semi-finals of the World Cup, which was a rare achievement at that time. He himself proved the most successful bowler taking the highest number of wickets in the tournament. The team performed quite well though it was composed of new comers. It was Shahid’s tactical handling of the team that helped it achieve the distinction.
He was then made captain for the one day series against the West Indies while Misbah was made his deputy for the series and captain for the test matches. What transpired in the West Indies that culminated in the dumping of Shahid Afridi as captain for the later series? Afridi has been left out of the team and Misbah has been made captain of test and one day matches. Afridi helped the team win the five match one day and T-20 series against the West Indies before being replaced.
Shahid Afridi, it is reported, developed some differences with the team coach which resulted in his replacement as captain for the series against Zimbabwe. Earlier, the Board Chairman had acted strangely when he refused to name any captain for the one day world cup series. It was only a week before the start of the competition that Afridi was ultimately named captain after the matter had been discussed and raised in the media and by cricket fans, who protested.
The latest row between the Board and Shahid Afridi ended suddenly after both the parties blamed each other and Shahid was fined Rupees 50 lacs for breaking the PBC code of conduct by giving a statement about his removal as captain. Afridi then filed a case in the Lahore High Court but the matter was settled suddenly out of court and Afridi was issued no objection to play for English County.
It is beyond my comprehension that Ijaz Butt, having the experience of international cricket and being the head of one of the largest shoe-making companies should behave in such irresponsible fashion. He is acting as a dictator and has even removed many officials besides cricketers, as he is whimsical and self-centered.
Many attempts made by senior former cricketers have failed to remove Ijaz Butt, who only the other day declared that he was not appointed for three years and will not step down as Chairman in October of this year as has been reported in the Press. He belongs to a very powerful lobby and fought pitched battles with other former celebrities including Javed Miandad, Saleem Altaf and a host of others who have suffered at his hands and have been removed or given no authority in the Board.
Another sad aspect of cricket affairs is that during his tenure as Chairman almost all the cricket playing countries have refused to send their teams to Pakistan, because of security reasons. Sri Lanka agreed to play in Pakistan when India refused to send its team. The Sri Lankans were about to finish their tour when their bus was attacked in Lahore by terrorists, injuring few Sri Lankan cricketers and killing some of the security guards. The terrorists then made good their escape. The team left without completing the tour. The Board has not been able to salvage its reputation ever since. It is a pity that Pakistan cricket team now has to play its international matches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or in Sri Lanka.
The cricket grounds and stadia in Pakistan have been deserted as no foreign team has visited Pakistan and the country even lost the right to host 16 matches of the World Cup which were shifted to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka instead. The fans in Pakistan have had no international matches and most of the grounds now look deserted.
During the chairmanship of Butt the old grounds and stadia have been left unattended and no new ground has been added. The old ones have had no matches played on them. There is no national plan to improve the game and help new talented cricketers to serve the country.
The grounds in Bahawalpur, Multan, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Hyderabad and several other places have been almost abandoned.
It is however important and imperative that the Cricket Board is democratized and the Chairman and other officials of the Board are elected by popular vote. Without this the game of cricket cannot survive and we may lose a number of young and promising cricketers forever.
Cricket should be free from politics and the President should act immediately to restore the prestige of the game and the Board
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