PCB defends 'thought leader' concept

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Tuesday hit back at criticizm over the appointment of Dr Aamer Siddique, the human resource consultant, who will be travelling to Australia as 'thought leader'.

The chairman of the board Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, also told PCB's website, that the cost being quoted in a section of press on Siddique's tour was not Rs one million.

"One problem in our environment is that the moment you digress from the trodden path, and try new ideas, instead of getting marks for taking new initiatives, you get uncalled for criticism," Tauqir was quoted as saying on cricinfo.com.

Instead of the cost involved, the point to note here should have been the merit of the concept and the suitability of the person engaged.

We would like to focus on the benefits rather than the cost. And we feel that any expenditure on the development and self-enrichment of the human resource representing Pakistan at this critical juncture is money well spent.

While we do not want to be drawn into an unnecessary controversy, the fact of the matter is that for one we have observed that Dr Aamer's contribution in the team's recent resurgence was of some consequence.

"Secondly, the sum involved has been wrongly quoted as one million rupees. The actual cost is much less. And, let me repeat that the benefit of having a human resource specialist available to the boys by far outweighs the cost," the PCB chairman said.