No light at end of tunnel for #pakistan cricket

"Alas, the worst remain in office in so many places, with Ijaz Butt running amok in Pakistan..." Thus wrote Peter Roebuck, the noted cricket writer and commentator, in an article that highlighted the plight of cricket around the globe.

A vast majority in Pakistan and abroad agrees with Roebuck.

With Ijaz Butt as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, the sport has really suffered huge setbacks. There isn't much light at the end of the tunnel either as international teams continue to avoid Pakistan like the plague. Player bickering and the PCB's double standards in dealing with it only compound the woes of Pakistan cricket.

But ask Butt and he will tell you a completely different story. It seemed quite farcical when the 73-year-old PCB chief, who played eight Tests for Pakistan almost five decades ago, boasted in a lengthy television interview last Thursday that that he has worked hard to put Pakistan cricket back on track.

In an interview that surprisingly fell short of posing what are otherwise frequently asked questions about Butt's own shortcomings, the PCB chairman talked about how he has managed to replenish the Board's coffers in spite of all odds. He talked about rogue players like Shahid Afridi and how he has managed to completely erased 'player power' from Pakistan cricket. In a nutshell, Butt managed to find flaws in everybody else but himself.

But a comprehensive report prepared by a team of experts assigned with the task of saving Pakistan cricket should show Butt the mirror.

In many ways, the ICC's Pakistan Task Team (PTT) is barking up the right tree in its recommendations for sweeping changes in Pakistan cricket.

Cricket or for that matter any other sport has seldom been run professionally in Pakistan. But Ijaz Butt and his team have taken incompetence to new heights during a three-year period, which is precisely the reason why the PTT has recommended major changes in how cricket is being run in Pakistan.

In what is a meticulous report spread over 38 pages, the PTT has even discussed issues such as selection of national teams and the standard of cricket balls used in domestic tournaments in this country. The report has surely fired a few blanks too but overall it aptly underlines a lot of reasons that dog Pakistan cricket.

The chief villain is Butt himself. A lot of questions are being asked at international cricket forums about the 'political' appointments for the post of PCB chairman. In 2008, Ijaz Butt was handpicked by President Asif Zardari -- PCB's chief patron -- for what is seen as the most prized job in Pakistan sports. It's an open secret that Zardari didn't pick Butt because of his credentials but because of his political connections. The PTT has also raised the issue of PCB chairman also holding the powers of Chief Executive Officer.

"It is highly unusual that the President of the country is entitled to appoint both the chairman of the PCB and over half of the governing board. It is also inconsistent with the demands of modern sports administration that the chairman also holds the powers of the CEO.

"The PTT believes there should be a wholesale (internal) review of the PCB's governance structures, including its constitution. While recognizing that changes may not happen overnight, the PTT believes that preserving the status quo will constrain the development of Pakistan cricket in the long-term and is not in keeping with international best practice in sports administration."

In its report, PTT has also questioned why Intikhab Alam, one of Butt's closest aides, is serving as the national team manager, the chairman of the cricket committee, director game development as well as a member of the PCB governing board.

It has also highlighted PCB's reliance on Taffazul Rizvi, the Board's lawyer. The criticism is certainly not off the mark as Rizvi certainly yields a lot of influence for a legal advisor. Intikhab and Rizvi have emerged as key players in the current PCB set-up, which couldn't have happened without Butt's blessings.

Butt, meanwhile, spoke about the disappointment of last year's spot-fixing scandal. He talked about how the scandal that resulted in international bans for Pakistan's Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir still 'hurts' him.

"It really hurt a lot when I learnt the details that they were responsible for spot-fixing. Although initially when we spoke to them they swore on oath they were not involved and were innocent," Butt said in the interview with Geo Super, Pakistan's only sports channel.

Butt made it sound as if the scandal just happened and that nobody could have prevented it. But facts will give you a different picture. It all happened under Butt's watch even though the PCB had received prior warnings that the three players were flirting with disaster. But the Board did precious little as the trio continued to spend a lot of time with suspicious characters during the ill-fated tour of England in 2010 disaster finally struck.

Butt should also have been asked about why he claimed that England's cricketers were also involved in match-fixing and also if he was sure about that accusation then why he retracted those remarks.

Speaking about his future as PCB chairman, Butt claimed how his other interests have been affected because of his responsibilities as the Board's chief.

"I have interest in cricket that is why I am working as the chairman of the PCB but it is also a fact that I have suffered a lot as I hold certain important assignments and they have been affected," he said.

One didn't know whether to laugh or cry over that comment. Either Butt is actually naive or he has his head deeply buried in the sand.