What it takes to be a PCB chairman
Shortly after the appointment of Ijaz Butt as the PCB chairman, Asif Iqbal, the former Pakistan captain, is puzzled at the number of calls from different quarters to have a prominent former cricketer head the board
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Shortly after the appointment of Ijaz Butt as the PCB chairman, Asif Iqbal, the former Pakistan captain, is puzzled at the number of calls from different quarters to have a prominent former cricketer head the board. Writing for the News, he justifies why a board chairman should ideally have administrative experience and be capable of handling the behind-the-scenes affairs. He clearly spells out the role of the PCB chairman and says that many in the past have misunderstood their brief.
Unfortunately, since so many of the appointments of late have been political appointments of people who are cricket buffs and long to be seen rubbing shoulders with the big names in the sport, their identification of what their job demands has been immature, sometimes to the point of being childish; one former chairman was so excited with his appointment that he asked a leading cricketer to accompany him as he did the rounds of men’s stores in central London buying clothes; he just could not resist the temptation of showing off the cricketer who, rather than the Chairman, was instantly recognised wherever he went.
In the same paper, Masood Hasan explains where the former chairman Nasim Ashraf went wrong, and welcomes Butt to the post.
The chief executives of other cricket boards are hardly heard and seen even less. Mr Butt should roll up his sleeves and get to work and give interviews when there is something tangible to report and where he can talk not in the future tense but in the present.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo