It has been over three weeks since the “new� and more “seasoned� management has taken over Pakistan Cricket Board, and from day one the wise men of PCB and their cronies as usual, has started a smear campaign against the outgoing Chairman, Dr. Nasim Ashraf and “his� men who were asked to leave PCB. I think that the time has come for me to set the record straight.

For starters lets start with their cronies, specifically the over-dyed talk show host who the other day insinuated without mincing any words that probably some misappropriation occurred during the renovation of National Stadium Karachi for the Asia Cup held in July 2008. He suggested that I have spent 1.5 million rupees on planting grass in the four VIP enclosure and also stated that there was no need undertake this “costly� venture and that I should be held accountable for my omission. Firstly the grass that got planted spread over an area of 150 thousand square feet and secondly the cost was not Rs. 1.5 million but instead Rs.1.3 million which included leveling, filling of sweet earth, grass plantation, fertilizer and then watering the grass till such time it is well rooted. A simple mathematics of the above tells us that the cost per square yard is merely Rs.9 per square foot and the going market rate in Karachi is Rs. 16 per square foot. Go figure!

Now coming to the reason for planting the grass: for a person who has never visited National Stadium would be well within h/her rights to ask this question, but for a person who has spent most of his life eating the dust, literally, in the area outside those enclosures the question is nothing but an insidious effort to stir a storm in a tea cup. For the benefit of those of you who do not, there is a vast area outside the “VIP� enclosures which leads the way to the enclosures gates as well as hosts the various food vendors who serve food during the matches. It was impossible to get past that area without getting your feet and your face muddied and even more difficult to eat with dust blowing in your face and in your food. So there!


I guess the poor soul was so fixated on the grass, since it is always greener on the other side, that he failed to notice the construction of 2200 gallon underground tank and installation of a water system throughout the stadium to provide filtered drinking water to the spectators first time ever. In the same vein he probably did not know that a brand new bathroom was built underneath Nasim-ul-Ghani enclosure to cater for the needs of the “common� man which was never a consideration for the administrators or the media because either parties stayed within the confines of air-conditioned offices in the main pavilion. He could not have, however, missed noticing the tile work in the main enclosure, but one can forgive him for not noticing on account of his myopia. And since he is not a female he would not have known that the Ladies toilet was expanded and renovated on most modern lines. And the funny part is that PCB did not spent a single penny on these projects, I repeat PCB did not spend any money on the grass or the rest of the projects, yet PCB Administration and Projects departments followed the Procurement Policy in true letter and spirit and anyone with any doubt can have this verified. But that is not how cookie crumbles here. We thrive on hearsay and spend little, if any time, on doing the homework before yapping our mouths in the public.

His guest pointed out the controversy over purchase of the generators for the flood lights at NSK and Qaddafi stadiums. Again, persistent symptoms of foot-in-the mouth disease were quite evident from the remarks both gentlemen made. The objection raised by two members of the PCB Governing Board, including, the present Chairman were over the number of generators to be purchased and their capacity. The cost, make etc. were not an issue. The present Chairman volunteered to recommend a consultant who would assist PCB in determining the number and the capacity since he had no faith in our consultants, namely NESPAK. To cut the long story short, in the end the present Chairman and the other illustrious Board member had to eat a humble pie, and it is about time, that everyone else should take their share, as there is plenty to go around!

Now let us take another bull by the horn: the issue of 700 employees working for PCB lamented by scores of people over and over again. The last time I did the tally it stood at 565 as opposed to 372 when Dr. Nasim Ashraf took over in October 2006. A critical analysis of the increase of 193 employees would reveal that 35 employees were inherited by PCB as it took over the administrative control of Niaz and Pindi stadiums. Two new departments, namely Supply Chain and Human Resources were created. The former was created to ensure that Procurement and Inventory functions are streamlined as per the modern practices. Ten Regional Inventory officers were appointed to ensure that the millions of Rupees of goods and services provided at the Regional levels are properly documented and PCB’s fixed assets in the regions are all accounted for in PCB’s books. Similarly, Regional Accountants were hired to ensure that all procurement, payment, and financial recording to be done according to the procedures. This move was aimed at discontinuing the practice of sending millions and millions of rupees in personal accounts of the Regional Development Officers as practiced at that time. PCB had to write off millions of rupees because the RDO did not settle the accounts in time and was a major qualification on PCB by the external auditors. So far we have accounted for 55 employees out of 193 that were hired during Dr. Nasim Ashraf’s time and ostensibly for valid reasons. Where did the rest come from?

As we rolled down our Game Development Program a need to provide, Regional Coach, Assistant Coach, Fielding Coach, trainer, physiotherapist, cricket analysts, and scorers was identified by the Program designers. With the approval of the Governing Board, a total of 70 positions were created and people were hired subsequently. Pertinent to mention majority of them are first class/test players. The tally so far is 125, who were the remaining 68 souls that remains unaccounted for. Ah, PCB decided to go ahead with mega projects aimed at providing state of the art facilities during the now-postponed Champions Trophy, so an Infrastructure and Grounds development department was created and PCB again with the approval of the Board, hired Regional Curators, Assistant Curators and groundsmen along with Infrastructure monitoring staff. What you hear is song and dance, nothing more that a figment of the imagination of a few spin doctors and keyboard jockeys vying to be noticed like small children crying to get a pacifier!

Butt sahib has vowed to bring this figure down to 250, and it seems he is well on his way to achieve his target and I never doubted that, but as I sat down to put this together, I doubt if that would materialize. For a man to announce in his inaugural press conference, very eloquently, that he would bring the “kharcha�(expenditure) down yet in matter of two hours he appoints a special assistant to the Chairman and brings another “assistant� from his parent organization, making it a total of 4 assistants to assist the Chairman at an overwhelming cost of Rs. 250 k per month, notwithstanding the perks! He accuses Nasim Ashraf for financial mishandling and nepotism on one hand, and on the other he appoints people, whose cases are still under review in the courts of law, on positions that do not even figure out in PCB’s Constitution or the Service Rules and goes on to withdraw millions of rupees from PCB trusted partner bank for the last several years and invests it in “c� category bank violating his own established rule of getting permission of the Board of Governors’ nod before any investment is made!

Butt sahib has also vowed, in private, that he would look after the cricketers working for the Board and that they would not be harmed. Yet in matter of days the Junior Selection Committee was disbanded in a most ignominious manner and one member of the National Selection Committee was asked to resign or face the wrath of being terminated; being a gentleman that he is, he choose the former. The real embarrassing scene took place in my office. Pakistan Team Manager, who was sitting in my office to see the Chairman since morning, received a call from a minnow, whose claim to fame is bowling but it is believed that he can bat with anyone, in terms of his age and his cricketing stature, that the Chairman has asked for your resignation or else you will be terminated. So Talat resigns and walked out with wind behind his back and sun shining in his face, as always. A friendship of over forty years met a sad demise that day. His only crime was that he had invited former Chairman to come and sit in the dug out in Toronto! How petty can we get?

Butt sahib is bleating like a lost goat that PCB is on the verge of bankruptcy and that two out of four series held in Nasim Ashraf’s era were a loss. Let us first deal with the issue of bankruptcy. A Finance 101 student would tell you that it is not the cash in hand that is indicative of an organization’s health, it is the balance sheet that gives you the accurate picture. PCB’s balance sheet is as healthy as young bull right of the bullpen. It stands at a soaring figure of Rs. 4.8 billion. As far cash is concerned, India is coming to Pakistan, which means mega bucks, your marketing rights are up for grabs, that will fetch more than a few dollars and then you have $750 k coming from Abu Dhabi, so why fret. This is not a seth run company where money in the bank and the interest that you get is all that matters, the much touted “kharcha� which ironically the present Chairman himself approved is on cricketing activities and that is what PCB is there for! Why all this hoopla then? All you got to do is to cancel all your pentangulars and T-20s and fire you Regional Coaching staff, Accountants and Inventory Officers and your “kharcha� will come down. Isn’t that the “seth� way?

Last but not the least, a smooth operator (pun intended) from Islamabad that used to be beautiful, wrote today that age and experience is on the side of the present management to make turn things around at PCB. He was referring to Butt sahib 70 (read 76), Intikhab 67 and Salem Altaf 64, which make the grand total of 191 still short of 60 odd years to score a 250 and with Wasim Bari waiting to get there, hopefully they will get their 250 soon and that is a lot of wisdom by any standard. One can only hope that with this kind of years behind them, one would see Mohammad Yourself somersaulting like Malang Ali and Shahid Afidi breaking a few records rather than a lot of hearts!