ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cricket is at crossroads today mainly due to the involvement of unprofessional people in Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) affairs that include two journalists and some others non-technical officials, former Test pacer Sarfraz Nawaz said on Wednesday.

“Some gamblers and non-professionals who don’t know even the basics of cricket are calling the shots in the PCB which is a shame,” said the firebrand pacer while requesting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as patron of the Board, to resolve the matter urgently to salvage the game.

Addressing a press conference here at National Press Club on Wednesday, Sarfraz said besides non-professionals some former cricketers, who were found guilty in Justice Malik Qayyum Commission report for their involvement in gambling, were running the PCB affairs.

“Under the current set-up Pakistan have lost five consecutive ODI series and are at placed at a poor No.9 in rankings,” he bemoaned and urged the prime minister to disband the present set-up and appoint a technical committee comprising ex-Test cricketers of high repute.

He reckoned that the current PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan being an aged person could not possibly take care of the administration affairs which required constant vigil and visits to cricket centres.

In a strong outburst against ex-chairman Najam Sethi and Shakil Sheikh, Sarfraz said it was widely believed that both the men had formed a sort of mafia in the PCB and were indulging in illegal and negative activities.

“He [Sethi) appointed tainted cricketers in PCB such as Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Moin Khan, Basit Ali who as per the inquiries of Justice (retired) Ejaz Yousuf and Malik Qayyum commissions had been found involved in match fixing,” said Sarfraz.

Sarfraz alleged that Sethi has made huge money through his links with bookies which included an Indian called Mahesh and is also a tax defaulter. “A report of Transparency International clearly states that he (Sethi) is a defaulter of Rs100 million in income tax,” Sarfraz claimed.

Criticising Shakil Sheikh, who is chairman of PCB domestic cricket committee, Sarfraz said the said person has no cricketing background but is earning millions of rupees in the name of cricket by running fake clubs and organising tournaments.

“He [Sheikh] is pocketing a huge salary from the PCB while he is earning huge money by renting out public grounds in Islamabad,” said Sarfraz adding that according to the Supreme Court orders, all grounds are free for public and only CDA is mandated to run these.

“But instead of CDA, Shakil and his men are running several grounds here,” lamented Sarfraz. “They charge up to Rs140,000 per day per ground,” claimed Sarfraz and added that PCB had dished out Rs10 million to Shaakil for installing sprinkles in one of the grounds in Islamabad.

“The PCB gave him Rs10 million for sprinkles, which I believe could be installed by spending a much lesser amount,” he claimed.

Sarfraz further said that PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed, who is a former clerk, also didn’t know any thing about cricket but was holding the key post of Chief Operating Officer (COO).

“This trio, [Sethi, Shakil and Subhan] are there to cover up each other for personal benefits and have formed a mafia in the board,” he lamented. “These people are also involved in depriving the state owned PTV of media rights for cricket series and the prime minister should hold an inquiry into it.”

The trio, Sarfraz claimed, was destroying the game of cricket and causing tremendous and irreparable loss to Pakistan for their personal gains and ulterior motives.

Talking about the revival of cricket in Pakistan, he said the PCB should be appreciated for successfully hosting the series against Zimbabwe.

He, however, said the PCB had failed to cash in on the successful tour by Zimbabwe. “After successfully staging the series against Zimbabwe in Pakistan, the PCB is now going to hold the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the UAE which is nonsensical,” he said.

“Sethi recently withdrew his nomination for ICC presidency on the plea that he wants an ex-cricketer to be given the post. On the other hand, he is not prepared to leave his position in the PCB, which also merits to be filled by a Test cricketer,” Sarfraz contended.

He asserted that the incumbent PCB set-up should be replaced with some outstanding cricketers like Majid Khan, Abdul Qadir, Aamir Sohail, Wasim Bari, Jalaluddin, Salahuddin Sallu, Iqbal Qasim, Javed Miandad and Rashid Latif.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2015

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