All talk, little action by PCB

If you want them to come and play here then give them some incentives not another press conference!

Bilal Ahmad October 22, 2012
Despite a series of lengthy, tall claims, it wasn’t the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that was able to invite foreign players to tour Pakistan.

Every time the return of top-flight international cricket is mentioned, the board has been quick to deliver the clichés that has made covering press conferences such a monotonous task at times.

Regardless of their boring, good-for-nothing statements, some action did take place at the National Stadium, Karachi.

The fact that it was due to another official is another matter.

While the exhibition matches, held over the weekend, may have been the first crawling steps towards the revival, staging high-profile fixtures and hosting star international players just cannot take place without sincere efforts by the PCB. I say sincere in the wake of the PCB’s failure to even host Bangladesh despite supporting their cricket board chief’s nomination to the ICC vice-presidency.

Convincing players to tour Pakistan – which is still unsafe in my opinion – needs to be done by the board that, in turn, needs the support of the government and security agencies.

For any player to even consider playing in Pakistan at the moment, there needs to be an incentive. Right now, there is nothing that would entice them to come to the country — no obligation to their respective boards, not enough money, very little or no guarantee of safety.

If you want them to come and play here just in good faith – for the revival of international cricket in a country that has given the sporting world so much to cheer about – then a reality check may be in order.

Throw some money around and jazz up your house, run around to make sure the house is in order and take everyone (security agencies, government, sports stars) on-board before you plan on having a party in your backyard.

Just don’t hold another press conference and repeat the same thing. We’ve listened to it and now we’re sick of it.

Read more by Bilal here
WRITTEN BY:
Bilal Ahmad Designation: Sub-Editor English Paper Department: Business
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (3)

EduGuides | 11 years ago | Reply A good article. Lots of planning is required before a successful Pakistan Premier League can take place
Emad | 11 years ago | Reply Couldn't agree more. It's very easy, isn't it, to turn up on the second of the two matches, and say 'This couldn't have been possible without PCB's support'. Yes, that was our very "modest" PCB chairman, who shamelessly tried putting the PCB's stamp on the matches. In reality, the PCB's only contribution to these matches was their rejection to support the initiative. This was just one of the many wrongdoings of our cricket board, who in my opinion, are the reason why our cricket's never really risen to the top for over a decade now.
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