The tussle on board

NOW, some of us were hoping Zaka Ashraf would act sweet and volunteer a ‘no’ to the latest call by the Islamabad High Court that reinstated him as the chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board. But then perhaps it would be asking for too much in these times. There were once mornings that began with a look at the sport pages. The country back then would lose more than it would win, but the bits of ground realities peeping out from the sport section would be easier to digest on an empty stomach compared to the disturbing news spread over the rest of the paper. Occasionally — more than occasionally in fact — back then there would be a controversy. Some of these disputes would be a source of national pride, like the ‘misbehaviour’ by Pakistan’s hockey team after we all saw them being cheated out of a medal by the referees. A Javed Miandad threatening to literally hit Dennis Lillee out of the ground would then be a statement of our street-fighter’s survival instinct. There would be some regret initially at the media dragging our cricketers into scandals where they were shown to have been involved with seductive damsels on an Indian tour. But the mist would clear eventually and the Pakistani men would soon be found flaunting their impossible-to-resist charms. Even if there were other occasional genuine reasons to be embarrassed about, the stories that brought out the cheats in us for global inspection and condemnation were still to do the rounds. What entailed the most sheepish response back then would be the game of musical chairs that saw the national cricket captaincy change hands at the drop of a catch — and we dropped as many of them then as we do now. Invariably, there would be more officers — the captains — in our platoon than soldiers and these soldiers in turn had many choices of encampment inside the dressing room. By today’s standards, all that wasn’t too bad. An extra few egos to nurse pales in comparison to the situation now. There could be no parallel to our ace spinner and his now-maligned, now-hailed captain both grumbling aloud about an unresponsive home wicket that exists in the UAE. It is a sad spectacle, sadder than the defeat by a very professional Sri Lankan outfit. The match fixing, or spot fixing, may have been prevalent a long time back, the clinching evidence came much later. And while there was always a bit of politics involved in the team selection and appointments of cricket board officials, the ugly display of men duelling over the prized chair of the cricket board chief were reserved for civilisation a few decades down the road. It couldn’t have come at a worse time when so much negativity and fear abound in this land. The argument about all of our disputes being a reflection of society at large has been heard enough. It is just too easy an excuse to let matters drift into chaos. Conversely, the success in sorting out a few ‘less important’ problems can help lift the gloom and boost confidence of those fighting on other fronts in the country. Cricket, due to its popularity, has the potential to provide relief from the perpetual Pakistani feeling of failure. Najam Sethi is eager to set national cricket right. He has been promising the return of international games to the country, threatening not to send teams to uneasy destinations and fighting court battles for his ‘right’ to pull Pakistani cricket out of its never-ending troubles. In a true reflection of a side whose affairs he is seeking to look after, he has been living a charmed life at the cricket board. Just too many questions have been asked about his tenure and while he preaches realism and pragmatism, it is now perhaps time for him to reflect and make the short journey home from the Gaddafi Stadium. When the Islamabad High Court declared the appointment of Zaka Ashraf as illegal in July last year, it asked acting PCB chief Sethi to hold elections within 90 days. There have since been many explanations why the election could not be held within the time frame set by the court, whereas Sethi has been making promises of climbing many other mountains Pakistan cricket is faced with. No less complicated is the case of Zaka Ashraf. The gentleman had every right to contest his removal in court but the question is: does he really think he can do an effective job after the government which gave him the post was defeated in the election in May last year? On May 8, 2013 — just days before the general poll — Ashraf had become the elected head of the PCB, the new constitution which landed him his four-year term coming in for widespread criticism. Ashraf greeted his reinstatement by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday by reiterating his resolve to not mix cricket with politics. “I want to maintain good working relations with all the stakeholders,” he said. In other statements, Zaka Ashraf has proudly listed his feats as the head of the Zarai Taraqiyati Bank Ltd — just as Najam Sethi is hailed by his admirers for his ability to administrate. But why don’t these gentlemen realise the show is not about them proudly displaying their talents? They already have many feathers in their caps. Let them court no more controversy. Let’s have someone at the board who knows the game and is looking to prove himself.