KARACHI, 19 December 2003 — The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan has come up with a sensible way to avoid being the one to bell the cat in the present cricket structure left by his predecessor Tauqir Zia and at the same time run the cricket affairs on his own terms.
The 69-year-old former career-diplomat told his first news conference in Lahore on Wednesday that the reputed Lahore University of Business Management (LUMS) had been asked to carry out a research study on the board and submit a paper on whether changes were required in the structure or it should continue in same manner.
“LUMS will carry out a complete study of the requirements of the board, the needed manpower, departments etc. It will be on their report on the working of the board that I will decide whether changes need to be made, the employees need to be reduced or increased etc,” Shaharyar said.
Shaharyar also made it clear that he would not be rushing into doing things.
The fact that so far he has avoided making any changes to the present set up means he had made up his mind to maintain a status quo until the Indian series is over before embarking on his vision of how Pakistan cricket should be run. That President Pervaz Musharraf has given him a term until the 2007 World Cup means he is not short on time.
But Shaharyar did indicate at the news conference that he was not happy with the present system of selection and the level of discipline in the team. He pointed out that there was need for separate senior and junior selection committees as one committee could not be expected to do all the work. He also expressed surprise that in the last few months there have been number of cases of one-match players for Pakistan which was an indication that there was need for more consistency in the selection process. “On discipline there will be no compromise. No player is bigger than the nation,” he said an apparent reference to the favored treatment given to some players by his predecessor.
Meanwhile, the last act by the former Chairman of the PCB, Lt. Gen. (retd) Tauqir Zia before he left his post was to implement a promotion policy for the employees of the board.
Tauqir Zia on his final day in office as Chairman signed a notification making all contractual employees, working for five or more than five years, of the board.
“Tauqir in the notification has set a policy for the board wherein a contracted employee of the Board, on completion of five years of service, would automatically be made permanent unless there was a report against him by his immediate superior,” a board source said.
