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Disbelief. That was the feeling when I read reports saying that Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan have been handed out life bans by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Yousuf and Younis, the senior most players for Pakistan, in the international circuit, will surely still harbour hopes of playing for Pakistan, especially given PCB's history of overturning bans imposed after appeals (Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Asif, etc). But the question to be asked is: WHY WAS THIS BAN IMPOSED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Was Pakistan so badly hurt by the three whitewashes away to Australia that banning their two most experienced players seemed a reasonable step? Seniors need to play an important role in their side, especially when you hear about youngsters like Umar Akmal who like to punch above their weight. It was reported that Umar Akmal threatened to sit out of the Third Test against Australia if his elder brother Kamran Akmal was dropped from the eleven.
What on earth was Umar thinking? Just 5 Tests old, what gave Umar the self-confidence to pull off such a coup? For all we know, he might next say that he will stop playing cricket unless he is given the captaincy!
In addition to these life bans, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved have been banned for one year each. Heavy fines have been imposed on Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi. Pakistan cricket, in a perpetual crisis, is plunging deeper and deeper into a blackhole - and PCB is aiding the freefall, rather than curing it.
Pakistan is a country that has always managed to produce wonderful cricketing talents. Youngsters in the team have usually made a favourable impression on the field. But PCB lacks the facility to groom such talents and guide them to become a force. Individualism has often taken its toll and as a result, Pakistan cricket has always been the sufferer.
I think the time has come for PCB to go the CSA way. Cricket South Africa is in the process of completely restructuring itself in order to govern the sport better in the country. Maybe that is the solution for PCB as well. Someone needs to make them see it.
This is the time for ICC to step in. But ICC, as usual, is going to say: Sorry, it's an internal matter of the Board - we can do nothing about it.
Oh my, what anarchy! PCB, wake up - it's time to rise! The alarms are ringing...
Three coaches have been in news over the past week: Arthur Mickey (now an ex-coach of South Africa) has gotten the maximum news bytes after his bolt-from-the-blue resignation; Ottis Gibson created some news by resigning as the bowling coach of England and taking over as the head coach of West Indies; and Gary Kirsten renewed his contract with the BCCI as the coach of India, thereby squashing all rumours that Cricket South Africa was trying to recruit him.
What really defines a coach's role in a cricket team? Or for that matter, what is the role of the entire supporting staff that accompanies a cricket team? It's common knowledge by now that England's support staff has a bigger strength than their team. There are all kinds of coaches - head coach, assistant coach, batting coach, fast bowling coach, spin bowling coach, fielding coach, wicket-keeping coach, mental conditioning coach, and the list goes on. Then there are various managers - head manager, assistant manager, media manager, et cetera. And we have more back room staff - video analyst, masseur, physiotherapist, trainer and more.
The strange thing is - everyone of them has a role to play. Sachin Tendulkar, on completion of his 20 years in international cricket, acknowledged the role of all the coaches and the supporting staff that he'd been with. I thought that there was only so much a cricket team could do off the field!
Going by the current trends, what are new possible coaching / supporting roles that might open up in the times to come? I have come up with a few possibilities as job openings with cricket teams: IPL Recruitment Manager (to ensure that the players are selected in the auction), Team Chef (so that Shahid Afridi does not go hungry again), Board of Selectors Negotiation Manager (so that the captain gets a team of his choice always), Multiple Captain's Coach (a role for John Buchanan in KKR), Multiple Mistresses Manager (so that cases like John Terry and Tiger Woods do not come out in the open - a role for Paddy Upton maybe?),... and well, I really cannot think of any more.
Do come up with your own ideas and let me know. Lets see if BCCI is interested in our list.
