LONDON, Jan 30: Former chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Ehsan Mani has advocated the need for good governance in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as a way towards resolving the crisis facing the organisation.

“The basic element is good governance. If you don’t have good governance from top to bottom, cricket in Pakistan is not going anywhere,” he said in an interview.

His remarks follow a turbulent week in Pakistan cricket with former captain Javed Miandad giving up the director-general’s post after disagreements within the governing body as well as replacement of team captain Shoaib Malik by Younis Khan in the wake of the team’s humiliating 234-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the third One-day International at Lahore which enabled the visitors to win the series by 2-1.

He pointed out that cricket starts at the school and club levels and then works its way up in a structured way. “We seem to have forgotten that. We’ve ignored both school and club cricket and still expect the country to produce state cricketers which will not happen.”

Mani called for a sound grassroots system serving as a nursery and at the higher level he suggested resources for management, educating and mentoring of the players.

Mani was of the view that cricket associations must be free to nominate the head of the board based on his competency in governance.

“The patron by all means should rubber stamp the nomination in case there is someone who is totally unacceptable from the governance point of view and not from the political standpoint. The patron should be a benevolent person and 99 per cent of the time he should accept recommendations of the cricket stake holders.”

Transparency in the board was also essential in this regard, he said, and all appointments must be according to the laid down procedures, rules and regulations.

He expressed his apprehension that Australia will not tour Pakistan in April because of their security concerns. While opposing playing on neutral venues, Mani said that if this trend gained currency, Pakistan will lose out in the long run and find itself being marginalised.

He called for a striking balance saying that if Australia agreed to play in Dubai, they could surely hop over to Karachi for a one-day match and to Lahore as well.

“Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism but this does not mean that the team should stop playing cricket in its own country.”

Mani also criticised the ban placed by the PCB on players appearing in the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) and questioned the wisdom of the board of disallowing the players from playing in domestic competition.

He pointed out that neither England nor Sri Lanka have banned their players from playing domestic matches.

“Why are we supporting India so blindly? India has never supported Pakistan,” he expressed.

Responding to a question, Mani said the PCB must demand through the ICC that India should not mix politics with cricket. “If the Indian government is going to determine the Indian cricket policy, I think the ICC should have serious problems. I did not allow this when I was the ICC chief.”—APP