LAHORE – The PCB’s Board of Governors met here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday and discussed in detail the selection of Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik in the national team for the World Cup 2011.
The final decision on the selection of players would be taken after the December 29 and 30 meeting of the PCB’s integrity committee which will be followed by the selection committee meeting.
It has been learnt that the BOG members were informed that the players’ assets were being scrutinised as demanded by the ICC and after the scrutiny of the assets and a nod of approval from the ICC as well as the PCB’s integrity committee, the players would be considered for selection. But an official of the board said that the ICC had nothing to do with the selection of the players and it’s the integrity committee which would make the final decision.
Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria have been asked to submit their replies to the PCB’s integrity committee by the end of December. The three players have been excluded from the Test and Twenty20 squads for the tour of New Zealand but could still be selected for the 2011 World Cup after the ICC extended till January 5 Pakistan’s deadline to submit the list of their 30 probables.
The governing board also gave post facto approval to the terms of reference for the integrity committee. The board also awarded women cricketers’ central contracts for the first time, honouring the team which won gold medal at the Asia Games. Pakistan crushed Bangladesh by 10 wickets in the final of the first Asian Games women’s cricket tournament, held in Guangzhou, China, last month.
Now the women players will also have to be cautious in their statements like the contracted male cricketers. An official of the board said that although the female team has made the country proud but they would also have to be careful about discipline and the contract for them would be the same as of the male counterparts. The governing board also approved the PCB’s accounts for the financial year that ended on June 30.
The Governing Board in its June meeting had approved the budget with an estimated income of Rs 2.6 billion and expenditure of Rs 2.3 billion showing a surplus of Rs 0.3 billion and in its Thursday’s meeting all the accounts of the board got thumbs up from the members. Javed Miandad, Mir Haider Ali Khan Talpur, Maj (R) Syed Naeem Akhtar Gillani, Amir Nawab, Ch. Mohammad Anwar, Naveed Akram Cheema, Subhan Ahmad (COO) and Mian Raza Ahmed (CFO) gave the stamp of approvals to all the issues on agenda while the new COO was also given formal endorsement.
Tariq Baloch, who is out of the country, Intikhab Alam, who is with the team in New Zealand, and Wazir Ali Khoja did not attend the meeting due their other professional commitments. As per Clause 35 of the PCB Constitution the BOG approved the names of Justice (R) Muhammad Sayeed Akhtar and Justice (R) Fazal-e-Miran Chohan to be added to the Panel of Independent Arbitrators. Justice (R) Irfan Qadir, Justice (R) Jamshed Ali Shah, and Justice (R) Munir A Sheikh are the three names already on the PCB panel as arbitrators.
The BOG also held a detailed review of PCB’s welfare policy for former players. It was decided that the stipend paid out by PCB to Pakistan ex-Test Players upon reaching the age of 60 years will be increased. Commenting on this measure taken by the BOG, Chairman PCB Ijaz Butt said: “We are extremely grateful to the BOG for approving this measure for the benefit of our former players. Our players are our national assets and this decision by the BOG will send a positive message to all our former players that the PCB values the services that they have given to Pakistan.”
The board also agreed to convene a meeting of the PCB general body as per the existing constitution. It is pertinent to mention that under the existing constitution this is the first time that the PCB general body has been convened to meet. The BOG decided that the meeting would be held in the first quarter of 2011.
