PCB's history of gross mismanagement has to end

[RedwoodOriginal]

There is this myth among followers Pakistan cricket and many posters on this board that Najam Sethi's tenure was a very beneficial one for Pakistan cricket. While it's important to laud his efforts to bring international cricket back to Pakistan and improve the PSL it's also important to look at how ineffectively he has run the PCB by appointing people who were not only grossly incompetent but have a history of failures. Something that has been a continuation of previously equally inept PCB administrations.

The first person that comes to mind is Naila Bhatti, the PCB director of marketing. A woman so unqualified for such a high-profile job that her appointment appeared on the PCB audit report, underlined in red. Naila Bhatti's background includes a job as a teacher, followed by a job in a telecom company (from which she was fired) which was followed by a major ascend to PCB's marketing head. And all this is keeping in mind that she doesn't even have an MBA degree.

There's Haroon Rasheed. Who we all know very well, a man who is a virtual cancer to Pakistan cricket. Currently he is supposed to be director cricket operations but I doubt there is any position from: coach, manager, chief-selector, director international cricket, director NCA that he hasn't held. And the funny thing is that he has been sacked from almost all these positions, yet continues to find a way to return to the PCB and continue doing absolutely nothing.

Then there's Shakil Sheikh, a corrupt tyrant who has regularly used his connections and power with Rawalpindi and Islamabad cricket association to stay in power. Not only is he dangerously corrupt and incompetent but as president of the Islamabad Cricket Association he is directly to be blamed for the horrendous facilities at the Diamond Cricket Ground. He has even used his influence to get his son selected in the U-19 team.

And there are various other bigwigs within the organization who are either unqualified, incompetent or just pure failures like Usman Wahala, Shafiq Ahmed and Subhan Ahmed. Yet continue to hold on to their jobs hrough their connections and friendships with Mr. Sethi and other influential people. Even our chief-selector who is paid around 15 lac by the PCB, yet you never see him spotting any talent for the PCB. However, when Lahore Qalanders send him a big paycheck he is willing to travel all the way to Kashmir to spot talent. Is this not a gross conflict of interest?

For too long the PCB has been run by these incompetent fools who have done nothing but sink Pakistan cricket further down the rabbit-hole financially and structurally. All of these people who claimed to be Sethi loyalists are now fighting to retain their jobs because when you are qualified only to do a Rs 50,000 job, you try your best to hold onto a Rs 3 lac job. With the appointment of Ehsan Mani, there is hope to end this history of mismanagement. Unlike Sethi, Mani has an extensive background in cricket administration and finance. He knows exactly who is and isn't deserving of a certain job. He also isn't stupid enough to fire them all straight-away to force blow-back on himself. Rather, he is taking his time to assess and evaluate which is making these incompetent big-wigs all the more nervous. The funniest news came from a few days ago when Naila Bhatti reportedly prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the PCB to justify her job.

The really hope is that Mani is successful in making all these structural changes and appointing professionals in these key management positions and sending these others on their way. Only then can be hope for genuine change within our domestic structure and other areas. For more than a decade people have batted an eye to the inefficient running of PCB because they are either unaware of these things or our team dispels the need to look into these things by winning a series or a match. The fact is that these two things are not related and if we need to have any chance of being a top cricketing nation, major structural changes have to be made.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Also important to note that PCB should avoid certain ex-players who seem to have a revolving door that leads them back into the PCB after several years, despite being sacked repeatedly.

Iqbal Qasim, Wasim Bari, Javed Miandad, Moin Khan, Abdul Qadir and Intikhab Alam to name a few.

 

[Kashmiri_Pak_fan]

There is this myth among followers Pakistan cricket and many posters on this board that Najam Sethi's tenure was a very beneficial one for Pakistan cricket. While it's important to laud his efforts to bring international cricket back to Pakistan and improve the PSL it's also important to look at how ineffectively he has run the PCB by appointing people who were not only grossly incompetent but have a history of failures. Something that has been a continuation of previously equally inept PCB administrations.

The first person that comes to mind is Naila Bhatti, the PCB director of marketing. A woman so unqualified for such a high-profile job that her appointment appeared on the PCB audit report, underlined in red. Naila Bhatti's background includes a job as a teacher, followed by a job in a telecom company (from which she was fired) which was followed by a major ascend to PCB's marketing head. And all this is keeping in mind that she doesn't even have an MBA degree.

There's Haroon Rasheed. Who we all know very well, a man who is a virtual cancer to Pakistan cricket. Currently he is supposed to be director cricket operations but I doubt there is any position from: coach, manager, chief-selector, director international cricket, director NCA that he hasn't held. And the funny thing is that he has been sacked from almost all these positions, yet continues to find a way to return to the PCB and continue doing absolutely nothing.

Then there's Shakil Sheikh, a corrupt tyrant who has regularly used his connections and power with Rawalpindi and Islamabad cricket association to stay in power. Not only is he dangerously corrupt and incompetent but as president of the Islamabad Cricket Association he is directly to be blamed for the horrendous facilities at the Diamond Cricket Ground. He has even used his influence to get his son selected in the U-19 team.

And there are various other bigwigs within the organization who are either unqualified, incompetent or just pure failures like Usman Wahala, Shafiq Ahmed and Subhan Ahmed. Yet continue to hold on to their jobs hrough their connections and friendships with Mr. Sethi and other influential people. Even our chief-selector who is paid around 15 lac by the PCB, yet you never see him spotting any talent for the PCB. However, when Lahore Qalanders send him a big paycheck he is willing to travel all the way to Kashmir to spot talent. Is this not a gross conflict of interest?

For too long the PCB has been run by these incompetent fools who have done nothing but sink Pakistan cricket further down the rabbit-hole financially and structurally. All of these people who claimed to be Sethi loyalists are now fighting to retain their jobs because when you are qualified only to do a Rs 50,000 job, you try your best to hold onto a Rs 3 lac job. With the appointment of Ehsan Mani, there is hope to end this history of mismanagement. Unlike Sethi, Mani has an extensive background in cricket administration and finance. He knows exactly who is and isn't deserving of a certain job. He also isn't stupid enough to fire them all straight-away to force blow-back on himself. Rather, he is taking his time to assess and evaluate which is making these incompetent big-wigs all the more nervous. The funniest news came from a few days ago when Naila Bhatti reportedly prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the PCB to justify her job.

The really hope is that Mani is successful in making all these structural changes and appointing professionals in these key management positions and sending these others on their way. Only then can be hope for genuine change within our domestic structure and other areas. For more than a decade people have batted an eye to the inefficient running of PCB because they are either unaware of these things or our team dispels the need to look into these things by winning a series or a match. The fact is that these two things are not related and if we need to have any chance of being a top cricketing nation, major structural changes have to be made.

Yes report is that Mani sb is going to meet IK today or tomorrow and the new appointments will be made next week...old staff will be disbanded from pcb ...so, hope for the best

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Very well said.

 

[Saj]

A very good OP and so true.

Well from what I am hearing Naila Bhatti has already been removed together with a few others and there are more changes to come.

I would add that most of the coaches at the NCA need to be removed also.

 

[ARK Rafay]

The roots are deep. It will take time, but we will see the result.

 

[Pete Rose]

Don’t agree with this.
This reads like water cooler gossip that is usually peddled by third date journalists who have been covering Pakistan cricket forever. They know who they are.
Sethi’s tenure should be judged first and foremost on outcomes while keeping the purity test of zero corruption at bay, considering this is Pakistan cricket.
judged in this light, sethi’s tenure has done good for Pakistan cricket
- Mickey Arthur’s hiring, and the champions trophy win
- the rehabikitation of Pakistan’s odi cricket
- the ability of the psl to cement / showcase new talent for the national team
- multiple tours of Pakistan by foreign teams and players
- inzi as chief selector
- and of course the psl

The one thing that I have very little patience for is the sham concern about domestic cricket structure which every administration wants to campaign on and do nothing about.
Ehsan Mani has very big shoes to fill. Not necessarily because Sethi was the bestest ever, but because there are concrete positives that sethi can point to.
Let’s see what Mani has to offer. It’s always easy to sit on the sidelines and offer advice. What might help Mani is that Pakistan India relations might take a turn for the better.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Don’t agree with this.
This reads like water cooler gossip that is usually peddled by third date journalists who have been covering Pakistan cricket forever. They know who they are.
Sethi’s tenure should be judged first and foremost on outcomes while keeping the purity test of zero corruption at bay, considering this is Pakistan cricket.
judged in this light, sethi’s tenure has done good for Pakistan cricket
- Mickey Arthur’s hiring, and the champions trophy win
- the rehabikitation of Pakistan’s odi cricket
- the ability of the psl to cement / showcase new talent for the national team
- multiple tours of Pakistan by foreign teams and players
- inzi as chief selector
- and of course the psl

The one thing that I have very little patience for is the sham concern about domestic cricket structure which every administration wants to campaign on and do nothing about.
Ehsan Mani has very big shoes to fill. Not necessarily because Sethi was the bestest ever, but because there are concrete positives that sethi can point to.
Let’s see what Mani has to offer. It’s always easy to sit on the sidelines and offer advice. What might help Mani is that Pakistan India relations might take a turn for the better.

Those are some major exaggerations on your part. Your entire argument seems more to be based more on sentiments rather than facts and associating Sethi with the success Pakistan has achieved in the last year doesn't exactly make it his doing. The things Sethi has done are hardly ground-breaking. They are things any half-competent PCB chairman could have done aswell. I already mentioned his role in bringing international cricket back to Pakistan which deserves to be lauded but he has done absolutely nothing to improve domestic cricket which has decayed to unprecedented lows under his watch. The fact that he has added to the culture of nepotism and favoritism within the PCB makes things worse. And the notion that this is Pakistan cricket so it happens is a poor defense of an action that is quite frankly, immoral.

Also:

- Pakistan have tried hiring Mickey before. He declined. Only reason he accepted this time was because his reputation took a hit after the Homework gate fiasco.

- Sethi has absolutely nothing to do with the CT win or rehabilitation of Pakistan's ODI cricket. Mickey probably single-handedly deserves the most credit there. He is the one responsible for instituting the fitness regime, for bringing Rixon on and making Pakistan a professional fielding side and finally for changing the team culture and environment.

- You mentioned PSL twice


You can call this a gossip column. Fair enough. But you completely missed my point if you think outcomes are all that matter. Lack of structure on the domestic level is exactly the reason why Pakistan is not mentioned in the same breath as teams like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and now even India. There is a reason why these teams are known for their professionalism and consistency while Pakistan is known for being mercurial and unpredictable, and time and time again finds itself struggling with the same perennial problems.

Being called unpredictable and mercurial may be a nice thing to hear sometimes but it is also a major insult and being unpredictable does not make you a world-class team. If things stay the way I don't see Pakistan ever becoming a world-class team.

 

[mak36]

Don’t agree with this.
This reads like water cooler gossip that is usually peddled by third date journalists who have been covering Pakistan cricket forever. They know who they are.
Sethi’s tenure should be judged first and foremost on outcomes while keeping the purity test of zero corruption at bay, considering this is Pakistan cricket.
judged in this light, sethi’s tenure has done good for Pakistan cricket
- Mickey Arthur’s hiring, and the champions trophy win
- the rehabikitation of Pakistan’s odi cricket
- the ability of the psl to cement / showcase new talent for the national team
- multiple tours of Pakistan by foreign teams and players
- inzi as chief selector
- and of course the psl

The one thing that I have very little patience for is the sham concern about domestic cricket structure which every administration wants to campaign on and do nothing about.
Ehsan Mani has very big shoes to fill. Not necessarily because Sethi was the bestest ever, but because there are concrete positives that sethi can point to.
Let’s see what Mani has to offer. It’s always easy to sit on the sidelines and offer advice. What might help Mani is that Pakistan India relations might take a turn for the better.

Mickey and Inzi were hired by Shahryar Khan.

Also why are are attributing the team's success to Sethi? That is down to the management/captain/selection committee.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

A very good OP and so true.

Well from what I am hearing Naila Bhatti has already been removed together with a few others and there are more changes to come.

I would add that most of the coaches at the NCA need to be removed also.

Good to know they've gotten rid of Naila Bhatti and the few others. I'm not fully aware of the people at NCA but glad to see personnel changes are being implemented.

 

[mak36]

Mickey and Inzi were hired by Shahryar Khan.

Also why are are attributing the team's success to Sethi? That is down to the management/captain/selection committee.

Also, factually you've got your timings wrong; Shahryar Khan was chairman when Pakistan won the Champions Trophy.

 

[Pete Rose]

Mickey and Inzi were hired by Shahryar Khan.

Also why are are attributing the team's success to Sethi? That is down to the management/captain/selection committee.

Come on man. Do you really think that's how it works. That you surgically take out credit for the sake of being literal? Was Sethi not part of the PCB when this was happening? And are you disagreeing with the rest of it?

 

[Pete Rose]

Also, factually you've got your timings wrong; Shahryar Khan was chairman when Pakistan won the Champions Trophy.

by your logic. only team should credit because it won and no one else

 

[mak36]

by your logic. only team should credit because it won and no one else

I was simply pointing out that even on a factual basis your argument is wrong- i.e. if you want to attribute success to the chairman it would be Shahryar Khan not Sethi.

As I have stated above, players/captain/management/selectors deserve credit for the win.

 

[Pete Rose]

Those are some major exaggerations on your part. Your entire argument seems more to be based more on sentiments rather than facts and associating Sethi with the success Pakistan has achieved in the last year doesn't exactly make it his doing. The things Sethi has done are hardly ground-breaking. They are things any half-competent PCB chairman could have done aswell. I already mentioned his role in bringing international cricket back to Pakistan which deserves to be lauded but he has done absolutely nothing to improve domestic cricket which has decayed to unprecedented lows under his watch. The fact that he has added to the culture of nepotism and favoritism within the PCB makes things worse. And the notion that this is Pakistan cricket so it happens is a poor defense of an action that is quite frankly, immoral.

Also:

- Pakistan have tried hiring Mickey before. He declined. Only reason he accepted this time was because his reputation took a hit after the Homework gate fiasco.

- Sethi has absolutely nothing to do with the CT win or rehabilitation of Pakistan's ODI cricket. Mickey probably single-handedly deserves the most credit there. He is the one responsible for instituting the fitness regime, for bringing Rixon on and making Pakistan a professional fielding side and finally for changing the team culture and environment.

- You mentioned PSL twice


You can call this a gossip column. Fair enough. But you completely missed my point if you think outcomes are all that matter. Lack of structure on the domestic level is exactly the reason why Pakistan is not mentioned in the same breath as teams like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and now even India. There is a reason why these teams are known for their professionalism and consistency while Pakistan is known for being mercurial and unpredictable, and time and time again finds itself struggling with the same perennial problems.

Being called unpredictable and mercurial may be a nice thing to hear sometimes but it is also a major insult and being unpredictable does not make you a world-class team. If things stay the way I don't see Pakistan ever becoming a world-class team.

I really shouldnt have to explain that in any organization credit is shared across. by your logic, we should give credit only to the parents of the players who gave birth to them. since they only exist because of their parents. Thats not how any corporate works.

Secondly: what any half competent administrator should have would have done is all nice and well, but they didnt right? so you dont get to bash an achievement because you FEEL that it COULD have been done by anyon else.

The only legitimate grievance that you can allude to is lack of focus on domestic cricket. In that Sethi is not any better or worse than any of his predecessors.

The rubes in Pakistan (fans) are easily seduced by two slogans from any incoming administration:
- i will stick it to india
- i will fix domestic cricket.

There is no objective measure of either, but its enough to fool everyone that "woah, this guy knows what he is talking about"

 

[Pete Rose]

I was simply pointing out that even on a factual basis your argument is wrong- i.e. if you want to attribute success to the chairman it would be Shahryar Khan not Sethi.

As I have stated above, players/captain/management/selectors deserve credit for the win.

No, I only point our that when a team does well everyone gets credit: we have to put aside our biases and recognize that.

 

[topspin]

Don’t agree with this.
This reads like water cooler gossip that is usually peddled by third date journalists who have been covering Pakistan cricket forever. They know who they are.
Sethi’s tenure should be judged first and foremost on outcomes while keeping the purity test of zero corruption at bay, considering this is Pakistan cricket.
judged in this light, sethi’s tenure has done good for Pakistan cricket
- Mickey Arthur’s hiring, and the champions trophy win
- the rehabikitation of Pakistan’s odi cricket
- the ability of the psl to cement / showcase new talent for the national team
- multiple tours of Pakistan by foreign teams and players
- inzi as chief selector
- and of course the psl

The one thing that I have very little patience for is the sham concern about domestic cricket structure which every administration wants to campaign on and do nothing about.
Ehsan Mani has very big shoes to fill. Not necessarily because Sethi was the bestest ever, but because there are concrete positives that sethi can point to.
Let’s see what Mani has to offer. It’s always easy to sit on the sidelines and offer advice. What might help Mani is that Pakistan India relations might take a turn for the better.

If you had a disagreement with his post, I think you should have been more considerate and responded to it on that thread rather than taking the gloss away from his award with poor statements like "This reads like water cooler gossip". Whether you agree or disagree with it, it was a well written and well researched post unlike your response which was nothing but filled with exaggerations, fantasies and numerous inaccuracies as mentioned in above posts.

 

[Pete Rose]

If you had a disagreement with his post, I think you should have been more considerate and responded to it on that thread rather than taking the gloss away from his award with poor statements like "This reads like water cooler gossip". Whether you agree or disagree with it, it was a well written and well researched post unlike your response which was nothing but filled with exaggerations, fantasies and various inaccuracies.

ok, then

 

[mak36]

Come on man. Do you really think that's how it works. That you surgically take out credit for the sake of being literal? Was Sethi not part of the PCB when this was happening? And are you disagreeing with the rest of it?

Lol, what?

They were appointed by SK. Why should I give NS credit for something he didn't do?

Also, weren't you trying to "surgically" give credit to NS for it (until I fact checked you)? Why the double standards.

As for the rest, the only points from your list that are left are (i) arranging tours to Pakistan and (ii) the PSL, both of which OP already mentioned.

 

[Pete Rose]

Lol, what?

They were appointed by SK. Why should I give NS credit for something he didn't do?

Also, weren't you trying to "surgically" give credit to NS for it (until I fact checked you)? Why the double standards.

As for the rest, the only points from your list that are left are (i) arranging tours to Pakistan and (ii) the PSL, both of which OP already mentioned.

i didn't surgically take out credit, you did. and you continue to double down on it. as for mentioning the things that went right. yes after dedicating two paragraphs to office gossip about hiring and then moaning about domestic cricket who NOBODY BEFORE HIM OR ANYONE EVER as has fixed.
People can make a case legitimate case and say IN MY OPINION domestic cricket is the only thing that mattered and he didnt fix it so he failed.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

i didn't surgically take out credit, you did. and you continue to double down on it. as for mentioning the things that went right. yes after dedicating two paragraphs to office gossip about hiring and then moaning about domestic cricket who NOBODY BEFORE HIM OR ANYONE EVER as has fixed.
People can make a case legitimate case and say IN MY OPINION domestic cricket is the only thing that mattered and he didnt fix it so he failed.

You can call it office gossip but the fact remains that the positions these individuals hold are all major positions the scope of which you clearly fail to understand. Not only are they incompetent to serve on these positions but there is a clear history of them misusing their power.

Maybe things like incompetence, mismanagement and nepotism do not matter to you but as someone who actually wants to see Pakistan cricket move forward, I'd rather see professional and competent individuals running the PCB. Contrary to what you may believe the chairman is not behind everything that happens at the PCB and in Pakistan cricket. Therefore, the people he appoints particularly in these key positions carry a great deal of influence and power.

 

[Pete Rose]

You can call it office gossip but the fact remains that the positions these individuals hold are all major positions the scope of which you clearly fail to understand. Not only are they incompetent to serve on these positions but there is a clear history of them misusing their power.

Maybe things like incompetence, mismanagement and nepotism do not matter to you but as someone who actually wants to see Pakistan cricket move forward, I'd rather see professional and competent individuals running the PCB. Contrary to what you may believe the chairman is not behind everything that happens at the PCB and in Pakistan cricket. Therefore, the people he appoints particularly in these key positions carry a great deal of influence and power.

I try to look at objective outcomes. Suggest you do the same

 

[Savak]

Sethi just gets hated because he is not an IK cheerleader.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

We have to get rid of corruption. There is no inbetween. Its like saying Nawaz nai kam bhot kia blah blah liken paisa be to khai hei, running a country/institution is NOT a 2 way street. Your either clean or youre not, regardless of what work you have done.