Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Pakistan in the news

Pakistan is in the news.. Now wait a minute, they aren't playing any international cricket then what takes them to the cricket headlines..

Wasim Bari is appointed as the new COO of PCB, barely a week after the former COO was unceremoniously ousted.. Bari was the PCB director of HR, formerly an interim selector in national selection committee headed by Abdul Qadir that was recently sacked by PCB chairman..

Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir and Aamer Sohail had resigned following problems with Butt, while the chairman sacked chief operating officer Saleem Altaf earlier this year.



The post of PCB chairman is an honorary post, no salary.. But he is entitled to get a lot of benefits-
  • Rs. 100,000 as HRA per month, 4 servants, a security guard and cars
  • Entitled to a land-line number and an international mobile phone connection with unlimited billing.
  • The board pays for his electricity, gas and water bills, or Rs 40,000 monthly and also reimburses him for any medical expense on his own treatment or that of his spouse.
  • Entitled to first-class international travel with his wife and business class domestically.
  • Traveling allowance of USD 300 per day and USD 600 dollars for accommodation on international trips.

Aamir Sohail who quit as the director of National Cricket Academy recently after he differed with the chairman Ejaz Butt, has launched an attack on Butt stating that he is misfit to head PCB and that he was solely responsible for the WC2011 fiasco..

Sohail also accused the current Pakistan national team coach Intikhab Alam that he was fanning groupism and was responsible for the internal politics that has plagued the team.. He also called for the appointment of a younger man as coach of the national team which he felt had the potential to move ahead and become a top team..

Intikhab Alam on the other hand has said that there are a few former players in the PCB who do not want him to continue as the coach and are conspiring to oust him..

ICL has put Pak players dues on hold after learning that former test players were involved in match fixing and betting in the finals which saw Lahore Badshahs lose the 2nd finals against Hyderabad Heroes to ensure that the 3rd finals was played..

Qasim Umar has accused 2 senior players of match fixing and drug trafficking and has said that he would name those involved at a latter stage as the persons involved were highly influential and that he feared for his life if he were to name them.. He said while one was involved in match fixing the other had used drugs.. He also said that Viv Richards used to take drugs for relaxation and stamina enhancement..

Qasim Umar was banned for life by PCB in the 80s after accusing Imran Khan of smuggling drugs in the kit, which ended his career. He said that PCB destroyed his career to appease Imran..

The cricketing news from Pak is that they are going to play "home series" in NZ and are planning to schedule ODIs in Abu Dabi and Dubai..

Pakistan in New Zealand
November 18-20 - Warm-up match
November 24-28 - 1st Test at University Oval, Dunedin
December 3-7 - 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
December 11-15 - 3rd Test at McLean Park, Napier

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