ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has appointed an interim management committee (IMC) to supersede the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in order to reorganise Pakistan’s cricket structure.

The IMC will be headed by Najam Sethi and includes former PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan and former test captain Zaheer Abbas.

Sharif made the decision in view of the current constitutional and legal issues surrounding the PCB.

“The IMC will be in force for 90 days and will be responsible for performing day-to-day domestic and international functions for the promotion of the game in line with the directions of the Court,” the government said in a statement.

PM made PCB patron-in-chief

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was made the patron-in-chief of the PCB, a position formerly held by the president of the country.

The decision to give the ad-hoc committee control of the game’s administration is an apparent an effort to end months of turmoil.

The PCB ran into trouble in May this year when a court suspended chairman Zaka Ashraf after complaints about the procedure for his election.

Veteran journalist Sethi took over as interim chairman but he too fell foul of the courts which gave October 18 given as the deadline to the PCB to hold fresh elections. Another judgement severely curtailed the interim chief's powers.

The PCB is appealing against the second court ruling but in the meantime has set up a five-man committee to run the game pending another hearing.

The PCB has mostly been run by ad-hoc committees since its inception in 1948, but a proper board structure was set up in 2007.

The president has traditionally been the board patron and has had responsibility for appointing the PCB chairman.

The procedure has been contentious and earlier this year the board was forced to introduce a new constitution after the International Cricket Council (ICC) ordered an end to political interference.