Umpire tenders apology: Tauqir

Hyderabad, May 30: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Lt Gen. Tauqir Zia has said his top priority was to build a financially sound and strong structure of Pakistan cricket board so that in future no one was able to shake it up.

He underscored the need for equal representation from the four provinces in every sphere of national cricket including coaches, umpires and players. The chairman was speaking at Hyderabad Press Club on Tuesday.

He regretted that the country lacked a strong infrastructure of cricket and sports grounds.

Listing his priorities he said he was trying to make the cricket team stronger and build-up confidence among the players.

He wanted to raise the number of umpires from Pakistan in ICC's panel and urged all rival sections of cricket associations of the country to iron out their differences and work jointly for the promotion of cricket.

He disclosed that he would try to build-up an international stadium near airport with the help of foreign sponsors. If West Indies could get sponsorship from T.W.I (trans world international) then why can't we," he questioned.

Giving rationale for a separate international stadium, he said Rs. 15 million would be needed for the renovation and maintenance of Niaz Stadium if we wanted to raise its seating capacity and do away with salinity and water logging problem. He said this same amount could be spent on the construction of a new stadium.

Expressing disgust over the standard of umpiring in the series against West Indies, he said that PCB would take up the matter with ICC adding that had not there been some absolutely unfair decisions we had won the series. He claimed that umpire of New Zealand had apologised to him on Tuesday over telephone for giving some wrong decisions in the last Test. He maintained that PCB would also introduce triangular series in Pakistan next year to raise money. He further said that Moin Khan deserved all praise the way he had carried the series off.

About Wasim Akram, he said he would be under surveillance and his accounts would be audited as per recommendations of justice Qayyum's report. He pointed out that he had always supported Rashid Latif in his crusade against match-fixing but the latter squandered the opportunity of being inducted in the side. He said Latif had avoided to talk to him when he was contacted by PCB in a bid to include him in Peshawar Test against Australia. I would persuade him to close his website because he has achieved his goal now in the light of Justice Qayyum's report," he said.

Regarding departmental teams, the PCB chief said he wanted to have discussion with the heads of departments. He said that customs, NBP, Railways and UBL had decided to wind-up their teams. He added that it was now the responsibility of cricket board to offer jobs to cricketers and informed that the departments had been sponsoring those cricketers who were already playing international cricket.

The departments failed to produce new cricketers that's why he was against departmental cricket", he said.

About elections of cricket associations he said since a new set up of district governments was to be announced by present regime, elections of associations would be held after that and in the make of scrutiny committee's reports.