Lessons learned and reforms needed.
Pakistan cricket returned to England after six years this month following the spot fixing scandal in 2010. Our cricketing history with England has been anything but ‘uneventful’ to say the least. From the kidnapping prank of Pakistani umpire Idris Baig in 1956 to constant claims of cheating by Pakistani umpires made by the English in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Ian Botham’s remarks about Pakistan saying it’s a place one sends their mother-in-law for a fortnight in the ‘80s was just one of the racism incidents in our troubled history. The ‘90s were marred with allegations of ball tampering by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. The 2000s were not much different with a forfeit under Inzamam’s captaincy due to a row with Umpire Darrel Hair in 2006 and finally an unsightly and unfortunate spot fixing scandal.
One can only hope that history does not repeat itself. It is up to the management and more importantly the players of both teams to make sure that the focus remains on the game rather than controversy.
Leading up to the tour there has been a major shakeup within the PCB. As usual it took a series of appalling losses to make a necessary change. The new selection committee headed by ex-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq dropped a few big names that had previously made the cut despite their consistently poor performance. Shahid Afridi was one of them and he made no qualms about it in an interview with BBC Urdu a day before the first Test, saying there is no talent in Pakistan.
Looking past the disgruntled dropped player rant, it might serve the PCB well to actually deconstruct this statement. Yes there is talent in Pakistan but it is raw talent. There is a lack of development of players at the club level where PCB is completely absent and clubs are private entities. The PCB needs to be involved from the earliest phase in a cricketer’s physical and mental training for a steady stream of new talent that can replace old ‘stars’ who are past their prime.