Change of personnel in Pak team to count for nothing: Rameez

BY : A CORRESPONDENT.
KARACHI: A senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given some indication of what the Board plans to do in the coming days when he said on Friday that a change of personnel in the senior team would change nothing in Pakistan cricket.

"A change of personnel will count for nothing. It is the way of thinking in the team and among players that has to be changed and we are looking and reviewing on these lines," Chief Executive Rameez Raja said.

Admitting that the manner in which Pakistan surrendered the Test series to India in Rawalpindi earlier this month came as a big setback and disappointment to the Board and people, he said it would still be wrong to press the panic button.

"The truth is nothing has been decided as yet on what we plan to do in the coming days. I have not had a chance to discuss this with the Chairman (Shaharyar Khan) because of the death of my father. Neither have I met any player," Rameez said. However, Rameez said, "We have our own viewpoints about the Rawalpindi Test loss to India as well as the reasons for inconsistencies throughout the series, but so far we have not had a chance to sit down and discuss them among ourselves."

Rameez however insisted that no decision has been taken on removing the team management.

"I think what Javed (Miandad) has another year of contract with us. While the manager’s contract has expired with the India series. All these things we will review soon. But at this stage nothing has been decided," he said.

He also claimed that no decision had been taken on appointing any foreign coach, foreign trainer or bowling coach.

"I think in some areas the weaknesses have been apparent. We are looking at having specialist support with the team but frankly speaking nothing is going to change much in the team unless we don’t filter down this specialist support system down to the academies level where the youngsters are going to find their feet," he explained.

Rameez said the Board and even he himself welcomed criticism because when a sport or team was discussed so much in the media it showed it meant a lot to the masses.

"But frankly speaking I am a bit disappointed with some of the criticism aimed at me personally or other individuals. Even I at times, criticised some of our players and performances during the series but the idea is always that the criticism helps the players improve not demoralize them or individuals," he pointed out. The PCB chief executive however said he would be seeking the opinion of such former greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Bob Woolmer, Sir Barry Richards, Sir Clive Lloyd, Greg Chappell etc when they arrive in Lahore to attend the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) seminar on May 9 and 10th.

"We have contacted some of these people in the past to be our national coach but nothing came through. But even we are looking at some of them to give us their views on how we can improve our cricket culture and more importantly if some of them can work sparingly at our national cricket academy with our young players," Rameez said.

On the Shoaib Akhtar issue, he pointed out that it was the Board, which had fought with the International Cricket Council (ICC) when his bowling action came under review.

"The board did everything in its power to defend him and get him cleared. The PCB has nothing personal against him or any other player. But the bottom line is that if we feel and get conclusive feedback that any player is not trying hard enough or has an attitude and communication problem with the captain, than we need to see the situation in its perspective and set things right," Rameez said.

- Source : The News International, Pakistan.

Saturday, May 01, 2004.
source : © UAEcricket.com.