Chairman off to meet the ECB

PCB chief and legal advisor to meet ECB and clear the air following English players’ decision to demand an apology.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt will be leaving for England today along with the board’s legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi to meet the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and clear the air following English players’ decision to demand an apology over match-fixing remarks.

The visit, according to the details received by The Express Tribune, is aimed at resolving the differences that have developed between the two boards and the players, following the PCB chairman’s ill-advised comments blaming England players that attracted severe criticism from various quarters.

The ECB, while rejecting Ijaz’s accusations, sent a letter to the PCB on behalf of the players demanding an apology and threatening with a legal case if their demand was not met.

It is believed that the demands had changed, according to a letter from the English solicitors directed at PCB’s London lawyers, Addleshaw Goddard, and asked for a response to the demands.

Yawar’s tenure comes to an end

The Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed has confirmed that he will not continue his role as the team’s manager in the future with the tumultuous tour of England being his last.

The 75-year-old has been serving the national team for the last 26 years and stepped down as the manager after last year’s Champions Trophy in South Africa.

Subsequently, former Test cricketer Abdul Raqeeb replaced Saeed as the team’s manager but only for the series against New Zealand and the fateful tour of Australia earlier this year before being replaced by Saeed yet again when he went to the West Indies for the 2010 World Twenty20, and the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka that preceded the tour of England.

“Saeed met with the PCB chairman and requested to be relieved of his duties as manager,” PCB General Manger Media Nadeem Sarwar told reporters at the Gaddafi Stadium.

“The chairman has agreed to his request and the board will announce a new manager in due course.”

Saeed, heavily criticised for his handling of the team amid spot-fixing allegations, is likely to be replaced by Pakistan’s associate manager and former selector Shafqat Rana who was also relieved of his duties following Pakistan’s semi-final exit in the Champions Trophy against New Zealand last October.

Saeed, a close friend of the PCB chairman, was Pakistan’s manager last year when the team lifted the World Twenty20 title at Lord’s, beating Sri Lanka in the final.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2010.