'Why abolish a system you yourself are a product of?' Javed Miandad asks PM Imran Khan

[MenInG]

LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain and legendary batsman Javed Miandad on Thursday lashed out at the government for ruining sports in the country and hinted at establishing an All Pakistan Sports Club to rescue sports and sportspersons.

He also threatened the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with a country-wide campaign if it executes its plan to abolish departmental cricket and make hundreds of cricketers unemployed.

Talking to Dawn, Miandad said: “I am in talks with sports personalities like Jansher Khan, Islahuddin, Samiullah besides other prominent cricketers and to set up the All Pakistan Sports Club for the welfare of the needy sports-persons of the country that includes former and current players of all the sports and not just cricketers.

“I am very disappointed with the move of the PCB of disaffiliating the decades old departmental cricket teams which in fact are assets to the board and not financial burden. In fact the departments are a big source of income for PCB and bread and butter for hundreds of cricketers,” argued Miandad.

“And if the PCB does not stop its move against departmental cricket, I will start a brisk country-wide campaign to save the future of hundreds cricketers,” warned Miandad, who played 124 Tests and 233 One-day Internationals for Pakistan.

“I would also like to appeal to Prime Minister Imran Khan not to abolish departmental cricket as it is a financial resource for many cricketers to feed their families,” he said.

“I played for Habib Bank Limited which elevated me to Senior Vice President position and it also enabled me to provide top education to my children,” he recalled.

“So these departments by providing the jobs to sportspersons are taking care of their necessities.”

Miandad, who shared the national team dressing room with Imran almost throughout his career, also criticised the premier for trying to fit in the cricketing systems used in Australia and other top cricket nations into Pakistan’s domestic cricket scene. “Don’t compare Pakistan’s social system with England or Australia, because their governments starts taking care of their nationals from birth but that’s not how it works in Pakistan,” he said.

“The cricket associations are not strong enough to stop the involvement of influential people who favour their blue-eyed association teams but in departments it is not possible for those people to dictate their terms,” he said.

“Instead of demolishing departments I will suggest the prime minister to involve more multinational and sound companies to come and provide more jobs to sports persons. It is the best way to give new hope to the youth and to make them useful citizens.

“The departmental teams also deposit substantial tournament fees while bearing all other expenditures of their respective teams to play first-class cricket, so they are helping hands of the PCB. How can you cut them out?” he asked.

Miandad also vehemently opposed the policy of hiring people from abroad to improve Pakistan cricket.

“Sorry to say, our leaders get votes from Pakistanis but they prefer to hire the services of foreigners to come and enjoy big perks and do nothing. Then where should the Pakistani talent go?

“If you people believe that Pakistanis are not talented, then go and hire the services of foreigner Prime Ministers and ministers to come and run our country too,” he said. “I have been receiving many offers from abroad but I am not ready to work for others. Just go and ask Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar and many other batsmen of Pakistan how as a coach

I polished their talent by introducing my own coaching methods which were also transferred by Mushtaq Ahmad to England when he was their coach,” argued Miandad.

“Graham Gooch himself told me they are using my method of using marble slab to give practice to the batsmen in order to play pace and swing bowling better,” he said.

Meanwhile, Miandad said he had shared the initial plans of forming the Sports Club with many prominent sportspersons in the country.

“All the well-off sportspersons will contribute to this club as members and they will also raise funds for the sportspersons in distress and I believe it will be a major contribution from our side,” he said.

“Imran Khan should remember how much I helped him in raising the funds for his Shaukat Khanum Hospital and I believe I am still in a position to raise funds for the deserving sportspersons but I have no hope from the government. Our hockey has been ruined but the government’s sports department has not done anything about it. Cricket will go the same way if not rescued,” concluded Miandad.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1478367/miandad-blasts-govt-warns-pcb-not-to-abolish-departments

 

[KyoOne]

Talked sense until he started appreciating his own coaching. He was an abysmal coach, who did not know how to handle a team. Resigned just before WC 99 abruptly. Made many flimsy decisions. Forced Saqlain Mushtaq to play despite a finger injury, which flared up and it led to him being sidelined and then eventual retirement.

 

[MenInG]

Talked sense until he started appreciating his own coaching. He was an abysmal coach, who did not know how to handle a team. Resigned just before WC 99 abruptly. Made many flimsy decisions. Forced Saqlain Mushtaq to play despite a finger injury, which flared up and it led to him being sidelined and then eventual retirement.

Your views on the debate itself please.

 

[KyoOne]

Your views on the debate itself please.

I agree with him that departments should co-exist. Not sure PCB can afford employing so many extra players which departments have, among other additional expenses they cover.

More immediate things under existing structure PCB should focus on could be: better pitches, commercialized & televised domestic tournaments with good prize money and free tickets, qualified coaches having good technical nuances at each level, at least two more NCA-level centres in the country, a players organisation which represents domestic players as well, a monitoring board be formed to oversee nepotism and corruption be set up, among others.

 

[Sher Khan]

Very valid and thoughtful comments from miandad. Imran khan is like a dictator hell bent on opposing his ideas without any consensus from others. Demolishing departmental cricket is not the way to go. They are a major source of income for domestic cricketers. In a way, they are helping the PCB out big time.

 

[Markhor]

What did Javed do to reform domestic cricket during his highly paid stint as Director General ? He's only good for these types of dramas.

 

[Titan24]

Departments can still sponsor teams, they just wont be involved in the management of the teams.

All decent domestic structures whether in Aus, SA etc operate the very same way where companies, organizations sponsor teams and cricketers are paid well too.

I really like the SA model where there are number of regional teams but there are 6 elite teams built upon sponsors and franchise structure where the best players play against each other and once you are in around 120 of those top players of the country you are paid pretty decently.

The issue which will need to be addressed is post retirement income source for the cricketers which in current structure they get by having a job at department. However if they are paid much more than current salary in the proposed structure then they might not be needing it at all. Also a player playing certain number of matches or years can always be given a role in the region or the franchise.

 

[Chokli]

Miandad has a point here but so does Imran.

Do we want better Pakistan Cricket or do we want to feed families?

Also people here acting like nepotism only exists in Pakistan Cricket... It's everywhere, accept it.

 

[ahmedzee]

Why can't departmental cricket take over the reins of regional cricket and absorb them. Have 6 teams owned by departments but based on region. I think this way, the departments are not gone and regional cricket exists as well. Also it involves competitive cricket with 6 teams only.

 

[Pakistanian]

He's just upset that companies won't be handing out jobs to cricket players for positions they aren't qualified for, wasting money and taking away jobs from deserving people who don't have another source of income.

 

[Majid Khan]

Miandad has his own perspective on things and is entitled to that, but this comes across as someone who has been a ‘beneficiary’ of this messed up domestic system based on departmental cricket , and probably sees no reason for it to change - no matter what the rest of cricket world are doing and progress they are making in the mean time ... that’s the problem at the end of the day, these people do not want change even if is for the better and will back the status quo on the basis that it’s the way things always worked here.

 

[gazza619]

I feel we should use legends like Miandad somewhere in the system

 

[CleverSir]

We need to get past this mentality from the 1960s. What exactly has Miandad done since retirement? Does he have experience running a milti-million dollar corporation? Does he have experience in researching these issues? Nope. He needs to go crawl back into the hole he came out of. Thanks for your fantastic service.

Also, PCB absolutely CAN afford to run cricket on its own right. They employ almost 1,000 people. What the hell do they all do? I'd suggest to the PCB to let the departments be on their way. Form 12 "clubs" based at the major stadiums in the country and have them be the highest level of competition with players having proper 1-3 year contracts. Re-assign some of the HQ staff to run the clubs. Anyway I'm just spit balling here. We keep trying the same crap over and over again and it is clear that it isn't working. Departments were necessary in the past. The world has moved on yet we're stuck with this old farts that are stuck in their glory days. FIFA laughs at us for how messed up the PFF is, pretty soon the ICC and cricketing world will laugh at us. Ask major business experts and they would smack their foreheads at the incompetence of the PCB.

 

[Stewie]

well you don’t hear from him much these days, interesting he spoke on this subject!

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Sports is not a job, its a privileged career and acomplishment, and thats how it should be viewed.

 

[JattMaula]

Javed bhai has spoken out of genuine compassion for domestic cricketers who grind daily for years and risk life of poverty for sport they love.

Six domestic teams is way too few without robust pro club structure in place.

Dramatic overhauls are quite tempting but almost always create more problems that they solve.

 

[Convict]

Departments can still sponsor teams, they just wont be involved in the management of the teams.

All decent domestic structures whether in Aus, SA etc operate the very same way where companies, organizations sponsor teams and cricketers are paid well too.

I really like the SA model where there are number of regional teams but there are 6 elite teams built upon sponsors and franchise structure where the best players play against each other and once you are in around 120 of those top players of the country you are paid pretty decently.

The issue which will need to be addressed is post retirement income source for the cricketers which in current structure they get by having a job at department. However if they are paid much more than current salary in the proposed structure then they might not be needing it at all. Also a player playing certain number of matches or years can always be given a role in the region or the franchise.

Isn't South Africa getting rid of this?

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Why can't departmental cricket take over the reins of regional cricket and absorb them. Have 6 teams owned by departments but based on region. I think this way, the departments are not gone and regional cricket exists as well. Also it involves competitive cricket with 6 teams only.

Completely agree with this. This will in essence privatize PCB, at least partly.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan’s former Test cricketer Javed Miandad criticized authorities for heading towards dissolving departmental cricket completely.

“Departments support players financially and polish their skills,” said Miandad while talking to the media at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

He said that players find it easy to support themselves financially while playing for departments. “Finishing departments means disturbing plenty of players’ families,” said Miandad.

Miandad, who was the member of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning squad, adviced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to strengthen regions so that players can move towards them.

“Regions must be strong enough to back players with best possible facilities,” he said.

“In our time, the regional system was strong enough to produce quality players,” recalled Miandad.

The legendary batsman said that if departments will not provide jobs to the players then it will demolish the status of domestic cricket. “Departments should rethink about this matter as it will harm the entire cricket structure,” he said.

On the other hand, former hockey Olympian Islahuddin and legendary squash player Jahangir Khan also opposed the decision to dissolve departments.

Jahangir thinks that dissolving departments will not only effect cricket but all other sports in which departments play an important role. “Departments are the backbone of the structure of our sport and they play an important role in developing it,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Patron-in-Cheif of the PCB Imran Khan asked the cricket board to develop a domestic structure based on just regions.

One of the renowned departments Habib Bank Limited (HBL) immediately dissolved their cricket team and players including Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Junaid Khan and many others lost their jobs. The United Bank Limited (UBL) had already finished their cricket team in 2018.

https://arysports.tv/javed-miandad-voices-against-dissolving-departmental-cricket/

 

[UsmanhailsAfridi]

Such whining from a man that has not done much besides talking. Now he wants to tell Imran Khan and wants to put him in the same bucket of status-quo politicians from the past. Why keep bringing up hockey? This government didnt ruin hockey or take money away from it. It takes time to bring change.

As for department cricket, it just doesn't work to popularize cricket. Sure it pays bills and makes unworthy people like Miandad "senior vice president" of a bank LOL but that shouldn't be the purpose of cricket. We need a new age structure and sure its going to pinch but its needed. Our domestic cricket has been dead for years and everyone has been complaining about it but of course now that someone wants to overhaul the broken system we have people crying because no one asked them for their input.

I really chuckled at the bit about IK should find more multinational companies to give sportsmen jobs HAHAHA. This kind of thinking is the exact reason our country can't progress. Everyone wants a handout. These kids wanting to play cricket must also understand only a few # of players really would make any decent money so have a backup in place, go get an education at the same time so you have a backup plan.

 

[Savak]

It looks like the only way to get rid of the department mafia is if the departments themselves shut down their teams and stop investing in Cricket. I wonder what people like Miandad will say then

 

[Abdullah719]

'Why abolish a system you yourself are a product of?' Miandad asks PM Imran

A day after lashing out at the government for "ruining sports in the country", legendary cricketer Javed Miandad went on the offensive again and asked Prime Minister Imran Khan why he was trying to abolish a system he himself was the product of.

Miandad made those comments flanked by hockey great Islahuddin Siddiqui and squash maestro Jahangir Khan at a press conference in Karachi on Saturday.

"Me, Islahuddin, Jahangir [Khan] and Saleem Jafer, we are all the products of this [departmental] culture," said Miandad, who has been campaigning against Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) purported plans to scrap departmental cricket.

"This is the best system. When departmental cricket and sports were active, we were champions in how many sports and how good were we? I can tell you that if it wasn't for PIA, then it is possible the Jahangir Khan may not have been Jahangir Khan."

Miandad addressed his former teammate and incumbent prime minister, Imran Khan, saying: "You played in this system yourself. Did you not play county cricket in England? Do they not pay for playing county cricket? Were we stupid that we played there? We played because of money.

"This system was successful in Pakistan. Just ask yourself where was our cricket back then? We had world champions like Jahangir and Jansher because they had the PIA's support."

Miandad, who played under PM Imran in their triumphant 1992 campaign, said "I was expecting from Imran Khan that he would support sports even more [after coming into power]," adding that "there aren't any jobs anyway and then you're also laying off those who have jobs."

"What problem is there if banks pay a million rupees to a player but then he brings in Rs5 million worth of [advertisement benefits]?" he asked. "I am not against regional cricket but it can't work here even if it does worldwide."

Miandad advised the prime minister to listen to the people and reminded him of the many favours he had given to him.

"I ask Imran Khan to ask his own voters who is right on this issue: you or us," he said. "Politicians must be very wary of these things. If you do not listen to the people in a democracy, it will not be good for you or your party. I have never asked the prime minister of anything but I have done a lot of favours."

Miandad rued the state of sports in the country, saying: "The sports infrastructure is in tatters. There are buildings everywhere. There is nothing for sportsmen.

"The biggest problem in this country is the economy. No one here wants to play cricket or hockey, they just want jobs. They are helpless and are being exploited."

https://www.dawn.com/news/1478782/w...urself-are-a-product-of-miandad-asks-pm-imran

 

[Savak]

Lol Imran was not a product of Departmental Cricket, he never even had a job with a Department, he had moved to England at a very young age and supported himself on his own by studying and playing cricket on the side and then being a frequent in County Cricket, Sheffield Cricket.

Miandad is oblivious to the fact that departments are divesting their own sports teams and are no longer paying players as highly as they used too and are neither offering them permanent jobs. A lot of players are let go once their playing days are over.

 

[mak36]

Complete rubbish. Legend on the field, utterly clueless off it.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

A typical Pakistani who just starts talking without first comprehending what the other is trying to deliver.

 

[MMHS]

Imran never was PAK domestic product - NEVER. He was in payroll of PIA for few seasons, but last PAK domestics game he might have played was 1979-80 winter.

At the start of his career, he might have played couple of so called FC games for Dawood Club of Lahore (Or Lahore Gymkhana), which availed him a ticket for 1971 ENG tour at 18, thanks to his family & cousins. After that, he entered Worcestershire Grammar School and didn't play in PAK domestics for 1971 winter. He enrolled in Keble College, Oxford and played next time for PAK in 1974 ENG tour, as an Oxford Blue (didn't play in PAK domestics for 1972-73 season). After completing Oxford, he joined Tony Greig's Sussex for 1975 summer.

He returned to PAK for 1976 winter season and might have played games for PIA (I don't know), and headed to AUS in DEC 1976 ...... then to that SCG Test, followed by a 5 Test series in WIN, where he took 25 wickets and scored 200+ runs. In winter of 1976-77, he might have played few games again for PIA. After that winter of 1976-77, he joined WSC and was banned by PCB (BCCP that time), and didn't play any game in PAK for 1977-78 winter.

IND was due to tour PAK for winter of 1978-79, and BCCP coiled their tails between legs to call back Imran, Zaheer, Asif, Mazid .... Imran might have played a game or two here & there for PIA, but his main focus was IND. 1979 winter was one of the busiest for PAK - toured IND for 6 Tests, then to AUS-NZ, and sometimes in between AUS toured PAK for that famous DK Lillee series - don't think any PAK regular played a single game of famous QeA trophy that winter - even had he played some here & there, by that time he was a little bit better player to be "shaped" by the state of the art PAK domestics. After that season, Imran found PAK domestics to be too good for him and din't dare to try his chances. But, by now, people should realize that Quaid E Azam trophy doesn't produce Imran Khan - Faheem Ashraf & Anwar Ali is the ceiling.

In fact, Javed will do a grand monafeqi, if he tells that he himself is a domestic product - no, it won't have taken him beyond Faisal Iqbal level. Javed Miandad hit a 311 for a Karachi team (can't recall which one now - historically, PAK domestics must have over 100 FC teams and many of them must be from Karachi) - Mushtaq Mo. watched him and lobbied to take him to 1975 WC - Javed went there as, YES a Leg spin All-rounder at an official age of 17 and played his 1st game against WIN (on 11th June, 1 day before his birth day) at 6, then bowled full quota of 12 overs. Tony Greig liked him, and gave him a junior contract (trainee) for Sussex - he stayed there for full 2 seasons (1975 & '76 English summer) before playing his first Test in October 1976.... rest is history. With a very similar career track minus those few years at Sussex, one can look at where Haroon Rashid ended.

But, I do agree with Javed here. Without a back-up plan, Khan simply can't abolish a system that has served PAK cricket for 7 decades now. PAK with a population arguably over 23 crore and cricket being only commercially viable sports career, simply can't confine it's cricket with 6 X 20 = 120 players. There MUST have to be a 2nd tier accommodating at least 6 times more players. Then a 3rd tier (Club Cricket), with another 10-12 times (of 1st, 2nd tier combined) pool...... then comes educational institutional cricket covering whole country. Now, in which tier Corporates want to participate, PCB has to find an amicable solution - but it'll be a disaster if some Local goons suddenly find themselves as Head of Karachi, Lahore, Punjab or Pindi .... Cricket Association.

BUT, what needs to be stopped immediately is National player or seasoned FC cricketers bashing club level opponents in this joke of Patron's Trophy and then struggle to cope up with anything better than ZIM reserves. TOP TIER players MUST NOT waste time in Patron's Trophy, rather PCB must extend it's FC cricket for 6+ months, 12+ FC games (better 18+) among top 100 players, and make sure that these players play FC, List A games ONLY AGAINST each others and rest times practice at NCA or high performance centres under professional coaches, and they are covered by some sort of central contract ..... be it in the name of Corporate or regional/city hardly matters thereafter.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Imran never was PAK domestic product - NEVER. He was in payroll of PIA for few seasons, but last PAK domestics game he might have played was 1979-80 winter.

At the start of his career, he might have played couple of so called FC games for Dawood Club of Lahore (Or Lahore Gymkhana), which availed him a ticket for 1971 ENG tour at 18, thanks to his family & cousins. After that, he entered Worcestershire Grammar School and didn't play in PAK domestics for 1971 winter. He enrolled in Keble College, Oxford and played next time for PAK in 1974 ENG tour, as an Oxford Blue (didn't play in PAK domestics for 1972-73 season). After completing Oxford, he joined Tony Greig's Sussex for 1975 summer.

He returned to PAK for 1976 winter season and might have played games for PIA (I don't know), and headed to AUS in DEC 1976 ...... then to that SCG Test, followed by a 5 Test series in WIN, where he took 25 wickets and scored 200+ runs. In winter of 1976-77, he might have played few games again for PIA. After that winter of 1976-77, he joined WSC and was banned by PCB (BCCP that time), and didn't play any game in PAK for 1977-78 winter.

IND was due to tour PAK for winter of 1978-79, and BCCP coiled their tails between legs to call back Imran, Zaheer, Asif, Mazid .... Imran might have played a game or two here & there for PIA, but his main focus was IND. 1979 winter was one of the busiest for PAK - toured IND for 6 Tests, then to AUS-NZ, and sometimes in between AUS toured PAK for that famous DK Lillee series - don't think any PAK regular played a single game of famous QeA trophy that winter - even had he played some here & there, by that time he was a little bit better player to be "shaped" by the state of the art PAK domestics. After that season, Imran found PAK domestics to be too good for him and din't dare to try his chances. But, by now, people should realize that Quaid E Azam trophy doesn't produce Imran Khan - Faheem Ashraf & Anwar Ali is the ceiling.

In fact, Javed will do a grand monafeqi, if he tells that he himself is a domestic product - no, it won't have taken him beyond Faisal Iqbal level. Javed Miandad hit a 311 for a Karachi team (can't recall which one now - historically, PAK domestics must have over 100 FC teams and many of them must be from Karachi) - Mushtaq Mo. watched him and lobbied to take him to 1975 WC - Javed went there as, YES a Leg spin All-rounder at an official age of 17 and played his 1st game against WIN (on 11th June, 1 day before his birth day) at 6, then bowled full quota of 12 overs. Tony Greig liked him, and gave him a junior contract (trainee) for Sussex - he stayed there for full 2 seasons (1975 & '76 English summer) before playing his first Test in October 1976.... rest is history. With a very similar career track minus those few years at Sussex, one can look at where Haroon Rashid ended.

But, I do agree with Javed here. Without a back-up plan, Khan simply can't abolish a system that has served PAK cricket for 7 decades now. PAK with a population arguably over 23 crore and cricket being only commercially viable sports career, simply can't confine it's cricket with 6 X 20 = 120 players. There MUST have to be a 2nd tier accommodating at least 6 times more players. Then a 3rd tier (Club Cricket), with another 10-12 times (of 1st, 2nd tier combined) pool...... then comes educational institutional cricket covering whole country. Now, in which tier Corporates want to participate, PCB has to find an amicable solution - but it'll be a disaster if some Local goons suddenly find themselves as Head of Karachi, Lahore, Punjab or Pindi .... Cricket Association.

BUT, what needs to be stopped immediately is National player or seasoned FC cricketers bashing club level opponents in this joke of Patron's Trophy and then struggle to cope up with anything better than ZIM reserves. TOP TIER players MUST NOT waste time in Patron's Trophy, rather PCB must extend it's FC cricket for 6+ months, 12+ FC games (better 18+) among top 100 players, and make sure that these players play FC, List A games ONLY AGAINST each others and rest times practice at NCA or high performance centres under professional coaches, and they are covered by some sort of central contract ..... be it in the name of Corporate or regional/city hardly matters thereafter.

Brilliant post. I didn't know history of Javed and Imran that much even being a passionate Pakistani supporter.
But I do think that system needs to get better, and pitches, facilities and income etc should as well, whichever way that can happen whether by abolishing departmental system or not.

I agree with Javed's point if it's true that the departments provide jobs to the retired cricketers to support their families as majority of the players are without any respectable degree or even a diploma, but for that reason educational system has to improve leaps and bounds and there should be channeling of cricketing talent from school level to grade/FC cricket level. Our state of financial health doesn't allow free education or even compulsory education in Pakistan(don't know if we have the budget to support free education or not). But I don't think it's a thing that can change within 5 years, will take decades or so for the very least.

I disagree with Javed when he says that foreigners shouldn't be employed as directors. If there are no capable people for that job, then you have no option but to hire competent people from outside (Wasim Khan is definitely a capable fellow with a lot of desire of making a change). The other director of Pakistan Cricket (domestic) is Haroon Rashid, who we know how well is running the affairs.

 

[MMHS]

Brilliant post. I didn't know history of Javed and Imran that much even being a passionate Pakistani supporter.
But I do think that system needs to get better, and pitches, facilities and income etc should as well, whichever way that can happen whether by abolishing departmental system or not.

I agree with Javed's point if it's true that the departments provide jobs to the retired cricketers to support their families as majority of the players are without any respectable degree or even a diploma, but for that reason educational system has to improve leaps and bounds and there should be channeling of cricketing talent from school level to grade/FC cricket level. Our state of financial health doesn't allow free education or even compulsory education in Pakistan(don't know if we have the budget to support free education or not). But I don't think it's a thing that can change within 5 years, will take decades or so for the very least.

I disagree with Javed when he says that foreigners shouldn't be employed as directors. If there are no capable people for that job, then you have no option but to hire competent people from outside (Wasim Khan is definitely a capable fellow with a lot of desire of making a change). The other director of Pakistan Cricket (domestic) is Haroon Rashid, who we know how well is running the affairs.

Foreign (can be PAK origin) management professionals are the last & only hope to save PCB from complete collapse in this modern era of sports management. High school drop-out former cricket greats would do a jack of running PCB, which is business, not cricket. Only one subject matter expert (former cricketer, but with adequate academic back-grounds, not semi literate back-bencher and must be qualified pro coach) should be appointed as Chief Technical Officer (Director Cricket), who looks after anything that touches cricket (better if he also is a foreigner - we have seen Javed). For rest positions like CFO, CMO, COO... someone knowing that Cricket is a bat-ball team game played between 22 players is enough, as long as he has enough expertise in Finance, Audit, Accounting, Marketing, Customer Service, Communication, Media buying, Operation & HR management, Business Legal environment.

 

[gazza619]

I still he has a valid point. Why abolish departments...

 

[W63L35]

Miandad is totally wrong when he says that Imran khan was a product of Departmental cricket. Imran played for Lahore in his first two seasons and then for the next 4-5 years, he played in England first for Oxford University and then for Sussex in his early years. If anything, Imran was a product of County Cricket. That is exactly why he advocates regional cricket.

Here is a list of Imran's First Class matches in his early years;

 

[W63L35]

Imran never was PAK domestic product - NEVER. He was in payroll of PIA for few seasons, but last PAK domestics game he might have played was 1979-80 winter.

At the start of his career, he might have played couple of so called FC games for Dawood Club of Lahore (Or Lahore Gymkhana), which availed him a ticket for 1971 ENG tour at 18, thanks to his family & cousins. .

If you look at the list of the seasons chart i posted above, during first two seasons, he played for Lahore A, B, etc.

He did not play for Dawood Industries until October 1975.

Here is the list of imran's first 10 matches in Pakistan. After that he never played in Pakistan until 1975 - for Dawood Industries. But by then, he was a already knocking on the doors of Pakistan team. Very well established player in country circuit.

 

[MMHS]

If you look at the list of the seasons chart i posted above, during first two seasons, he played for Lahore A, B, etc.

He did not play for Dawood Industries until October 1975.

Here is the list of imran's first 10 matches in Pakistan. After that he never played in Pakistan until 1975 - for Dawood Industries. But by then, he was a already knocking on the doors of Pakistan team. Very well established player in country circuit.

View attachment 90850

I wrote it from my memory of his book - all round view, didn’t check year by year stats. His development years were between 1971 to 75, as you said he didn’t play in PAK. After that, in next 5 years I doubt he had played even 10 more domestic games.

 

[Savak]

Lol Imran stopped playing in Pakistan's Domestic Cricket under the pretext that it was off very inferior standard and quality and it was counter productive to his development

 

[PakLFC]

He should have formed some alternative years back if he had any idea's. Miandad is doing nothing, he's just mouth!

 

[Zhasan]

Talked sense until he started appreciating his own coaching. He was an abysmal coach, who did not know how to handle a team. Resigned just before WC 99 abruptly. Made many flimsy decisions. Forced Saqlain Mushtaq to play despite a finger injury, which flared up and it led to him being sidelined and then eventual retirement.

Actually he has a pretty good record as a coach. He only lost one series as a coach, won in India, won in New Zealand, and drew in England.

 

[Zhasan]

What did Javed do to reform domestic cricket during his highly paid stint as Director General ? He's only good for these types of dramas.

How does this argument refute what Miandad is saying, poorly done.

 

[Zhasan]

Imran never was PAK domestic product - NEVER. He was in payroll of PIA for few seasons, but last PAK domestics game he might have played was 1979-80 winter.

At the start of his career, he might have played couple of so called FC games for Dawood Club of Lahore (Or Lahore Gymkhana), which availed him a ticket for 1971 ENG tour at 18, thanks to his family & cousins. After that, he entered Worcestershire Grammar School and didn't play in PAK domestics for 1971 winter. He enrolled in Keble College, Oxford and played next time for PAK in 1974 ENG tour, as an Oxford Blue (didn't play in PAK domestics for 1972-73 season). After completing Oxford, he joined Tony Greig's Sussex for 1975 summer.

He returned to PAK for 1976 winter season and might have played games for PIA (I don't know), and headed to AUS in DEC 1976 ...... then to that SCG Test, followed by a 5 Test series in WIN, where he took 25 wickets and scored 200+ runs. In winter of 1976-77, he might have played few games again for PIA. After that winter of 1976-77, he joined WSC and was banned by PCB (BCCP that time), and didn't play any game in PAK for 1977-78 winter.

IND was due to tour PAK for winter of 1978-79, and BCCP coiled their tails between legs to call back Imran, Zaheer, Asif, Mazid .... Imran might have played a game or two here & there for PIA, but his main focus was IND. 1979 winter was one of the busiest for PAK - toured IND for 6 Tests, then to AUS-NZ, and sometimes in between AUS toured PAK for that famous DK Lillee series - don't think any PAK regular played a single game of famous QeA trophy that winter - even had he played some here & there, by that time he was a little bit better player to be "shaped" by the state of the art PAK domestics. After that season, Imran found PAK domestics to be too good for him and din't dare to try his chances. But, by now, people should realize that Quaid E Azam trophy doesn't produce Imran Khan - Faheem Ashraf & Anwar Ali is the ceiling.

In fact, Javed will do a grand monafeqi, if he tells that he himself is a domestic product - no, it won't have taken him beyond Faisal Iqbal level. Javed Miandad hit a 311 for a Karachi team (can't recall which one now - historically, PAK domestics must have over 100 FC teams and many of them must be from Karachi) - Mushtaq Mo. watched him and lobbied to take him to 1975 WC - Javed went there as, YES a Leg spin All-rounder at an official age of 17 and played his 1st game against WIN (on 11th June, 1 day before his birth day) at 6, then bowled full quota of 12 overs. Tony Greig liked him, and gave him a junior contract (trainee) for Sussex - he stayed there for full 2 seasons (1975 & '76 English summer) before playing his first Test in October 1976.... rest is history. With a very similar career track minus those few years at Sussex, one can look at where Haroon Rashid ended.

But, I do agree with Javed here. Without a back-up plan, Khan simply can't abolish a system that has served PAK cricket for 7 decades now. PAK with a population arguably over 23 crore and cricket being only commercially viable sports career, simply can't confine it's cricket with 6 X 20 = 120 players. There MUST have to be a 2nd tier accommodating at least 6 times more players. Then a 3rd tier (Club Cricket), with another 10-12 times (of 1st, 2nd tier combined) pool...... then comes educational institutional cricket covering whole country. Now, in which tier Corporates want to participate, PCB has to find an amicable solution - but it'll be a disaster if some Local goons suddenly find themselves as Head of Karachi, Lahore, Punjab or Pindi .... Cricket Association.

BUT, what needs to be stopped immediately is National player or seasoned FC cricketers bashing club level opponents in this joke of Patron's Trophy and then struggle to cope up with anything better than ZIM reserves. TOP TIER players MUST NOT waste time in Patron's Trophy, rather PCB must extend it's FC cricket for 6+ months, 12+ FC games (better 18+) among top 100 players, and make sure that these players play FC, List A games ONLY AGAINST each others and rest times practice at NCA or high performance centres under professional coaches, and they are covered by some sort of central contract ..... be it in the name of Corporate or regional/city hardly matters thereafter.

Imran did play the 1979-80 season for PIA, list A tourney for sure. I know this cause my father was the assistant manager and he has the group photo of the victorious 1979-80 PIA team in his collection with Imran alongside Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Wasim Bari, Shoaib Mohammad, Rashid Khan and Rizwan-Uz-Zamman, probably the best domestic team ever assembled in Pakistan cricket history.

 

[W63L35]

Imran did play the 1979-80 season for PIA, list A tourney for sure. I know this cause my father was the assistant manager and he has the group photo of the victorious 1979-80 PIA team in his collection with Imran alongside Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Wasim Bari, Shoaib Mohammad, Rashid Khan and Rizwan-Uz-Zamman, probably the best domestic team ever assembled in Pakistan cricket history.

Yes he did. But by that time, he had already become one of the best all rounders in the world.

 

[the Great Khan]

Imran is a product of the english system..university of oxford blue then county then pakistan international and county..plus stint in australia..if he had slugged it out in our system he would have become a lawyer,doctor or something else..but not a cricketer..our system was the one that said he was useless and wouldnt amount to anything..

 

[MMHS]

Imran did play the 1979-80 season for PIA, list A tourney for sure. I know this cause my father was the assistant manager and he has the group photo of the victorious 1979-80 PIA team in his collection with Imran alongside Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan, Wasim Bari, Shoaib Mohammad, Rashid Khan and Rizwan-Uz-Zamman, probably the best domestic team ever assembled in Pakistan cricket history.

Could be, but the key point is "product".

Imran's career had two phases - he started with a late order batsman who could bowl gentle medium pace. It was the Oxford & then County cricket that developed his batting - he batted at 4 for Oxford and at 5 for Sussex. English Counties that time were best place to develop batsmen because of the versatility of wickets, quality of attack, training facilities, coaching resources and lots, lots of long game time for batsmen to play long innings. But, for PAK team, his batting was always underestimated, unused (one reason being the batting depth of 1970s PAK team - Mushtaq/Asif Iqbal batted at 6/7, Wasim Raza at 7/, Imran at 8/9, Sarfraz at 9, Intekhab, Bari at 10-11!!!!!!)

His next development phase was as a fast bowler - first from John Snow at Sussex, then DK Lillee in AUS; but still till 1976, he was a raw express bowler with less skills, which allowed him to burst through a line up sometimes, but go for plenty in other day as well. For that WIN tour of 1977, he took 25 wickets, but at ~32 average (almost 800 runs in 5 Tests), means he went for plenty as well. His final development was in WSC, where for 2 years he learned bowling control, skills, intelligence and developed his body to take the load of 40, 8 balls overs in 5 days and bat for 6 hours as well. I have seen footage of 1976-77 SCG Test - he was fast & relentless, but beat the Aussies with his in cutters/swingers & incoming bouncers that chases batsmen's nose, not much leaving the right-handers; it was after 1978 that he started to mix out-swing, leg-cutter and slower in-cutters (+ reverse swing), that earned him probably half of his career wickets in 3-4 years at <15 average and <35 SR, until his body gave up.

Javed had been his partner all through this journey - from 1975 WC to Sussex, and for 17 years with PAK colors, even in WSC, Javed was a member of World XI in 2nd season ....... he knows every bit of it and knows more than all of us here combined, still through such comments he is just losing his credibility. He didn't need to do this for the sake of it - there were several other valid points to request Imran for a 2nd look.

 

[Savak]

I wonder why do these departments refuse to take up Cricket Ownership or the regions. They can have the same infrastructure, system but will just change the name of their teams to a region. What is so complicated about it?

 

[Blistering Barnacle]

Miandad...great player, embarrassing the rest of the time.

Pretty terrible coach too.

 

[giri26]

To be really frank, I don't understand the system in Pakistan in terms of FC cricket but I am not sure why everyone is angry with the message in Javed's comments. FC players who haven't played cricket at the highest level struggle and jobs with these companies actually help them live a decent life. What is the alternative?

 

[criclove34]

IK is not linked to realities of Pakistan.. was son of affluent family, Arch brat!
He live on 80 kanal land in posh Islamabad can claim it tax value at 1.2 crore rupees. Same goes for cricket.. he hardly played Pakistan first class county cricket.. No doubt he is one of the all time greats but Javed is a street product who understand the true Pakistan

 

[W63L35]

he started with a late order batsman who could bowl gentle medium pace. It was the Oxford & then County cricket that developed his batting - he batted at 4 for Oxford and at 5 for Sussex. English Counties that time were best place to develop batsmen because of the versatility of wickets, quality of attack, training facilities, coaching resources and lots, lots of long game time for batsmen to play long innings.

That's what I thought.... but upon checking the scorecards of Imran's first 10 First Class matches in Paksitan before going to England on his first tour in 1971, he did not start as a late order batsman. Here is where he batted in those matches;

1. Debut First class match:
Opened batting - 30
Opened batting - 0


2nd match.
Opened batting - 6
Opened batting - 19


3rd match.
At #3 - 51
At #4 - 3


4th match.
At #3 - 15
At #4 - 40


5th match.
At #3 - 7
At #7 - 12


6th match.
At #3 - 17
At #3 - 60


7th match. For BCCP XI vs International XI
At # 9 - 51 not out.
Did not bat in 2nd innings.


8th match.
At #3 - 34


9th match.
At #3 - 0
At #3 - 18


10 match.
At #5 - 36
At #6 - 68



So you see, he started his career in Pakistan as #3/#4 batsman .... and did not do too bad.


Interestingly, for BCCP XI he batted at #9 and still scored a 50.... and the reason he batted at #9 was because of the batting line up he was playing with;

 

[W63L35]

That BCCP XI vs International XI was Imran's 7th First Class match.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Didn't Imran remodel himself as a bowler in Eng then come back to Pak or something like that? Somehwere in Worcestershire or something?

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Furthermore, if the departmental system was producing players the calibre of Imran and Miandad we would be saying nothing and going into the WC as favourites. Since that isn't happening the system is flawed and it is horrifying to hear Miandad defending over aged men in suits too tight for them making free money.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

Foreign (can be PAK origin) management professionals are the last & only hope to save PCB from complete collapse in this modern era of sports management. High school drop-out former cricket greats would do a jack of running PCB, which is business, not cricket. Only one subject matter expert (former cricketer, but with adequate academic back-grounds, not semi literate back-bencher and must be qualified pro coach) should be appointed as Chief Technical Officer (Director Cricket), who looks after anything that touches cricket (better if he also is a foreigner - we have seen Javed). For rest positions like CFO, CMO, COO... someone knowing that Cricket is a bat-ball team game played between 22 players is enough, as long as he has enough expertise in Finance, Audit, Accounting, Marketing, Customer Service, Communication, Media buying, Operation & HR management, Business Legal environment.

Complete and Utter Hogwash This! I can take 20 names at the top of my head who are and can do 100x better than the current lot. Some of us actually know a thing or two about our own country.

 

[MMHS]

That's what I thought.... but upon checking the scorecards of Imran's first 10 First Class matches in Paksitan before going to England on his first tour in 1971, he did not start as a late order batsman. Here is where he batted in those matches;

1. Debut First class match:
Opened batting - 30
Opened batting - 0


2nd match.
Opened batting - 6
Opened batting - 19


3rd match.
At #3 - 51
At #4 - 3


4th match.
At #3 - 15
At #4 - 40


5th match.
At #3 - 7
At #7 - 12


6th match.
At #3 - 17
At #3 - 60


7th match. For BCCP XI vs International XI
At # 9 - 51 not out.
Did not bat in 2nd innings.


8th match.
At #3 - 34


9th match.
At #3 - 0
At #3 - 18


10 match.
At #5 - 36
At #6 - 68



So you see, he started his career in Pakistan as #3/#4 batsman .... and did not do too bad.


Interestingly, for BCCP XI he batted at #9 and still scored a 50.... and the reason he batted at #9 was because of the batting line up he was playing with;

View attachment 90905

Thanks - that’s quite inconsistent order; may be because of the team’s player profile that he played. FC teams in PAK are not standardised, therefore in same level quality/strength of teams very lot. In his first Test he batted probably at 9. In his first 10 games, he has batted from 1-9 positions, which itself could be record. I think, he started the dactyl as what we call bits & pieces cricketer.

 

[MMHS]

Complete and Utter Hogwash This! I can take 20 names at the top of my head who are and can do 100x better than the current lot. Some of us actually know a thing or two about our own country.

When someone can take 20 names from top the head for a high profile job, that only tells that his head is too low to understand the job profile. Many of yours do & should know better about your own country - no doubt about that. But, you know a jack about your countries cricket - that’s why 20 names from top of head. Otherwise, you would have scratched your sharp head to with both hands & 10 fingers to find out one name. It’s easy to over smart with that 20 figures - narrow it down to 3 if you can, then we’ll discuss about how much you know about your cricket.

 

[MMHS]

To be really frank, I don't understand the system in Pakistan in terms of FC cricket but I am not sure why everyone is angry with the message in Javed's comments. FC players who haven't played cricket at the highest level struggle and jobs with these companies actually help them live a decent life. What is the alternative?

Not much, unless the Corporates stop sponsoring cricket one by one. PAK cricket is served by these corporates for 7 decades now, and apart from a career job, they have invested lot in cricket infrastructure as well. I am not sure now who is the owner but in past UBL had a cricket complex in Karachi, KRL had a FC ground at Pindi and major corporate teams like HBL, PIA, NBL, ZTBL, WAPDA, Customs .... have invested lot in development of cricket.

I think, immediately after a independence, region & community based British Indian FC system collapsed in the new country and leadership decided to promote (read survive) cricket through corporates, so that there is a minimum job security for players and some money is pumped into the system artificially. It was quite appropriate that time actually that much needed fund will be generated as a sort of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). In fact, from that legacy after independence till mid of 2000s, we had teams like Biman (old PIA team), Railway, WAPDA, Chittagong Port Authority, Textile Mills, Adamjee Jute Mills, Rupali/Sonali/Janata Bank .... ,

But, these corporates worked almost like a mercenary system - very similar to the franchise T20 leagues - cherry pick the cream (top players) and build a team for championship. That doesn’t help developing grass root level game. PAK’s journey in international cricket started brilliantly in 1950s, mostly backed by readymade players from excellent British Indian domestics (& Lahore (Punjab), Mumbai (Karachi, which was part of Bombay Presidency), being the HQ of British Indian cricket, PAK had an excellent team to start with - there were players expended in UK league cricket as well.

But, the corporate model was never robust enough for a continuation of the game at highest level - hence once that golden generation of 1950s aged out, there was inevitable slump in performance. If you check history, before this decade, the worst decade for PAK cricket was 1960s whe one by one Kardar, Fazal, Khan Mo, Wazir, Saeed, Hanif retired. One of the lowest point of PAK cricket was probably to lose a home series against 1960s NZ in 1969 - ironically next time it happened is almost 50 years later. And, it was quite fortunate for PAK cricket that cricket with IND was stopped between 1961-1978, otherwise this H2H record would have been quite different for Test format.

But, things didn’t go from bad to worse because of one major event, for which I still honour Sarfraz (Nawaz) - the pioneer that opened the gate for PAK players in county cricket. Artificially, that corporate model did serve the purpose some what - they’ll run a team/tournament..... lots of hard ball cricket will be played & Counties will pick the cream of young talents from PAK, because talent was cheap there. A boy like Javed was given a £2000 (?) contract for whole season .... even for 1975’s standard, an English boy with such mercurial talent would have cost may be 20 times. Same was the case for West Indians - they came to their former masters land in plenty.

Both of these countries are struggling to maintain their former glory because, professional players association forced ECB to reduce foreign quota to bare minimum by late 1990s. WIN youths had other sports avenues, therefore it didn’t hurt them that much - today Viv Richards & Mike Holding would have been gun hitter or pitcher in MLB, Joel Garner might be the power forward of Toronto Raptors .... but, it hurt PAK severally.

In that regard, Imran is cent percent correct for a re-engineering of entire system. But, I think instead of copy pasting a model that worked in couple of first world countries with 1/4th (& 1/12th) population and 23-25 time per capita GDP, PAK need to look in to a hybrid model where there is a narrow space of coexistence. Our domestic model is almost identical to Australia, in terms of structure (with 8 teams), but it was possible because we started it from scratch - there was hardly anything before. For PAK, there is 70 years history & legacy now - it won’t be that easy, shouldn’t be either.

In that regard, Javed isn’t wrong on his stand (though he did wonders with that system as the director for quite a long time), but he can’t justify corporate teams (read current system) as the factory of PAK’s top cricketers in past. The concern (financial security of players) is valid, but his stand should be - restructure it, but with an eye on players interest. There is no alternative but to bring a change in what’s not functioning or not matching past output (if I put it that way); at the same time it has to be realistic & acceptable. Otherwise, the change will back fire and it’ll end in wasting precious time - 4/5 years down the line, we’ll discuss same thing again, if we still stick to PP.

 

[giri26]

Please stick to the topic at hand. Any sort of personal attacks will not be tolerated.

 

[Savak]

IK is not linked to realities of Pakistan.. was son of affluent family, Arch brat!
He live on 80 kanal land in posh Islamabad can claim it tax value at 1.2 crore rupees. Same goes for cricket.. he hardly played Pakistan first class county cricket.. No doubt he is one of the all time greats but Javed is a street product who understand the true Pakistan

And yet Miandad did nothing about it even though he had a golden opportunity to do so. Instead he chose to brutally leach the PCB just like he leached his department

 

[Shafi]

Miandad and fellow gang should consider themselves lucky for not going to jail for mishandling tax payers' money.PCB should send him a show cause notice to answer what did he do during his tenure in PCB Director.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and pacer Wahab Riaz criticized authorities for dissolving departments from the current domestic structure.

“Departments are the financial support for us. Through it, we run our homes hence finishing departments means disturbing thousands of people,” said Kamran Akmal while talking to the media in Lahore.

Kamran thinks that finishing departmental cricket will affect the quality of cricket in the country. “Departments polish the skills of players and help them show their real strength,” he said.

The 37-years-old cricketer said that it is impossible to successfully run a domestic structure based on six regions in a 22-million population country. “Players will not get ample chance in a six-region domestic structure,” he said.

On the other hand, Wahab stressed upon the need to not dissolve departmental cricket. “The competition level is strong in departmental cricket which helps players to grow as a strong unit,” he said.

The left-arm pacer said that the board should promote departmental cricket and take regions along with it to frame a strong domestic structure. “In my opinion, departments and regions should be on one page for the betterment of cricket in Pakistan,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the former captain and Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to build a domestic structure based on just regions.

This decision created a disturbance among the departments and two renowned departments UBL and HBL dissolved their cricket teams.

https://arysports.tv/wahab-kamran-speak-against-dissolving-departmental-cricket/

 

[Mirpur express]

Typical Pakistani is this Mian sahib.. loves himself so much & talks more crap then sense ,they hear about the new guy coming in & realise that they must not let him in or they’re going to loose the monopoly they have at pcb , IK should tell Miandad to start a BATSMAN hunt in Karachi & stick to doing just that.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Mani has done a terrible job of taking stakeholders along. There is no one in the entire Pakistan cricket who supports him.

Regardless of the merits of his arguments, his other role is to create conditions for the acceptance of his vision. It is non sense to say that people associated with current system are all corrupt or incompetent or have vested interests.

At this point, Mani has no backers for his proposals including Miandad, and that is a slur on the PCB chairman.

 

[JattMaula]

Mani has done a terrible job of taking stakeholders along. There is no one in the entire Pakistan cricket who supports him.

Regardless of the merits of his arguments, his other role is to create conditions for the acceptance of his vision. It is non sense to say that people associated with current system are all corrupt or incompetent or have vested interests.

At this point, Mani has no backers for his proposals including Miandad, and that is a slur on the PCB chairman.

Finally someone talking good Public administration.

Undertaking a revolution top down without taking stakeholders into confidence especially those who stand to lose monetarily is beyond stupid.

This all could have happened more smoothly had leadership spend some political capital to shore up support before announcing the big change.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

There should be 8 or 10 regional teams sponsored by departments. These teams can play tournaments in all 3 formats

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Finally someone talking good Public administration.

Undertaking a revolution top down without taking stakeholders into confidence especially those who stand to lose monetarily is beyond stupid.

This all could have happened more smoothly had leadership spend some political capital to shore up support before announcing the big change.

Agree.

Having said that, conflicts are good. They bring out hidden emotions and force people to reveal their hands.

This can still be an opportunity.

Mani should call everyone over, no presentations, and just talk it out. Listen to them, figure our common grounds, take some, give some and eventually arrive at a workable formula - as close to his vision as possible.

Don't lose this opportunity by staying emotional.

 

[giri26]

We don’t need to copy the Australian model, says Qadir

LAHORE: Legendary leg-spinner Abdul Qadir has become the latest critic of Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) plan to abolish departments from the sport’s domestic structure.

Qadir, who featured in 67 Test matches, said departmental teams have contributed a lot for the betterment of the country’s cricket, majorly in the form of players.

“Departmental cricket has produced iconic cricketers such as Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood, Mushtaq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad,” Qadir told Dawn.

Another player Qadir mentioned was Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is the man behind PCB’s vision for a new domestic cricket structure.

Imran has always been vocal about his liking for the Australian cricket structure, in which only seven state sides compete in all top-level competitions. However, the cricket fraternity in Pakistan has opposed the idea and is of the belief that it is unrealistic to impose such a system locally.

Qadir revealed the issue was discussed after Imran’s oath taking ceremony and that he requested the prime minister not to try and implement a new cricketing system.

“When the PM invited former cricketers to his inauguration he told us that he’s planning to abolish departments from first-class cricket and in reply I requested him not to go ahead with such plan,” Qadir said.

“I conveyed to him that departments produce great talent. If you somehow impose your plan then club cricket will suffer the most. Parents will not encourage their sons to play cricket because not everyone is lucky enough to play for the Pakistan team.

“We don’t need to copy the Australian model,” he added.

Qadir also criticised PCB’s policies regarding the national team’s selection and argued that the Pakistan Super League should not be considered as a platform to judge a player’s performance.

“They select players on the basis of performances in the PSL only. The World Cup probables were announced during the Pakistan Cup. So what purpose did that tournament serve? The board should abolish Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and Pakistan Cup if player’s performance in these tournaments don’t matter,” Qadir said.

Qadir also bashed the PCB for appointing Wasim Khan as their managing director. The 63-year-old said the board should consider local heroes before appointing foreigners on top positions.

“They have ‘imported’ someone to run the board affairs. Is that person more capable than Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Asif Iqbal? Even if education is the criterion then Majid Khan has a degree from Cambridge. Salim Altaf is another person who is best suitable to run the PCB. The board has funds for foreigners, but not for local greats. The government is promoting austerity, but the cricket board is spending millions to pay the ‘foreign’ staff.”

https://www.dawn.com/news/1480479/we-dont-need-to-copy-the-australian-model-says-qadir