Sorry saga of the PCB

On Friday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed the 36-year-old Misbah-ul-Haq as captain of the Pakistan test team for the upcoming series against South Africa. What has dumbfounded the entire nation is: how can a player who was dropped from the test side because of bad performances six months earlier be selected captain? We, much like the rest of the cricketing world, would like to know the rationale behind this decision. Misbah, who was contemplating retirement in July, is the fourth test captain the Pakistan team has had in 2010. In comparison, Graeme Smith has been the South African test captain for the past seven years.The PCB is notorious for making hasty decisions and withdrawing them later. The PCB promised to clean up cricket after the controversial tour of England. To do this, the PCB must put its own house in order first. The PCB and its management have time and again proved that they lack the skills required to run cricketing affairs. The management is not capable of devising a strategic plan for the future. Our domestic cricket set-up is virtually non-existent; very little new talent makes it to the national team. Once there the PCB miserably fails in nurturing this talent, as can be seen with Mohammad Amir and the mess he finds himself in today. If the PCB and its present management are serious about cleaning up their act, the merry-go-round of players and management must stop. Appointing Intikhab Alam the manager of the national team is like rubbing salt into our wounds. He might be an honest individual, but he failed as the coach of the national team because he was unable to control the players. Only the PCB could make him a manager next. Also, the failure of the PCB to select and appoint Younis Khan as test captain — the logical option — is astonishing.How much longer must the passionate supporters of the Pakistan cricket team suffer? The time has come for the whimsical and egotistical reign of Chairman PCB Ijaz Butt to come to an end – Dailytimes