Cricket: ‘Leave - no ifs, ands or Butts’

Cricket fraternity opposes tenure extension, demands shake-up of system.

KARACHI:

As the tenure of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt comes to an end, calls to deny him an extension have gained momentum with pundits pleading for a shake-up in order to bring the board back on track.

It has been learnt that the PCB chief is seeking an extension and is looking to take into confidence President Asif Ali Zardari, the board’s patron-in-chief. But former players and PCB officials have stressed for a new man to run the board and concluded that Butt’s three-year stint brought unprecedented miseries.

Butt, a former Test cricketer, replaced Nasim Ashraf as the chairman in October 2008 on direct appointment by the President. During his tenure, Pakistan faced a number of
issues, including the drought of international cricket following a gun attack on the Sri Lankan team in March 2009. The undesirable spot-fixing scandal and Butt’s handling of the issue triggered calls for a ban on Pakistan and his
relations with top cricketers also brought Pakistan cricket into disrepute.

Continuous re-shuffling of PCB officials and appointing the captain on a series-to-
series basis were decisions that were also criticised in Butt’s tenure.

However, a few positives include the World Twenty20 triumph in 2009 and the team’s semi-final run at the World Cup after over a decade, while the board also claimed to have curbed player-power in the team.

‘More wrong than right’

“He should go now,” former PCB chief Khalid Mehmood told The Express Tribune. “We faced a lot of issues during his tenure but the biggest to me is that the PCB has lost its status. The PCB was once the main cricket body in the world but now has no weight.”

Mehmood also dismissed PCB’s claims of curbing player power and remarked that ‘Butt has finished the players’. However, he credited Butt for giving youngsters a chance in the national team.

‘He should have resigned after Lahore attack’

Another former PCB chief Arif Abbasi said Butt should have resigned after the attack on Sri Lankan team.

“His tenure has brought unprecedented shame and if he gets an extension our cricket will get buried.”

Mani wants a changed system

Meanwhile,International Cricket Council’s  former President Ehsan Mani felt that Pakistan cricket desperately needed a change.

“There should be a strong set-up with associations having a dual role,” said Mani. “The problem lies in our system of one-man rule.”

Butt has also not gotten along with former cricketers, with Javed Miandad, the PCB director general, terming 90 per cent of the chairman’s actions flawed. Former captains Imran Khan and Wasim Akram among many others have been also been raising their voices against the PCB policies under Butt.

Khalid Mehmood

“We faced a lot of issues during his tenure but the biggest to me is that the PCB has lost its status. The PCB was once the main cricket body in the world but now has no weight.”



Ehsan Mani

“The real problem lies in our system and the one-man rule should be finished. The facts speak for themselves. We can count a lot of controversies during his tenure. There should be a strong set-up.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st,  2011.