A Tale
of Two PCB Presidents
By
Dr. Zafar Altaf
PAKISTAN
cricket team, the winner of 1992 World Cup, is in a terrible mess
now a days and so is Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The performance
of every Board and its bosses is always determined by the fact that
how many new players have been introduced in the team and how much
income has been generated by the Board by inviting maximum teams
to play cricket at home grounds.
But,
keeping the present leadership of the Board and its dismal performance
in view, one is compelled to narrate the tales of two Presidents
of the Board, Abdul Hafiz Kardar [Skipper] and the current incumbent
Tauqir Zia, Lt. General and still on the serving list of the Pakistan
Army.
When
the truncated Pakistan came into being in December 1971, hopelessness
and uncertainty was at its height. Hope had to be rebuilt in a nation
and the best recognised source of building hope is excellence in
performing sports. Cricket was in the forefront of this effort to
build the demolished social structures of the nation. Under these
circumstances the nation looked towards the revival of past glory.
With 90,000 plus soldiers in Indian custody, it was not an easy
task. I was there in East Pakistan and had seen the deteriorating
social scene that ultimately led to the decimation of the country.
The subsequent enquiry led by the Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission was
not made public for it would have made life more miserable for the
already miserable nation.
Zulikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) looked to sports, besides foreign policy,
to lift the spirits of the nation. Economic disaster was looming,
the currency had been devalued by 132 percent and ZAB did not have
the skills of the ISPR to launch a systematic thematic campaign
to try and convert a defeat into a victory. The picture has to be
drawn to enact what Skipper Kardar had to face when he was asked
to become the President of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Skipper
came with strong credentials to the game, strong not because of
his eminence in the game of cricket but also because of his educational
abilities for he was a graduate of Oxford University and had performed
admirably for the university as well as Warwickshire. On the other
hand the current incumbent has no eminence in the game of cricket,
has reportedly been captain of the Army GHQ Cricket Team in Rawalpindi
and was not selected in any team. The captaincy of the GHQ team
follows from the status and designation that one has. As to his
educational qualifications I am not in a position to comment.
There
is much ‘sirring’ and much disciplined attention. Yes,
sir, no sir, three cheers for you, sir. And the discipline that
follows is obviously a series of commands, Left, left, right, halt
and if the hand at saluting is incorrect the lad is cashiered. The
liberal traditions of Skipper Kardar did not mean that discipline
was not part of his forte. It was a mental discipline that he tried
to inculcate. Any one who knew him or of him understood that his
concept of discipline and responsible behavior was of a high order.
He had attained those heights through sheer discipline of the mind
and an ability to find fault with himself rather than with others.
That was his self-censorship system.
During
his two terms as President of the PCB, I was appointed as the Secretary
of the Board. Both jobs were honorary and carried no salaries. Missionary
zeal was required if anything was to be achieved for the new management
team inherited a black trunk box containing two pair of pads [torn
and outdo shape], a couple of bats and some one's batting gloves
not to talk of de-shaped abdominal guards. The ball had hit the
right places. With this trash came a three seater sofa set, one
finds outside the shops for the ordinary public. The superiority
of the sofa was that it had three legs instead of four. I showed
skipper the accompaniments and requested for an enquiry. He was
positive and I remember vividly ‘Zafar forget it and get on
with it. Reorganize the whole thing and since you have no money
ask the following friends of mine to help out and donate.
Ch.
Mohammad Hussain and Nazar Mohammad of Services bore the brunt of
the actions. They paid for it. The Nazirs of Gujrat made the furniture
that till today is as good as new. Oriental velvets donated the
carpets and the curtains and Kh. Zaheer the famous architect designed
the office space. Saeed and Salima Hashmi of the National Arts School
made the painting mural showing the traditional tossing of the coin
with the bat and not the coin. They were in it for the love of the
game and not money. Every one who was asked pitched in and never
demanded anything.
I wonder how is it now? Who has donated what? Seminal efforts are
afoot which need to be shown to the public, not the ugly face of
journalists being beaten up and the former assistant manager Raja
picked up while going to his home town Birmingham and not heard
of for seven days. His panicky father rang me up to ask for his
whereabouts. I am sure the Board must have come to his rescue.
At
the organizational level the PCB consisted of two employees, an
Assistant Clerk and a peon. The office worked round the clock and
Pakistan came in to its own. In 1973 the PCB or BCCP, as it was
then called, worked round the clock and established tours for the
teams for a decade. Domestic cricket was reorganized and Skipper
was worried about the poverty of the players. He promptly asked
the Chairman of the Banking Council to ask the banking sector to
start recruiting players for their cricket teams and he started
a series so that the teams and the players could live a decent life.
The history of players is replete of having done well. PIA was brought
on board. The players were on a more than adequate living standard.
The current organization is replete with top-heavy salaried personnel
and, shamelessly, they are expenditure items. Not one of them can
give value for money. The transport provided has gone in to sleek
cars. There are uniformed guards present to provide salutations.
Security is tight and when I went one day I found the doors pf PCB
closed.
When
Kardar came back to Pakistan from Oxford he found that the team
was in disarray. His first job was to get Pakistan on the world
cricket map. Pakistan was recognized when he won the Lahore test
against a visiting MCC team. His is an enviable record. He has won
a Test match against every team that he played for the first time.
He won a Test Match against England in 1954 and at the Oval, before
that he won a Test Match against India at Lucknow [in 1951], and
in 1957 against the West Indies at Bridgetown, against the Australians
at Karachi and against the New Zealanders at Lahore.
Well the current President has not been able to show much. Forgive
him his transgressions for he knew not what he should ever have
desired. The tragedy of the elite in Pakistan is their insatiable
desire to hog as much as they can. I could go on but the point is
made that there are going to be Presidents and Presidents.
A
tail piece would be in order. In 1974 Skipper was at Lords and this
is what some one heard about him. Two Britishers were in conversation
and one said to the other ‘that is Hafeez Kardar former captain
of the Pakistan’. The second person ‘How do you know
him’. First Britisher ‘we hate him for his arrogance
but we respect him for what he has done for Pakistan Cricket. He
is so easy to recognize, see that tilt of the neck. It has been
like that since his days with Oxford where he played with the likes
of Donnelly’[Captain of Oxford and then of New Zealand]."
That was Kardar. No place was dearer to him than his country. And
when he became the President of the PCB he asked every one to put
into the system. Give to the country you have taken enough from
it. That was he. How can that be bettered?
The current lot may be the best but the best is the enemy of the
good. Nepotism was never a part of him. He did not allow his son
to play cricket and gave him a choice to play, in which case he
would resign, or he could go for higher education at Oxford. The
son was sensible enough to go to Oxford.
The
son of the present PCB Chairman is part of our junior cricket team.
What
have we done in the present? Let them confess their commissions
and their omissions. They are guilty as charged. When Skipper Kardar
came in, the PCB coffers were empty and when he left they were full.
When the present system came in, the Indians had coughed up 7 million
dollars beside the current accounts dues. Where is that money and
what has happened? Will the next President come in to see empty
coffers again?
Therein
hangs the tale of the two presidents, the dead and the living. What
a pity that in our country we relish and cherish the dead. The living
are such a poor lot.
The
writer is a former chairman Pakistan Cricket Board and served for
seven years as its Secretary until he recently retired from Civil
Service.
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