POTW: GoUgandaCranes

[BouncerGuy]

Post of the Week goes to @GoUgandaCranes for this brutally honest and detailed critique of PCB & PSL. A must‑read that pulls no punches and demands transparency where it matters most.

Post in thread 'PSL holds roadshows in London and New York to raise profile and attract investors [Update @ post#35]'

Monday at 3:42 PM

Look at the level of apathy in our people.

PCB tries to drum up interest, and they are still criticised.

You can never win with Pakistanis.

This deserved a long reply & I had work before so couldn't. Hopefully you'll be patient enough to read all of it.

There's a difference between "trying to change up things" & "pretending to change up things" & unfortunately the efforts of PCB from outside looking in, fall completely in the second category.

If they had an itinerary that read something like

Land in NY at 7 am.
Attend first Pakistani fan gathering along with Ramiz, & Wasim...

• GoUgandaCranes

• 

This deserved a long reply & I had work before so couldn't. Hopefully you'll be patient enough to read all of it.

There's a difference between "trying to change up things" & "pretending to change up things" & unfortunately the efforts of PCB from outside looking in, fall completely in the second category.

If they had an itinerary that read something like

Land in NY at 7 am.
Attend first Pakistani fan gathering along with Ramiz, & Wasim between 9:30-11:00 am
Meet bigger investors (already handpicked by the Pakistani embassy staff) for lunch & hi-tea (11:30 to 2:00 pm)
Meet Willow execs (2:30 pm)
Evening meeting with Cricket USA execs (4:00 to 5:00 pm)
Main even & dinner with full Pakistani diaspora & investors (7:00 to 10:00 pm)

End of Day 1 - end up in the hotel

Similar itinerary for Day 2.

Catch the flight at 11:00 pm back for Lahore.

This along with solid KPIs like "Upselling the OTT platform to 2K people", "Marketing of PSL in Asian community", etc. would make this a proper tour. You also would save on the hotel stay where instead of 3 nights, you'd just spend one night in a hotel or embassy & then just keep working with clear targets and something to show for in terms of tangible progress.


I feel that many people complain about the players or are critical of them when the cricketers are the least to blame as they are putting in an honest shift while executives are pampered like desi mothers pamper their only son. Theatrics do not help Pakistan and neither our cricket will have any benefit from them. If they want people to invest in PSL & believe it'll make money, they should first invest their own money. Why chase after overseas Pakistanis when people like Naqvi themselves run business empires?

There are also core issues with the PSL

1. The foreign players have complained that there is nothing for them to do when they are at PSL owing to the security situation. How can you attract big names when they have the alternative of playing IPL which is way more lucrative & also don't have to be locked inside a hotel?

2. How will you attract people in your own country when your previous investors like Ali Tareen (who I dislike, btw) have just dropped the franchise because PCB never wanted to improve or change?

3. Who are you even marketing the PSL to outside of Pakistan? Did you target a competitor of Willow in USA where Pak fans can actually watch their own cricket? Did you market your OTT platform?

4. It's easy to say PSL will be the biggest league but how? Where is the roadmap? "Concerts to start one month before the start of PSL in the stadiums" will do what for the PSL? Is that the marketing strategy? Who & how we are going to market these concerts? What's the point of marketing a concert when we can directly start marketing PSL to our audience? How are you increasing the fan engagement? What is even the goal for fan engagement & what's the gate receipt revenue target? Have you sold the hospitality boxes to big corporations? How to you plan to sell them? Is Tapal Tea corner the best thing that you have to offer? Is handing over JJ hampers after one of the fans hits a wicket enough to do anything substantial?

I am even willing to admit that maybe it all worked out with the roadshows and they have a solid business plan but if it did & they have a great plan then where's the transparency? Show the reports, the return on investment of such events and shut all naysayers like me up.


Here's something from my personal experience. I worked with a company where our top management mostly came from working for Nishat Linen. One of my bosses who was frank with me would tell us that Mian Mansha would send the MDs on foreign tours but these tours were so dreaded that no senior MD wanted to go on them as they were labeled "Heart attack tours". It was because Mansha gave them a strict itinerary every day where they had to meet retailers, resellers, whole sellers, new clients, old clients, etc. with strict sales targets every day and then they'd get a call at Pakistan standard 9:00 am (no matter what time zone they were in) where Mansha would ask them only one question which was, "kinna kapra wecheya?" (How many meters of clothes have you managed to sell?).

If Mansha can do this in private sector, why is it that we cannot replicate all of that in the public sector?

Also, at Savak, this regime is not proactive about PSL in any form or way. They had to move it to the IPL window last year because of the champions trophy & this year because of the T20 world cup. Everything else is just the usual clown show of looking busy and doing nothing.

Cricket is the only sport in Pakistan that has natural grass roots interest & financial means. It's being run by clowns because of the political interference & whatnot. As long as this isn't corrected, nothing will change for cricket or PSL.

 

[Varun]

Agree, super post.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

A great post as usual from @GoUgandaCranes - fully deserves the POTW. Well done

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Agree, super post.

A great post as usual from @GoUgandaCranes - fully deserves the POTW. Well done

Thank you both for saying that. Means a lot to me.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Great by brother @GoUgandaCranes , we need such individuals in PCB too unlike the clowns we have there at the moment

 

[daytrader]

Great post. 100% agreed that PCB is doing these roadshows for optics and paid vacations. The constant chopping and churning of captains and coaches have already shown us that this management is inept. Don't expect any miracles from they on improving the PSL. 3 months to go for the PSL and they haven't finalized the 2 new teams yet. How are those franchises going to market themselves

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Always great to read @GoUgandaCranes thoughts on Pakistan cricket - one of the most thoughtful posters on this forum. Well deserved POTW

 

[khyberlion]

One of the rare poster on pp these days who understands cricket. Well deserved.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Great by brother @GoUgandaCranes , we need such individuals in PCB too unlike the clowns we have there at the moment

Thank you for saying that.

Great post. 100% agreed that PCB is doing these roadshows for optics and paid vacations. The constant chopping and churning of captains and coaches have already shown us that this management is inept. Don't expect any miracles from they on improving the PSL. 3 months to go for the PSL and they haven't finalized the 2 new teams yet. How are those franchises going to market themselves

I would like to believe in miracles but our country is literally traveling in circles so don't see anything happen. Sad way to look at things but have been burnt so many times that it's hard to expect anything new.

Always great to read @GoUgandaCranes thoughts on Pakistan cricket - one of the most thoughtful posters on this forum. Well deserved POTW

Thank you, means a lot especially coming from posters that I also appreciate.

One of the rare poster on pp these days who understands cricket. Well deserved.

Thanks. Not saying that I do understand the game but I will take the compliment.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Good to read @GoUgandaCranes . Congratulations.

 

[Markhor]

To be fair, I think you could pick any post most weeks from @GoUgandaCranes worthy of winning POTW.

Always a pleasure to read.

 

[sweep_shot]

Congratulations on winning the POTW award.

 

[Buffet]

To be fair, I think you could pick any post most weeks from @GoUgandaCranes worthy of winning POTW.

Always a pleasure to read.

+1

Great post here @GoUgandaCranes

 

[prisha]

Pleasure to read. Great post and good knowledge of situations