Surprising that the present PCB administration of Ehsan Mani, Wasim Khan is not getting credit

[Savak]

Maybe its badniyati on the part of the ex players and sports media journalist where the only thing they harp on about the present PCB administration is the abolishment of department cricket but they do not give enough credit to the PCB for the list of steps they have taken.

They helped to host a large number of PSL games in Pakistan and bought the entire PSL to Pakistan this year. They have also hosted Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for a test match in Pakistan. Unfortunately this was dismissed by critics under the pretext that Najam Sethi laid the ground works where even though he had to pay heavily to get teams to come to Pakistan but he took the risk and the first step and the present PCB is taking advantage of the fact that the present security situation in Pakistan is a lot better compared to 2010 to 2017 where it was ten times harder to convince international teams to come to Pakistan even if they were offered money.

The PCB is implementing Imran Khan's vision with regards to regional cricket. But what is being ignored right now is that the PCB is clearly making investments for the long term benefit of Pakistan Cricket i.e. the quality of pitches, balls, bats, umpiring, coaching. You cannot deny the fact that this board is trying its best to revamp things. Look at the new faces in the PCB and High Performance Centre i.e. Nadeem Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Yousaf, Mohammad Zahid, Abdul Razzaq e.t.c.

You have Bazid Khan, Wasim Akram, Umar Gul on the Cricket Committee. You have Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq in the national coaching staff. You have Basit Ali, Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Iqbal, Abdur Rehman, Shahid Anwar, Mohammad Wasim in charge of the domestic teams.

The PCB are in talks with Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar about some level of involvement in Pakistan Cricket going forward.

This board has gone out of its way to engage the creme of Pakistan Cricket in the board, academies, national team and domestic cricket.

There is a vision, a plan and proactive steps and actions which are taking place and the old status quo is no longer being tolerated.

The likes of Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan are not getting enough credit for the long term investments and strategic direction that they wish to take Pakistan Cricket in. The Indians made these sort of investments in their Cricket in the late 90's and now 15-20 years later they have enjoyed the fruits and have machine guns against their arch rivals who are still battling with swords and daggers.

Now we have news about the PCB signing a historic broadcast deal which could potentially enable it to earn $200 million in the next 3 years in a market environment where the huge $500 million -$ 1 billion broadcasting deals are gone.

I struggle to understand why is this present PCB administration like the Pakistani PTI Government not getting enough credit?

 

[shamaan]

They dont need credit they get paid enough

 

[coy0607]

Pakistan is presently ranked #7 in Test, #6 in ODI and #4 in T20 - and none of these are on an improvement path.

What exactly should they get credit for?

Everything else (broadcast deal, PSL, domestic structure, etc) is fine in its place - but by far the most important part of their job is the performance of the team. If performances are sub standard, then nothing else matters.

Fans want to see the cricket team succeed, they don't care about broadcast deals, long term vision, and domestic structures.

 

[aloo paratha]

Pakistan is presently ranked #7 in Test, #6 in ODI and #4 in T20 - and none of these are on an improvement path.

What exactly should they get credit for?

Everything else (broadcast deal, PSL, domestic structure, etc) is fine in its place - but by far the most important part of their job is the performance of the team. If performances are sub standard, then nothing else matters.

Fans want to see the cricket team succeed, they don't care about broadcast deals, long term vision, and domestic structures.

Their jobs aren't to go out on the field and win games. They should get credit for the good work they've done administratively.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Because none of their "refreshing" changes are a deadlock that they will prove to be beneficial.
Regional cricket is still being run by mafia of incompetent people.

They haven't made any short term changes in addition to so called long term changes to bolster Pak cricket's performance.

The names have changed, but how many of the newer names have the distinction of coaching players and teams or how many have acquired the certifications? Why do we think these new guys would come in and suddenly the players would start getting developed the right way.

How does having only regional teams in domestic cricket prove that quality of domestic cricket is suddenly better now?

 

[JattMaula]

I think real Pakistani fans appreciate the new PCB.

A Pakistan fan always knows potential of a player or a policy. PCB's new domestic structure and new media deal have lot of potential.

Fake fans want hard proof. Of improvement in domestic cricket on ground, of actual money earned from new deals. Ingore them.

 

[shah_1]

It is too soon to give them any credit or bash them

 

[ahmedzee]

It is indeed true that they have done a lot of work domestically and we are indeed going to see a positive change in 4-5 years.
The only negative so far is appointment of Misbah and Waqar, who are proven failure in stretegy/coaching roles. However I feel after series of failures there is bound to be change in that too.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Its because the old lot arnt getting their pompous respect they think they deserve anymore.

 

[Indiafan]

Maybe its badniyati on the part of the ex players and sports media journalist where the only thing they harp on about the present PCB administration is the abolishment of department cricket but they do not give enough credit to the PCB for the list of steps they have taken.

They helped to host a large number of PSL games in Pakistan and bought the entire PSL to Pakistan this year. They have also hosted Sri Lanka and Bangladesh for a test match in Pakistan. Unfortunately this was dismissed by critics under the pretext that Najam Sethi laid the ground works where even though he had to pay heavily to get teams to come to Pakistan but he took the risk and the first step and the present PCB is taking advantage of the fact that the present security situation in Pakistan is a lot better compared to 2010 to 2017 where it was ten times harder to convince international teams to come to Pakistan even if they were offered money.

The PCB is implementing Imran Khan's vision with regards to regional cricket. But what is being ignored right now is that the PCB is clearly making investments for the long term benefit of Pakistan Cricket i.e. the quality of pitches, balls, bats, umpiring, coaching. You cannot deny the fact that this board is trying its best to revamp things. Look at the new faces in the PCB and High Performance Centre i.e. Nadeem Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Yousaf, Mohammad Zahid, Abdul Razzaq e.t.c.

You have Bazid Khan, Wasim Akram, Umar Gul on the Cricket Committee. You have Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq in the national coaching staff. You have Basit Ali, Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Iqbal, Abdur Rehman, Shahid Anwar, Mohammad Wasim in charge of the domestic teams.

The PCB are in talks with Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar about some level of involvement in Pakistan Cricket going forward.

This board has gone out of its way to engage the creme of Pakistan Cricket in the board, academies, national team and domestic cricket.

There is a vision, a plan and proactive steps and actions which are taking place and the old status quo is no longer being tolerated.

The likes of Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan are not getting enough credit for the long term investments and strategic direction that they wish to take Pakistan Cricket in. The Indians made these sort of investments in their Cricket in the late 90's and now 15-20 years later they have enjoyed the fruits and have machine guns against their arch rivals who are still battling with swords and daggers.

Now we have news about the PCB signing a historic broadcast deal which could potentially enable it to earn $200 million in the next 3 years in a market environment where the huge $500 million -$ 1 billion broadcasting deals are gone.

I struggle to understand why is this present PCB administration like the Pakistani PTI Government not getting enough credit?

Intentions are good. I guess people are waiting to see the results before praising

 

[UP]

Vision is there. It depends how it gets implemented. Who knows - if Khan loses next election and the next government slashes it all.

Let’s bump this thread in ten years.

 

[SARJ_BD]

Pakistan is presently ranked #7 in Test, #6 in ODI and #4 in T20 - and none of these are on an improvement path.

What exactly should they get credit for?

Everything else (broadcast deal, PSL, domestic structure, etc) is fine in its place - but by far the most important part of their job is the performance of the team. If performances are sub standard, then nothing else matters.

Fans want to see the cricket team succeed, they don't care about broadcast deals, long term vision, and domestic structures.

You must first understand what the role of PCB is. Ehsan Mani or Wasim Khan are responsible is to make the system better, not to score centuries or take 5'fers. What have England or NewZealand won in the last decade (before 2019). Would you term the management who controlled their board until 2019 a failure?

The way I see is Mani/Wasim have taken many great steps, such as removing Haroon Rashid and some other old junks, that the previous boards could not even dare to take. On the other hand, their decision to remove Sarfraz from t20 captaincy have damaged Pakistan cricket that may lead to poor performance in the upcoming t20 World Cup.

 

[Mueez]

They have done a decent job.

I never saw people criticizing PCB board for Pakistani performances on the field when Najam Sethi was the chairman.

Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan are heading towards the right direction.

We need to give them some time so they can clean up all the mess.

 

[unemployedgm]

They've done well to bring back cricket to Pakistan. They've done really well to secure this deal.

The way we think about cricket is still a concern. As a nation our Collective Cricket IQ is very poor. As a result I don't see an uptick in our performances.

1. Wasim Akram being in the Cricket Committee does not bring ease. He's presided over many blunders.
2. Misbah ul Haq is not fit to be the coach or the chief selector of the Pakistan Team.
3. Waqar and Mushtaq in their respective positions also don't provide any encouragement.
4. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam are not natural leaders and are likely to struggle as captains.

I think the removal of certain people is a step in the right direction. I think the decision to hire so many cricketers is going to be problematic. Mainly because many of these individuals may be great cricketers, but I don't believe they are good teachers. Hence, they will fail as coaches. Secondly, because none of these individuals have any training it's likely that the ideas that Misbah projects at National Level will be different from the ideas that Mohammad Yousuf projects at the High Performance Center.

 

[Mamoon]

Credit for what? They have been complete failures.

 

[Bewal Express]

They have made an encouraging start with the administration and hopefully their reforms start to bear fruits with better results. In the end the fans care about the results of the PK team and if they do well, they will gey credit, if the national team struggle, they will get the blame.

 

[Savak]

Credit for what? They have been complete failures.

No basis for this statement.

 

[Pakpak]

They have done very well revamping the domestic system which hopefully will bear fruit later on. They have also done good in organising PSL in Pakistan, for its entirety.

What they have done inexcusable is handing Misbah his roles.

 

[Savak]

Cricket Administrations should actually be judged on long term results 10 years from now on because the investments, decisions they make today actually bears fruit in the long run.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

The team management that they have appointed, with the exception of Younis Khan is poor and is taking us nowhere.
This is what is overruling some of the good and in some cases unprecedented long term initiatives that are being undertaken.

 

[unemployedgm]

Credit for what? They have been complete failures.

These statements make your opinion irrelevant.

 

[Mamoon]

These statements make your opinion irrelevant.

What do they deserve credit for?

 

[Savak]

What do they deserve credit for?

For making good long term decisions for Pakistan Cricket that will pay dividends in the next 5-10 years. For putting the PCB in a position to make $200 million in the next 3 years, something no other administrator has achieved before.

 

[shady]

What do they deserve credit for?

Nothing. If only we could be blessed enough to have someone like you in charge all our problems would go away.

 

[UP]

What has department cricket achieved in 20 years?

They have only produced mediocre and timid cricketers year after year with a few exceptions like Asif.

Time for a change and give it 10 years. BCCI started invested in their cricket 2 decades ago and it took them a lot of time to get where they are today.

I would also advise PCB to regularly teach and hold classes beginning from U-16 about grooming, personal appearance, confidence, handling media and social media. We need this.

Time for a big change.

 

[deems]

How illogical is it to compare the onfield results with the admin team. Judge people based on their respective roles.....

 

[deems]

failures in what Mamoon?
They've done a good job bearing in mind the utter shambles they had to pick up from the previous administration team. Let's give credit where it's due. The admin team is making good moves .

 

[deems]

Their jobs aren't to go out on the field and win games. They should get credit for the good work they've done administratively.

Credit for what? They have been complete failures.

What has department cricket achieved in 20 years?

They have only produced mediocre and timid cricketers year after year with a few exceptions like Asif.

Time for a change and give it 10 years. BCCI started invested in their cricket 2 decades ago and it took them a lot of time to get where they are today.

I would also advise PCB to regularly teach and hold classes beginning from U-16 about grooming, personal appearance, confidence, handling media and social media. We need this.

Time for a big change.

I agree. People are just quick to jump on the bandwagon.

 

[Bewal Express]

What has department cricket achieved in 20 years?

They have only produced mediocre and timid cricketers year after year with a few exceptions like Asif.

Time for a change and give it 10 years. BCCI started invested in their cricket 2 decades ago and it took them a lot of time to get where they are today.

I would also advise PCB to regularly teach and hold classes beginning from U-16 about grooming, personal appearance, confidence, handling media and social media. We need this.

Time for a big change.

Dept cricket is not interested in producing international cricketers. Its main function was to massage the egos of the people that work for them. Any cricketers we produced were in spite of the terrible system not because of it. If the likes of PIA were interested in developing PK cricket, what's stopping them from sponsoring one of the provincial teams

 

[Mamoon]

For making good long term decisions for Pakistan Cricket that will pay dividends in the next 5-10 years.

This is just a baseless assumption by desperate Pakistani fans who are dreaming of the day Pakistan becomes a top side.

They have convinced themselves that getting rid of departmental cricket is the key to success in order to sleep better at night.

For putting the PCB in a position to make $200 million in the next 3 years, something no other administrator has achieved before.

Whether PCB makes $2 or $2 trillion is not the fan’s concern. The fans are only concerned with on-field performances, and as long as Pakistan doesn’t produce on the pitch under this regime, there is no need to open champagne bottles over how much $$$ PCB is going to make over X number of years.

 

[Mamoon]

failures in what Mamoon?
They've done a good job bearing in mind the utter shambles they had to pick up from the previous administration team. Let's give credit where it's due. The admin team is making good moves .

Again, what good job? They will only be judged by how Pakistan performs on the pitch.

 

[UP]

Khan always gets bashed when he starts something new so this isn't surprising.

I hope Wasim Khan implements this properly and gets the full backing of PM. This is a crucial time in the PCB and if this flops, Pakistan cricket will die if it's not dead already. We will fall to Kenya's level and slowly vanish out.

 

[UP]

Again, what good job? They will only be judged by how Pakistan performs on the pitch.

Good job for implementing a new system.

They will be judged in 10 years or so when the new system matures in. Give it time dude. Did you become a doctor in one year?

They got hired last year. Can't clean up the mess in a year.

 

[Mamoon]

Good job for implementing a new system.

They will be judged in 10 years or so when the new system matures in. Give it time dude. Did you become a doctor in one year?

They got hired last year. Can't clean up the mess in a year.

I can guarantee that you that 10 years from now, Pakistan will still be a mediocre side. So please don’t expect me to do bhangra over these funky changes.

Pakistan cricket’s problems are far bigger than departmental cricket.

Our biggest problem is our mentality which is rotten to the core, and we are not showing by signs of changing that mentality.

There is a reason why Pakistani fans are considered to be the most deluded in the world.

 

[Mamoon]

Khan always gets bashed when he starts something new so this isn't surprising.

I hope Wasim Khan implements this properly and gets the full backing of PM. This is a crucial time in the PCB and if this flops, Pakistan cricket will die if it's not dead already. We will fall to Kenya's level and slowly vanish out.

We will not fall to Kenya’s level, but we need to accept the fact that we belong in the West Indies/Bangladesh/Sri Lanka tier.

 

[azimiqbal]

I think the PCB do not help them self’s , yes they have done some amazing work but then spoil it by hiring misbah and chief selector and coach.......

 

[Bewal Express]

I can guarantee that you that 10 years from now, Pakistan will still be a mediocre side. So please don’t expect me to do bhangra over these funky changes.

Pakistan cricket’s problems are far bigger than departmental cricket.

Our biggest problem is our mentality which is rotten to the core, and we are not showing by signs of changing that mentality.

There is a reason why Pakistani fans are considered to be the most deluded in the world.

They may or may not be the case but your attitude is that because that might happen we should not do anything. Don't do anything differently or try to improve because we might fail.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Bringing no hopers like Razzaq, Basit Ali and co into the cricketing fold deserves ridicule not praise.

I wouldnt put Razzaq incharge of my fantasy cricket team never mind an actual team.

 

[Mamoon]

They may or may not be the case but your attitude is that because that might happen we should not do anything. Don't do anything differently or try to improve because we might fail.

You deserve credit for producing results, not for trying to produce results.

If this new domestic structure changes Pakistan’s status from poster boy of mediocrity to a top side, I will have no problem appreciating what they have done.

However, I don’t see the point of distributing sweets at this stage just because they are trying something different, and we have convinced ourselves that this is the recipe for success.

 

[Mamoon]

Bringing no hopers like Razzaq, Basit Ali and co into the cricketing fold deserves ridicule not praise.

I wouldnt put Razzaq incharge of my fantasy cricket team never mind an actual team.

This duo have no spine. Any ex-cricketer who criticizes them on tv is offered a job.

 

[Mamoon]

They will create a new useless job with a fancy name, such as director to director to director to director to international cricket high performance player development bla bla bla, and then hand that job to a proven failure, and our fans will do bhangra because the job title sounds fancy.

In May, Grant Bradburn was appointed as Head of High Performance coaching and Saqlain Mushtaq was appointed as Head of International Player Development.

Bradburn failed in his capacity as the Pakistani fielding coach during the 2018-2020 period, a period where Pakistani reached the deepest pits of mediocrity especially in ODI and Test cricket, and our shoddy fielding played no small role in ensuring that we lost 21 out of 25 ODIs leading up to the World Cup including a 12 match losing streak.

He clearly did not demonstrate the following skills:

• Strong planning, organizing and executing capabilities.

• Highly competent in planning individual skills enhancement strategies.

• Proven ability to effectively work with a wide range of individuals from varied
backgrounds.

After failing with flying colors with a group of 15 players for two years, he has been rewarded with a raise and is now excepted to excel by working with a far bigger group of players and multiple coaches with added layers of complexity and communication.

Furthermore, Saqlain was last seen milking millions from PCB after successful conning them into believing that he could help Ajmal become a potent bowler with a legal action.

Unfortunately or fortunately, all we got was a glorified part-timer who was in no shape or form good enough for international cricket, and Saqlain predictability escaped all accountability and scrutiny.

However, now that he has been given a fancy job title, he is suddenly excepted to exhibit “experience and evidence through case studies, of successfully developing and
supporting cricketers to excel at International level, strong planning, organizing and executing capabilities, highly competent in planning individual skills enhancement strategies.”

Apparently the solution to Pakistan cricket woes is to come up with complicated job names and add ‘High Performance’ to ensure that failed individuals will suddenly start delivering in their newly formed fashionable designations.

Unfortunately Pakistan cricket is in such dire straits today that all it takes is some fancy job titles and words like ‘High Performance’ for our fans to start doing bhangra.

We will be here in 5 years and nothing is going to come out of this. These roles and responsibilities will vanish into thin air or will be absorbed into the system that is set in its ways.

So again - what should we give Mani and Wasim them credit for? For pulling wool over the fans eyes?

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Results is what matters at the end.
Its just that PCB administration changes too often. Give someone like Waseem at least 3 years before judging. It could turn out to be good.. it could be bad.

 

[Loralai]

Why was Shoaib Akhtar being considered as chief selector, given his unpredictable reputation?

Why have Faisal Iqbal, Basit Ali and Abdur Razzaq been offered coaching jobs? On what basis?

Why is Misbah coach and selector? How could he sit on a committee and then have that same committee decide that he should be made selector and coach?

There are lots of questions to answer.

I think they have taken steps to reform the domestic structure which should be appreciated, but there are still questions to be asked. The truth is that our domestic system is in need of change as we have fallen badly behind other leading nations and we will continue to decline unless change is implemented. However, bringing in second rate coaches will not help. We also need to clear out players who have been around for ages but are average and contribute nothing but get a free ride in domestic circuit.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Why was Shoaib Akhtar being considered as chief selector, given his unpredictable reputation?

He wasn’t.

 

[the Great Khan]

its been a complete failure..we are doomed..doomed I say. i think we need to bring back iqbal qasim, harron rashid and wasim bari. Also we need a new coach and selector. Maybe we can convince Kohli to be our new coach and Sharma to be our selector. then at least some on this forum will keep quiet for a while.
Also we should bring back departmental cricket and add more departments, perhaps convince kfc and mcdonalds, uber, careem to get some cricket teams into the system. Imagine the stars we will produce.

I also think we need a more dynamic chairman like Ijaz butt who revolutionised cricket in the country.

Actually why dont we just outource our cricket to india. Maybe buy one of their state sides to represent us?? It will make certain fans happy..PCB zindabaad. also we need an english speaking cuptaan who loves to wear bright neon green shirts..maybe ask a tracher from froebels or beacon house to be the cuptaan as his english would be good..

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I dont think these guys deserve the credit that many of you are claiming.

Honestly, so far its been vanity projects that have sought to appease people.

Cutting down the first class teams ticked the box that Imran has being going on about for years.

Selection of tried and tested failures as coaches just to appease the critics.

Even the random team selections of Misbah had no logic. Calling up Qadir, Shezad and Akmal randomly. Peppering the squad with players who had played little first class cricket to balance the elderly passengers and protect from criticism.

Sure, some of the stuff may reap longer term rewards but in the short term they have achieved next to nothing apart from populist views.

Hafeez has literally mocked them 4 or 5 times already openly and he is still selected in the side.

 

[Bewal Express]

You deserve credit for producing results, not for trying to produce results.

If this new domestic structure changes Pakistan’s status from poster boy of mediocrity to a top side, I will have no problem appreciating what they have done.

However, I don’t see the point of distributing sweets at this stage just because they are trying something different, and we have convinced ourselves that this is the recipe for success.

No, you deserve credit for both. If you try something new there will always be teething problems but only a total numpty would say that the Dept system was working. Dept cricket had no clear purpose and any cricketers produced for the national team were by accident rather design. The only advantage was that it provided work for poor cricketers, and I don't say poor only in the financial sense. You can criticise the PCB for not having a structure below FC but other than that, the new structure is way better.

 

[Bewal Express]

I dont think these guys deserve the credit that many of you are claiming.

Honestly, so far its been vanity projects that have sought to appease people.

Cutting down the first class teams ticked the box that Imran has being going on about for years.

Selection of tried and tested failures as coaches just to appease the critics.

Even the random team selections of Misbah had no logic. Calling up Qadir, Shezad and Akmal randomly. Peppering the squad with players who had played little first class cricket to balance the elderly passengers and protect from criticism.

Sure, some of the stuff may reap longer term rewards but in the short term they have achieved next to nothing apart from populist views.

Hafeez has literally mocked them 4 or 5 times already openly and he is still selected in the side.

Is there a glut of good coaches in PK, no is the simple answer. All selectors make mistakes and Misbah is no exception, but for me his mistake is not trying too many , it's trying enough new batsman. HA may or may not turn out to be a great batsmen but Misbahs continued selection of Malik at the behest of Babar is poor management.

 

[Mamoon]

I think perhaps I should give this duo some credit after all. Over the last month or so, I have heard a lot about the gratitude that England cricket fans and ECB have for PCB for agreeing to tour during these times. ECB seems to be thanking PCB through their Twitter account as well.

Mani-Wasim have pulled off a masterstroke here. They have pretty much ensured comprehensive restoration of international cricket in Pakistan by successfully fooling ECB and the English public that they toured England this summer “to help ECB and cricket in general”.

We all know why PCB toured England this summer. It has absolutely nothing to do with this whole helping cricket and help ECB nonsense. PCB toured England because ECB is the only Big 3 board that has not marginalized PCB, and thus PCB is in no position to disappoint them.

BCCI is not interesting in beating us in bilateral cricket anywhere, and CA have downgraded our status from main event to warmup to main event.

On the contrary, we have managed to play 9 Tests and 10 ODIs in England over the last 4 years. If ECB marginalizes us the same way BCCI and CA have, Pakistan’s status in international cricket will further diminish.

Touring England is basically the only time Pakistan finds itself in the limelight these days, because everyone watches and follows the English summer. It is one of the marquee events in the cricket calendar.


If PCB were scheduled to tour Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Zimbabwe this summer, they would have refused. However, now they have convinced ECB that they have a moral obligation to return the so-called favor, and if ECB tours (which they most likely will), that would ensure the full restoration of international cricket in Pakistan.

The only twist in the tale would be ECB calling Pakistan’s bluff and seeing through this act, but that is unlikely to happen. Thus, Mani and Wasim deserve a lot of credit for carefully crafting a favorable situation and using the COVID-19 situation to favor their agenda.

 

[Savak]

at a predictable anti Pakistan Mamoon post

 

[Thunderbolt14]

at a predictable anti Pakistan Mamoon post

I think it’s his first ever pro-PCB post