Musharraf has approved new constitution - Ashraf

Pervez Musharraf, the PCB's patron-in-chief, along with Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the PCB © AFP

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has approved the amended draft of the Pakistan Cricket Board's new constitution, according to Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the PCB.

Ashraf told the News that Musharraf, PCB's patron-in-chief, is satisfied with the changes made. "The President has given his approval to the new constitution and we are expecting a notification from his office in the next few days," Ashraf said. "We are fully committed to implementing the new constitution and I'm confident that it will be a great development for Pakistan cricket."

Seven years have passed since the previous constitution of the PCB was suspended, following which affairs have been managed by different set-ups on an ad-hoc basis.

"There were some delays due to unavoidable reasons but now everything has been sorted out," he said. Ashraf, who took over as PCB chairman last September, had been criticised on his inability to get the new constitution implemented. "The approval of the constitution by the President has proved that the PCB had no plans to delay it," he said. "I've always been a supporter of having a constitution in place and God willing we will put it in place very soon."

Ashraf said that the new constitution will help in the functioning of the board. "There will be a governing board which will have decision-making powers," he said. "The board will help run the PCB in a more corporate and professional manner." He indicated that the governing board would involve all stakeholders of Pakistan cricket.