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Who in your view should be the next Chief Selector for Pakistan?

Always good, before jumping on to names, to set upfront the requirements of the role the ideal candidate will fulfill.

1. Knows Pakistan domestic cricket inside out.
2. Is a recently retired Pakistani international/domestic cricketer or a domestic team's manager/coach.
3. Has some knowledge of global systems, preferably has played in/worked in England/Australia domestic cricket at least for some time in his life.
4. Has an authoritative voice. Is a formal and informal leader.
5. Has a clean track record - particularly, no nepotism issues and no disciplinary problems
6. Is a man of principles.
7. Is his own man. Not afraid of losing his position.
8. Has a track record of hard work and diligence. Not afraid of rolling his sleeve and getting down to work.
9. Is a keen student of the game.
10. Knows how to work with people and get the best out of them.
11. Is comfortable with data and analytics. Adds science to intuition. Is not afraid of laptops.
12. Has worked in similar role before, and demonstrated success in building teams with complimentary strengths, unearthed exciting talents and backed under fire players to success.

If we agree on the requirements, then the list of candidates may or may not include Rashid Latif and Akhtar.
 
Great checklist. These are all the boxes that Rashid Latif does NOT tick.

1. Knows Pakistan domestic cricket inside out.
3. Has some knowledge of global systems, preferably has played in/worked in England/Australia domestic cricket at least for some time in his life.
4. Has an authoritative voice. Is a formal and informal leader.
8. Has a track record of hard work and diligence. Not afraid of rolling his sleeve and getting down to work.
9. Is a keen student of the game.
10. Knows how to work with people and get the best out of them.
11. Is comfortable with data and analytics. Adds science to intuition. Is not afraid of laptops.
12. Has worked in similar role before, and demonstrated success in building teams with complimentary strengths, unearthed exciting talents and backed under fire players to success.

These are the boxes Shoaib Akhtar does not tick:

1. Knows Pakistan domestic cricket inside out.
5. Has a clean track record - particularly, no nepotism issues and no disciplinary problems
11. Is comfortable with data and analytics. Adds science to intuition. Is not afraid of laptops.
12. Has worked in similar role before, and demonstrated success in building teams with complimentary strengths, unearthed exciting talents and backed under fire players to success.

Surprisingly does pretty well in comparison. These are the boxes Mohammad Akram does not tick:


I did genuinely try to find a box but couldn’t find any. He’s a very very good candidate as per the metrics you listed. Same goes for Mohammad Wasim.

I would be very strongly opposed to Rashid Latif being made selector, and decently opposed to Shoaib Akhtar being made selector (though if he is willing to do the research, and avoid being overtly influenced by Rashid Latif and Nauman Niaz, he would actually make a great pick).
 
The more names I hear you may as well carry on with Misbah. God Almighty, PCB for all the good structural reforms they've made do make such weird appointments.

Should've just carried on with Inzamam.
 
The person can vary, but he needs to match the credentials. We need "brave selections" and a strong selector who will drop players who are not performing up to the mark.

What has derailed the progress of Pakistan Cricket since the emphatic CT17, where people were anticipating a lot more growth, is the fact that selection criteria were strewed and favouritism was visible on the surface level.

A chief selector needs to be someone who will put the foot down, and needs to set clear expectations for players who are in the scope for the team, and also shortlist people who can fill in the gaps in the team. More importantly, the chief selector needs to understand what is missing in the team in all the formats. I'll point one example in test matches being that we do not have a 4th seamer who functions as an all-rounder. These problems need to be addressed as soon as he takes charge, because our test team is weak to say the least. Similarly, we need to plug in a few holes in the ODI team as well, with the downward decline of Fakhar Zaman, we are in need of a good opening batsman. Our T20I team needs a pure striker of the ball, able to finish games.

If these problems are addressed by the chief selector, and if he uses all the resources at his disposal, be it analysis of data or a clear idea of what is needed in the team through performance observations, Pakistan Cricket has a very good chance of moving forward.
 
The more names I hear you may as well carry on with Misbah. God Almighty, PCB for all the good structural reforms they've made do make such weird appointments.

Should've just carried on with Inzamam.

Inzamam never selected domestic performers. He was awful. Likes of Zafar, Abid, would have never been picked.
 
Great checklist. These are all the boxes that Rashid Latif does NOT tick.



These are the boxes Shoaib Akhtar does not tick:



Surprisingly does pretty well in comparison. These are the boxes Mohammad Akram does not tick:



I did genuinely try to find a box but couldn’t find any. He’s a very very good candidate as per the metrics you listed. Same goes for Mohammad Wasim.

I would be very strongly opposed to Rashid Latif being made selector, and decently opposed to Shoaib Akhtar being made selector (though if he is willing to do the research, and avoid being overtly influenced by Rashid Latif and Nauman Niaz, he would actually make a great pick).

Thank you. Do you think if M Akram is not available, any other candidate ticks most of these boxes?
 
Thank you. Do you think if M Akram is not available, any other candidate ticks most of these boxes?

I am a big fan of promoting from within the system.

The reason is, the new six team structure allows exposure and in-depth understanding of exactly who the performers are in the circuit. No one is better researched right now and fit to be a selector than any one of the 6 regional coaches. This should also be the goal of the system - instead of appointing a head coach from outside the system like we did with Misbah, then training them on the job, you should train coaches within the system and use that as a vetting ground to see who the best coach/selector is.

Now, from those options, Wasim is an obvious choice, but another one, slightly out of left field, that I might get some flak for mentioning is Faisal Iqbal. Aside from the nepotism box, he does well in pretty much every other criteria. Let me explain.

I’ve been following his progress with Balochistan very closely, and he’s coached a pretty horrible no-name team to play some fantastic, positive cricket. He hasn’t been afraid of promoting youngsters from the second XI (remember, he promoted Abdul Wahid Bangalzai at a time when very few other teams were promoting youngsters during the National T20 Cup) and he keeps note of not just Balochistan but the progress of other key talents in the tournament very closely. I’ve been following his Twitter for a few weeks now because of this, just to get a sense of the articles he reads, the players and videos he shares, etc. I was impressed. He follows U19 cricket too, the tournaments that were being played, and right now Balochistan is in the midst of trying to pull off a 400 run 4th innings heist by playing some very dangerous, attacking cricket. They are 114-2 right now at stumps, with one of those wickets being a duck.

A few days ago, I did an analysis on the positive cricket that each team is playing in the QeA trophy. I take the overall points earned by each team, then subtract the match points they earned for winning (16 points) and drawing (5 points) the game, to indicate how many bonus points the team was able to earn. This is a good metric because it very clearly indicates how each coach approaches the game, and how they want to build their team. This is important as a quality in any selector, to build a specific brand, and is reflected across the various criteria you’ve listed too.

Here’s my post:

I’ve taken the liberty to calculate the bonus points won by each team, which are as follows after 6 matches. It’s a kind of “Positive Cricket Index” that tells you how much positive, aggressive cricket each team played.

1. Northern — 40 points
2. Balochistan — 39 points
3. Southern Punjab — 37 points
4. KPK — 34 points
5. Sindh — 33 points
6. Central Punjab — 28 points

Metrics:
Batting points (first innings only):
· 200 runs inside 100 overs – 1 point
· 250 runs inside 100 overs – 2 points
· 300 runs inside 100 overs – 3 points
· 350 runs inside 100 overs – 4 points
· 400 runs inside 100 overs – 5 points

Bowling points:
· Three wickets inside 100 overs – 1 point
· Six wickets inside 100 overs – 2 points
· Eight wickets inside 100 overs – 3 points
· 251-300 runs all out inside 100 overs – 1 point
· 201-250 runs all out inside 100 overs – 2 points
· 200 runs or less all out inside 100 overs – 3 points

So not only is Northern leading the overall win table points wise, but they have also played the best brand of cricket by a large margin. The same goes for Balochistan, where I’m pleasantly surprised about Faisal Iqbal’s performance so far.

Now I don’t necessarily think Faisal Iqbal should be appointed immediately, given that he’s doing a pretty good job at Balochistan and I’d love to see him prove my analysis right a couple seasons in a row, rather than just once. Similarly, I was a fan of Mohammad Wasim after last year’s performances, but I needed him to replicate that to believe he genuinely had that capability. And he did.

Just mentioning Faisal Iqbal’s name since I do genuinely believe he is someone to look out for, despite some question marks on his own selection once upon a time. It happens. Let’s see.
 
He doesn't follow domestic cricket and mostly selects the players who perform in PSL.

He doesn’t really follow PSL either. If you watch his interviews these past few months, Inzi has a habit of referring to PSL as “IPL”. He’s done this accidentally many, many times.
 
Mohammad Akram says only part of the article regarding him not willing to accept the role is true.

Negotiations are ongoing between him and PCB.
 
I am a big fan of promoting from within the system.

The reason is, the new six team structure allows exposure and in-depth understanding of exactly who the performers are in the circuit. No one is better researched right now and fit to be a selector than any one of the 6 regional coaches. This should also be the goal of the system - instead of appointing a head coach from outside the system like we did with Misbah, then training them on the job, you should train coaches within the system and use that as a vetting ground to see who the best coach/selector is.

Now, from those options, Wasim is an obvious choice, but another one, slightly out of left field, that I might get some flak for mentioning is Faisal Iqbal. Aside from the nepotism box, he does well in pretty much every other criteria. Let me explain.

I’ve been following his progress with Balochistan very closely, and he’s coached a pretty horrible no-name team to play some fantastic, positive cricket. He hasn’t been afraid of promoting youngsters from the second XI (remember, he promoted Abdul Wahid Bangalzai at a time when very few other teams were promoting youngsters during the National T20 Cup) and he keeps note of not just Balochistan but the progress of other key talents in the tournament very closely. I’ve been following his Twitter for a few weeks now because of this, just to get a sense of the articles he reads, the players and videos he shares, etc. I was impressed. He follows U19 cricket too, the tournaments that were being played, and right now Balochistan is in the midst of trying to pull off a 400 run 4th innings heist by playing some very dangerous, attacking cricket. They are 114-2 right now at stumps, with one of those wickets being a duck.

A few days ago, I did an analysis on the positive cricket that each team is playing in the QeA trophy. I take the overall points earned by each team, then subtract the match points they earned for winning (16 points) and drawing (5 points) the game, to indicate how many bonus points the team was able to earn. This is a good metric because it very clearly indicates how each coach approaches the game, and how they want to build their team. This is important as a quality in any selector, to build a specific brand, and is reflected across the various criteria you’ve listed too.

Here’s my post:



Now I don’t necessarily think Faisal Iqbal should be appointed immediately, given that he’s doing a pretty good job at Balochistan and I’d love to see him prove my analysis right a couple seasons in a row, rather than just once. Similarly, I was a fan of Mohammad Wasim after last year’s performances, but I needed him to replicate that to believe he genuinely had that capability. And he did.

Just mentioning Faisal Iqbal’s name since I do genuinely believe he is someone to look out for, despite some question marks on his own selection once upon a time. It happens. Let’s see.

Nice post bro. You have nailed everything you have said. Faisal Iqbal has coached throughout the world. He is more of a hands on coach, which will benefit Pakistan in the future. I have also been following his Twitter for quite some time and he is very intelligent and loves using data, which is much needed in the modern era. The only doubt I had of him when he was appointed as head coach Balochistan is that he would play no youngsters. But he has shown that he supports youngsters like Abdul Wahid and Akif Javed, so I am happy and impressed. He knows how to coach in the modern era and has coaching certifications from ECB.

I am also a big believer that we should appoint people within the system. What has happened in the past, which is haunting back at us is that, we have over relied on getting people from outside and appointing foreigners.

With this domestic system and when the grassroots system is in place, Pakistan will have enough coaches, managers who are going to be experienced and have every bit of knowledge in the domestic structure bc they are part of it and closely monitoring it. However this requires our Head of Coaching Grant Bradburn and the NHPC to train our coaches and conduct coaching courses.

Do you know that in the previous structure Pakistan had over 2,000 clubs and 100 districts but has less than 200 coaches. This is the problem, as Pakistan has not many coaches and the coaches that they do have are not so experienced and most are only level one coaches.
 
[MENTION=153959]DarkKnight123[/MENTION] I had no idea about the exact numbers, but I did suspect that was the case. Just building on that, I like how many former first class cricketers such as Aizaz Cheema are immediately being given coaching roles after retirement (it’s rumored Umar Gul will take on such a role too) and are given this training immediately, while they’re still fresh from playing cricket. 2-3 years from now, all the options will be available to such cricketers to pursue their coaching credentials further with ECB certifications after already gaining hands on experience, as well as opening up their own clubs or academies if they want.

That’s how you begin to flood the industry with an influx of coaches, there’s no other way to bridge that gap between 200 coaches and 2000 clubs. Over a sustained period of time, say 10 years, every major city and some minor cities will have multiple retired first class cricketers with high-level training (during the QeA trophy) all running their own small institutes. This feeds into the ecosystem of the City Cricket Association structure that the PCB will have set up by then, constantly churning out 1-2 decent batsmen per academy every year who will compete for U19 trials and then for second XI spots.

I also see a closer link to school cricket once these clubs begin to get set up. You’ll see more kids enroll in these clubs, and school teams will be stronger and more active because of interest.

So all of these pieces that fit together, it comes through based on the planning that’s being done right now.

The best coaches across the country will be filtered up towards the top, and they will also be some of the best selectors as they work sustainably in first class cricket. At that point, we will hopefully not be running around looking for a Chief Selector the way we are right now.
 
[MENTION=153959]DarkKnight123[/MENTION] I had no idea about the exact numbers, but I did suspect that was the case. Just building on that, I like how many former first class cricketers such as Aizaz Cheema are immediately being given coaching roles after retirement (it’s rumored Umar Gul will take on such a role too) and are given this training immediately, while they’re still fresh from playing cricket. 2-3 years from now, all the options will be available to such cricketers to pursue their coaching credentials further with ECB certifications after already gaining hands on experience, as well as opening up their own clubs or academies if they want.

That’s how you begin to flood the industry with an influx of coaches, there’s no other way to bridge that gap between 200 coaches and 2000 clubs. Over a sustained period of time, say 10 years, every major city and some minor cities will have multiple retired first class cricketers with high-level training (during the QeA trophy) all running their own small institutes. This feeds into the ecosystem of the City Cricket Association structure that the PCB will have set up by then, constantly churning out 1-2 decent batsmen per academy every year who will compete for U19 trials and then for second XI spots.

I also see a closer link to school cricket once these clubs begin to get set up. You’ll see more kids enroll in these clubs, and school teams will be stronger and more active because of interest.

So all of these pieces that fit together, it comes through based on the planning that’s being done right now.

The best coaches across the country will be filtered up towards the top, and they will also be some of the best selectors as they work sustainably in first class cricket. At that point, we will hopefully not be running around looking for a Chief Selector the way we are right now.

Yes absolutely. If Pakistan wants to play modern day cricket, then there is nothing better than hiring recent retired cricketers as coaches, who have played modern day cricket. These cricketers that are going to be coaches are going to start coaching somewhere, so why not let them start now and learn from it an build experience in their own country.

Yes they are working on school cricket as well. If our school cricket becomes strong, Pakistan will have lots of talent coming from schools as there are many talented cricketers at school cricket.

What I love that they are going to do is that they are training every first class cricketer to have a level 1 coaching certification. So whenever they are not playing first class cricket, they can go to their villages or cities or clubs as well as schools to go coach there and make extra income and teach the skills that they know to the upcoming talent. This will filter the brand of cricket Pakistan is willing to play to grassroots cricket.

Its a long term project but it will benefit Pakistan in about 5 to 7 yrs. It will make our cricket stronger and competitive just like this system has already done. The goal is for PCB to make our grassroots cricket competitive and strong as well.
 
Mohammad Akram seems like a sensible choice.
Otherwise Saqlain or Umar Gul could be good selections.
 
Mohammad wasim should get the chief selector positions he makes good decisisons and promotes youngesters he also makes ruthless decisions example shadab will be the captain in next year t20 national cup instead of imad wasim
he also pays a brand of cricket that is exciting and enjoyable
 
Bazid khan, faisal iqbal and majid khan definitely deserve a an input
I don't think we've had a better selector than aamir sohail in the last 20 odd years
 
After Rashid name now Mohammad Wasim name is circulating on Twitter.

I think he will be great but that will a massive blow to development of Northern region players, he needs to be head coach of northern for atleast 10 years to develop players.


Also Rashid latif was speaking that my age is not of becoming selector but making selector and he also said selector is very close to me so maybe wasim.
 
Aamir Sohail wouldn't be a bad choice.

The only thing is he is very forthright and that may annoy some at PCB.
 
Aamir Sohail wouldn't be a bad choice.

The only thing is he is very forthright and that may annoy some at PCB.

Exactly the problem with Aamer Sohail.. But Bazid Khan can be a good choice too IMO and that also means we don't have to listen to his excellent commentary :p
 
Aamir Sohail wouldn't be a bad choice.

The only thing is he is very forthright and that may annoy some at PCB.

Guys like Junaid Zia and Yasir Ali would be getting selected again then.

Aamer Sohail isn't the guy who gets along with others and is always trying to find faults in others.
 
After Rashid name now Mohammad Wasim name is circulating on Twitter.

I think he will be great but that will a massive blow to development of Northern region players, he needs to be head coach of northern for atleast 10 years to develop players.


Also Rashid latif was speaking that my age is not of becoming selector but making selector and he also said selector is very close to me so maybe wasim.

Yes definitely hes been the standout selector/coach in the national cup and in the qaid e azam.i think he has to weigh the pros and cons personally if we csnt find anyone better then we must pick him as cheif selector but alot will disagree due to notherns development
 
Mohammed Wasim, Bazid Khan , Mohammad Akram in the order of preference.

Even if PCB agreed to Akram and fall back to the traditional selection committee and Akram is appointed, would like to see Wasim, Bazid, to be part of the selection committee
 
heard it few times, would like to know what are the good selections that he made

Shabbir, zia were obviously controversial but hameed and farhat played well

Also Sharjeel khan and shoaib maqsood
He also have khurram manzoor and sohail khan a chance
 
It should be the public the top fans of the game that should be the CS. Can't see them doing a worse job than many who already have.
 
It should be the public the top fans of the game that should be the CS. Can't see them doing a worse job than many who already have.

Maybe they need to have voting system on thier twitter page or pak passion needs to create one and send the resulfs over to wasim khan
 
Has to be Shoaib Akhtar. He imo is cricket’s Donald Trump. It’s exactly what Pakistan cricket needs right now. Not a ‘Yes’ man, but someone who has the cajones to make changes. Our bowling department is going downhill, only he can bring the old Pakistan back.
 
I hope it isn't M. Wasim. He needs to keep coaching and get more experience under his belt. He needs to be developed as a future HC of the national team.
 
So you want him to be bowling coach ?and not cheif selector.

No, a bowling coach cannot decide which bowler gets selected or not, he works with what he’s got.

Make Shoaib the CS, and only then will we see proper bowlers being selected. Our previous CS picked bowlers based on hype and performance against minnows.
 
Why the hell is PCB delaying it, who will watch quaid e azam trophy? Also New Zealand series coming up. I think PCB has some chemical imbalance in their mind thats the reason they always delay everything.
 
Why the hell is PCB delaying it, who will watch quaid e azam trophy? Also New Zealand series coming up. I think PCB has some chemical imbalance in their mind thats the reason they always delay everything.

PCB is pretty pathetic
 
Muhammad Yousuf is the most favorite to be the next CS according to reports

We all know kind of words he has used for Misbah and Younis so this decision makes no sense.
 
Muhammad Yousuf is the most favorite to be the next CS according to reports

We all know kind of words he has used for Misbah and Younis so this decision makes no sense.

If its true expect Asad Shafiq to come back in all 3 formats with also being made captain and mentor.

I heard yousuf saying one time Asad shafiq wasn't given longer run in limited overs if he was selector he would so you can imagine what will happen. (I believe Asad Shafiq has played 70 odd ODIs and that isn't enough chances)
 
How can Yousuf be appointed when he's just started as batting coach of NHPC ?
 
Were it not for SL role I think Mickey Arther would have been ideal as Chief Selector for Pakistan
 
Good one. What credentials does he have though?

Should we get someone who has test match playing experience for Pakistan?

It’s Pakistan bro, you don’t need credentials to get a job with PCB. (Views based on recent appointments)
 
No, a bowling coach cannot decide which bowler gets selected or not, he works with what he’s got.

Make Shoaib the CS, and only then will we see proper bowlers being selected. Our previous CS picked bowlers based on hype and performance against minnows.

Proper bowlers like tabish khan sameen gull ehsan adil mir hamza ?
 
Muhammad Yousuf is the most favorite to be the next CS according to reports

We all know kind of words he has used for Misbah and Younis so this decision makes no sense.

Were did you hear that from can you post the article or were you heard it
 
I really am praying that Yusuf doesnt get the job might azwell keep misbah or give it to akhtar or latif
 
I said it before and I will say it again, Lala is ready for higher responsibility.

:sa
 
Those having an issue with MoYo need to atlrast give a valid reason.

Too much emphasis on this role. Does it matter that much? It's pretty clear a label will back performing players and rotate out of form players with youngsters.
 
Waqar Younis.

It will be a innovative idea. Allowing our bowling coach to be both Chief selector and bowling Coach.
 
Hearing it’s going to be Mohammad Yousuf. Don’t think this will end well I’m afraid
 
Those having an issue with MoYo need to atlrast give a valid reason.

Too much emphasis on this role. Does it matter that much? It's pretty clear a label will back performing players and rotate out of form players with youngsters.

Have you seen the posts about asad shafique above surely we cant have some like Yusuf if hes saying the above.
 
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