Creating a winning team

Nothing beats a good workshop to rid a country of its woes. Whether it's Empowering the Cute Chihuahuas of Ministers' Wives, Engendering the Role of the Military in Pakistan or Uplifting the Politician's Lot, only through a few capital letters, tea, sandwiches, and a conference hall chock-full of stakeholders can a nation be resuscitated. The conceptual beauty of these things has never been lost on the PCB either.

Former chairmen Tauqir Zia and Shaharyar Khan held numerous seminars early in their tenures. Nasim Ashraf, PCB chairman for just under two months, has seen no reason to stray, organizing the grand sounding 'Creating a Winning Team: The Future of Cricket in Pakistan' at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore following the first Test against the West Indies (a defeat might have added the requisite somberness).

At no small expense, ex-cricketers, administrators, well-wishers and journalists were invited, from around the country and beyond. Six recent captains, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Zaheer Abbas, Aamer Sohail and Moin Khan, were missing thus depriving the roundtable of considerable gravitas. Miandad's absence made news, the board having curiously 'forgotten' to initially send him an invite (a typing error apparently), which is a little like forgetting how to breathe.

First up, attendees were to formulate a strategy to enable Pakistan to win the World Cup. And there we were thinking coaches, captains and players deal with trivialities like that. Perhaps the message was, like war, that cricket is too grave a matter to leave in the hands of cricketers? Participants, old and new, chucked in their two paisas, barely three months before the assignment.

Take a legspinner said many, lose the allrounders and use the specialists others, sort out Shahid Afridi's place insisted a few, lose the captain said the odd one and play left-arm spinners said Abdul Qadir. The two whose views matter most - Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bob Woolmer - were Multan-bound that morning and unless we were tapped, it's doubtful whether they heard. Or indeed cared to.

Potentially of more interest was discussing the role of captain, coach and manager in modern day cricket. It began politely; older ex-cricketers querying how essential a coach was. Qadir, bristling like he had a ball in hand and Englishmen in his sights, said coaches were not needed. At all. Younger minds patiently retorted that it wasn't so. Soon it degenerated into, inevitably and regrettably, a question of nationality. Foreign coaches were denounced, ludicrously by some out of misplaced nationalism and credibly by others citing problems with communications.

Funnily enough, nobody recalled the Dutchman, Hans Jorritsma, who guided Pakistan to their last hockey World Cup, or that Woolmer helped Pakistan win series against England, India and Sri Lanka. Mercifully, the chairman and Asif Iqbal instilled rationality, arguing that the only issue that mattered was whether or not a coach was capable enough.

As ever, for domestic cricket was reserved the most impassioned debate. A few historians will tell you, with sadness, that of the 53 seasons, no two consecutive ones have retained the same format, structure or number of teams. Though it will not change this season, it is unlikely to remain so for next season. Attempts were made to crack the oldest chestnuts: Should there be a role for departments, how should regions be divided, are there too many matches, are there too few, how can the game be revitalised at lower levels and is there really anything the matter with domestic cricket?

Regional administrators, misguidedly sidelined during the previous tenure, insisted the roles of their associations needed enhancement, occasionally lapsing into the mud-slinging and bickering that so annoys board administrations. As with the nation though, the board might note that it isn't with the institutions or the system that problems lie but with the individuals running them.

Some participants - take a bow Rashid Latif and Haroon Rasheed - had whole structures for the game ready. Majid Khan arrived, armed with a lengthy verbal thesis overhauling the game and promptly left, having had his say. The most telling snippet emerged from the seasoned mind of veteran journalist (and by his own admission, veteran workshop attendee) Gul Hameed Bhatti, who reminded the board that their duty was to facilitate not regulate. Promisingly, the chairman agreed.

In the way that all workshops are essentially noble in intent, this was too. They sound right for everyone wants to better the game. But cynicism is not misplaced, for very little has ever emerged from such gatherings. Qamar Ahmed, in a scathing comment in Dawn, noted they are traditionally little more than podiums for ex-cricketers to angle for board positions. True enough, on this evidence.

What, if anything, comes out of this only time will tell. Though not discussed, implementing the constitution is the logical precursor to any wholesale change and if the chairman can achieve that, where many have failed, then some skepticism might actually be shed.