Miandad vows to strengthen national cricket

The Director General of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Javed Miandad has said that he will devise policies to improve the standards of cricket at grass root level in the country.

Talking to journalists here, Miandad said Australia remains the strongest team in the world because of their strong cricket system, which allows nurturing young talent.

He underlined that no talent would be wasted and no injustice would be done to any meritorious cricketer.

India and Pakistan should back each other in cricket: Miandad

Javed Miandad, the PCB director-general, has said India and Pakistan should back each other in terms of cricket in the wake of the recent Mumbai terror attacks.

He said that Pakistan were keen to play in India and as a reciprocal gesture of goodwill, India should go ahead with their tour of Pakistan in January next year.

"Both India and Pakistan are victims of terrorism and cricket will bridge the gap between the two nations,"

he told an Indian newspaper.

"Pakistan has gone through the same ordeal and suffered not just economically but in terms of cricket too. Our players are starved of international matches and this is the right time for India and Pakistan to complement each other."

Miandad, a former Pakistan captain, said he hoped that India was not isolated in international cricket, given that the ODI series against England was curtailed, the two-Test series hangs in the balance and the Champions League scheduled for December 3-10 has been postponed.

"The English team is sulking and the Champions League is also cancelled,"

said Miandad.

"This is the right time for the Asian bloc to show some solidarity by coming together and assuring the world that the subcontinent is safe for cricket."

India had visited Pakistan in June-July for the Asia Cup this year, but concerns increased when the Champions Trophy, due to be held in September, was postponed following security concerns by some participating nations.

The January tour has been thrown into further jeopardy after the Indian overnment's charge that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai had Pakistani links - a charge Pakistan has denied.

Pakistan themselves have suffered from the postponements this year and if India refuse to tour, it could leave Pakistan without a Test from December 2007 to June 2009, when they are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka.

India's tour, scheduled from January 4 to February 19, includes three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 international.

Miandad appointed Director General PCB

Cricket legend and former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad has been appointed director-general of the Pakistan Cricket Board here on Wednesday.

Talking with Geo News, Javed Miandad said that he thanked chairman PCB for assigning him this responsibility.

He said that he would make his best efforts to help the Pakistan cricket team to regain its lost place.

Miandad, 51, said that as director-general PCB, he would look after all local and international cricket affairs.

Javed Miandad was one of the best batsmen in the world of cricket. He represented Pakistan in international cricket for almost 20 years.

He also captained Pakistan in Test and One-day International cricket. After retiring from cricket in 1996, he coached the national team for two times and played an important role in building a good image of Pakistan in international cricket.

He scored 8,832 runs at an average of 52.57 with 23 hundreds and 43 fifties. He also made 7,381 runs (ave 41.70) with eight centuries and 50 half-centuries in One-day international cricket.

In first-class cricket, Miandad scored 28,663 runs (ave 53.37) with 80 hundreds and 139 fifties.

Miandad asks PCB to recognise Indian Cricket League

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad has asked the country’s cricket board to recognise the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

“I don’t think this policy of banning players is going to work practically. Since the ICL is not something which the governments have objected to, I think any player can go to court and challenge any ban on him to play in and for his country,”

Miandad said in an interview.

“The International Cricket Council (ICC) and its member boards need to take the ICL seriously. Because it has the potential like the Kerry Packer series to snowball into something big,”

he said.

Miandad said a sense of uncertainty, lack of financial security and an absence of a proper cricket system in Pakistan had led to four leading players joining the rebel ICL.

“Every player has to look to his future and security. In Pakistan there is no financial security for your retirement days,”

he explained.

“For sometime now the players have been complaining of excessive cricket and not enough wages. The ICL offers them an alternative,” said Miandad.

Miandad responds positively to Lawson’s offer to ‘join in’

KARACHI: Former Pakistan great Javed Miandad on Wednesday responded positively to Pakistan’s new coach Geoff Lawson offer to work with him for the benefit of the national team but said that the move from the Australian is a ‘slap on the faces’ of people at the helm of cricket affairs in this country.

“Geoff Lawson is most welcome, anytime,”

he told ‘The News’ while responding to Lawson’s comment that Miandad ‘has much to offer Pakistan cricket’.

“I was and am always available whenever Pakistan cricket would need me,”

added the former Pakistan captain who had three stints as the national coach but was ignored this time by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which opted for a foreigner to replace former coach Bob Woolmer recently.

However, Miandad was non-committal when asked whether he would be interested to work as a specialist batting coach under Lawson.

“It is premature to say anything on it,”

he said.

“There is no such offer at the moment so I would only think about it if there is any such possibility in the future.”

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Lawson, a fast bowler, as the national team coach on Monday and said that they have the option of roping in a batting coach to assist the Australian.
Lawson’s appointment was bitterly criticised by several former Pakistani captains including Miandad, who believed that the ex-Aussie Test pacer was a bad choice as the national coach.
However, Lawson, who is scheduled to take over as Pakistan coach ahead of September’s Twenty20 Cup in South Africa, responded positively to the wave of criticism and said that he would try to get the support of his top critics, especially Miandad.

In an interview that appeared in an Australian newspaper on Wednesday, Lawson said that Miandad was a great cricketer and can still contribute a lot to Pakistan cricket.

“I’d like to get Javed on board to be part of the coaching crew, to be part of the system and help out, because he was an outstanding player and a tough bloke as well,”

Lawson was quoted as saying.

“We could do with a few of those characteristics among the guys at the moment.”

Lawson added,

“I’m hoping to talk to all those people and see what contributions they can make. We can’t control outside influences but it would be good if we could have some of those outside influences being positive.”

Miandad claimed that Lawson’s offer to help him with his assignment was a slap on the faces of top PCB officials.

“Lawson and many other cricket personalities from around the world like (Sir Vivian) Richards or (Sunil) Gavaskar fully acknowledge the part I have played in the growth of Pakistan cricket both as a cricketer and coach. Unfortunately, the only people who are not even bothered to know about it are the ones who are running Pakistan cricket now. Lawson’s offer is a slap on the faces of those officials.”

Miandad and two more former captains Intikhab Alam and Zaheer Abbas had slammed the PCB for hiring a foreign coach saying that local coaches could do a better job.

“You cannot expect a foreigner to have the same feeling of patriotism or nationalism that a Pakistani does? Instead of bringing in foreigners the board should first try to improve the grass-root cricket level,”

Miandad had said while commenting on the appointment of Lawson earlier this week.

“If these foreign coaches can give a guarantee that the team will achieve a certain level of performance, fine. Otherwise it is a waste of money for me.”

Lawson, however, pointed out that few teams in international sports these days are doing without foreign coaches.

“In the contemporary era of any professional sport, people just want the personnel who are going to do the best for the team,”

Lawson was quoted as saying by The Australian.

“In soccer, the world game, how many teams are actually coached by someone from their own country?”

Miandad rubbished such claims but said that he would willingly give Lawson useful advise on cricket matters once he takes over as coach.

“When Bob Woolmer took over as coach, I invited him for dinner and assured him my complete support,”

Miandad recalled.

“Even though he came in as coach after I was removed from the post. But I didn’t mind helping him out because I thought it was for the betterment of our cricket. But the problem was that after taking just one advise, Woolmer grew so allergic of me that he started avoiding me. I hope it would be different with Lawson.”

Foreigners not capable of coaching Pakistan: Miandad

KARACHI: Former batting maestro Javed Miandad believes that Australian coaches Dav Whatmore, Jeff Lawson and Richard Done — who have been shortlisted for Pakistan coach job — are not capable of coaching the national team.

Talking to reporters Miandad said:

“Foreign coaches have not done any good to the Pakistan team in the past. And after looking at the past performances, one could easily say that they are not better than local coaches.”

He opined that all three Australians coaches are not as much experienced as former national maestros so they could be given the chance to coach the national team. Citing his own example, Miandad said that in his era of coaching the Pakistan team, he delivered better results than any body else but due to poor policies of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) he stepped down.

“Pakistan’s biggest achievement, winning the 1992 World Cup, was due to the efforts of players and local coach (Intikhab Alam),”

he said.

Answering to a query he said:

“There is no question of player power in the team. The players have no right to say anything on appointment of coach or other issues. PCB should have strong policy regarding to player power. But due to their incompetence they (PCB) have to listen to the players also.”

The former captain said that Salman Butt after being made the vice-captain should be accepted by the players with open hearts.

“Players should focus on their performances and not on such issues,”

he explained.

About Twenty20 form of cricket Miandad said:

“This format is suitable for other teams like Australia, South Africa, England etc because they need money. But in the subcontinent we have enough money. It will only destroy cricket and will do no good to Pakistan cricketers.”

He opined that national cricketers are not capable of playing long innings and they are weak in fielding so T20 cricket will further destroy them. On the doping issue he said:

“I must say that the PCB seemed really stupid on the issue. First they held both the bowlers (Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif) responsible and called them back from the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy. Then they themselves formed the tribunal to look on the issue which also held them responsible. But afterwards they made another committee which proved that both the bowlers are innocent.”

He further said that handling the case in such ridiculous manner not only tarnished the image of many respective personalities but also made the people of Pakistan ashamed.

‘Every Tom, Dick and Harry is enjoying wasting money’

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for holding its ad-hoc committee and domestic cricket meeting at a holiday resort in Bhurban rather than at their headquarters in Lahore.

“It’s a sort of joyride and enjoyment for the PCB officials and those who are invited to give suggestions on domestic cricket,”

said Miandad.

“It’s wastage of money by the cricket board. Why to spend millions of rupees when you could save nearly 70 percent of the expenses by holding the same meeting at National Cricket Academy (NCA). What is the purpose of having expensive facilities with accommodation and meeting hall in Lahore?”

Miandad asked.

“Every Tom, Dick and Harry will go there (Bhurban) and enjoy. It is not that easy to earn money these days. This is sheer wastage of precious funds. Since there is no accountability, no constitution and no planning, those at the helm are destroying everything,”

Miandad warned.

He added:

“I think all the former cricketers should have vetoed the idea of holding it at Bhurban. Look at the cost of airfare, hotel charges and other perks. This could have been avoided easily. There is no such example in the history of Pakistan cricket that meetings were used to be held at holiday resorts and millions of rupees wasted.”

“I think its time now that General Musharraf, the Patron, should interfere in these matters and stop them,”

he explained.

Miandad suggests ‘hands-off’ role for Nasim

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad believes Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf should keep a ‘hands-off’ role for himself and take steps to implement the Board’s new constitution as soon as possible, writes Khalid Hussain.

“The prevailing ad-hocism in the PCB is affecting our cricket like a virus and
this system has to be scrapped as soon as possible to save the game from a
complete disaster,”

Miandad told .

In a candid interview, Miandad spoke on various issues ranging from the PCB's ongoing drive to bring in ‘corporate culture’ in the Board to the proposed overhauling of the country’s domestic cricket structure.

Miandad, counted among Pakistan’s all-time greats, minced no words in rejecting claims by top Board officials that were promoting a corporate culture in the PCB as mere lip service, saying that people like Ashraf were barking under the wrong tree.

“I don’t know what corporate culture they are talking about. If having so many
directors with fat salaries in the Board is what corporate culture is all about
then I’m sorry to say that the PCB officials are going on a wrong path.”

Miandad said that the solution of most of Pakistan cricket’s problems would be the implementation of a new constitution.

“You cannot run cricket on an ad-hoc basis. A proper system can only come in
place if the PCB is run according to its constitution.”

He stressed that once a proper system is in place, a chairman would have a minimal role in routine PCB affairs. “Once you have the PCB constitution implemented, it would no more be a one-man show and the chairman will have no value. I strongly feel that it would be a boost for Pakistan cricket, if such a development does take place because right now it is going through a very sensitive phase.”

The former batting star pointed out that in the current set-up, even the PCB top officials didn’t know for how long they would last.

“Even Nasim Ashraf doesn’t know about the length of his own tenure. This is the
kind of uncertainty that prevails in Pakistan cricket.”

Miandad, who played 124 Tests and 233 ODIs for Pakistan in an illustrious career that spanned over twenty years, said that when he started playing for Pakistan more than thirty years back, the Board was run by a small team of honorary officials and did a ‘much better job’ than today’s PCB that spends tens of millions of rupees on the monthly salaries of its employees.

“If today the Board has billions of rupees in its bank account, it doesn’t mean that they have the right to waste precious funds. Even today there are millions of youngsters in our country who can’t even afford to buy cricket bats and balls. The PCB funds should be spent on those youths.”