http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128: We have succeeded in lessening player power in Pakistan
The often maligned Chairman of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt has claimed that he and his administration have succeeded in crushing player power in Pakistani cricket set-up.
Butt, who was speaking to a leading newspaper in the country, added that he had done a lot of work towards the accomplishment of the goal and wants to carry on in the same vein in the remaining months of his three-year tenure that
ends in October this year.
He added that, compared to management of the past, his regime has done the needful as far as elimination of one of the perennial problems of Pakistan cricket was concerned.
The ageing Chairman added that he can assure the fans of the game that player power, which was present in the past, does not exist in the national team at the moment and strict action has been taken in this regard.
Over the course of the last two years, many of the leading players have been banned or suspended for disciplinary reasons. Almost all players, barring pacer Rana Naveed, have made a return to the national fold as the punishments were
either reversed or lessened soon after, however Butt thinks that the message had been sent out.
"To crush player power, I penalized even prominent players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122 without showing any reluctance which in the past had damaged the team spirit," he said. "An undisciplined person,
whether he is an official or player, will face punishment at the end of the tour."
The former test cricketer added that he has overseen a great growth in financial strength of the Board in his reign and that was a major achievement that ought not to be overlooked by his detractors who were keen on bringing him down
all the time.
Pakistan cricket has been besieged with an avalanche of problems off late. No international side has toured the country since the horrific Lahore attacks on Sri Lankan cricketers and team management outside the Gaddafi stadium in
March 2009. As a result, the 2011 World Cup was taken away, but according to the Board Supremo, the financial condition of the organization has improved and the reserves have increased to Rs. 3.2 billion ($37.7 million).
"We achieved this despite playing our home series at neutral venues," he said. "The PCB was financially weak with the reserves of Rs1.6 billion ($ 18.8 million) when I took over the charge and it owed over Rs1 billion ($ 11.7 million)
to different parties."
Meanwhile the nearby future is set to be another challenge for Butt and his staff, Pakistan cricket looks set to be on another collision course following the tiff between One Day captain Shahid Afridi and the coach of the team Waqar
Younis.
The two reportedly had a serious argument on the composition of the team during the ODI series against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, Afridi threatened to quit the team yet better sense prevailed after the intervention of the team manager Intikhab
Alam and senior players, and the passionate Pathan went out to lead the team.
On the other hand, Chief Selector Mohsin Khan has been involved in a tiff with his fellow selectors and the team management also; only on the intervention of Ijaz Butt did he agree to continue his work at the helm of the selection
committee.
The next few days are set to decide what is in store for Butt and co.
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