Why Pakistan Cricket has hit rock bottom – the fall and a possible resurgence (Part 1)
When players, coaches and administration often complain about the scathing criticism that they have to face quite often, the scrutiny is definitely called for.
It is the same Pakistani cricket fans, who have elevated their players to a pedestal, and naturally they have high and sometimes even unreasonable expectations from their players. What matters the most at the end of the day, is
to accept defeat and learn from past mistakes.
Unfortunately the culture prevalent today in Pakistan cricket is anything but, and any form of criticism is directly seen as an attack on their integrity.
Pakistan has often lacked the maturity to represent itself with reassuring grace and confident demeanour during international tours. The few players, who have managed to do that for Pakistan have all been invariably products of
the international counties. Namely Zaheer Abbas, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis have all benefited from playing in England.
Most of my ramblings revolve around Pakistan cricket, however I do not limit myself to that. To be honest, while I was doing a report on the selection of the England squad for the Ashes, what hurt me the most was the fact that England
due to their strong domestic system has been on the whole fair to their domestic players. While Pakistan nourished and developed a system over the years, that sees many talented players fade into oblivion without ever making it into the national side.
The plague hit Pakistan cricket not so long ago and since then many have attempted to change the domestic cricket structure of Pakistan. As much as the Pakistani’s and many in the media hate General Pervez Musharraf and his self
imposed martial law, his appointment of General Tauqir Zia as the chairman of the PCB did not prove to be entirely wrong. For it so happened, that his own son Junaid Zia had been playing domestic first class cricket for quite some time and hence the chairman
was aware of the need for reform.
In 2003 Tauqir Zia proposed a completely new region based domestic structure, which was partly designed on the lines of the recommendation of the cricketer turned politician, Imran Khan.
Khan has been vocal about the lack of a domestic structure many times in the past as well, however, due to his rigid stance many in the government and the higher echelons of power are wary of his political influence that strongly
criticizes their lavish and extravagant way of life.
While Tauqir Zia unveiled the new plan under consensus with the department heads of the PCB, and to be fair, PCB’s 2005 vision was the sole attempt at bringing the domestic cricketing structure at par with the international level.
According to the vision 2005 plan, sponsors were asked to directly fund the regions. Provinces were divided into approximately eight regions, with one team each from Balochistan and NWFP, two teams from Sindh, and four teams from
the densely populated Punjab.
For the first time in the history of the domestic cricket structure, first class cricketers were promised wages of approximately 350 to 400 dollars each, which roughly converted into 20 to 25,000 Pakistani rupees at that time.
Given the other expenditures of the PCB, a meagre increase of 45 million rupees did not amount much back then to create a solid base for the establishment of the domestic cricket structure in Pakistan.
With the spot fixing controversy and the suspension of the Pakistan players by the ICC due to the allegations of corruption, Pakistan cricket team was left with a void. A void which was created by the suspension of Amir and Asif,
who were without an Iota of doubt the eventual replacement of the two Ws in the Pakistan side.
Normally, such a void is filled up quite easily by other cricketing boards. We have in front of us the example of the ECB, who could not care less when Andrew Flintoff retired, or when Ryan Sidebottom offered his retirement despite
being only 32.
(Continued in part 2…)
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