Another PCB goof-up: The case of the disappearing stadiums

Only a handful of people outside the Pakistan Cricket Board are aware of the fact that the Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) donated 180,000 pounds from proceeds of a T20 charity match played at the Oval in July 2006, for the cause of promoting cricket in earthquake-hit areas. It is rather unfortunate that the money languished in the banks and drawers of then PCB officials and did not take off until December 2007.
After an extensive survey of the earthquake hit area, three sites in Pakistan and AJK were selected to build cricket grounds, namely, Ayub Medical College, Hazara University and Manshera and AJ&K University in Muzaffarabad. A proper MoU with all three institutions was signed by both parties, detailing the arrangements.
PCB took it upon itself to prepare a first-class level ground, pavilion, practice pitches and the provision of all ground equipment, whereas it was binding on the partners to ensure the maintenance and manpower for these grounds.
A detailed budget was prepared and a project manager was hired to oversee the development of these playing fields from the ground up. The budget was sent to SCCC for their approval. Once PCB received their nod, the tendering process began and subsequently, work was awarded according to the procurement policy of the PCB. It was agreed with that the PCB would submit a summary of project status and finances at all three stages, at which time the SCCC would release the next portion of funds. In April 2008, a complete progress report was sent to Surrey, including the expenses incurred to date.
In early April, 80 per cent of the work on these grounds was completed and an official invitation letter to SCCC Chief Executive Paul Sheldon was sent by the then chairman of the PCB, for the inauguration, which was scheduled for August 2008. Satisfied with the progress, the second portion of funds was released by the SCCC and the details of the inauguration ceremony were to be finalised in a meeting to be held at a later date.
At the conclusion of the Asia Cup 2008, the grounds were ready, save for the final touches. A plan was being put together to hold the inauguration in late August.  But then, a sudden change of leadership took place in the PCB, and like so many other initiatives in the pipeline, this project may have breathed its last.
The fate of these grounds remains a secret only known to God or the people sitting at various perches in Qaddafi Stadium.

Why doesn’t cricket have its own official theme song?

Last night South Africa defeated Pakistan by six wickets with ten balls remaining. There is nothing new to hear about the loss of Pakistan. Pakistani fans and supporters are now accustomed to such news.
Losses, controversies, politics, corruption, and egoistical people running the Pakistani cricket board (PCB) are all part and parcel of the Pakistani cricket. The coaches, captains and players all enter the press conference rooms and replay the same run of the mill script of “doing better in the next game”, “the batting/bowling let us down”, “boys did not play well” so on and so forth.
Pakistan’s cricket coach Waqar Younis went a further and gave a new statement that they are “preparing for the World Cup”. If a team’s whose ultimate goal is to capture the World Cup title is “preparing” like this then God bless the game.
Anyways, while watching the match between Pakistan and South Africa, the official International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup song “Waka Waka (This time for Africa)” by Columbian singer Shakira was heard being played in the background.
There is nothing wrong with that but I just had one innocent thought. If it is a cricket match and is being played in the hot and humid state of the rich and mighty Arabs, then what is the point of playing a song that “officially” represented football and Ms. Shakira keeps on repeating “this time for Africa”. Africa and Arabia are two different Worlds.
But the whole point of playing music in stadiums is to make the spectators enjoy the three–four hours that they are devoting to a particular match. Not to forget, if the match is of Pakistan then their supporters should at least listen to good, relevant and cricket-friendly tunes.
The catch here is that there are no cricket tunes. In contrast to FIFA World Cup and Euro Cup, who have their own official songs. Let alone a song, there are entire albums dedicated to sing and clap–along songs.
They take mainstream, popular singers and artists to feature in the campaign. Due to this, the “non-supporters” of the game would automatically get attracted and the viewership would increase. The game, media even countries can benefit from such an exposure.
Cricket stadiums can appear to be very boring and it doesn’t make an exciting game to watch as compared to football or baseball matches or even tennis, where the players are making enough noise.
Except for rivalry cricket matches between India and Pakistan or the Ashes, the cricket stadiums do not give the same feeling as football stadiums with the noise of the now banned Vuvuzelas, the resounding anthems and the enchanting stadium waves.
The question arises that when cricket is being promoted all around the world as a glamorous and entertaining form of sport, then why has the International Cricket Council (ICC) failed to hire musicians to create a music piece which can be played throughout cricket stadiums and would represent the spirit of the game.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), the domestic cricket tournament of India saw cheerleaders and official songs for the teams. The same could be done for every cricket match, who could give a separate identity to the teams as well as be pleasing to the ears.
As the cricket World gears up for the World Cup in early 2011, it gives ample opportunity to the hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to boost their culture and show the World what they are all about.
A successful example was set by China whose summer Olympics 2009 suddenly boosted their economy after a stupendous arrangement of games. They also utilized their singers, who sang all the official theme songs. There are many great Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi singers, who could surely come up with a tune embodying their culture.
Cricket also needs its own identity where the fans and supporters can have their own anthem, which they can shout and sing in the stadiums and make their voices heard far and beyond.

Pakistan team still needs to improve: Afridi

Skipper Shahid Afridi despite a grand fight put in by his team in the last two games against South Africa in 5-match series ,believed that Pakistan still have to improve their game for a better results.

"We have a lot of positives and negatives from this game but we have to learn from our mistakes and improve upon them," he told reporters in a post match press conference after his team went down fighting by two-run in the third One-Day International at Dubai Sports City International Cricket Stadium late Tuesday night. "We got to get mentally more strong, "he said

"I am not satisfied with my own performance nor of the team. We must raise our game. Our fielding standard is also not good and we gave away 25-30 extra runs to South Africa, he pointed out. He admitted that Abdul Razzaq's match winning century has inserted a new lease of life in the team and they are performing better. "We should work more hard for winning results," he commented.

Afridi said the main difference between the two teams was fielding. "South Africans fielded far better and that was the main difference between the two teams," he stressed.

"Look at Hashim Amla the way he batted it was an example for the our players. He took up the challenge single handily and scored a brilliant unbeaten hundred and guided South Africa to reasonable total," he said.

He came hard on off-break bowler Saeed Ajmal. His (Ajmal) performance is not up to the mark and we will come up with left arm spinner Abdur Rehman in the next game, he said. Rehman is a good bowler and has done well in the past, he added.

Shahid Afridi said Misbah-ul-Haq was dropped because was he not performing well with the bat. On Umar Akmals injury, he said, he was taken for X-ray after twisting his ankle and result is being awaited.

Commenting on the condition of the pitch he said its new and different from Abu Dhabi, he said there will be small totals.

Boom Boom goes to Razzaq

DUBAI // As the Tuesday sky slid from yellow to orange to black at Dubai Sports City, the considerable organs known as Pakistani cricket hearts clearly had taken on fresh renovations.
Somewhere down the corridors from the chambers that keep ample room for Shahid Afridi, the space set aside for one Abdul Razzaq had widened.
With that celestial 109 from 72 deliveries on Sunday in Abu Dhabi at a dire cricket moment in a dour cricket era for Pakistan, Razzaq did more than level the one-day internationals in the ongoing UAE tour against South Africa. He did more than furnish Pakistan with a sorely needed win.
No, to hear some of the droves hurrying through blowing sand toward the cricket ground, the 30-year-old veteran who first played for Pakistan before age 17 also wrought a stack of unintended feats.
He performed mood surgery and supplied happiness implants.
"We are very excited and very happy because, you know, the Pakistani people are very sad," said Daryafat Khan, a Dubai resident from Nowshera close to Peshawar.
"Because there is flooding, there is terrorism, there is how many casualties. There are many bad things happening . . . One match. Everything changed. Before we were very sad, very tired. When we are thinking about our country, anybody living here, the thoughts for our country are very sad. Nobody expected them winning the match, the last one. But he did it."
It felt as if all the loud wretchedness - two bad tours, one corruption-charging tabloid - seemed to abate with Razzaq's calm head. "When he entered the stadium it was like he was ready to attack," said Nassir Jehan, a Dubai resident from Peshawar. "He was not bothered with what was going on, on the other side. He was on his mission. He was focused."
He boosted attendance.
"Because nobody can think that we would win that match, but after that Pakistan came back, that's why we are coming here," said Malik Javed Iqbal, a Dubai resident from Sialkot who on Sunday watched with his nephew even after they discussed maybe stopping watching. "If Pakistan will lose that match, nobody will come here."
"Today all the crowd is coming for him, because he played beautifully," Daryafat said.
He regenerated the discussion over his relatively low turn in the batting order. "For me, he never has been right in the batting order," Jehan said, preferring him second or third, closer to where the Hyderabad Heroes batted him in the Indian Cricket League.
He ushered fans back into the globally practiced art of star comparisons. "I love Afridi, but Afridi is not the No 1 batsman," said Jamil Ahmed, hurrying toward the stadium and throning Razzaq.
"He's an entertainer," Jehan said of Afridi. "He comes and plays six balls and has two sixes and people are happy but when it comes to getting the game to work, then it's Razzaq." He likes Afridi but notes his popularity among Pakistanis in the UAE owes partly to the large number hailing from Afridi's home area around Peshawar.


"I think everyone, the heart has moved to Razzaq," Daryafat said, bursting into laughter at the mania. On the bus, he said, some fans stated intent to fill out their charts with Razzaq listed as "Boom Boom Razzaq," commandeering Afridi's nickname. Shahid, a thoughtful cricket aficionado from Punjab on hand for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority in case of any stadium problems, sat in his work truck outside the stadium listening on radio and fielding updates from a coworker.
"Afridi is energetic," he said. "He will never play a boring innings. That's why people like him. He has no patience. Whether he stays half an hour or an hour, he will make that game alive. He can't wait for so long. He wants to perform and he is always in a hurry and he is very confident."
That, and, with a grin: "He's also good-looking."
Shahid laments team inconsistency - "Our team can do the worst and do the best every time" - and sagely shuns player comparisons. "Afridi has his own place in the hearts of the people," he said - the 300 matches, the performances, the records - but Razzaq's rare Sunday rescue caused Shahid no big surprise. He cited other recent flourishes as in England, but then he spoke of 109 from 72 and he said, "This will be remembered," and that seemed clear.

PM to discuss PCB chief’s removal with President

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday he would discuss the deteriorating situation of Pakistan cricket with President Asif Ali Zaradar, who is patron-in-chief of the PCB. “I will convey to President Zardari regarding the demand of dismissal of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt,” Gilani replied to reporters who asked him why the government was reluctant in dismissing Ijaz and company despite all his blunders and poor performance. The Prime Minister was talking to reporters after an award distribution ceremony for national sportspersons.

Earlier while speaking during the ceremony, he announced that sports budget will be doubled from the next year and the government was working to enhance the sports facilities. “This government has already enhanced the sports facilities and we are working to further improve the infrastructure for games,” he said. Gilani distributed Rs 5 million, Rs 2 million and Rs 1 million among the gold medal, silver medal and bronze medal winners in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. Pakistan won five medals at the Commonwealth Games with wrestler Azhar Hussain winning one gold and one silver, wrestler Inam Butt one gold and boxers Muhammad Waseem and Haroon Khan bronze medals at the mega event

No tours to Pakistan possible before World Cup - Butt

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has said the current spot-fixing investigation has diverted resources away from organising tours to Pakistan, and that there is now no space left in the calendar to accommodate a visiting team.

"The ICC Task Force was well on its way to bringing a MCC XI team to Pakistan in which two players of each cricket board were to be included," Butt said. "Moreover, Zimbabwe were also interested in sending their national team to Pakistan. The current spot-fixing scam, however, has diverted attention to other issues as work of inviting some teams to Pakistan could not be materialised, and there is no appropriate time left for such activities due to hectic schedule of Pakistan till the World Cup."

Giles Clarke, chairman of the ICC's Pakistan Task Force, had called for Pakistan to resume hosting international matches back in August and suggested that an ICC World XI would tour the country "in due course". Following the floods that devastated the country earlier this year, Zimbabwe offered to tour Pakistan to help raise money for the relief effort, and their visit was tentatively scheduled for November and early December. No international cricket has been played in Pakistan since the March 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team.

Last month the ICC decided to closely monitor the running of the game in Pakistan. After a two-day board meeting in Dubai, the message of the world governing body to one of its leading members was clear: sort out the game's administration or face the consequences, potentially in the form of sanctions. The PCB was told "it must act and be seen to be acting to uphold the zero-tolerance attitude to corruption in sport."