Tag Archives: Ijaz Butt

“Anyone But Butt”

August 8, 2009 9:11 am \

Faraz Sawat’s opinion piece in Cricinfo makes a very good case for the removal of Ijaz Butt from his position as Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.  Regular readers will already know my feelings about Mr Insensitive, a man for whom firing cannot come soon enough.

Faraz gives us a brief history of PCB chairmen.  None of the last three chair holders have covered themselves in glory and their foul ups are mentioned.   Shahryar Khan is rightly criticised for his performance in the Ovalgate fiasco where, if memory serves, he preferred to sound off on the radio rather than be where a leader should have been, in the Pakistan dressing room sorting out the issues.

Back to Mr Insensitive.

As bad as all of this was, any of Zia, Shahryar and Ashraf are preferable to the utter ineptitude of Ijaz Butt.

If I’ve noticed and written about it, surely others closer to Pakistan cricket and its power bases have too?  Yet Butt somehow remains in post despite being clearly and demonstrably unfit for purpose.

Mere days in the job and it was clear that Butt was opinionated, unfair and indiscreet.

See my previous point.  We’re not talking about rocket science here, we’re talking about the basic good sense and good standards one would expect at the very least from a leader.

While Butt did well in principle to get former players involved, his choices have ranged from questionable to downright wrong….

Butt has fallen out with Javed Mianadad (sic) and Aamer Sohail. While both were always committed cricketers and no one doubts their sincerity towards Pakistan cricket, they are also known for their volatile personalities. Appointing them to any post was always going to be risky.

Javed Miandad must surely be one of the most abrasive, inflammatory cricketers there has been.

Then of course…

The lowest point of Butt’s brief reign has been his handling of the aftermath of the attack on the Sri Lankans in Lahore.

The least the chairman could have done was call a press conference immediately, express condolences for the victims and clarify the PCB’s sphere of responsibility. Instead, Butt alternated between being bullish, defensive and occasionally outrageous, as when he called for a life ban on the match referee, Chris Broad, for speaking about what he perceived as inadequate security.

Faraz’s comments about ICL players turning their back on their countries smacks of those who said similar things in the World Series Cricket days.  The fact is that the ICL came before anyone else had put a Twenty20 league together and only the BCCI’s bullying tactics forced the ICC and national boards to ban players.  Quite wrongly in my view and I will forever hold Justin Vaughan of New Zealand Cricket in very low esteem for being the BCCI’s puppet.

I do agree with the majority of Faraz’s piece, particularly the last line:

So low has the PCB fallen that almost anyone would be better than Ijaz Butt.

Posted in: bad management, cricket, Sport \ Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Pakistan Celebrate Their Cricket Team’s Gift

June 29, 2009 8:22 am \

I still smile warmly when I think of Pakistan’s victories in the semi final and final of the World Twenty20.  As should everyone.  I’ve said before that world cricket needs a strong Pakistan side.  Their strength and talent should never be doubted, it is their consistency that has been lacking.  Add consistency to their undoubted talent and you have a team ready to worry and perhaps beat the best in the world on a regular basis.

Osman Samiuddin’s piece in Cricinfo celebrates the Pakistan team’s gift to the nation.  As usual there is some excellent stuff there which sheds extra light on things for we Westerners.  Younus Khan comes in for deserved praise and is compared to Inzamam-ul-Haq for his dignity.  Such comparisons are wrong.  Younus Khan is better than Inzamam because Younus hasn’t had a moment of madness like the one Inzamam had at the Oval.

You know, the one where he and his team refused to take the field.  Yes, Younus was a part of that team and we may never know exactly what transpired in that dressing room to result in the mess that happened.

I’m willing to bet that if circumstances like those in that test match do arise again, Younus would have the dignity and awareness to act with the grace and sense which had left the senses of many on that day in 2006.  A fine player to watch, a fine captain and above all he comes across as an excellent human being.

Remember, this victory comes despite the efforts of the PCB to alienate themselves from everyone else in the world cricket community.  The match referee for the final was Chris Broad, the former England opener who Ijaz Butt had raved about deserving to be banned.

Did we hear anything from Mr Insensitive then?  No.

Wouldn’t it be a joy to see Pakistan at the top of the ICC test cricket rankings?

England will host two test matches and two Twenty20 games between Pakistan and Australia.  This is great news and I hope that Headingley and Edgbaston are awarded those games.  If you haven’t been in a city where Pakistan are playing then you cannot know what kind of an atmosphere there is.  The mercurial side against the mean machine – to watch those games as a neutral (well, neutral-ish) would be a delight.

Posted in: cricket, Sport \ Tagged: , , ,

PCB Continue To Alienate Themselves

May 11, 2009 7:55 am \

In the aftermath of the England test win (post on that coming soon), the IPL’s Manchester United wannabes Kolkata Knight Riders currently bottom of the IPL and my fantasy cricket teams doing reasonably well, all seemed to be relatively peaceful on the cricket front.

I knew Mr Insensitive and the PCB had been quiet for too long.

In his continued arrogance, Butt has convinced the PCB to issue a legal notice to the ICC calling their decision to strip Pakistan of World Cup host status discriminatory and “legally flawed.”

Does Butt seriously think that when his country cannot protect a cricket team and some officials anyone will seriously consider playing there unless there is concrete assurance from qualified security experts to the contrary?  I wouldn’t.  Ijaz Butt’s previous behaviour hasn’t covered himself or the PCB in glory.

Osman Samiuddin calls the PCB’s decision “All emotion and no logic”.  I would go further than that.  The PCB’s decision lacks common sense, any degree of Clue and any understanding of what happened in Lahore and its consequences:

Amazingly, the board still doesn’t seem to have grasped the gravity of what happened in Lahore and how things have since changed. An international cricket team was targeted by terrorists, who eventually got away. No amount of legalese will convince cricketers to visit after that. They were unwilling before the attacks, as the Champions Trophy decision attests. How can their resolve to not tour Pakistan not have been strengthened now that the government and the board have failed to provide the kind of security that was needed – even if nobody really knows what kind of security measures will suffice against such barbarism? That is the bottomline.

[...]

In the longer and broader term, logic says such a stance is disastrous, for confrontation will alienate Pakistan further. As it is, the present PCB administration is not about to write the sequel to How to Win Friends and Influence People. Their reputation within and with the ICC – it is reliably learnt – is as low as it has ever been.

What will this achieve?  Abdul Qadir’s appointment as chief selector struck me as a good one, especially if it’s backed up with good, solid, sensible administration.  Having Butt and Javed Miandad in positions of power does not, in my view, lend itself to such administration.

This does Pakistan cricket no good at all.

Posted in: cricket, lack of Clue, Sport \ Tagged: , , , ,

Pakistan Loses 2011 Cricket World Cup

April 18, 2009 8:47 am \

For most in tune with world cricket people it wasn’t a surprise.  For most logical thinking people it wasn’t a surprise.  Today’s ICC meeting merely confirmed the blindlingly obvious, as stated by ICC president David Morgan:

Pakistan has been stripped of hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup because of the “uncertain security situation” in the country

Mr Insensitive himself, Ijaz Butt managed not to say something offensive, insensitive or lacking in clue when he said:

“It’s a disappointing decision but it can’t be helped. Nobody wants to play in Pakistan following the attacks in Lahore”

No mention was made whether or not the meeting discussed Butt’s disgraceful attack on Chris Broad.  My complaint to the ICC still stands.  However, the abrasive Javed Miandad still retains the “we’re so perfect, we’re always the victims” attitude he had as a player.  I respected his talent as a batsman but not his attitude:

“Pakistan cricket is going through bad times and unfortunately the support and understanding we expect from the ICC and other countries is not forthcoming. There was still time left for the tournament and the board was willing to do everything to keep the World Cup matches and host them safely.”

This from someone who is a cricketer, clearly not someone with any degree of political experience or (and more importantly) security knowledge and experience.  Miandad and Butt share the blame for damaging Pakistan’s reputation in the aftermath of the Lahore shootings.  It was their bile and invective against Chris Broad that damaged the already sullied reputation of Pakistan cricket and the PCB.

Perception is reality, Javed.  There’s plenty of material out there outlining the case against the PCB before the Lahore incident.  You and Mr Insensitive worsened that case with your outbursts.  The ICC’s decision should not have come as a surprise to you.

Osman Samiuddin and Kamran Abbasi in their respective columns at Cricinfo give far more reasoned reactions than Javed Miandad.  Were either of these gentlemen in power at the PCB then things would be far better for Pakistan cricket.

I’ve said before that world cricket needs Pakistan.  As a team they are mercurial.  It should only be the team who are mercurial and unpredictable, not the administrative body behind it.

Posted in: cricket, Sport \ Tagged: , , , ,

Ijaz Butt To Be Tried For Sedition?

March 20, 2009 1:45 pm \

OK, this is a headline purely to grab the attention.  Mr Insensitive himself, Ijaz Butt (Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board) is having a bit of an argument with the Pakistani government.

Clearly possessing the kind of confidence matched only by his sheer lack of sensitivity, Butt has decided that the Pakistan Government Senate has no powers to investigate the PCB and its fitness for purpose.  He has written to senate chairman Farooq H Naek and is challenging the senate’s authority to probe national cricket affairs.

Pakistan’s attorney general, Latif Khosa, has a different view.  The Pakistan government has the right to summon and investigate any individual according to Mr Khosa.  This seems to  be something of which Mr Butt is unaware.

So where does the sedition bit come in?  As Cricinfo reports:

Butt is already facing a privilege motion filed by five senators last month after he said at a press conference that the committee had no powers over national cricket affairs.  The panel said last month that the current PCB management was incompetent and recommended to president Asif Zardari, the Board’s chief patron, that a new set-up should be appointed.

Soon afterwards, the Pakistan senate’s standing committee on sports moved a resolution for an “immediate change” in the PCB management.

If Butt is found guilty of a breach of privilege, he would be asked to apologise. Tahir Mashhadi [member of previous sports commitee] said anyone found guilty of breaching the senate’s privilege could even be tried for sedition.

It is my belief that this confirms irretrievably the argument that Ijaz Butt is not suitable for the position of leading the Pakistan Cricket Board.  His conduct in the aftermath of the Lahore attack nailed that for me.  This is just the icing on the cake.

Pakistan cricket needs positive leaders.  It has one on the field in Younis Khan.  It desperately needs an off the field leader who can conduct himself with dignity, openness yet with passion which matches that of the Pakistan cricket supporters.

That is not Ijaz Butt.

Posted in: cricket, Sport \ Tagged: , ,