LAHORE, Sept 15: Former Test opener Ramiz Raja has supported the demand of his colleagues that the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should be a Test cricketer.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, Ramiz said that only a Test cricketer could run the board effectively due to his experience and knowledge of the game.

He said the best man for the post was, of course, Imran Khan and he would advice him to come and serve the country for the betterment of the game.

“The PCB needs a fair leadership to fight the case in the ICC in a more solid manner as the previous management had been taking many U-turn, as there was no consistency in their policies,” he said.

He said a fair leadership by pleading the PCB’s case in a strong way at the ICC level could deal with the current problems the Board was facing in shape of foreign teams’ reluctant to come to Pakistan due to security reasons.

He said no one could sack paceman Shoaib Akhtar from the team if the bowler was fit to play.

AP adds: Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam has urged the country’s cricket board to appoint a new chairman “as soon as possible” to salvage the national team’s international season.

“It’s been almost a month now that the Pakistan Cricket Board is without a chairman, it’s absolutely imperative for the president to announce the chairman as soon as possible,” Intikhab said on Monday.

Dr Nasim Ashraf stood down as PCB chairman on Aug 18 — hours after the resignation of president Pervez Musharraf, who was also the patron of the PCB.

New president Asif Ali Zardari, now patron of the PCB, is yet to decide on who will replace Dr Ashraf and there has been little speculation on prospective candidates in the domestic media.

“Whosoever is appointed, he must have some experience and a recognizable figure in the cricketing fraternity,” Intikhab advised. “It will save precious time of getting along with the officials of other cricket boards.”

Intikhab, a burly leg-spinning all-rounder who led Pakistan in 17 of his 47 Test matches between 1959-77, advised the national players not to skip the domestic cricket season ahead of a series against India in January.

“India have beautifully designed their international calendar, they played against Sri Lanka last month, the Australians are coming there in October, while they will also play against England at home before coming to Pakistan,” Intikhab noted.

The PCB still hopeful the West Indies will travel to Pakistan after playing three One-day Internationals in Dubai. “If the series against the West Indies could not go ahead we would have only few Twenty20 international matches against Sri Lanka, Canada and Zimbabwe in Toronto and three ODIs against the West Indies,” Intikhab said.

“That’s why the only option our cricketers have is that they should not skip the domestic cricket this season for preparation of the series against India.”—AP