CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) can afford the luxury of appointing Geoffrey Boycott because of the 62 per cent increase in its revenues in the year that has just finished.

The amount that was Rs 367 million at the start of year 2000, rose to Rs 593 million in the next 12 months because of the increase in investments by the PCB and recoveries from pending shares.

The PCB received its overdue shares from PILCOM ($3.75 million), $1 million from Pepsi, the Pakistan team sponsors, and from the home series against Sri Lanka and England. The PILCOM claim was from the 1996 World Cup which was jointly hosted by Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka and whose distribution of profits had been delayed because of litigation (in India).

The profits from the investments include 4.7 per cent on foreign currency and 16.91 per cent on local currency.

Under this background, PCB's decision of hiring Boycott at 30,000 pounds sterling (Rs 2.7 million) contract for just 15 days is not a surprise if the cricket managers are spendthrifts.

Abdul Qadir and Mudassar Nazar, who now lives in England, have also been hired at an disclosed fee which is still said to be in six figures. The two will be permanent coaches of the Lahore-based National Academy.

Not only Boycott's appointment is bewildering, PCB's decision to double the seating capacity of the National Stadium from 35,000 is nothing but waste of invaluable resources. According to an estimate, Rs 50 million from the Rs 260 million fixed for development programme have been sanctioned for the uplifting of the stadium which could still increase as the development process progresses.

Interestingly, the decision to increase the capacity has been taken after the disaster in the first one-day international against England where thousands of valid ticket-holders failed to enter the stadium. Whether the local administration will be able to handle 70,000 spectators on a given day is another question.

Besides, the proposal is not feasible considering the fact that Karachi hosts one Test and a one-day international in a season. In the end, the National Stadium will be a white elephant with millions spent only on its maintenance.

The money could have been better invested had the PCB decided to build new stadia in the province or opted to improve the dilapidated Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad which last staged an international against India in 1997. Need not to recall that the PCB allocated Rs 30 million for the face-lifting of the cricket stadium in Multan.

Despite having so much in its coffers, the PCB has ignored the domestic cricket, which has no sponsorship at the moment. So much so, no prize money was given to the winners of the first-class championships in the past two seasons.

But as regards Boycott, the appointment was done after a lengthy debate by the advisory council in which Javed Miandad and Nasimul Ghani didn't participate.

While Wasim Azhar proposed that Boycott's salary would be covered up by a fresh sponsorship deal, Yawar Saeed emphasised that he should not be brought for just one visit and instead be asked to follow up and oversee the improvement in the technique of the players.

It was also decided that Boycott would be asked to arrive in Lahore on Feb 1 so that he can spend some time with the Pakistan Under-17 players who proceed to Dhaka for the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Asia Cup starting there from Feb 8.

While the PCB top hierarchy put its weight behind the 'inexperienced' coaching abilities of Boycott, former Pakistan Test players took a swipe at their decision.

Mushtaq Mohammad said no cricketer in the world worth that much money for just 15 days. "I don't know what they (PCB) saw in him which they couldn't see in their own players. But there are several unanswered questions.

"I mean who will follow Boycott's job after he leaves or what is his job description? It's a high profile appointment and needs to be clarified," Mushtaq said.

He contested that the PCB should have first established their academy before engaging someone for that price. "I admire his (Boycott's) cricketing abilities. But that's the only thing I admire about him."

Intikhab Alam, another former captain and coach, predicted that Boycott cannot deliver anything in 15 days. "It (coaching) a very long procedure. I have worked with established players and they also take time to rectify their mistakes.

"If the PCB wants to pay such a huge amount to Boycott, then good luck to them. It (decision) doesn't make any sense to me at all," he said.

Celebrated and most respected Hanif Mohammad was also bitter but refused to indulge himself in the controversy. He, however, summed up his reaction by saying: "Speaking truth here is criminal. If you want to live peacefully, turn a blind eye to the truth."

© Dawn