- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,908
Wasim Khan speaking on SkySports:
"The ECB presented to us a week or so ago on the provisions they are putting in place. We had the relevant people from our side, Misbah-ul-Haq the head coach and also our doctor was on there as well. Look, we were really pleased with everything we heard in terms of all the provisions ECB are putting in place. So the players are chomping at the bit. We are having to keep them back a little bit. As things stand at the moment we are very much looking forward to touring."
"It is a bit of a difficult one because when the West Indies are here we are not going to be following too far behind them. We need a 14 day quarantine period when we get to England and then obviously enough time to practice for the guys so they can be ready. That is a bit of a challenge. We are looking at bringing an extended squad of about 25 players which is more than normal because we've got a T20 series at the end of the Test matches so it's more manageable to bring everyone together. And before that obviously is getting the guys training and getting them together and trying to find a solution really to bring them together and get them ready for the tour. And we are planning that at the moment. We are probably a week away from that."
"The plan is try to bring them together at the national cricket academy in Lahore, so that we can start to get them prepared. There's a programme that is being developed by our medical team in consultation with the ICC in terms of a return to training programme for them. But we are looking at whether we can bring the families as well so we can get everyone tested so they can spend some time with their families. Because 3 months cooped up is going to be pretty tough for the guys. It is something that has been raised. That in itself will be quite a logistical challenge for everybody; families and kids in the national academy during that period of time so lots for us to ponder and certainly a massive challenge for us ahead."
"To be fair to them, they have actually raised that themselves about looking at what things they can put on and how they can support us with the additional numbers that our going to come on tour and the chartered flights etc. We are going to have to discuss with them more deeply over the next week or so, but certainly from our perspective we are probably in a similar situation to the West Indies where it is tough for all of us at the moment and bringing additional numbers, chartered flights all of those things is clearly going to cost quite a bit of money. We are also willing to make some investment from our side like bio secure training camps. We should be doing that anyway over here in Pakistan. Once we get close to touring England we will hopefully have all those things in place and we are very clear about who is picking up the costs."
"Firstly many of them are based in Lahore so they might be a few miles away from their families, but won't able to see them for a month. And then having to disappear for 2 months after that [will be tough]. At the moment, the players are open [to this]. They trust us that we are going to do what is right for them. We certainly will do that and won't be jeopardizing their health and well being for the sake of cricket. We want cricket to be played, but not at all costs. Our medical team is talking to the ECB medical team on a weekly basis so we can understand how the situation is changing. We are also going to need government clearance from both sides to make sure before we can actually plan this out correctly, but the players are pretty much putting it in our hands and saying we trust you, and for our part we will keep them informed on a regular basis."
"The way we are planning is to get to England by early July so that we can get the quarantine period done. If they can practice during that time, it would be great. If not, then at least we get the 14 days done and it gives us 2 and a half weeks before the first Test Match to give the guys time to prepare. We are told there are going to be 2 venues but we haven't been told which venues these will be. We are also going to get a 3rd venue which is going to be our base purely for us to use during our time in England. I would suspect with hotel accommodation nearby on on the ground"
"Tom Harrison came over to Pakistan in September with one of the Board directors, and we made a decision that it will be a series of small steps to be taken - there is a lot of cricket to be played between now and 2022"
"I have had this question raised a few times that has there been a deal cut (between the boards), all I say is look the simple fact is and the genuine answer is that we need to get cricket back on again, and now is probably not the time to leverage anything"
"I think naturally things will take their course over the next 2 years, we have a lot of home series which will hopefully go well and will be run successfully, and that will give more confidence to the likes of Australia and England who are due to tour in 2022"
"This is really about getting cricket back on again; the cricketers want to play the game; I think its important for the global game as well that we actually start bringing a level of normalcy back to playing cricket again, whatever that might look like over the next 6-12 months"
"Our offices have been closed now for 7-8 weeks. There was some full lockdown and now it has been moved to a partial lockdown. It is a real dilemma for the Prime Minister. We've got 30% of the population that live under the poverty line. A lot of those guys are daily workers. You get daily wages for going out working, putting bread on the table for the families so it is a serious issue. There are people sat in both camps. It has been very challenging for Imran to try and work out what is the best thing to do and I think he's taken more of a humanitarian viewpoint that actually people going hungry is going to be far worse for the country and then what they are trying to do is put measures in place. There have been 20,000 Covid-19 cases reported and just over 1000 deaths. You never quite know what the real situation is. I guess because there is such a high level of illiteracy rate in Pakistan. I keep hearing people saying its not a serious issue/disease."
"Three months leading into the job I was told politics and cricket are definitely going to mix so you need to get used to it. It has been a real challenge to deal with all of that. One of the first things we had to do was look at the domestic structure. Our PM had been very vocal about going down the Australian system of having 6 teams/provinces. And that was the first thing I had to get my teeth stuck into because the work had already started on that. We set a goal of trying to get international Test Cricket back to Pakistan within a year and also trying to get the whole of the PSL back to Pakistan because it was running in the UAE."
"The perception out there still existed about Pakistan being unsafe because of what happened in 2009 with Sri Lanka. We needed to draw on the players who had already been over here because word of mouth from them was a lot stronger than the CEO telling them that it was safe."
Women's Cricket:
"What I found is very little value was placed on women's cricket. Cricketers themselves didn't expect a lot because not a lot had been done over the years. All of the domestic women's cricket now earn money which makes a huge difference in allowing them to play. We previously had an all male selection panel which has changed. 3 former women's players with an average age of 32 have taken over as selectors. Women now fly business class for anything over 5 hours like the men."
"The ECB presented to us a week or so ago on the provisions they are putting in place. We had the relevant people from our side, Misbah-ul-Haq the head coach and also our doctor was on there as well. Look, we were really pleased with everything we heard in terms of all the provisions ECB are putting in place. So the players are chomping at the bit. We are having to keep them back a little bit. As things stand at the moment we are very much looking forward to touring."
"It is a bit of a difficult one because when the West Indies are here we are not going to be following too far behind them. We need a 14 day quarantine period when we get to England and then obviously enough time to practice for the guys so they can be ready. That is a bit of a challenge. We are looking at bringing an extended squad of about 25 players which is more than normal because we've got a T20 series at the end of the Test matches so it's more manageable to bring everyone together. And before that obviously is getting the guys training and getting them together and trying to find a solution really to bring them together and get them ready for the tour. And we are planning that at the moment. We are probably a week away from that."
"The plan is try to bring them together at the national cricket academy in Lahore, so that we can start to get them prepared. There's a programme that is being developed by our medical team in consultation with the ICC in terms of a return to training programme for them. But we are looking at whether we can bring the families as well so we can get everyone tested so they can spend some time with their families. Because 3 months cooped up is going to be pretty tough for the guys. It is something that has been raised. That in itself will be quite a logistical challenge for everybody; families and kids in the national academy during that period of time so lots for us to ponder and certainly a massive challenge for us ahead."
"To be fair to them, they have actually raised that themselves about looking at what things they can put on and how they can support us with the additional numbers that our going to come on tour and the chartered flights etc. We are going to have to discuss with them more deeply over the next week or so, but certainly from our perspective we are probably in a similar situation to the West Indies where it is tough for all of us at the moment and bringing additional numbers, chartered flights all of those things is clearly going to cost quite a bit of money. We are also willing to make some investment from our side like bio secure training camps. We should be doing that anyway over here in Pakistan. Once we get close to touring England we will hopefully have all those things in place and we are very clear about who is picking up the costs."
"Firstly many of them are based in Lahore so they might be a few miles away from their families, but won't able to see them for a month. And then having to disappear for 2 months after that [will be tough]. At the moment, the players are open [to this]. They trust us that we are going to do what is right for them. We certainly will do that and won't be jeopardizing their health and well being for the sake of cricket. We want cricket to be played, but not at all costs. Our medical team is talking to the ECB medical team on a weekly basis so we can understand how the situation is changing. We are also going to need government clearance from both sides to make sure before we can actually plan this out correctly, but the players are pretty much putting it in our hands and saying we trust you, and for our part we will keep them informed on a regular basis."
"The way we are planning is to get to England by early July so that we can get the quarantine period done. If they can practice during that time, it would be great. If not, then at least we get the 14 days done and it gives us 2 and a half weeks before the first Test Match to give the guys time to prepare. We are told there are going to be 2 venues but we haven't been told which venues these will be. We are also going to get a 3rd venue which is going to be our base purely for us to use during our time in England. I would suspect with hotel accommodation nearby on on the ground"
"Tom Harrison came over to Pakistan in September with one of the Board directors, and we made a decision that it will be a series of small steps to be taken - there is a lot of cricket to be played between now and 2022"
"I have had this question raised a few times that has there been a deal cut (between the boards), all I say is look the simple fact is and the genuine answer is that we need to get cricket back on again, and now is probably not the time to leverage anything"
"I think naturally things will take their course over the next 2 years, we have a lot of home series which will hopefully go well and will be run successfully, and that will give more confidence to the likes of Australia and England who are due to tour in 2022"
"This is really about getting cricket back on again; the cricketers want to play the game; I think its important for the global game as well that we actually start bringing a level of normalcy back to playing cricket again, whatever that might look like over the next 6-12 months"
"Our offices have been closed now for 7-8 weeks. There was some full lockdown and now it has been moved to a partial lockdown. It is a real dilemma for the Prime Minister. We've got 30% of the population that live under the poverty line. A lot of those guys are daily workers. You get daily wages for going out working, putting bread on the table for the families so it is a serious issue. There are people sat in both camps. It has been very challenging for Imran to try and work out what is the best thing to do and I think he's taken more of a humanitarian viewpoint that actually people going hungry is going to be far worse for the country and then what they are trying to do is put measures in place. There have been 20,000 Covid-19 cases reported and just over 1000 deaths. You never quite know what the real situation is. I guess because there is such a high level of illiteracy rate in Pakistan. I keep hearing people saying its not a serious issue/disease."
"Three months leading into the job I was told politics and cricket are definitely going to mix so you need to get used to it. It has been a real challenge to deal with all of that. One of the first things we had to do was look at the domestic structure. Our PM had been very vocal about going down the Australian system of having 6 teams/provinces. And that was the first thing I had to get my teeth stuck into because the work had already started on that. We set a goal of trying to get international Test Cricket back to Pakistan within a year and also trying to get the whole of the PSL back to Pakistan because it was running in the UAE."
"The perception out there still existed about Pakistan being unsafe because of what happened in 2009 with Sri Lanka. We needed to draw on the players who had already been over here because word of mouth from them was a lot stronger than the CEO telling them that it was safe."
Women's Cricket:
"What I found is very little value was placed on women's cricket. Cricketers themselves didn't expect a lot because not a lot had been done over the years. All of the domestic women's cricket now earn money which makes a huge difference in allowing them to play. We previously had an all male selection panel which has changed. 3 former women's players with an average age of 32 have taken over as selectors. Women now fly business class for anything over 5 hours like the men."
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