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What immediate steps would you take if you became PCB CEO?

Colorblind Genius

Colorblind Genius

First Class Captain
Joined
Dec 24, 2019
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What do you think are the major problems in the existing structure and setup of PCB? And how are you going to fix it?
Where is the functionality broken and how are you going streamline it?

What would be your short term and long terms goals, and how are you going to achieve them?
 
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
 
Give season tickets to my family and friends. Give my relatives first class contracts, might appoint a few relatives to various positions such as DG and chief selector. Gotta a take care of your own before you take care of others. :afridi
 
I will dream a little longer so i can become President of Pakistan and Patron in Chief of Cricket.

Anyone here who thinks the PCB CEO is very independent and change Pakistan cricket entirely on his own needs to dream a bit harder.
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

Gold.
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

Very good points, I’ll add one more - and that actually no. 0, means count starts from that.

: I’ll irradiate systematic age cheating from PAK cricket. For that, whatever investments is required and whatever sadistic calls I need to take - I’ll do that.

This has been the biggest issue in PAK cricket for me - people cheating 3-4-5-7-10 years of age playing cricket with certificate ages making officially a much younger team than it is at every level. Players playing at key roles at the down slope of biological ages bringing the overall quality down. Young men at the age of 23-25 are given the training/development programs for their certificate age of 17-18-19.... result is their progress stops after a certain age. And, finally PP hypes with the talent of 23 years old phast bowlers wrapped in the certificate of 17-18 years old baby, bashing kids with their pace and swing .... then it ends in usual heart breaking. I don’t mind Mo Amir playing the 2022 U19 WC with a new certificate and a double shaven chin, as long as ICC is comfortable (they are with Afghans, so shouldn’t be any issues for PAK either), but for PCB’s domestics, development programs & selections/scoutings - there has to be a unofficial certificate maintained for every player.

If I can’t impose that harsh regime officially, I’ll follow Imran’s route - his talents were picked at ripe age of 19-18.... even 16, officially - then they peaked by 23-25 & by official age of 29-30, with white lines below hat they retire - I don’t mind PAK breaking every age level record by certificate, but I’ll make sure that there is not more than 2-3 players in any FC teams, biologically. It’s another quota - you have to be among the top to play cricket at official 29+ for PAK, at any level.
 
I will enjoy the privileges of becoming a PCB CEO, if there is any and throw tantrums on the rest.
 
I would introduce a simple new rule - batsmen and bowlers can not be selected for the national team unless they have scored at least 5 first class centuries averaging over 50 or bowlers taken 5 five wicket hauls averaging under 25 in the current or most recent Pakistani domestic season.

If you can’t find enough players to select who meet this criteria , then rank them in terms of closest to meeting this criteria and select top batsmen and bowlers on that basis.

Then you can be sure the best players from domestic cricket are selected for the national team. There should be NO exceptions to this rule - even Azhar Ali should have to play first class cricket and prove his credentials to keep his place in team.

It’s no guarantee for success but at least it ensures you don’t get parchis bypassing all selection rules , and ‘senior’ players keeping place in the team without looking like getting 100s or taking 5- wicket hauls.
 
Fire Misbah and his coaching team along with Hafeez, Malik, Shafiq and Azhar or any pensioner. Then immediately resign
 
mamoon said:
i will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) i would hide the 1992 world cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) i would ban the following words from pakistan cricket: Talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within pcb jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) i would tell everyone that there is no talent in pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, i would do the following:

(4) i would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) for those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, i will employ qualified english instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass english exams periodically.

(6) coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) all the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping fc cricket, i would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) no player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of psl performances. The players will be clearly told that psl is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in fc cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* there will be no stupid statements with respect to bcci and the big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, i will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, i will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that i would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...


potw. :)
 
Improve domestic pitches. Have a variety of pitches. Have 1 that prepares you for playing in each country.
Ensure players are educated socially and having a good grasp of English.
Ensuring national level players undergo some sort of media training.
Having coaches with qualifications at the NCA.
Having selectors who regularly watch domestic cricket, watching 1 match a season or just watching the PSL is not enough.
All first class teams have a nutrition and have professional fitness schedule to prepare them for international cricket.
Trying to get the mentality out of being unpredictable and all that stuff .
Setting a goal from grassroots all the way until the senior team of being in the top 3/4 in all formats.
Marketing domestic cricket to ensure it gets fans into the stadium. Rather than having empty seats which we have right now. Playing regularly in packed stadiums helps deal with international cricket.
 
Completely agree with your school cricket program.We need to have an year long league for school cricket amongst all major schools and telecast it live on youtube this way more and more people would want to pursue cricket and interest will be generated.But the problem is that schools like beaconhouse,lgs don't have cricket grounds.
 
Furthermore we need to promote the game and take advantage of the fact that cricket is the only sport alive in pakistan.Domestic cricket should be held in areas like interior KPK,INTERIOR SINDH since those people are cricket starved and might actually show up to the stadium we need to have at least 5000 -10000 so our domestic cricket actually genereates some sort of revenue.An amateur league should be established of over 30 age people as those people are slowly loosing interest but back in their youth they all were keen followers.Domestic cricket needs to be marketed in a way that almost everyone know the squads and stuff hence more sponsorship
 
More grounds also need to be built in every society so that we can make cricket a national past time like it used to be back in early 2000s.Long term goals should include hosting of the 2031 wc since I hope pak ind relations will be better.Lat year 80000 indians travelled to the wc in England so pak can expect twice the amount.All indian matches should be held close to border,Afghan games in kpk so we can expect sell outs for India and afghan games.
 
I agree with whatever [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] said and [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] about age cheating.I will like to teach the present team players how to represent themselves on social media and I will not accept playing more than two t20s and Less than three tests in any series.
 
I will make PP the official media partner of the PCB.

Also I will select myself in the PCT. I want to play test cricket. :))
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

Points 4 and onwards are good.

The first 3 are a joke
 
Rana said:
Points 4 and onwards are good.

The first 3 are a joke
Click to expand...

Quite literally a (very dark) joke i'm sure :)

I'd want to see a mandatory 'emerging' catagory in our FC and List A cricket. The likes of Salman Butt will hang on for dear life but at least we can be assured the best upcoming talents will be guaranteed some game time in domestic cricket.
 
I will sack Misbah and Waqar. Revamp FC structure. Bring in foreign analysts and sports physiologists. Get rid of incompetence and nepotism. Not allow pajama league players to "choose" which format they want to play.
 
I would reserve a spot in 2nd XI of each provincial team for a cricketer from the religious minority groups of Pakistan. This will be mandatory.

No 2nd XI team would compete in the 3day QeA tournament without a player from the minorities (Sikh, Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis etc). There is a considerable size of non muslims in Pakistan yet they are not represented at all by the cricket teams in Pakistan. This needs to corrected and the only way this can be achieved is by including them in main-stream cricket.

If the guy playing in the minority quota does well for the 2nd XI team he can be promoted to the 1st XI and then if he is good enough he can even reach the national team, in the meantime, the spot vacated by him in the 2nd XI will taken up by only another minority player, this is how the chain will continue.

The same would apply to the women team as well.
 
There are some relevant points here but also some that are pretty disagreeable:

1) The 92 trophy has largely influenced the culture of heavily relying on our bowling whilst not developing our batting. But it's still an achievement that if nothing else serves as a reminder that you go into tournaments to win, not just to participate. If a cricket board doesn't aim for success it's doomed to fail, and past trophies are reminders of the prospect of winning . Heck, the England football media still won't shut up about 1966!

2) Ah yes, the Chairmen Mao technique of firing people from their livelihoods for a slip of tongue. Instead: Pass down a PR message expecting PCB staff to stress on structures, current record and performance, rather than on the words you mention. Altho in Pakistan restraint of opinion is unlikely to happen

3) This one takes the cake. So let's destroy the dreams of young prospects unknown to us, that may be a couple degrees from being in the first class system. I agree on the wider point that the talent nurturing system needs a thorough review. But stating there's no talent is just hilarious.

5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically. - So what if one of these non posh school kids is an excellent player but can't pass his exams because he's dyslexic or mildly autistic, and the condition is nuanced enough that the 'qualified English instructors' can't recognise the condition? Does the player than have his potentially work class career wrecked?

(7) every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. - Any chucker will be given immediate coaching to remodel their action. Chuckers will be monitored periodically to ensure the remodelled action is bedded in.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign - but will have young assistant Pakistan coaches working with them. The coaches will help with translation and also learn of the methods of the foreign coaches. Once the foreign coaches leave, the young Pakistani coaches either stay on or move into domestic coaching themselves. Thus there's a knowledge trickle down.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade - Agree on the quality of balls, pitches etc but not sure about the no of teams. Unfortunately there still is a culture on Pakistan to play the experienced players rather than chance on a youngster. Does increasing the no of teams give younger players more opportunities? I don't know, because it's more a mindset thing than a quantity thing

A couple of suggestions to add:

a) I'd make it a point to have a A team itinerary that is as extensive (or even more extensive) than the PCT itinerary. The selection process of the A team would be as strict as the national team selection. Thus the A team will not just be a bastion for failed international players but rather proven domestic and A team performers. I'd make sure that there is atleast one if not two SENA A team tours a years either home or away.

b) I would pour alot of investment into areas where cricket infrastructure is limited. I would especially invest heavily in facilities, infrastructure and coaching in Baluchistan, including setting up s cricket academy where students can go to school and learn how to play cricket. I'd do similar but at a lesser scale in places like Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan as well ( I don't know enough about these areas but assume cricket facilities are limited here)

c) I'd market the domestic tournaments much better. This would include low gate prices for fans, international players playing in the tournaments and coverage by a half decent production company, with decent production values commentators. I'd sell the rights to these domestic tournaments to a more high profile channel other than Ptv who can market them well. Even if it's a loss leader it may in the long term help the PCB get good sponsors.

d) I'd make a more concerted effort in attracting sponsors to many of PCB's media properties. Chief among these will be the rights to Pakistan's matches and PSL matches. I'd concentrate on increasing revenues, getting creative to help support the initiatives that have been suggested
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

I think you have some very good points but #3 is a bit harsh.
 
Been saying this for a while now:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sign a long-term contract with <a href="https://twitter.com/CricViz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CricViz</a>. Give all Domestic teams access to their data. Start collecting proper local data. Get <a href="https://twitter.com/patnoonecricket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@patnoonecricket</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/fwildecricket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fwildecricket</a> to train and upscale all local analysts so players/coaches start using data from early stage in their career. <a href="https://t.co/RmuR5oIHxf">https://t.co/RmuR5oIHxf</a></p>— Ali Khan Tareen (@aliktareen) <a href="https://twitter.com/aliktareen/status/1321500372905664514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

One of the biggest things PCB can possibly do!
 
Ali Tareen, Fawad Rana and Javed Afridi have a real passion for Pakistan cricket.

Love these guys
 
I would appoint Kamran Akmal CEO we would safe in his wicket keeping gloves.

Head of Anti-corruption would definitely go to captain Salman Butt.

Head Coach should be Waqar as he has not had enough chances.

Misbah should be T20 Captain/Coach/Selector/Strategy..... oops that may already be true.
Tuk Tuk for T20 batting in powerplays.

For his dedication and services to Pak Cricket Amir should in charge of player fitness for test matches.

I would make Yasir Spin bowling coach so he can teach the leg spinners how to bowl a googly.
 
A lot of the valid points here require additional resources that are not present. we should look for ways to boost Pakistani cricket organically. That said, I think everyone here agrees that a massive overhaul is necessary...or is it? Do I need remind you that we've managed to stay barely competitive despite gross mismanagement and reached the pinnacles of Test and ODI cricket (#1 in Tests, CT 2017 winners) despite that utter lack of management and leadership? I personally thought that Arthur should have been given until 2021 as most of what you saw as failure was him enacting a very large change management program.

Now, onto my points.
1. I would release the entire board of selectors, including the chief selector, and farm it out to the head coaches in the First class and List A setup. The chief selector would be a foreigner and no coach could nominate his own players for selection. This prevents nepotism yet at the same time allows for a very steady view of what's going on in domestic cricket as coaches are required to prepare for the opposition's best players every week and how to play them. It also saves money as we don't have to pay an entire board of fools who's goal is to hold a job.

2. Institute an age cap, and yes, age testing. this problem is both a matter of unethical cheating (PK can't be sure if they are winning U-19 with players who are too old), and organization. If we don't know how old a player is, then we have no idea how to handle his development program. We have no idea how to handle his skillset, and most of all we have no idea if they are a worthy investment for the national side. The age cap also allows us to gracefully exit players who are much too old to play cricket anymore.

3. Institute a fielding and fitness competition nationwide. Julien Fountain suggested the same several years ago and it should have been implemented then. Since we've set the definition of every league, it can be point based and the winning fielders will be given opportunities to on the training camp squads for one of the national side depending on their category (i.e. Pakistan senior team for first class cricketers not otherwise good enough to get in on their batting or bowling, Pakistan A for the 2nd XI, U-19 for school cricketers). Given that fielding and fitness are closely related, I think we can agree that the scores can be merged for an average.

4. Sign the data contract recommended above. Certain things are not worth spending on, but data absolutely is. We cannot live without data in this day and age.

5. Sell, sell, sell, Sell on every revenue stream we can possibly have. PCB needs money. We should have a "anywhere, anytime" attitude. if India is out there causing problems for other cricket boards, PCB should be rushing in to fill the scheduling gap. Not only will this endear us to other boards, it will also cause problems for India as we will always have series scheduled while they are busy trying to fill openings in their schedule. the only time that should be excluded is the PSL. Pakistan should not schedule any international matches at that time. I want India to be in a position where their senior cricket team is sitting in India while Pakistan is playing. They have made every opportunity to exclude Pakistan from everything. Let's see how well they can take that approach when Pakistan is jumping at every opportunity. This will also increase media opportunities since Pakistan cricket is constantly playing matches.

5. This has been mentioned already, but the cricket players need to learn English at every level, and academics for school and college cricketers must come first. if anyone has forgotten, it's the second national language of Pakistan. Everyone should know English. Everyone.

6. Hold as many annual cricket events in Pakistan as is possible. Invite Associate sides to come play second level teams and First class teams on an ongoing basis. I understand we are on the verge of getting England to tour for a series, and England is supposed to be the chief promoter of the game as sport (India is the chief promotor of the game as money). Let us be that second home for cricket. Encourage school age children to attend and watch our lower level teams play lower level international sides (i.e. Nepal, PNG, UAE, Singapore, etc.) in Karachi and Lahore. This will help grow the games in those countries as well.

7. This has already been suggested, but have a minority quota system. As a Christian myself, I can appreciate that Pakistani Christian kids will appreciate having someone to look up to.

Pakistan has been on the defensive too long when it comes to literally everything. there is a resilience, to be sure, but that resilience is also couched in a fortress mentality, a mentality that "nothing can harm me if I just wait it out". It's time to dictate to the rest of the world what Pakistan and Pakistan cricket is, rather than let others define it for Pakistan.
 
The current administration is doing pretty much all of the suggested things in this thread. It just takes time to see results.
 
KingOfPakBreakfast said:
There are some relevant points here but also some that are pretty disagreeable:

1) The 92 trophy has largely influenced the culture of heavily relying on our bowling whilst not developing our batting. But it's still an achievement that if nothing else serves as a reminder that you go into tournaments to win, not just to participate. If a cricket board doesn't aim for success it's doomed to fail, and past trophies are reminders of the prospect of winning . Heck, the England football media still won't shut up about 1966!

2) Ah yes, the Chairmen Mao technique of firing people from their livelihoods for a slip of tongue. Instead: Pass down a PR message expecting PCB staff to stress on structures, current record and performance, rather than on the words you mention. Altho in Pakistan restraint of opinion is unlikely to happen

3) This one takes the cake. So let's destroy the dreams of young prospects unknown to us, that may be a couple degrees from being in the first class system. I agree on the wider point that the talent nurturing system needs a thorough review. But stating there's no talent is just hilarious.

5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically. - So what if one of these non posh school kids is an excellent player but can't pass his exams because he's dyslexic or mildly autistic, and the condition is nuanced enough that the 'qualified English instructors' can't recognise the condition? Does the player than have his potentially work class career wrecked?

(7) every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. - Any chucker will be given immediate coaching to remodel their action. Chuckers will be monitored periodically to ensure the remodelled action is bedded in.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign - but will have young assistant Pakistan coaches working with them. The coaches will help with translation and also learn of the methods of the foreign coaches. Once the foreign coaches leave, the young Pakistani coaches either stay on or move into domestic coaching themselves. Thus there's a knowledge trickle down.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade - Agree on the quality of balls, pitches etc but not sure about the no of teams. Unfortunately there still is a culture on Pakistan to play the experienced players rather than chance on a youngster. Does increasing the no of teams give younger players more opportunities? I don't know, because it's more a mindset thing than a quantity thing

A couple of suggestions to add:

a) I'd make it a point to have a A team itinerary that is as extensive (or even more extensive) than the PCT itinerary. The selection process of the A team would be as strict as the national team selection. Thus the A team will not just be a bastion for failed international players but rather proven domestic and A team performers. I'd make sure that there is atleast one if not two SENA A team tours a years either home or away.

b) I would pour alot of investment into areas where cricket infrastructure is limited. I would especially invest heavily in facilities, infrastructure and coaching in Baluchistan, including setting up s cricket academy where students can go to school and learn how to play cricket. I'd do similar but at a lesser scale in places like Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan as well ( I don't know enough about these areas but assume cricket facilities are limited here)

c) I'd market the domestic tournaments much better. This would include low gate prices for fans, international players playing in the tournaments and coverage by a half decent production company, with decent production values commentators. I'd sell the rights to these domestic tournaments to a more high profile channel other than Ptv who can market them well. Even if it's a loss leader it may in the long term help the PCB get good sponsors.

d) I'd make a more concerted effort in attracting sponsors to many of PCB's media properties. Chief among these will be the rights to Pakistan's matches and PSL matches. I'd concentrate on increasing revenues, getting creative to help support the initiatives that have been suggested
Click to expand...

POTW material right here.
 
There are some extremely good points posted here. Going thru them, it feels like current PCB Think Tanks should be ashamed if they ever happen to read these.

Thank you all who gave some wonderful ideas and suggestions.

Many of these suggestions could potentially be a guarantee towards the improvement of our cricket; however, the VERY FIRST STEP I would take is to restructure PCB from scratch.

My perception is that PCB is perhaps THE ONLY govt or semi govt institution left in Pakistan that generates a revenue. And that too, not by it's own performance but the handout it gets from ICC in the form of 100 and thousands of dollars every year.

And since we live in an EXTREMELY corrupt and greedy social atmosphere where from the people who are in power, to almost EVERY ONE in the political spectrum, has his mouth watered with greed. Everyone wants a piece of those dollars.

It's like a bunch of hyenas attacking a zebra or a shoal of piranhas attacking an injured dolphin.

As a result, we have an army of unnecessary and unqualified employees shoved into PCB based on political connections and nepotism. There are cousins and brothers of ministers and national and provincial assembly members, there are friends and their kids of former cricketers - and most of them nalaiq and nikammay people are just there to suck on the payroll and perks.


So my first and most important step would be to shield the institution of cricket from these alligators.

I would take IK into confidence and get rid of EVERY SINGLE employee of PCB by scratching off the entire institution of PCB altogether.

No more PCB would exist, and hence none of it's employees would be active.

There is nothing wrong in reusing an idea, so I will look into the structure of Cricket Australia and ECB to see how have they laid it out? This should provide me with an idea to get minimum number of professionals required to lay down the structure of Pakistan Cricket Institution.


I will start with a new cricket board by another name. "Cricket Pakistan" or something, and start the foundational structure of this organization pre-designed structure.
(For example ECB has about 350 employees and Cricket Australia has about 585 employees in contrast to PCB that has 900+ nakaliq and nikammay, employees)

To build "CP", I will start hiring, ENERGETIC, WELL QUALIFIED, and INTELLIGENT professionals who can take the ownership of their work.

I will then a make a public announcement to give a message to EVERYONE starting from my own family to all the ministers and political leaders etc that if ANYONE tried to reach me to hire some certain individual, I will name and shame you in the public.

So do NOT attempt to reach me. Whether you are my brother or my sister or my uncle or whether you are the prime minister, I will name and shame you in the public.


There will be two unwritten conditions in the restructure process as well.

1 - Any existing or former employee of PCB (the scraped off institution) won't be hired. Enough is enough!

2 - Anyone who has the mindset of saying "It's not my job" would either not be hired (filtered out in the hiring and interview process) or be fired at spot on the job.

Living in the west, we have seen that employment means a proven ability to effectively multi task in a team environment.

You should be a team player who must be qualified and willing to do multiple duties and be able to take several responsibilities as part of your job. And you must do it all with speed and accuracy.
During your 9-5, they keep you on your toes.
There is a super strong concept of accountability. There are checks and balances and justice is served to you at the spot.

The concept of putting your feet on the table and ordering a "chai" is unthinkable in the workplace environment in the west.

Unlike in Pakistani setup where a manager will have a typist, a chaprasi, a chai wala, a steno-grapher, a driver, a bawarchi, a maali ... all provided by the job.
This "Shahana mizaaji" has no room in the modern day, managerial work force.


My interview and selection process should be able to filter out Shahana mizaaj type people. If I fail to find them all in Pakistan, I will get them from abroad. But I must have an energetic, sharp, alert and well qualified work force to run PCB.


Once this institution of cricket is properly setup and shielded from the scumbags, I will visit this post and offer a few posters to write me a detail plan and their suggestions, and if they are willing to work on short term contract basis? If yes, they will go through the interview and selection process and I will bring them onboard.

We will have some great brain storming meetings and very interesting and effective ideas to help improve Pakistan cricket. (Mamoon will be our critic as his job where he will pay us to listen his critique).

I am sure we have better qualified and more sensible posters here then their ENTIRE current teams of Think Tanks and administrators of PCB combined.
 
All under 19 players coming into cricket and given wrist age verifying and anyone found to be overage is given 3 months to change their real ages in official papers and if they refuse to do .... should be kicked out of cricket for life.......
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

Just from the first 3 points someone would try to have you assassinated given the mentality of the people.
 
Send all ex cricketers and their pals in the media to Mars so they stop spouting rubbish on TV.

Hire foreign, qualified coaches who are able to re-educate the whole Pakistani cricket system.
 
The first thing I’d do is change the dressing room culture.

Our players are a bunch of softies, they probably listen to ‘Kuch is tarah’ by Atif Aslam before they step on the field.

Play some American hip hop gangsta rap, get the players hyped up.

Have a hair policy. Just like in the fauj, every player must have a skin fade and short at top. Look smart, not like Faheem and Imad.
 
I would start teaching my underlings the idea that the problem isn't cosmetic- changing coach/selector/therapist/masseuse every series failure is a stupid strategy and is putting a bandaid on a bone fracture that needs surgery.

I would redirect all efforts into reviving grassroots level cricket of QUALITY. Others have already covered this very well. School, club, cricket, U15 tours to other countries, and most importantly INCENTIVE to play cricket for Pakistan.

People harp about today's generation not having jazba or whatever mumbo jumbo... but if you're being paid peanuts, patriotism goes out the window because your survival instincts kick in to provide food, water and a roof over your head. Having scholarships at college level would be great to put the idea that cricket is a viable career, and still encourage education. Again, as Mamoon said... country is poor, so how much financial incentive we can provide from a monetary means is limited by that. This is a ghareeb cricket board after all..

Also I would strike a deal with England that we are open to trade players to play in county cricket and they can send players to play in Pakistan so their players can grow by experiencing Asian conditions and we can send our most gifted players to play CC.

If you are fat, you need to get fit. No question about it.

Improve outfields in our stadiums so it would be like diving onto a soft cushy bed of feathers as our players are afraid to dive around and put effort into fielding, partly because of rough outfields we have.
 
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Majid Khan said:
I would introduce a simple new rule - batsmen and bowlers can not be selected for the national team unless they have scored at least 5 first class centuries averaging over 50 or bowlers taken 5 five wicket hauls averaging under 25 in the current or most recent Pakistani domestic season.
Click to expand...

How will you bridge the gap between quality of domestic cricket and international cricket? I think its evident domestic cricket is not good enough to develop players to play in SENA countries. Will you propose to bring drop in pitches in domestic cricket for few matches per season? In recent test series vs NZ, all batsman: Rizwan, Fawad etc were products of domestic cricket in Pakistan.
 
Adding a new proposition, I would include series-based performances as an indicator for how long you can stay in the team.

If you are a bowler, you HAVE to average 32 or less for the entire year and 27 or below for at least 1 of the series.

If you are a batsman, you HAVE to average 40 or more for the entire year and 50 or more for at least 1 of the series.

Any player, regardless if he is captain, who drops more than 2 catches on a tour will be dropped ASAP.

I would have a special military until brutalize these men before every tour because they are complacent and lazy. (AUS did this before 06-07’ Ashes.)

Players who average the most with the bat, least with the ball, drop least amount of catches, will receive money bonuses.

They are to be away from their families except the holidays and 300/360 days. Playing for your country is not a holiday; it is a profession of the highest national honor and pride.

Players will not have any electronic devices while on tour. They cannot leave their hotels. They can only eat meals provided and approved by the restaurant/board.

On the filed, they cannot laugh. They cannot complain. They cannot react. This serves an unprofessional attitude. They will wear ONLY suits when not training/playing.

This might be draconian for some but it is better to use the stick than carrots for these pathetic misfits who have abused their positions for far too long at the expense of the public.
 
Get professionals to prepare a good pitch in domestic. I am just going by comments in PP that useless bowlers are marshall and McGrath in Pakistan's domestic due to poor pitch. That makes it hard to develop batsmen or bowlers.
 
Buffet said:
Get professionals to prepare a good pitch in domestic. I am just going by comments in PP that useless bowlers are marshall and McGrath in Pakistan's domestic due to poor pitch. That makes it hard to develop batsmen or bowlers.
Click to expand...

This has already been done.
 
ManFan said:
Adding a new proposition, I would include series-based performances as an indicator for how long you can stay in the team.

If you are a bowler, you HAVE to average 32 or less for the entire year and 27 or below for at least 1 of the series.

If you are a batsman, you HAVE to average 40 or more for the entire year and 50 or more for at least 1 of the series.

Any player, regardless if he is captain, who drops more than 2 catches on a tour will be dropped ASAP.

I would have a special military until brutalize these men before every tour because they are complacent and lazy. (AUS did this before 06-07’ Ashes.)

Players who average the most with the bat, least with the ball, drop least amount of catches, will receive money bonuses.

They are to be away from their families except the holidays and 300/360 days. Playing for your country is not a holiday; it is a profession of the highest national honor and pride.

Players will not have any electronic devices while on tour. They cannot leave their hotels. They can only eat meals provided and approved by the restaurant/board.

On the filed, they cannot laugh. They cannot complain. They cannot react. This serves an unprofessional attitude. They will wear ONLY suits when not training/playing.

This might be draconian for some but it is better to use the stick than carrots for these pathetic misfits who have abused their positions for far too long at the expense of the public.
Click to expand...

Apply online before the vacancy gets filled.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
The first thing I’d do is change the dressing room culture.

Our players are a bunch of softies, they probably listen to ‘Kuch is tarah’ by Atif Aslam before they step on the field.

Play some American hip hop gangsta rap, get the players hyped up.

Have a hair policy. Just like in the fauj, every player must have a skin fade and short at top. Look smart, not like Faheem and Imad.
Click to expand...

Gangsta rap? More likely Imam will be listening to “Candy Shop” (if you know, you know) and the next headline can be guessed. Cannot play stuff like “Straight Outta Compton”, might make Amir nostalgic if he returns.

Avatar and username check out.
 
Yk313 said:
Has it? I keep hearing how the lifeless pitches have zero bounce? Didn’t Rambo lash out last week saying we need drop-ins?
Click to expand...

That’s a separate issue. I actually agree with Rambo, but that’s to create unnatural pitches that can help us prepare for foreign SENA tours.

As far as domestic pitches go, the quality of pitches has improved to the extent that they are good batting pitches with enough for the bowlers to produce average FC scores of 300 or so per innings.

It used to be teams getting all out for 90 or 110. So pitch quality is much better, batsmen get to build big innings if they are good enough, and get out if they are not.

It sorts good bowlers adequately, and Hassan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah rise above the rest and average 16-20, while Irfanullah Shah, Aamer Yamin, and Waqas Maqsood average 21-24.

Solid bowlers like Tabish Khan, Taj Wali, Shahnawaz Dhani, and Zia ul Haq average 30.

People like Bilawal Iqbal average 35+.

So the stats are very compelling and pass the eye test - they adequately sort performers and non-performers into tiers that give us a lot of insight into how they would perform at international level.

There is good bounce available on the pitch and it rewards tall bowlers like Sameen Gul and Shahnawaz Dhani who have begun to learn how to use their height. Line and length is rewarded, and setting up a batsman is crucial.

Spinners are getting a lot of reward, but this is because batsmen are not good at playing spin - they would get out far too quickly in the previous system and not learn to adapt since pitches were minefields.

Even the spinners who are doing exceptionally well, like Sajid Khan, Zahid Mehmood, and Nauman Ali who are the three highest wicket takers, still average 25. We all know that to the naked eye since we’ve seen them as fans, they’re good but not exceptional. So that’s a very fair bowling average that represents their abilities.

The point I’m trying to make is that improvement in pitch quality is the main improvement in QeA trophy along with the introduction of 12 team two tier structure as well as Kookaburra. It’s a ruthlessly fair system and is much closer to international quality than this tournament used to be.

As far as drop in pitches go, yeah we should definitely invest in those to prepare for away tours. But on wholesale level, the pitches are excellent this year as far as natural pitches go.
 
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Thunderbolt14 said:
That’s a separate issue. I actually agree with Rambo, but that’s to create unnatural pitches that can help us prepare for foreign SENA tours.

As far as domestic pitches go, the quality of pitches has improved to the extent that they are good batting pitches with enough for the bowlers to produce average FC scores of 300 or so per innings.

It used to be teams getting all out for 90 or 110. So pitch quality is much better, batsmen get to build big innings if they are good enough, and get out if they are not.

It sorts good bowlers adequately, and Hassan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah rise above the rest and average 16-20, while Irfanullah Shah, Aamer Yamin, and Waqas Maqsood average 21-24.

Solid bowlers like Tabish Khan, Taj Wali, Shahnawaz Dhani, and Zia ul Haq average 30.

People like Bilawal Iqbal average 35+.

So the stats are very compelling and pass the eye test - they adequately sort performers and non-performers into tiers that give us a lot of insight into how they would perform at international level.

There is good bounce available on the pitch and it rewards tall bowlers like Sameen Gul and Shahnawaz Dhani who have begun to learn how to use their height. Line and length is rewarded, and setting up a batsman is crucial.

Spinners are getting a lot of reward, but this is because batsmen are not good at playing spin - they would get out far too quickly in the previous system and not learn to adapt since pitches were minefields.

Even the spinners who are doing exceptionally well, like Sajid Khan, Zahid Mehmood, and Nauman Ali who are the three highest wicket takers, still average 25. We all know that to the naked eye since we’ve seen them as fans, they’re good but not exceptional. So that’s a very fair bowling average that represents their abilities.

The point I’m trying to make is that improvement in pitch quality is the main improvement in QeA trophy along with the introduction of 12 team two tier structure as well as Kookaburra. It’s a ruthlessly fair system and is much closer to international quality than this tournament used to be.

As far as drop in pitches go, yeah we should definitely invest in those to prepare for away tours. But on wholesale level, the pitches are excellent this year as far as natural pitches go.
Click to expand...

Actually I thought a little about it.
May be there is a granularity on the microscopic level when the soil contents are analyzed but what is it that makes a pitch pacey and bouncy? My wild guess is perhaps the soil has a bit higher amount rocky dust.

Together with analyzing the contents in the soil samples taken from WACA Australia and New Wanderers SA, we can perhaps do a trial n error method to find a good balance to know the percentage of rocky dust that we can add in the clay of the surface and prepare domestic pitches along the same lines.

Rocky dust is easily available at stone and marble refineries where it’s only a leftover when stone/marble is cut by the machines.
 
Make sure every team has a fielding coach
Team player has to have a fitness test in order to participate in pcb touanements.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
That’s a separate issue. I actually agree with Rambo, but that’s to create unnatural pitches that can help us prepare for foreign SENA tours.

As far as domestic pitches go, the quality of pitches has improved to the extent that they are good batting pitches with enough for the bowlers to produce average FC scores of 300 or so per innings.

It used to be teams getting all out for 90 or 110. So pitch quality is much better, batsmen get to build big innings if they are good enough, and get out if they are not.

It sorts good bowlers adequately, and Hassan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah rise above the rest and average 16-20, while Irfanullah Shah, Aamer Yamin, and Waqas Maqsood average 21-24.

Solid bowlers like Tabish Khan, Taj Wali, Shahnawaz Dhani, and Zia ul Haq average 30.

People like Bilawal Iqbal average 35+.

So the stats are very compelling and pass the eye test - they adequately sort performers and non-performers into tiers that give us a lot of insight into how they would perform at international level.

There is good bounce available on the pitch and it rewards tall bowlers like Sameen Gul and Shahnawaz Dhani who have begun to learn how to use their height. Line and length is rewarded, and setting up a batsman is crucial.

Spinners are getting a lot of reward, but this is because batsmen are not good at playing spin - they would get out far too quickly in the previous system and not learn to adapt since pitches were minefields.

Even the spinners who are doing exceptionally well, like Sajid Khan, Zahid Mehmood, and Nauman Ali who are the three highest wicket takers, still average 25. We all know that to the naked eye since we’ve seen them as fans, they’re good but not exceptional. So that’s a very fair bowling average that represents their abilities.

The point I’m trying to make is that improvement in pitch quality is the main improvement in QeA trophy along with the introduction of 12 team two tier structure as well as Kookaburra. It’s a ruthlessly fair system and is much closer to international quality than this tournament used to be.

As far as drop in pitches go, yeah we should definitely invest in those to prepare for away tours. But on wholesale level, the pitches are excellent this year as far as natural pitches go.
Click to expand...

This is a very informative write up and I want to say thank you for taking time to draft this and apprise me of some relevant stats.

Few thoughts on which it would be good to get your opinion:

- The stats regarding Abbas & Co.: seem a little too impressive. Did he play at all this year prior to NZD? Just feel like his average (assuming it is of the latest completed season or last season) is deceptively low. By now I would have expected batsmen to start employing the same tactics Internationals are using to neutralise him. This may well be indicative of the calibre of batsmen but I digress.

- In terms of the eye test, still looked like not a lot of bowlers were running in to hit the pitch hard on a length to try and exploit bounce or seam movement. No one will become or can become Cummins over night, but seemed like the bowlers seemed to want to continue to push the ball through instead of hitting the length and aiming to hit the bat high near the splice as the batsmen look to block it (good length ones).

Overall, what may seem like a fairly mechanical routine seems to be absent. 5’11 to 6’0 or above Right Arm Fast Medium/Fast bowlers running in and hitting the deck hard at around 85mph with tight lines to get it to rear up (not extraordinarily but just to hit the bat hard).

To try and illustrate the example, let’s look at some patterns from the SYD Test being played out.

Both AUS and IND bowlers are looking to hit hard lengths and tight lines. It is old school area bowling without giving much away but the key lies in knowing that lateral movement or elaborate bounce will be minimal. Hence, the need for tight channels. If we look at the fall of wickets, there will not be many deliveries (when viewed in isolation) that will have hooped around or bounced crazily off a length. In AUS it comes down to a battle of attrition (given mostly flat drop-ins which have a predictable and even bounce). Unlike ENG or say NZD where in a 10 wicket fall of wickets package you may expect to see 3-6 jaffas. In AUS you may see 1-2 with other dismissals potentially about concentration lapses.

It is this kind of disciplined and attritional bowling which is seems to be missing and PAK would do well to develop some for such situations. This is kind of the context in which I was asking about the pitches (I did not make it clear so my bad).

Not as worried about the traditional seam and swing (for ENG or NZD tours) bowlers as we always tend to have one or two who like to make the ball “kiss” the deck on the way to the keeper and prefer movement in the air. Having said that, it would be good to have variety in the attack so switching pitches one way or another completely across venues won’t work.

About the spinners you mentioned, agreed that no one that I have seen looks as promising. Sajid does not seem very tall and on top of that the action seems to not make full use of his height either. What happened to all those PSL flash boys? Usama Mir, Umer Khan, Asghar etc? Did no one bother/get selected in QeA?
 
Yk313 said:
This is a very informative write up and I want to say thank you for taking time to draft this and apprise me of some relevant stats.

Few thoughts on which it would be good to get your opinion:

- The stats regarding Abbas & Co.: seem a little too impressive. Did he play at all this year prior to NZD? Just feel like his average (assuming it is of the latest completed season or last season) is deceptively low. By now I would have expected batsmen to start employing the same tactics Internationals are using to neutralise him. This may well be indicative of the calibre of batsmen but I digress.

- In terms of the eye test, still looked like not a lot of bowlers were running in to hit the pitch hard on a length to try and exploit bounce or seam movement. No one will become or can become Cummins over night, but seemed like the bowlers seemed to want to continue to push the ball through instead of hitting the length and aiming to hit the bat high near the splice as the batsmen look to block it (good length ones).

Overall, what may seem like a fairly mechanical routine seems to be absent. 5’11 to 6’0 or above Right Arm Fast Medium/Fast bowlers running in and hitting the deck hard at around 85mph with tight lines to get it to rear up (not extraordinarily but just to hit the bat hard).

To try and illustrate the example, let’s look at some patterns from the SYD Test being played out.

Both AUS and IND bowlers are looking to hit hard lengths and tight lines. It is old school area bowling without giving much away but the key lies in knowing that lateral movement or elaborate bounce will be minimal. Hence, the need for tight channels. If we look at the fall of wickets, there will not be many deliveries (when viewed in isolation) that will have hooped around or bounced crazily off a length. In AUS it comes down to a battle of attrition (given mostly flat drop-ins which have a predictable and even bounce). Unlike ENG or say NZD where in a 10 wicket fall of wickets package you may expect to see 3-6 jaffas. In AUS you may see 1-2 with other dismissals potentially about concentration lapses.

It is this kind of disciplined and attritional bowling which is seems to be missing and PAK would do well to develop some for such situations. This is kind of the context in which I was asking about the pitches (I did not make it clear so my bad).

Not as worried about the traditional seam and swing (for ENG or NZD tours) bowlers as we always tend to have one or two who like to make the ball “kiss” the deck on the way to the keeper and prefer movement in the air. Having said that, it would be good to have variety in the attack so switching pitches one way or another completely across venues won’t work.

About the spinners you mentioned, agreed that no one that I have seen looks as promising. Sajid does not seem very tall and on top of that the action seems to not make full use of his height either. What happened to all those PSL flash boys? Usama Mir, Umer Khan, Asghar etc? Did no one bother/get selected in QeA?
Click to expand...

Regarding Abbas. Yes he did play this year and I don’t think it’s deceptive at all. Even in international cricket, when batsmen stand within their crease, Abbas still averages like 18 or 20 versus if they stand 2 meters outside the crease, he averages like 100+.

Abbas even with his lowered pace is a very effective bowler in international cricket too, if the batsmen don’t know how to counter him. That’s why his domestic stats are very representative - he is still deadly accurate, and the domestic batsmen have no idea that they should stand outside the crease, so he gets them every time. In other words, immaculate line and length is rewarded even if you aren’t the fastest (btw Abbas is more accurate, statistically, than Cummins and Hazlewood).

That’s where the next step of the process comes in - introducing data to our domestic structure. Imagine how much better prepared batsmen will be against bowlers, and how much homework a bowler will be able to do about a batsman. This kind of analysis is sorely needed in our domestic structure, and its lack is the reason Abbas was so successful this season.

You are right that domestic batsmen should have begun standing out of their crease to him by now, considering how well known of a phenomenon this is. However, they have not. And that should give you some insight into the state of affairs, and also hint at what the next big step for the PCB is.

Regarding hitting the pitch hard - I feel bounce has been a lot better this year. But I don’t expect bowlers to acclimatize that quickly. As I mentioned earlier, Dhani, Gul, and even Taj Wali have experimented with hitting the deck and bowling short of the length balls, but still this is a completely new phenomenon to them and I only expect them to improve with time. The pitches will never carry the type of bounce that Australian pitches carry, though, and therefore there is a definite case to be made to have a few drop in pitches implemented (though not exclusively, as bowlers should still retain mastery on low bounce surfaces which will give us an advantage in home series).

Attritional bowling wise, I feel it’s much better than before (before, the Dukes ball would do enough to bundle batsmen out quickly, so bowlers wouldn’t get used to long and consistent spells). Now you have to be disciplined and challenge the batsmen properly, identifying issues in their technique and setting them up.

Usama Mir, Umer Khan, Mohammad Asghar all had very middling performances. None of them really stood out - which I believe is good, as none of them are disciplined with their stock ball and that should be rightly punished as long as they don’t improve their consistency. Right now they’re too dependent on variations and angle, and are better limited overs picks. Two young spinners who impressed decently were Abrar Ahmed and Ahmed Safi Abdullah. Nothing to write home about though.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Regarding Abbas. Yes he did play this year and I don’t think it’s deceptive at all. Even in international cricket, when batsmen stand within their crease, Abbas still averages like 18 or 20 versus if they stand 2 meters outside the crease, he averages like 100+.

Abbas even with his lowered pace is a very effective bowler in international cricket too, if the batsmen don’t know how to counter him. That’s why his domestic stats are very representative - he is still deadly accurate, and the domestic batsmen have no idea that they should stand outside the crease, so he gets them every time. In other words, immaculate line and length is rewarded even if you aren’t the fastest (btw Abbas is more accurate, statistically, than Cummins and Hazlewood).

That’s where the next step of the process comes in - introducing data to our domestic structure. Imagine how much better prepared batsmen will be against bowlers, and how much homework a bowler will be able to do about a batsman. This kind of analysis is sorely needed in our domestic structure, and its lack is the reason Abbas was so successful this season.

You are right that domestic batsmen should have begun standing out of their crease to him by now, considering how well known of a phenomenon this is. However, they have not. And that should give you some insight into the state of affairs, and also hint at what the next big step for the PCB is.

Regarding hitting the pitch hard - I feel bounce has been a lot better this year. But I don’t expect bowlers to acclimatize that quickly. As I mentioned earlier, Dhani, Gul, and even Taj Wali have experimented with hitting the deck and bowling short of the length balls, but still this is a completely new phenomenon to them and I only expect them to improve with time. The pitches will never carry the type of bounce that Australian pitches carry, though, and therefore there is a definite case to be made to have a few drop in pitches implemented (though not exclusively, as bowlers should still retain mastery on low bounce surfaces which will give us an advantage in home series).

Attritional bowling wise, I feel it’s much better than before (before, the Dukes ball would do enough to bundle batsmen out quickly, so bowlers wouldn’t get used to long and consistent spells). Now you have to be disciplined and challenge the batsmen properly, identifying issues in their technique and setting them up.

Usama Mir, Umer Khan, Mohammad Asghar all had very middling performances. None of them really stood out - which I believe is good, as none of them are disciplined with their stock ball and that should be rightly punished as long as they don’t improve their consistency. Right now they’re too dependent on variations and angle, and are better limited overs picks. Two young spinners who impressed decently were Abrar Ahmed and Ahmed Safi Abdullah. Nothing to write home about though.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, really appreciate your posts and contribution to the forum :)

The reason I feel Abbas' average is inflated is that even without readily available data, I would have thought local batsmen would have figured out how to deal with Abbas (in terms of standing out of their crease) etc. The simple reason being that I would expect them to have an eye on the international matches, much like you & I follow international cricket. This should mean that all local batsmen should have realised that ENG were standing outside to Abbas during the summer and looked to replicate that locally. Either the batsmen are not good enough to execute on this, or have not watched enough cricket, or, possibly the worst option, they have watched it but still not (consciously) registered how other teams are tackling Abbas - would not be surprised if some batsmen do not have the acumen to assimilate the recent changes. The latter would be really strange as I imagine (and hope!) most of them would be itching to play for PAK and hence be just as keen on the sport if not more than how we are.

Agree with the principle of data driven decision making and strategising though.

Yup, it's been a while since we last had someone who could run in all day and get reasonable bounce from a good length at decent pace. PAK direly needs a robust Right Arm pacer.

Fair point about the spinners, no real surprises then. The erratic nature can lead to wickets in T20s but goes against bowlers when it comes to orthodoxies of Tests and, to an extent, ODIs. Would love a tall off-spinner with a high arm action.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
This has already been done.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I don't know anything about Pakistan's domestic. I was just going by whatever I read in PP.

If it's already done then it will start showing its effect sooner or later. Bowlers will have to learn to set up batsmen and batsmen will be learning how to bat long innings.
 
1) Ensure a variety of pitches for domestic cricket. A few slow, low turners are fine along with some green, seam friendly decks but we need a couple of quick, bouncy wickets to get our batsmen used to playing on the backfoot.

2) Establish a clear selection criteria - a batsman must score 900+ runs and a bowler must be in the top 5 wicket-takers for minimum of two seasons before being considered for national selection. End fast-tracking selection policy.

3) Re-train team analysts and ensure they've access to CricViz database.

4) Re-train the fielding coaches. Do they even know how to conduct basic drills ? Lobbing a ball up in the air to catch like any uncle can do in a Sunday afternoon in the park doesn't count.

5) Appoint an on-call sports psychologist who players can contact anonymously and confidentially.

6) Crack down hard on age cheating. Fed up of seeing U19 "prospects" being hyped up when in reality they're grown men playing against boys.
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

Wow those are ground breaking ideas. They must have taken years to think through. Well done ✔
 
Some excellent points by others regarding pitches and bowling quality. I fully agree that we need pitches that encourage consistent length bowling rather than swing and variation, to produce quality fast bowlers.
 
freezerburn said:
Some excellent points by others regarding pitches and bowling quality. I fully agree that we need pitches that encourage consistent length bowling rather than swing and variation, to produce quality fast bowlers.
Click to expand...

Give it a rest man. Have u seen the latest QeA Trophy? Most games had a significant balance of bat and ball. Fast-bowlers did well but then u had guys like Kamran Ghulam aswell scoring the highest ever tun tally in the history of the tournament and there was something for the spinners too.

If you go and look at the stats of the tournament they will support this argument. Point is PCB is doing something and should be commended from improving over the medium pace friendly greentops of 2017-2018 and the flat roads of last season.
 
1-Number of team in QeA trophy should remain the same, whatever talent we have, cannot be further diluted.

2-Final of grade 2 of QeA trophy should be given Fc status and should be live telecasted to give more exposure to young players and incentive and players should be promoted to grade 1 based upon their performance.

3-Cannot emphasis enough about promoting the school cricket. Would look for sponsors for scholarship also for school going cricket. I don;t care much for college level cricket, school cricket is must.

4- Better organize club cricket.

5-Under 16 and under 19 games should be organize keeping in mind not to miss young players school attendance, or minimizing them. We are producing too many school drops out, Jahil and Anparrh cricketer, and they lack communication skill to learn from others and lack self confidence , And they they become jobless.

6-I agree with inducting more foreign coaches and physio , they have much better sporting culture. But some qualified Pakistani coaches with international experience like Yasar Arfat should be given important assignment.

7-1992 WC win should not be politicize , this is the biggest success we ever had in cricket and young cricketers should be encouraged to take inspiration from that.

8-THE MOST IMPORTANT; crackdown on age fudging , strict penalty with bans should be imposed .
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Give it a rest man. Have u seen the latest QeA Trophy? Most games had a significant balance of bat and ball. Fast-bowlers did well but then u had guys like Kamran Ghulam aswell scoring the highest ever tun tally in the history of the tournament and there was something for the spinners too.

If you go and look at the stats of the tournament they will support this argument. Point is PCB is doing something and should be commended from improving over the medium pace friendly greentops of 2017-2018 and the flat roads of last season.
Click to expand...

Hey chief, I wasn’t talking about balance, I was taking about types of pitches. You can have tape ball cricket with balance between bat and ball. I meant different types of pitches and fast bowlers.
 
^^ Ideally, the Northern venues can be seam and swing friendly (Rawalpindi/Islamabad/Abbottabad).

Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan, Sialkot and Faisalabad can be traditional Asian slow, low turners. Still need to win at home after all.

Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta should be hard, bouncy wickets.
 
Mamoon said:
I will start with a 10 point agenda:

(1) I would hide the 1992 World Cup trophy somewhere in my room and tell everyone involved in Pakistan cricket that it was a fluke and not a recipe for success.

(2) I would ban the following words from Pakistan cricket: talent, unpredictable, cornered tigers, mercurial. Anyone found using these words within PCB jurisdiction will be sacked immediately.

(3) I would tell everyone that there is no talent in Pakistan and we will have to start from scratch to create talent.

These would be my immediate, short-term goals that wouldn’t take more than a day.

In terms of long-term goals, I would do the following:

(4) I would try to come to an arrangement with all the top schools in the country to invest in cricket. All schools will have proper cricket teams and they will play hard ball cricket with proper rules. They will obviously be inter-school tournaments and scholarships will be provided to young players.

To encourage focus on education, the cricketers will be told that if they fail their exams, they will be dropped from the cricket team regardless of how well they have performed on the pitch.

So you have to find a way to balance both. If you can’t, too bad.

(5) For those players who are not part of the school system which will obviously be the majority, I will employ qualified English instructors at the junior level and these players will have to pass English exams periodically.

(6) Coaches in domestic cricket who are unqualified will be sacked and asked to reapply after receiving qualifications.

(7) Every single off-spinner in the system will have his action checked. Any chucker will be banned immediately.

(8) All the national team coaches including the selector will be foreign.

(9) in terms of revamping FC cricket, I would increase no of teams to 10. There will be of course no compromise on the standard of balls and pitches. They have to be international grade.

(10) No player will be fast-tracked into the national team purely on the back of PSL performances. The players will be clearly told that PSL is a platform to get yourself recognized nationally, but if you do not have performances in FC cricket, you will be ineligible for selection.

* There will be no stupid statements with respect to BCCI and the Big 3 monopoly. As the chief of a small, weak and mediocre cricket nation, I will tread carefully and make peace with my standing in the game.

If there is an opportunity to get into the good books of these boards, I will not hesitate in the name of patriotism. People will cry now but you have to look at the bigger picture.

These will be the things that I would look at in the first couple of years of my tenure and then review the progress and impact of these changes.
Click to expand...

Always important to put a stake in the ground on your piece of Pakistan - therefore a very good post this.
 
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