Establishing Domestic Commentators as Associate Selectors

[Thunderbolt14]

I wonder about potential avenues of expanding the reach and scouting capabilities of the PCB’s selection committee.

One of the biggest hurdles is that the Chief Selector does not always have the time to watch every single cricketer in depth (although ultimately this is what they should ideally be doing) - hence, under the current model, regional coaches ranging from Mohammad Wasim to Abdul Razzaq are part of the selection committee and are also responsible for the names that they put forward.

However, I note that these regional coaches are primarily in charge of their own teams, and therefore it is not always possible for them to do a proper informed recommendation of a given player - for example, Mohammad Wasim cannot be expected to watch through every minute of Saud Shakeel’s innings, although Basit Ali might be - so when it comes to the selection panel, comparative discussions are difficult. Did Saud Shakeel perform better than Imran Butt (beyond statistics)? Difficult to say!

But there are trained personalities with an understanding of the game who ARE watching every minute of every innings - folks like Sana Mir, Tariq Saeed, and Sikandar Bakht, why not rope them in as “associate selectors” or “scouts” and have them provide reports on their observations of the games?

I feel there is a lot of synergy to be had here, as the increased attention to detail augments their own insights as commentators, and in return at little extra effort the PCB has an additional, trusted set of opinions from already-hired employees. You can bump their salary any arbitrary amount to account for this, the return on investment is vastly greater regardless. I am sure these commentators already have complex and well-defined opinions after having watched hours and hours of domestic cricket for months on end, per year. Just getting those opinions out of their heads onto paper for the selectors to parse through can be invaluable.

An out of the box solution but potentially a very efficacious one, in terms of costs, operational efficiency, and selection output.

 

[MenInG]

We've had rumours like that before but having biased individuals as selectors is dangerous - which is usually the case with media guys.

 

[BigShak]

Or even possibly some of the umpires? I know Aleem Dar offered his services a few years ago as an option to assist with the selection committee. Someone who's seen the best around the world from the best seat in the house wouldn't be a bad option as a scout.

 

[shariqnoor]

When 3 Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches are on at the same time like they are at the moment, the commentators are also just watching 1 game which is being televised. So they are also no better than the regional coaches.

While I agree that players need to be selected by looking beyond their numbers, the fact remains that numbers still remain the number 1 criteria for selection all over the world. There is no point in looking at a 35 run average batsman even if he looks like he possesses a million dollar technique and temperament.

Looking beyond statistics only come into play when you have many batsmen ranging from 45 to 50 average. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not possess much players that average between 45 and 50. Abdullah Shafique has had a strong start to his domestic career and has already been identified so there's no need for additional people to look at him. Same with Saud Shakeel.

Pakistan is not blessed with any raging talent so for me selectors are more or less redundant. Even I can pick up a squad right now which will do no better or worse than the current team. Selectors job becomes only an important one when the talent pool is immense, like it is in England and India right now.

Right now, maybe making Babar chief selector would be a better decision.

If you really need selectors that could make a difference to Pakistan cricket, have selectors at the school level. Maybe you will find some great talent there because the domestic setup is littered with mediocrity.

 

[Markhor]

It's definitely a problem that our chief selectors have either been unable or unwilling to watch domestic cricket. One would've thought with now only six teams opposed to 16+ regions and departments that it would be easier to follow but selections are still being made on basis of favouritism and no attention is being paid to the numbers. Otherwise likes of Faheem Ashraf and Musa Khan wouldn't keep making the squad.

However I think this suggestion introduces a conflict of interest because can the commentators then be impartial about the players they're commentating on ?

 

[JibranAnsari]

selectors only job is to watch the domestic players , get footages or whatever they get. They are paid hefty sum for this job , this isnt an excuse that they do not have time.