Constitution to be implemented by January end

Despite another delay, the PCB reiterated its aim to implement the new constitution by the end of this month.

Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the board, told reporters after an ad-hoc committee meeting in Islamabad that the board is yet to receive the draft constitution back from the President's house, as it has yet to be approved by President Pervez Musharraf, who is also patron of the board.

The PCB was expected to receive an approved draft copy ahead of its ad-hoc meeting but will not get it until next week now because the attorney general was away performing Hajj last month.

The PCB has been run on an ad-hoc basis for over seven years now, since July 1999. Each chairman since has promised a speedy implementation of the constitution but has failed to do so.

The committee did, however, approve a scheme for a monthly retirement-pension fund for players who represented the country before 1978. Pre-1978 Test and international cricketers will now be entitled to monthly income of Rs15,000, Rs20,000 or Rs25,000, depending upon the number of matches they played.

It was also announced that the board will soon be hiring a candidate for the chief operating officer position, after holding a number of interviews with potential candidates.