Pakistan cricket has been going through a phase that is not altogether without interest. And so has been the world cricket. And at the heart of it all is the not-so-subtle power grab.
In Pakistan, Ch Zaka Ashraf wanted to get back into the saddle as chairman PCB, a position to which he had gotten himself elected but not without some underhand tactics, timing it to a tee, just before the Nawaz Sharif dispensation took oath of office. The brand-new PCB constitution for which he had sought and found approval both from his patron, the outgoing PPP government had given its nod of approval and so had the ICC.
But his detractors had other ideas. And the petition in Islamabad High Court threw him out of office. With that unfolded a ludicrous spectacle over a period of seven months, with first the removal and then the reinstatement of Ch. Zaka Ashraf, bookended by the reign of Najam Sethi – who seems to have developed quite a penchant for plum, high on power and glory caretaker positions.
Just as Zaka Ashraf was being restored to office, what one judge had taken away returned to him by a bench of two at the IHC, the Team Pakistan won itself another famous victory at Sharjah – the venue that has seen Pakistan perform the Houdini’s act several times over. Azhar Ali, Khurram Manzoor, Sarfraz Ahmad and Misbah-ul-Haq played pulsating knocks, to turn the tables on Sri Lanka that seemed to be on its way to first Test rubber victory outside the Pearl Island since 2000. Those carefully laid out plans for a dull draw that would have ensured that turned awry as Pakistan chased an improbable 302 in two sessions on the final day to draw the series.
Meanwhile, in world cricket, ‘The Big Three’ – India, Australia and England –unleashed a campaign to install themselves as lords and masters of international cricket by asking the remaining seven permanent members of the ICC to sign away their status to the trio, recognizing them as dons and allowing them to walk away with bulk of the income generated through global cricket.
As these lines were being written, the so-called ‘Position Paper’ was to be discussed in a specially convened ICC meeting on January 28. For their part, ‘The Big Three’ may have thought that they would bulldoze their way into restructuring, nay bifurcating, world cricket to their benefit, while the other seven – and it is not to mention the Associate and Affiliate nations – of ICC’s permanent Board members would meekly sign on the dotted line that would reduce them to third class citizen status in world cricket.
To be fair, the muted-to-the-extent-of-impotence kind of initial reaction may have emboldened the troika in its endeavour. But after the initial dithering, the opposition to what is essentially colonization of world cricket and its finances – ironically by the three nations that are the leading and most established democracies in the Commonwealth –suddenly started gaining momentum. Other than Cricket South Africa, some of the most credible voices in international cricket, the lead provided by our own Ehsan Mani, the two Aussie Malcolms, Gray and Speed, Ali Bacher and Clive Lloyd have drummed up resistance to the sinister designs – dubbing it as literally the death knell for world cricket.
Ehsan Mani was the first to rise in resistance. To quote the iconic pre- and post-Apartheid South African administrator, Ali Bacher: “I am therefore associating myself with the sentiments expressed by former ICC President Mr. Ehsan Mani in his critique of the Position Paper where he espoused the recommendations of the Woolf Review.” Speaking to a global wire agency, Bacher said: “Mani had left no stone unturned in his perusal of the proposal… A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. I have got enormous respect for Ehsan Mani and he has made a thorough assessment of the Position Paper… The Position Paper put forward by BCCI, ECB and CA if accepted would lead to division and strife in world cricket as never seen before… ICC member countries should never forget the animosity that existed particularly in the sub-continent and the Caribbean when England and Australia had veto rights prior to 1993.
“I am therefore associating myself with the sentiments expressed by former ICC President Mr. Ehsan Mani in his critique of the Position Paper where he espoused the recommendations of the Woolf Review.”
As these respected personalities cut their teeth into the plans, the lambs too seemed to be finding their voice. The deal no longer seemed to be done and dusted. India’s frustration was manifest from its threat: “the BCCI shall skip ICC events” if the plans to restructure ICC are not implemented.
The PCB meanwhile has woken up too, and as Cricket South Africa called the move “fundamentally flawed” and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations termed it, “The game deserves far better than this,” the PCB’s response was “a lot of apprehension… over the direction world cricket is taking.”
Meanwhile, the BCCI has dangled the carrot of restoring its bilateral series with Pakistan even if it is to be held at a neutral venue. A clear attempt to bribe the PCB for its nod for the infamous proposal; hopefully the PCB shall not fall for it.
Whatever the outcome, the world cricket has been put in a state of tizzy – something it would take a while to recover from, for even if the ‘Paper’ was not accepted, it has brought to the fore the design of the troika.
The writer is a sports journalist based in Lahore.
