LAHORE: Denouncing the current Pakistan cricket regime for what he calls its policy of “pleasing the BCCI” and getting nothing in return, Zaka Ashraf strongly believes the PCB should have appealed the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the Mohammad Hafeez bowling action case.

The PCB, on the other hand, contends the decision (to not appeal the one-year ban imposed on Hafeez by the ICC) was taken because there was no solid grounds to contest the case of the off-spinner who failed the second bio-mechanics test in Chennai recently.

Talking to Dawn, Zaka, the former PCB chairman, reckoned there had been a conspiracy hatched against Pakistan bowlers.

Zaka, in this regard, cited first spin wizard Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action and then that of Hafeez, who had emerged as a premier all-rounder in world cricket, were declared illegal by the ICC right on the eve of the 2015 World Cup.

“The suspensions at that crucial time caused great damage to Pakistan in the mega event,” he underlined.

“It was all conspiracy hatched against Pakistan cricket by the Indian lobby to get two of our key spinners suspended before the World Cup.

“And surprisingly, the PCB preferred to send their bowlers for bio-mechanics test to Chennai despite the fact that the same kind of labs are working in Australia and South Africa also. Though England also has this facility but I have doubt over the results of their lab too,” he added.

Ex-Board chief insists Pakistan should have appealed Hafeez ban

The PCB, Zaka lamented, was taking all possible steps to “please the Indian cricket board”, but despite doing all this the PCB could not get any favourable result from the BCCI.

“The PCB supported the ‘Big Three’, the brainchild of India, but so far in return the PCB has not even received [confirmation of] a bilateral series,” he noted.

Though the BCCI and the PCB last year signed an MoU for six full bilateral series for 2015-2023 (with the first series scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in the UAE in December), only a final green signal in this regard to be given from the Indian government will permit the BCCI to go ahead and honour its commitment.

So far however, there is very little hope for the bilateral cricket series revival, mainly because of political tension between the nuclear-armed neighbour amid intermittent skirmishes along the border and the LoC.

“I don’t know for which benefit the PCB is pleasing the BCCI when the latter has been taking all steps to ruin Pakistan cricket,” said Zaka while urging the PCB to give priority to self-respect at all costs instead of pleasing the BCCI.

Noting Hafeez as Pakistan’s prime all-rounder, Zaka emphasised the PCB should have taken all the steps to get him cleared. But, he rued, the Board simply ignored the services rendered by the seasoned players, and was not even filing an appeal to contest his case.

By appealing for Hafeez, the former PCB chief noted, there would be no further loss to the player, rather the move would create the likelihood for the Board to bring the things back on track.

Meanwhile, a PCB official, when contacted, said that after going through the details of the bio-mechanics test (Hafeez), the Board had reached a consensus that there was no solid ground supporting the PCB to appeal for the bowler.

According to the official, Hafeez during the test in Chennai was repeatedly asked by the lab official to bowl the same deliveries which he had bowled in the (recently held) Galle Test match and reported by the umpires but he did not bowl that delivery.

“The average degree level of Hafeez’s bowling action was 19 against the permissible 15-degree limit,” stated the PCB official.

Chennai, the official added, was selected for both Hafeez and Ajmal because it was the only lab which had cleared many cricketers — including both Hafeez and Ajmal — in the past.

The official further disclosed that Hafeez himself had also suggested Chennai for his bio-mechanics test.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015

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