Ijaz Butt's failed reign

Saad Shafqat, writing in Dawn, tracks Ijaz Butt's tenure as chairman of the PCB from the time of his appointment to the resolution of the dispute with the ICC over the staging of the 2011 World Cup. Butt's chairmanship, he says, was welcomed initially but hopes began to sour with his failure to resolve differences with the likes of Javed Miandad, Aamer Sohail and Abdul Qadir, who quit their positions within the PCB on unfavourable terms. The biggest letdown, Shafqat writes, was the "organisational negligence" during the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore followed by the "farcical handling" of the 2011 World Cup dispute.

Judging by cricketing standards, Ejaz Butt is a failed captain. He selected some highly talented players for his management team at the PCB but was unable to get the best out of them, with the result that his best people have either left or been marginalised. Insiders report that the atmosphere within the Board has become very fractious and dispiriting. Pre-occupied with self-preservation, Butt has surrounded himself with loyalists and cronies while the larger goal of preserving and promoting Pakistan cricket remains adrift.