Ad hoc committee actions betray arbitrary approach

In a surprising about-turn the chairman of the cricket board's ad hoc committee, Mujeebur Rahman, announced the lifting of the suspension for an unlimited period on Wasim Akram and his reinstatement as captain of the national squad.

It is still not known why the decision was revealed in London making it a dramatic act to impress the foreign media and not at home while naming the 15-member conglomerate for the Toronto tussle.

One notes that at his Islamabad Press conference, specifically called to give the list of the team to lock horns with the West Indies, he had given the impression that no alteration was to be made in the skippership of the team. Without mincing words the head of the cricket setup had said there was no other candidate in contention for the captaincy and Moin Khan was the only choice in place of Wasim Akram.

The assignment of the cricket side's leadership to all-rounder Wasim Akram was a major reversal in the board's decision made one-and-a-half months earlier that Wasim, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad are being suspended and they will not be available for selection until the cricket investigations have been completed. The report of the judicial inquest, conducted by Justice Malik Qayyum of the Lahore High Court, is yet to be presented to the Patron, who is none other than the country's President. The judge said in an interview that he was in the process of writing the report and no decision had yet been made on the match-rigging charges against the players.

The followers of the game cannot but presume that the earlier penalisation was a hasty decision and it was a case of wrong advice by somebody in the cricket officialdom. The inquires, launched by numberless agencies, especially the Ehtesab Bureau, have provided no substantive proof of wrong-doing by Wasim Akram and the other two cricketers. This had been conceded by Mujeeb himself.

However, many would like to know as to who will be accountable for the lowering of the image of Pakistan cricket internationally. The uncalled for outcry against the players after the Lord's debacle in the World Cup too has died down and most of the analysts have come to the conclusion that it was essentially a cricket loss and the allegations of any scandal or match-fixing were baseless.

Mujeebur Rahman revealed in his London media briefing that the in-house inquiry by the board's committee, headed by Justice Ejaz Yousuf, is to be released and sent to the President. This 11-month-old report, some portions of which leaked out during the Pakistan team's matches in India, was said to form the basis on which the summary action was taken against the three reputed cricketers, though five more stars were mentioned by the three-member panel as beneficiaries. Cricket fans are puzzled why suspension followed a committee's report, officially described as interim? It was an 11-month-old document. The panel has not met this year to proceed with its job. In fact the members Ejaz Yousuf, Nusrat Azeem and Mian Munir thought it unwise to duplicate the work and investigations being handled by the Lahore High Court Judge. If the Accountability Cell had supplied the board some concrete information on bribery and gambling why the high officers of the ad hoc committee did not ask the Justice Yusuf panel to complete its processing of the case and the inquiry?.

With the removal of the curbs on Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad and the acceptance of the leadership of Wasim Akram the curtain has fallen on the sad witch-hunting and character-assassination of the leading cricketers. It is a moot point if the tiffs among the players would vanish overnight into thin air. However, enthusiasts of the game would like to know if it was a one-man decision for no news was earlier received of a meeting of the full ad hoc committee on this important issue of curb on the players. No doubt under Part VII, Clause 3, of the board constitution the ad hoc committee assumes all powers and functions of the General Body and the Council, which appoints the captain, it seems a lot of confusion prevails among the new functionaries of the board. For one expected a proper convening of the meeting of all the four members, an indepth debate on the subject and then a consensus and a decision. Only a one-paragraph statement was released by the chairman at his Press conference at the Pakistan mission in London.

There are other instances too of one man coming out with hasty and ill-planned decisions. Javed Zaman, a committee member and head of the tournament wing, laid out his domestic format last month. The associations and the departments were banded together in the competitions; the lambs were to be thrown to the lions. In his opinion in this way the cricket of the country would progress by leaps and bounds. The future of the youngsters in the associations would be sacrificed at the altar of the new arrangement, think cricket organizers.In a surprising about-turn the chairman of the cricket board's ad hoc committee, Mujeebur Rahman, announced the lifting of the suspension for an unlimited period on Wasim Akram and his reinstatement as captain of the national squad.

It is still not known why the decision was revealed in London making it a dramatic act to impress the foreign media and not at home while naming the 15-member conglomerate for the Toronto tussle.

One notes that at his Islamabad Press conference, specifically called to give the list of the team to lock horns with the West Indies, he had given the impression that no alteration was to be made in the skippership of the team. Without mincing words the head of the cricket setup had said there was no other candidate in contention for the captaincy and Moin Khan was the only choice in place of Wasim Akram.

The assignment of the cricket side's leadership to all-rounder Wasim Akram was a major reversal in the board's decision made one-and-a-half months earlier that Wasim, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad are being suspended and they will not be available for selection until the cricket investigations have been completed. The report of the judicial inquest, conducted by Justice Malik Qayyum of the Lahore High Court, is yet to be presented to the Patron, who is none other than the country's President. The judge said in an interview that he was in the process of writing the report and no decision had yet been made on the match-rigging charges against the players.

The followers of the game cannot but presume that the earlier penalisation was a hasty decision and it was a case of wrong advice by somebody in the cricket officialdom. The inquires, launched by numberless agencies, especially the Ehtesab Bureau, have provided no substantive proof of wrong-doing by Wasim Akram and the other two cricketers. This had been conceded by Mujeeb himself.

However, many would like to know as to who will be accountable for the lowering of the image of Pakistan cricket internationally. The uncalled for outcry against the players after the Lord's debacle in the World Cup too has died down and most of the analysts have come to the conclusion that it was essentially a cricket loss and the allegations of any scandal or match-fixing were baseless.

Mujeebur Rahman revealed in his London media briefing that the in-house inquiry by the board's committee, headed by Justice Ejaz Yousuf, is to be released and sent to the President. This 11-month-old report, some portions of which leaked out during the Pakistan team's matches in India, was said to form the basis on which the summary action was taken against the three reputed cricketers, though five more stars were mentioned by the three-member panel as beneficiaries. Cricket fans are puzzled why suspension followed a committee's report, officially described as interim? It was an 11-month-old document. The panel has not met this year to proceed with its job. In fact the members Ejaz Yousuf, Nusrat Azeem and Mian Munir thought it unwise to duplicate the work and investigations being handled by the Lahore High Court Judge. If the Accountability Cell had supplied the board some concrete information on bribery and gambling why the high officers of the ad hoc committee did not ask the Justice Yusuf panel to complete its processing of the case and the inquiry?.

With the removal of the curbs on Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmad and the acceptance of the leadership of Wasim Akram the curtain has fallen on the sad witch-hunting and character-assassination of the leading cricketers. It is a moot point if the tiffs among the players would vanish overnight into thin air. However, enthusiasts of the game would like to know if it was a one-man decision for no news was earlier received of a meeting of the full ad hoc committee on this important issue of curb on the players. No doubt under Part VII, Clause 3, of the board constitution the ad hoc committee assumes all powers and functions of the General Body and the Council, which appoints the captain, it seems a lot of confusion prevails among the new functionaries of the board. For one expected a proper convening of the meeting of all the four members, an indepth debate on the subject and then a consensus and a decision. Only a one-paragraph statement was released by the chairman at his Press conference at the Pakistan mission in London.

There are other instances too of one man coming out with hasty and ill-planned decisions. Javed Zaman, a committee member and head of the tournament wing, laid out his domestic format last month. The associations and the departments were banded together in the competitions; the lambs were to be thrown to the lions. In his opinion in this way the cricket of the country would progress by leaps and bounds. The future of the youngsters in the associations would be sacrificed at the altar of the new arrangement, think cricket organizers.

On July 24, a week after the change of guards at the cricket headquarters - when the ad hoc committee was not fully constituted - it was announced that all member associations have been suspended. It is still not known whose bright idea was this for the newly-installed committee was supposed to advance the cause of the game in co-ordination with the efforts of the affiliated units, most of whose members are experienced hands at running the affairs of their organisations and staging matches, especially when venues for international ties are growing in number. The ad hoc committee created problems for itself for it led to direct confrontation with the associations, many of whom went straight to the high courts in appeal and some out of-the-court accords and concords have also been reached. This shows that a policy of consensus among the members and harmony with the affiliated bodies is not being followed. If the authoritarian approach is not shed soon, considerable harm may come to the game and the cricketers

On July 24, a week after the change of guards at the cricket headquarters - when the ad hoc committee was not fully constituted - it was announced that all member associations have been suspended. It is still not known whose bright idea was this for the newly-installed committee was supposed to advance the cause of the game in co-ordination with the efforts of the affiliated units, most of whose members are experienced hands at running the affairs of their organisations and staging matches, especially when venues for international ties are growing in number. The ad hoc committee created problems for itself for it led to direct confrontation with the associations, many of whom went straight to the high courts in appeal and some out of-the-court accords and concords have also been reached. This shows that a policy of consensus among the members and harmony with the affiliated bodies is not being followed. If the authoritarian approach is not shed soon, considerable harm may come to the game and the cricketers