Pakistan: Tauqir announces five-member advisory council

Lahore, Dec 24: A five-member advisory council, announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ad hoc committee chairman, will consist of two former captains, two other Test cricketers and a business entrepreneur.

Addressing media-men at a crowded Press conference here at a local hotel, the PCB ad hoc committee chairman Lt.-Gen. Tauqir Zia said that former captains Javed Miandad and Ramiz Raja, former Test players Nasim-ul-Ghani, Yawar Saeed and a business advisor Wasim Azhar had been inducted into the advisory council. He himself would head that committee which would take all decisions of the PCB. The decisions about cricketing affairs would be taken at meetings to be attended by Javed Miandad, Ramiz Raja and Nasim-ul-Ghani, while commercial and marketing matters will be attended by Yawar Saeed and Wasim Azhar.

The PCB chairman said that he wanted to raise the edifice of the game on sound footing so that cricketers could be groomed in a professional manner. To achieve this objective, huge funds would be required. He said that some available funds would be utilised to raise the infra-structure.

He regretted that only 30 per cent of real estate of the Gaddafi Stadium had been rented out. He intended to utilise the other 70 per cent also for raising the funds. Lt-Gen. Tauqir said that other sources would also be tapped for raising funds so that cricketing facilities could be provided in all centres of the country.

He said that his top priority was to send the Pakistan team for the tour of Australia and he had picked right persons for the key positions. He hoped the team would give its best during the tour.

Talking about the domestic cricket, Lt.-Gen. Tauqir said that he was waiting for the results of the scrutiny of the clubs. He would be visiting different headquarters of the associations and seek information about their problems. He said that there would be no compromise on discipline and any violators would be dealt with an iron-hand.

Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia said that the manager Brig (retd) Muhammad Nasir was a strict disciplinarian. He would give love and affection to the players but would not tolerate any sort of indiscipline.

The PCB ad hoc committee chairman said that he was also thinking about welfare of former Test cricketers, who had helped build the image of Pakistan in the world.

Also present during the Press conference were manager of the Pakistan cricket team Brig (retd) Muhammad Nasir, coach Intikhab Alam, captain Wasim Akram and chief selector Salahuddin Ahmad.

While replying to a question, Lt.-Gen. Tauqir Zia said that a notice had been issued to Test paceman Waqar Younis for holding a Press conference in violation of the code of conduct. He said that he did not see any problem with bowling action of Shoaib Akhtar. He had asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to hold the proposed teleconference either on Dec 26 when the Pakistani representative Imran Khan would be available in England to participate in that or after the triangular series in Australia.

Captain Wasim Akram, while replying to a question, said that much hard work had been done by all players for improvement in all departments. He said that he did not see any problems in batting. However, the bowling was not up to the mark during the last Test series. But he hoped during the limited-over matches, the bowlers would rise to the occasion. He said that a lot of effort had been put in to improve fielding of the team. Wasim Akram said that the Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf, during his visit to the national camp in the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday had exhorted the players to put in their maximum effort during the matches in Australia and leave the result to Allah. He hoped the team would win laurels.

Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmad justified the inclusion of two off spinners in the Pakistan team. He said that the pacemen had failed to contain the Australian batsmen but off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq had not only succeeded in containing them but also took wickets. He hoped off-spinner Shoaib Malik, who was also an excellent fielder, would also put up a good performance during the triangular series. Salahuddin justified inclusion of opener Wajahatullah Wasti in the team. He said that the opener had a fine technique and would help in building big scores during the matches.

While replying to question, coach Intikhab Alam said that he had made adequate arrangements to formulate a strategy after seeing video-films of players of the opposing sides. He said that he had friends in Australia who would help in making the video-cassettes available. Intikhab Alam said that he had noticed weaknesses of the players which he tried to remove during training. He hoped there would be least number of no-balls and wides by our bowlers during the series.