KARACHI: Pakistan’s cricket authorities on Wednesday rejected a series of recommendations proposed by a special task force appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to help put the sport back on track in this country.Terming a comprehensive report prepared by ICC’s Pakistan Task Force as a ‘scholarly exercise’, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) urged for a more ‘Pakistan specific’ blueprint from the force that includes a number of leading cricketing personalities.In a lengthy statement issued on Wednesday, PCB questioned the credibility of the report saying that the PTT members did not even care to visit the country before finalising it“The entire report has been prepared without PTT ever visiting Pakistan (except for a brief chat of a few hours that David Richardson had with a few ex-players during his visit to Karachi in January 2011 or perhaps some input to PTT from Ramiz),” said the statement referring to Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan Test opener who is a PTT member.“This raises serious questions on the observations given in the report,” said the statement.According to a PCB official, a detailed response to the 38-page PTT has been sent to the ICC.The PCB has raised serious objection on the PTT’s move to question political interference in the Board, claiming that unique circumstances in Pakistan justifies it.The PTT report had expressed reservations on the authority of the President of Pakistan in appointment of the Chairman PCB and members of Governing Board.PCB’s response states, “The circumstances in Pakistan are unique and cricket administration requires and deserves government support without which international cricket may not be able to return to Pakistan. Keeping in view the extraordinary security situation in the country, having the President as Patron of PCB adds tremendous value and comfort.PCB also believes that the PTT should do more about reviving the iconic Pakistan-India series instead of just talking about the importance of the event.Whereas the Indian government issued favorable statements regarding resumption of cricketing ties between the two countries, but it seems that BCCI is still awaiting formal signal from its government in this regard. We feel that perhaps PTT/ICC should have taken a lead role in ensuring that all bilateral tour commitments are honoured by India vis-‡-vis Pakistan. We do not have anything to suggest on record that PTT/ICC made any efforts to engage with BCCI or the Government of India in this regard,” said PCB.On PTT’s observation regarding role of Mike Brearley and Greg Chappel, PCB states, “while we appreciate that Mike Brearley and Greg Chappell were made Ambassadors to support Pakistan cricket, we are yet to observe any endeavors from their side. Although with their standing in international cricket, they could have gone a long way in supporting cricket in Pakistan. We still welcome them to come to Pakistan and expect that they will now play a proactive role in supporting return of international cricket in Pakistan.”The PCB has also rejected PTT’s criticism over selection matters. In its report, PTT suggested that the national selection committee should be independent.“Regrettably, PTT did not meet the Chairman of Selection Committee to get his views. The process of selection is such that the selectors finalise a team which is sent to Chairman PCB for his formal approval.In case there are any queries with regard to any player, the same is sent back to the Selection Committee for their comments and it is entirely up to the Selection Committee to finalise the squad. They in fact sign the final squad before submitting the same to Chairman PCB for his formal approval.“We therefore feel that the recommendations of PTT that Chairman PCB has the right of veto are not based on facts. The process of selection is a time tested one and has worked for Pakistan. It ensures that there are proper checks and balances in selection matters. The view that there is interference in the selection matters is therefore factually incorrect devoid of reality and henceforth rejected.”PCB has also disagreed with PTT’s proposal that the national selection committee should have more say in the appointment of team captain.“We respectfully disagree with this recommendation. In Pakistan the system of selecting a captain is different. No reason has been given by PTT in support of its recommendation that Selection Committee is the best judge of who the captain of Pakistan should be? If this recommendation is based on what other countries follow it may not work for Pakistan. Again the authority to nominate the captain has been delegated by the Governing Board to the Chairman.”The Board also shrugged off PTT’s suggestion that Pakistan should appoint a regular manager, stressing that such a move won’t work in Pakistan.“These recommendations are probably given by PTT as ‘best business practice’ rather than Pakistan specific. To our knowledge, there are other countries that nominate managers on tour-by-tour basis and the system works well for them. Same in the case with other support staff who is appointed by the Boards. In the absence of any plausible argument in favor of change, such recommendations cannot be accepted nor implemented.”Commenting on the PCB response, Board chief Ijaz Butt said: “I am grateful to the PTT for their work. While the intent cannot be questioned, few discrepancies can be identified in the report, which PCB consider duty-bound to rectify. I wish to reiterate the assurance of ICC to us that recommendations in the report are not directives to PCB and that it is entirely up to PCB to accept and implement these. Having consulted members of our Board of Governors, we decided to send a detailed response to ICC. I hope that it will be taken in a positive spirit.
