- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,864
Many thanks to [MENTION=1269]Bewal Express[/MENTION] for his very comprehensive answers to our member questions
==
PakPassion.net: What does Bewal Express mean? Is this the area where you grew up, tell us the story behind this name?
Bewal Express: I was born in Bewal near Gujar Khan in North Punjab. My dad’s side of the family have been there for over 150 years, and Mums side of the family came from Mirpur and some of my distant relatives still live in AJK today. My dad was from a very poor family- essentially, they were subsistence farmers but without enough land to feed the family. When he was young, my grandad died on a farm somewhere near Multan. My died started to work at a very young age and went to Burma in the 1940s and came back to Pakistan at independence and joined the Pakistan army and when he retired in the late 1950s, he left to go to Britain and became a factory worker in the Midlands. I was 8, when I came to the UK.
PakPassion.net: Will Ramiz Raja's tenure as PCB Chairman be counted as success in the future?
Bewal Express: There is an old saying that Institutions have memories, and the institutional memory of the PCB is one of inertia and easy living. We have blundered along for decades with Generals, Politicians, ex cricketers and Bureaucrats as heads but the essential problem haven’t been tackled and that is that PCB is about PR and not tackling the deep, underlying issues that have bedevilled Pakistan cricket since I was child. First and foremost, the PCB has been seen as gravy train and something to be milked. Then the terrible neglect of the domestic setup has led to poor infrastructure (it was heart breaking to see the state of the Hyderabad stadium) and the appalling standard of cricket that has been allowed to go untouched for decades.
In my view if Ramiz is to be a success, he needs to sack the guys looking only at pay packets and have no passion for Pakistan cricket. It goes without saying that is a huge task, and the vested interests will fight tooth and nail to keep their privileges. We need people in the PCB that have a zeal for Pakistan cricket. If Ramiz is to leave a positive legacy, I want to see visible change in the standard of domestic cricket- the starting point for this is better wickets, which will have a very positive knock affect on the standard of the domestic cricketers we produce, and this will eventually lead to a consistently good Pakistan team. I want to see more grounds being developed in the smaller towns. Even if some of this is done, then he will leave a positive legacy. Ramiz means well and I am desperate for him to do well but the Jury is out
PakPassion.net: Where did Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan go wrong - or did they go wrong?
Bewal Express: This is a difficult question, and I am not sure they did go wrong. It may not have been their idea but they introduced and new setup and so far the signs are positive. For the 1st time that I can remember, I watched domestic games of a decent quality. I even watched QA trophy final over the SA- Ind test. And the development of the likes of Huraira & Haider was heartening to see. It is also fair to say that change to the setup didn’t work as far Misbah was concerned because he wasn’t the right man for that job and that left Pakistan team in a confused state- he didn’t do anything bad, but he had little overall impact as far as improving results was concerned. But its difficult to know who the skills levels would have to take control of the national team, where even a defeat in a Pointless T20 game is seen as a national crisis.
PakPassion.net: Your views on Rameez Raja's stance on corrupt players?
Bewal Express: Totally agree, Pakistan cricket has had the trauma of match/spot fixing for a 4 decades. I remember the defeat to Aus in the 87 WC and the accusations that followed and this carried on into the 90s and the destruction of a potentially great team by suspicions and accusations. The whole thing was brought to a new low with the trio and their betrayal of Pakistan cricket and its people. I think linked to this is the poor pay, poor conditions and a lack of security our players feel and Ramiz must also address this. Our players need to be paid properly and given security
PakPassion.net: Your views on Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the socialist way of governance he wanted to bring. Was that a good idea?
Bewal Express: When I was growing up in the 80s, I was very anti Thatcher and very pro-Labour under Kinnock. Socialism seemed very attractive and but the more I began to understand, the more centrist I became. ZAB was man of his time and his socialism seemed to be response to the oligarchy that ruled Pakistan in the 60s under Ayub Khan and the dominance of the 20 families. With the benefit of Hindsight, it had a destructive effect on the Pakistan economy because the politicians and bureaucrats used the nationalised industries to milk the state. What he should have done is to tackle the crony capitalism that existed under Ayub Khan with tougher regulations and forced breakups of monopolies.
PakPassion.net: Do overseas deserve to vote? Don’t you think it’s a tactic by the government to win the election after losing support?
Bewal Express: Simple answer is that if you have Pakistan passport then yes, if you don’t then No. I have NADRA Card, so someone like me shouldn’t have the vote. The govt knows it has huge support and goodwill amongst Pakistanis abroad but in my opinion its mistaken if it thinks it will win because of this vote. Most Desis I know don’t vote and I would expect the turn out to be pretty low amongst this group. It may be different in the ME but here in the UK, the turnout will be low.
PakPassion.net: 2028, the class of 85 retires. No Imran, Zardari or Nawaz or Shehbaz. New faces are to emerge. How important do you think those elections will be and who would likely emerge as the new face of politics?
Bewal Express: It’s a sad fact that our politics is dominated by Dynastic families and name recognition. I think the next election will be even more important because if the PPP and PML win, we will be set back by years. Quite simply- they have nothing but dynasties to offer and that works with rural areas in Punjab and Sindh but it doesn’t move the country forward.
Looking forward to 2028, From the PTI point of view, I like the look of Asad Umar, and I hope he comes to the fore. I hope Bilawal (and I know I take the mickey out of him) throws off the corrupt shackles of his father, Auntie and party and actually shows leadership because the PPP will be around(In Sindh at least) and we need it to be progressive and clean. I am not sure who will be leading the PML by then, but if it is, as expected Maryam, then we have will have some serious instability because she isn’t very intelligent and she will take revenge on anyone that has slighted her in any way or form. When I look around the PML, I don’t see leaders, I see followers but for Pakistan’s sake, we need clean leaders from the PML to come forth.
PakPassion.net: You seem to possess quite an introspective and self-critical personality - what experiences in your life and profession have driven this mentality?
Bewal Express: From a young age I lacked self-confidence, and everyone always seemed to be better than me. As I came to the UK late, my English took a long time to get to any meaningful standard. So, when it came to exams, I was never quite there but there was another side of me that didn’t like getting beaten by anyone. So this led me to work harder and harder and although it worked moderately well at the GCSE level, it worked very well at the A level. My A levels shocked my teachers and my family. It’s something that I often talk to my students about, and over the years, I have had some real success stories especially mentoring kids about being ambitious and challenging themselves to be the very best they can be. There have been several students that have gone onto the Russell group Universities.
PakPassion.net: What are the traits for an ideal head coach in modern day cricket given your apparent dislike for their role as convenient shields for players?
Bewal Express: Before I start this question, I need to add that I am not against coaches at the age group levels, where I think they can add value.
You often see international coaches looking glum and concerned when a team has done badly because its part of their job description. But no cricket team has been made by a great by a coach. For me the most important person is the captain, a good captain becomes everything people expect from the coach- leadership, relationships, planning etc. And if you look at all the top teams throughout history, they have a great leader, at least 2 great bowlers and at least 2 great batsmen. Would have Australia been great without John Buchanan, yes off course, and the Aussie teams of the 70s and the Windies of the 80s didn’t even have a coach. It may that the pressure on captains is too much and the stress needs to be shared out to avoid burnout.
My criticism is that most coaches are ineffective at the higher levels and the reason for that is that know a little about each aspect of the game but not they aren’t really experts in any. So, this raises the obvious question- how do you improve players. For me players improve when they are desperate to improve, if they have the motivation, they need facilities and the experts in that area if they want it. Coaches get paid good money, but it’s more of a PR thing but are the alternatives any better? Will anyone dare go against the grain and just go back to the bygone era
PakPassion.net: How can we improve the technical skillsets of rookie fast bowlers coming through the youth system?
Bewal Express: Most people on the forum will tell when something isn’t right with a young fast bowler, but the difficult part is the solution. Once young bowlers are identified they I would urge the use of video analysis as the most effective method of improvement. Telling someone verbally isn’t as effective as showing them on screen and then using the footage to review and improve. One of the things I saw at the age county level was the hours of work they did on getting the coil as a method of increasing pace. It certainly helped to add 2 or 3 miles to the pace of the bowlers.
PakPassion.net: In your view why did Pakistan stagnate and fail to build on the success of the 1992 World Cup?
Bewal Express: After the ‘92 World Cup we had a chance not only challenge the Windies but to become better than them. And many things went wrong, firstly the players became too powerful and the PCB didn’t have the authority to pull them back. The player power led to groupings based around Wasim and Waqar and their petty jealousies destroyed the team. In the midst of this pathetic battle was the match fixing allegations and scandal and the players not only came to hate each other, they were suspicious of each other. The idea of the team totally broke down and it was each man for himself. For those of us that witnessed this debacle, it was heart breaking.
PakPassion.net: You often mention your interaction with players. Please tell us your best and worst interaction with a cricketer you met?
Bewal Express: Over the years I have met with many players, and I have to say that the overwhelming have been positive. At the age groups I felt that Umar Amin and Azhar Attari were the 2 nicest and Mohammed Amir, who spoke Pothwari like me, seemed quite aloof. Out of the Pros, I felt Saqlain was the nicest and seeing his finger (which looked like a dog had chewed it) straight after a county match made his decline understable. I met both the Flower brothers and they were nice and enjoyed the banter. The Ali brothers were always polite and took time time to talk to you. I got to know Jack Haynes well, and he is a lovely lad. In more recent times Tom Banton had a real arrogance about him, maybe buoyed by his early success but his dad was nice.
PakPassion.net: Do you think Mohammad Amir shot himself in the foot for blaming the team management?
Bewal Express: Amir wanted the management to back him 100% because he felt he had enough credit in the bank. As his form dipped, he seemed to be getting angrier but the anger he showed should have been more directed at his own form, but he didn’t, and I agree he shot himself in the foot. There seemed to be a lack of communication from both sides, and it has ended well for him. Neither the coaches nor Amir came out well.
PakPassion.net: Do you think the Azeem Rafiq episode will lead to positive changes in English cricket?
Bewal Express: I have come across many players and parents that felt that county cricket never gave then a fair crack of the whip because of latent racism. My own experience as parent were mixed- I felt the bias wasn’t racial it was more class based with private school kids given preferential treatment. I hope the perception that the Asian community have of counties is changed and the only way that will happen is if County coaches talk to desis like they do to middle class parents. I would like to see the coaches go into clubs with large desi contingents and work with players and break down barriers.
PakPassion.net: You seem to be very vocal regarding issue of Pakistani cricketers ages - What mandatory setup would you put in to cancel this out.
Bewal Express: This is an issue as old as I can remember. My solution isn’t a cheap one but every time a player gets chosen for Pakistan U19, the PCB actually do a background check. If you ask people about Amir in the Gujar Khan they can tell that he is older than stated and they know that because of his schooling. It isn’t going to solve all the issues, but players will start to think twice.
==
PakPassion.net: What does Bewal Express mean? Is this the area where you grew up, tell us the story behind this name?
Bewal Express: I was born in Bewal near Gujar Khan in North Punjab. My dad’s side of the family have been there for over 150 years, and Mums side of the family came from Mirpur and some of my distant relatives still live in AJK today. My dad was from a very poor family- essentially, they were subsistence farmers but without enough land to feed the family. When he was young, my grandad died on a farm somewhere near Multan. My died started to work at a very young age and went to Burma in the 1940s and came back to Pakistan at independence and joined the Pakistan army and when he retired in the late 1950s, he left to go to Britain and became a factory worker in the Midlands. I was 8, when I came to the UK.
PakPassion.net: Will Ramiz Raja's tenure as PCB Chairman be counted as success in the future?
Bewal Express: There is an old saying that Institutions have memories, and the institutional memory of the PCB is one of inertia and easy living. We have blundered along for decades with Generals, Politicians, ex cricketers and Bureaucrats as heads but the essential problem haven’t been tackled and that is that PCB is about PR and not tackling the deep, underlying issues that have bedevilled Pakistan cricket since I was child. First and foremost, the PCB has been seen as gravy train and something to be milked. Then the terrible neglect of the domestic setup has led to poor infrastructure (it was heart breaking to see the state of the Hyderabad stadium) and the appalling standard of cricket that has been allowed to go untouched for decades.
In my view if Ramiz is to be a success, he needs to sack the guys looking only at pay packets and have no passion for Pakistan cricket. It goes without saying that is a huge task, and the vested interests will fight tooth and nail to keep their privileges. We need people in the PCB that have a zeal for Pakistan cricket. If Ramiz is to leave a positive legacy, I want to see visible change in the standard of domestic cricket- the starting point for this is better wickets, which will have a very positive knock affect on the standard of the domestic cricketers we produce, and this will eventually lead to a consistently good Pakistan team. I want to see more grounds being developed in the smaller towns. Even if some of this is done, then he will leave a positive legacy. Ramiz means well and I am desperate for him to do well but the Jury is out
PakPassion.net: Where did Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan go wrong - or did they go wrong?
Bewal Express: This is a difficult question, and I am not sure they did go wrong. It may not have been their idea but they introduced and new setup and so far the signs are positive. For the 1st time that I can remember, I watched domestic games of a decent quality. I even watched QA trophy final over the SA- Ind test. And the development of the likes of Huraira & Haider was heartening to see. It is also fair to say that change to the setup didn’t work as far Misbah was concerned because he wasn’t the right man for that job and that left Pakistan team in a confused state- he didn’t do anything bad, but he had little overall impact as far as improving results was concerned. But its difficult to know who the skills levels would have to take control of the national team, where even a defeat in a Pointless T20 game is seen as a national crisis.
PakPassion.net: Your views on Rameez Raja's stance on corrupt players?
Bewal Express: Totally agree, Pakistan cricket has had the trauma of match/spot fixing for a 4 decades. I remember the defeat to Aus in the 87 WC and the accusations that followed and this carried on into the 90s and the destruction of a potentially great team by suspicions and accusations. The whole thing was brought to a new low with the trio and their betrayal of Pakistan cricket and its people. I think linked to this is the poor pay, poor conditions and a lack of security our players feel and Ramiz must also address this. Our players need to be paid properly and given security
PakPassion.net: Your views on Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the socialist way of governance he wanted to bring. Was that a good idea?
Bewal Express: When I was growing up in the 80s, I was very anti Thatcher and very pro-Labour under Kinnock. Socialism seemed very attractive and but the more I began to understand, the more centrist I became. ZAB was man of his time and his socialism seemed to be response to the oligarchy that ruled Pakistan in the 60s under Ayub Khan and the dominance of the 20 families. With the benefit of Hindsight, it had a destructive effect on the Pakistan economy because the politicians and bureaucrats used the nationalised industries to milk the state. What he should have done is to tackle the crony capitalism that existed under Ayub Khan with tougher regulations and forced breakups of monopolies.
PakPassion.net: Do overseas deserve to vote? Don’t you think it’s a tactic by the government to win the election after losing support?
Bewal Express: Simple answer is that if you have Pakistan passport then yes, if you don’t then No. I have NADRA Card, so someone like me shouldn’t have the vote. The govt knows it has huge support and goodwill amongst Pakistanis abroad but in my opinion its mistaken if it thinks it will win because of this vote. Most Desis I know don’t vote and I would expect the turn out to be pretty low amongst this group. It may be different in the ME but here in the UK, the turnout will be low.
PakPassion.net: 2028, the class of 85 retires. No Imran, Zardari or Nawaz or Shehbaz. New faces are to emerge. How important do you think those elections will be and who would likely emerge as the new face of politics?
Bewal Express: It’s a sad fact that our politics is dominated by Dynastic families and name recognition. I think the next election will be even more important because if the PPP and PML win, we will be set back by years. Quite simply- they have nothing but dynasties to offer and that works with rural areas in Punjab and Sindh but it doesn’t move the country forward.
Looking forward to 2028, From the PTI point of view, I like the look of Asad Umar, and I hope he comes to the fore. I hope Bilawal (and I know I take the mickey out of him) throws off the corrupt shackles of his father, Auntie and party and actually shows leadership because the PPP will be around(In Sindh at least) and we need it to be progressive and clean. I am not sure who will be leading the PML by then, but if it is, as expected Maryam, then we have will have some serious instability because she isn’t very intelligent and she will take revenge on anyone that has slighted her in any way or form. When I look around the PML, I don’t see leaders, I see followers but for Pakistan’s sake, we need clean leaders from the PML to come forth.
PakPassion.net: You seem to possess quite an introspective and self-critical personality - what experiences in your life and profession have driven this mentality?
Bewal Express: From a young age I lacked self-confidence, and everyone always seemed to be better than me. As I came to the UK late, my English took a long time to get to any meaningful standard. So, when it came to exams, I was never quite there but there was another side of me that didn’t like getting beaten by anyone. So this led me to work harder and harder and although it worked moderately well at the GCSE level, it worked very well at the A level. My A levels shocked my teachers and my family. It’s something that I often talk to my students about, and over the years, I have had some real success stories especially mentoring kids about being ambitious and challenging themselves to be the very best they can be. There have been several students that have gone onto the Russell group Universities.
PakPassion.net: What are the traits for an ideal head coach in modern day cricket given your apparent dislike for their role as convenient shields for players?
Bewal Express: Before I start this question, I need to add that I am not against coaches at the age group levels, where I think they can add value.
You often see international coaches looking glum and concerned when a team has done badly because its part of their job description. But no cricket team has been made by a great by a coach. For me the most important person is the captain, a good captain becomes everything people expect from the coach- leadership, relationships, planning etc. And if you look at all the top teams throughout history, they have a great leader, at least 2 great bowlers and at least 2 great batsmen. Would have Australia been great without John Buchanan, yes off course, and the Aussie teams of the 70s and the Windies of the 80s didn’t even have a coach. It may that the pressure on captains is too much and the stress needs to be shared out to avoid burnout.
My criticism is that most coaches are ineffective at the higher levels and the reason for that is that know a little about each aspect of the game but not they aren’t really experts in any. So, this raises the obvious question- how do you improve players. For me players improve when they are desperate to improve, if they have the motivation, they need facilities and the experts in that area if they want it. Coaches get paid good money, but it’s more of a PR thing but are the alternatives any better? Will anyone dare go against the grain and just go back to the bygone era
PakPassion.net: How can we improve the technical skillsets of rookie fast bowlers coming through the youth system?
Bewal Express: Most people on the forum will tell when something isn’t right with a young fast bowler, but the difficult part is the solution. Once young bowlers are identified they I would urge the use of video analysis as the most effective method of improvement. Telling someone verbally isn’t as effective as showing them on screen and then using the footage to review and improve. One of the things I saw at the age county level was the hours of work they did on getting the coil as a method of increasing pace. It certainly helped to add 2 or 3 miles to the pace of the bowlers.
PakPassion.net: In your view why did Pakistan stagnate and fail to build on the success of the 1992 World Cup?
Bewal Express: After the ‘92 World Cup we had a chance not only challenge the Windies but to become better than them. And many things went wrong, firstly the players became too powerful and the PCB didn’t have the authority to pull them back. The player power led to groupings based around Wasim and Waqar and their petty jealousies destroyed the team. In the midst of this pathetic battle was the match fixing allegations and scandal and the players not only came to hate each other, they were suspicious of each other. The idea of the team totally broke down and it was each man for himself. For those of us that witnessed this debacle, it was heart breaking.
PakPassion.net: You often mention your interaction with players. Please tell us your best and worst interaction with a cricketer you met?
Bewal Express: Over the years I have met with many players, and I have to say that the overwhelming have been positive. At the age groups I felt that Umar Amin and Azhar Attari were the 2 nicest and Mohammed Amir, who spoke Pothwari like me, seemed quite aloof. Out of the Pros, I felt Saqlain was the nicest and seeing his finger (which looked like a dog had chewed it) straight after a county match made his decline understable. I met both the Flower brothers and they were nice and enjoyed the banter. The Ali brothers were always polite and took time time to talk to you. I got to know Jack Haynes well, and he is a lovely lad. In more recent times Tom Banton had a real arrogance about him, maybe buoyed by his early success but his dad was nice.
PakPassion.net: Do you think Mohammad Amir shot himself in the foot for blaming the team management?
Bewal Express: Amir wanted the management to back him 100% because he felt he had enough credit in the bank. As his form dipped, he seemed to be getting angrier but the anger he showed should have been more directed at his own form, but he didn’t, and I agree he shot himself in the foot. There seemed to be a lack of communication from both sides, and it has ended well for him. Neither the coaches nor Amir came out well.
PakPassion.net: Do you think the Azeem Rafiq episode will lead to positive changes in English cricket?
Bewal Express: I have come across many players and parents that felt that county cricket never gave then a fair crack of the whip because of latent racism. My own experience as parent were mixed- I felt the bias wasn’t racial it was more class based with private school kids given preferential treatment. I hope the perception that the Asian community have of counties is changed and the only way that will happen is if County coaches talk to desis like they do to middle class parents. I would like to see the coaches go into clubs with large desi contingents and work with players and break down barriers.
PakPassion.net: You seem to be very vocal regarding issue of Pakistani cricketers ages - What mandatory setup would you put in to cancel this out.
Bewal Express: This is an issue as old as I can remember. My solution isn’t a cheap one but every time a player gets chosen for Pakistan U19, the PCB actually do a background check. If you ask people about Amir in the Gujar Khan they can tell that he is older than stated and they know that because of his schooling. It isn’t going to solve all the issues, but players will start to think twice.
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