A tale of one chair and two men

PCB struggling to put its house in order even at such a crucial stage.

KARACHI: While cricket boards around the world prepare for the potentially decisive International Cricket Council (ICC) Executive Board meeting this week, Pakistan Cricket Board  (PCB) is struggling to put its house in order even at such a crucial stage.

A day before the crucial meeting of the governing body, the PCB roped in newly elected Fata Cricket Association member along with representatives from two departments Wapda and Habib Bank as Chairman Zaka Ashraf hoped to garner support for his stance on the ICC reforms presented through a position paper by the England, Australian and Indian cricket boards last week in Dubai.

Ashraf and the Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed announced after the meeting that the Board rejects the reforms proposal and besides consulting nations opposing the plan requests an audience from the Patron of the Board Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

An official close to the government though claimed that various options were being assessed on ousting Ashraf and while he may represent the PCB in the February 8 meeting of the ICC Executive Board in Singapore he is not in for the long haul.

A pertinent move in this regard was made last Friday when a Statutory Regulatory Order was issued to notify that the new Patron of the PCB is the Prime Minister.

The notification was made in compliance with Islamabad High Court orders, and significantly the SRO declares PM the Patron of the Board from October 14, 2013.

After the issuance of the notification, Ashraf’s predecessor Najam Sethi can return to power if the Interim Management Committee is reinstated, but he himself would need to conjure support both in and outside the country. Interestingly, while Ashraf made repeated pleas for a meeting with the Prime Minister, Sethi met Nawaz Sharif on Monday.

Like Ashraf, Sethi is also batting on a sticky wicket after he drew ICC’s ire for his comments on the ‘Big Three’ in his TV show on a private channel.

If he is reinstated, he would have to dig in deep to resurrect the situation, for now though there seem no imminent and straightforward answers for the PCB despite a potentially game changing environment in the ICC.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2014.