A YEAR ago one of the most devastating earthquakes hit South Asia, especially Pakistan. Almost one year on, Pakistan has been jolted by another disaster of great magnitude, this time in the cricketing arena.

Fans of the Pakistan cricket team and lovers of the game are at a total loss to comprehend the nature of this fiasco which was, apparently, triggered by Younis Khan’s sudden resignation. But for those keenly involved with the game in Pakistan, there is a definite background to it.

About 12 years ago, Pakistani cricket got shook up by two major incidents: the match fixing scandal and the player-revolt against Wasim Akram which came about in 1994 following the inexplicable axing of the legendary Javed Miandad and Aaqib Javed from then tour of New Zealand. The players met and together with Miandad and Aaqib decided to revolt against Wasim whose behaviour with his fellow players was quite inappropriate and high-handed at the time.

However, once things got sorted out, the performance of Pakistan cricket team sky-rocketed to such levels, it was rated among the best ever outfits to have represented the country in its 55-year history of the game.

Now, once again, Pakistan cricket has landed up in serious crises. This time, though, the revolt is not against any player, it is against the system of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

For the sincere followers of Pakistan cricket, the crisis confronting the game today is truly a painful one.

It is a shame that, while the PCB set-up of 2006 is considered one of the most resourceful ever, Pakistan, unfortunately, does not even boast a single cricket stadium of international standard. There is no firm and consistent domestic cricket structure in place. And to make things worse, the high officials of PCB continue to show less respect to players who are the main performers on the field.

Younis Khan, being a most straight forward person in his dealings, has naturally been feeling the pinch of it all in the recent years. And, finally, he stood up for it. It was high time someone took that stance. He has taken the right step at the right time – some fifteen one day matches before World Cup 2007.

Players who sweat for the country on the field need to be respected. They are, instead, provoked and rubbed the wrong way by the board. To begin with, no official press release was issued by PCB on the appointment of Younis as captain. It was only through one of statements made by Inzamam to the media after Oval inquiry that people go to know about Younis being appointed as the new captain. PCB failed to make a formal announcement and that was indeed disrespectful to Younis and the bunch of players he was going to lead on the field in the mega event in India.

The PCB is being run by people who have almost reached the conventional age of retirement. Unfortunately, they lack fresh ideas and the zeal to take cricket to the next positive level. The norm in the world’s corporate sector is that the CEOs are appointed between the ages of 40 and 55 and this is what PCB needs today.

Also, the PCB does not have a proper marketing department for looking after the most popular game in the region. That is why it has given out contracts without any legal study or systematic approach. For instance, without any bidding, the clothing contract has been given to Slazenger. Nothing against Slazenger, but why doesn’t the PCB follow proper procurement procedures for such a move?

Then, from a purely cricketing point of view, there are problems in the selection committee. There are dummy selectors who depend on the captain and the board chairman to point out the budding cricketers to them since they do not watch domestic matches for judging the true mettle of upcoming players.

To top it all, everything goes to the patron-in-chief, the President of Pakistan, for approval. Rather than a think-tank looking closely at all aspects of cricket and considering fresh and diversified plans for improvement, all kinds of decisions are forwarded by chairman of PCB and are just given the blessings.

Shaharyar Khan is a nice gentleman but not good enough for Pakistan cricket. Better sense has finally prevailed with him and he has taken the right decision to step down.

Coming back to Younis, he played most of his early cricket at the Malir Gymkhana Cricket Club in Karachi. It was a time when the metropolis was going through great turmoil and many problems existed between the establishment forces of Pakistan and the Mohajirs.

There were times when Younis used to reach the cricket ground dodging showers of bullets. It was his resolve not to be scared by the tense atmosphere and to continue learning the different aspects of the game he loved: He often practiced for hours in the dimly-lit alleys of Karachi with taped tennis ball. It was such single-minded pursuit of the game that eventually paid off for Younis and brought him all the glory in recent times.

He has clearly explained to all and sundry that he has no wish to be captain. He, magnanimously, stated upon team’s arrival in India that it would be good if Pakistan could win its first four games in the Champions Trophy and he would willingly hand over the captaincy to his cricketing hero Inzamam-ul-Haq for the final.

It must be understood in its true spirit that Younis refused the captaincy to make sure the players get their due respect from the board officials and they should not accept their high-handed attitudes. For him, respect is more important than the captaincy, or any other thing for that matter.

This was evident in him gracefully accepting the honour of leading Pakistan to India after chairman Shaharyar’s resignation and after he was approached in the correct manner.

Another factor that underlined Younis’ high character were his last two lines at the press conference upon reaching India: "I don't think I have a long career. I think, maybe I will play for another two or three years, certainly not ten. I want to do well in that short period of time."

Sincerity and respect is all what the players ask for in Pakistan cricket. With that in place, there is no stopping the charged brigade. Past is an evidence that after every hardship, there is prosperity. The future of Pakistan cricket is bright and there is no doubt that the Pakistan team will be performing tremendous feats in the months and years to come.

The writer is a former cricket captain of Pakistan