The
Cricket Column
Caesar
and Caesar’s Wife, Where in Hell Are You?
By
Zafar Altaf
LAST
WEEK I had written on the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) action
in respect of the World Cup debacle. As I write this the PCB and
the national cricket team has turned the corner. It is now on
a winning spree. Javed Miandad, the national coach, as well as
the selectors have done a good job.
The
Karachi test is in turmoil and I cannot understand why Yousaf
Youhana has been dropped. Was it that the player was not fit?
The reason seems to be mind boggling because if you are to groom
youngsters in the team then there is no one better than the senior.
Ask Hanif who would drop down the batting order to help Mushtaq
and then Mushtaq did the same kind of chaperoning for Sadiq Muhammad.
They
might have done it for their own but the system was right and
the hands on experience essential. The performance of Inzimam
in the Third Test against Bangladesh proved that. PCB is going
great guns.
In a recent answer to a National Assembly question that was put
to the PCB, many things have been revealed. The question by Ghani
Talpur was not static but dynamic. The PCB was asked whether there
were any stadiums under its control and the answer came that besides
some there were efforts at acquiring more stadia including the
Rawalpindi one. The real import of the question was not understood.
The question was in fact to help the PCB into getting on with
the game and trying to develop the scale of the game where it
can be enjoyed by all and sundry.
It
is now established that countries doing well in sports are also
the ones that have managed the lives of their citizens well. Knowing
MNA Ghani Talpur and his interest in sports I was a bit surprised
at the answer. It seems that the PCB sees a nigger in every woodpile.
The
sub-question was about the composition of the Board. Now that
could mean one of two things and the lesser of the two evils has
been accepted. The composition of the Executive Board, a one man
show, has been shown. Salaried persons working in the board have
not been indicated. Since General Tauqir is a one man ad hoc committee
he will bear the entire responsibility for what will happen to
cricket in Pakistan.
Ad-hocracy
is important in the corporate sector and allows for interventions
that normal rules and regulations do not allow. The mantle that
he has chosen as a one man ad hoc committee is different. It allows
for not unfettered discretion but a fettering that is much more
difficult to handle. The censorship system is dependent on the
inner core. That inner core is missing in the context of cricket
because he has not played at that level. The advantage of others
is that there is a collective responsibility. The extra weight
of a fault is divided and better actions take place. The benefit
to cricket is differently organized.
May
I say that no President has ever enjoyed any perks nor any salary.
In fact Mr. Mohammad Hussain paid out of his own pocket. Skipper
Kardar was a thing apart. Neither did they use the cars what to
speak of more than one car. Why more cars and why all the benefits
that are paid for by the boys. The way the seniors have been treated
the proverbial golden goose has been slaughtered.
The
punch line was when he was asked whether any public representative
was on the board. The answer in the negative indicates the inability
to understand questions and the public spirit in which these were
asked. Since they were coming from a member of the NA every one
went defensive. The questions in future, I would suggest to Ghani
Talpur should be more detailed and comprehensive.
How have board assets been diverted? Money earned by the boys
has been spent without recourse to any kind of obligations. That
money can and will dry up sooner than you think. That no resources
were taken from the Government of Pakistan means that the money
was earned by the boys. Why not say so specifically.
The
team is on a downward trend and that is serious business for it
means that the rest of the team minus the senior player will have
no charisma so far as the public is concerned. There are serious
cases of commission and the tragedy is that to the acts of commission
are added or superimposed the acts of omission.
The game as such is in double jeopardy through no fault of the
players. The NRB should look in to this and decide how to manage
the affairs. It is better for the few to be organized democratically
and therefore this act should be in the proper forum.
The
last time I visited the question –answer session I had realized
what a mess the board was in. Let us examine the answer to the
question then. You would recall that the tour debacle was then
under consideration. Fine. What did happen? We know that Waqar,
Wasim and other seniors were found wanting in tactical and technical
analysis.
If
the boys with so many years of play did not have that tactical
experience what and who will do it for them. Well. The Manager
and coach were there. They should have sent chits onto the ground.
Socrates and Descartes were there. If this did not work they should
have gone on to the field as one manager did when Javed Burki
was the captain on an England tour. Someone then asked the manager,
who was a polo player, whether he knew the difference between
a chukker [that was the time when the chukking controversy was
in vogue] and a (polo) chakkar.
For
bouncers he was given to referring to ‘High balls’
[The manager liked to drink]. We have had so many bloomers in
cricket and these follow a distinct pattern. They come in with
the demise of democracy. No one has looked at the connection between
sports and the democratic process. The tragedy is that the spasmodic
efforts at trying to make it more democratic [if there is such
a thing] are thwarted by the interest groups.
The problem of tactical failures has been resolved by the elimination
of senior players. Now what does it take to make players senior.
If you have the experienced players suffer pray how will you make
them perform. How will innocent creative people deliver? Is there
such a thing as inexperienced player? I will tell you what will
happen to this team if today it goes to Australia. Let us not
be naïve for this country has very few happy moments.
Bribery
has been at the forefront for what does the current board know
about the players of the 1952 vintage? The PCB is in fact honoring
them [even those who need not be so honored] to keep them quiet.
Every now and then these dead prima donnas are brought out of
the closet to hide the skeletons of the current lot.
It
is true that once the playing days are over the players, especially
of yesteryears, suffer from the trauma of not being recognized.
I remember Kardar had a heart attack at Calcutta while covering
the Indo-Pakistan series. The people of Calcutta and children
at that time came in thousands to honor him and the elder visitors
narrated his exploits as Captain of Pakistan cricket team.
Can any one do this for Lala Amarnath in Pakistan? That is where
sport travels beyond local boundaries. It was at Australia that
I requested Sir Donald Bradman to come to our nets. He said but
he was an Australian. I countered by saying that he had transcended
his nationality and he now belonged to cricket. He came to our
nets for three running days. Such is the level of cricket that
it does away with parochialism. Here we have a PCB that relishes
in rubbishing its own players.
Cricket
has much to teach. But if you have a gambling brother make sure
that he does not take away the hard earned money of the boys.
Kababjis cannot lose 150,000 rupees of their own money in one
day. The PCB was not set up for pleasure of the bosses. It was
to organize what is left of the game. Caesar and Caesar’s
wife where are you? Maybe you can give some hope to the people
of Pakistan and through these kind of gladiators.
Let us not take selection procedures for then I will have much
to say. The entire current lot that have relished in the current
series will have their baptism by fire. Will they survive? Saeed
Anwar was given that baptism by fire and he had a pair to start
with and look he satisfied our faith in him.
Let
me hope that the players who we have and who have done well in
the home series against Bangladesh will be equally at home in
England or Australia. Life for the batsman is slightly more cumbersome
there. The Chief Selector has it in him and knows the difference.
More
on cricket and what it takes to be a cricketer and especially
a batsman, next time. Happy gambling and happy pleasures to those
who have not earned anything themselves. Parasite I am but should
I be a predator. Wish me luck.
The
writer has been Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, Secretary of
the Board, Manager Pakistan Cricket Team and Chairman of Selection Committee
