Sethi’s somersault

*PCB announces ‘conditional’ support for ‘Big Three’

In a major volte face, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday took a 360 degree turn, ate copious amounts of humble pie and signed on the dotted line, albeit with the caveat of conditional, to agree to the International Cricket Council (ICC) revamp which rests power in the hands of India, Australia and England in the way the governing body is run.

Pakistan thus became the last of the full members — the others had already caved in to a mix of coaxing and coercion — to join the ‘Big Three’ bandwagon.

In a statement released to the media following the conclusion of the ICC Board Meeting in Dubai, the PCB said it had agreed to the revised ICC resolutions only on the conditions that it would get its pound of the flesh by way of bilateral series with all members between 2015-2023.

It remains to be seen whether the Najam Sethi somersault gains Pakistan what he says a beleaguered PCB shall get from the deal. The history of India, the BCCI in this case, in recent years delivering on its promises has been quite dicey.

“We had completed the discussion, consultation and negotiation phase with regard to the revised resolutions. It was important for us to get assurances on bilateral cricket with all Boards, especially India, which we have now received. The detailed Future Tour Programs (FTP) are now being finalised with all, especially India,” the PCB chairman Najam Sethi was quoted to have said in the official press release.

Sethi admitted that Pakistan had decided to change its stance, but only after “the resolutions have been diluted considerably from when these were first presented, and are now unobjectionable.” The upbeat PCB chairman, said he shall ‘soon’ reveal ‘achievements’ made during the ICC meeting. The ‘soon’ is likely to happen today (Friday) at 04:00 p.m. in a press conference. Only days before the ICC meeting which concluded Thursday, Sethi had claimed Pakistan missed out on the opportunity to have a major say in the affairs of the ICC after Zaka Ashraf took over as chief from him for a brief period.