PCB continues with its spendthrift attitude

ISLAMABAD: Amid uncertain future that the game faces due to COVID-19, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues with its spendthrift attitude, hiring three more officials on high perks and privileges on Thursday.

Only the other day, New Zealand Board has announced plans to cut down 15 to 20 percent jobs to save six million dollars in wake of financial threats, here the PCB continues to dole out jobs, realising little whether at all these officials would be of any help during the next six to nine months’ time.

Those officially hired Thursday include Grant Bradburn (Head of High Performance Coaching-former Pakistan fielding coach), Saqlain Mushtaq (Head of International Player Development) and little known Asser Malik (High Performance Operations Manager). Former Test cricketer Saqlain founder of ‘Doosra’ has only one specialisation and that is his uncanny art of delivering the wrong one as an off spinner. In modern day cricket, ‘Doosra’ has already been banned as it forces the off spinner to bend his arm to more than 15 degree for an effective result. Spinners Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal are already bearing the brunt of the new law-facing the international ban. So there is a big question mark as whether Saqlain would be of any utility to the team at a time when there are a very few off spinners around and with new laws, the future of this art looks bleak in international cricket.

It is somewhat strange to see a fielding coach Brandburn getting heavy responsibility of head of High Performance Coaching. Whether he would be of any use to Pakistan with his coaching will remain to be seen. More importantly when all other cricketing boards are introducing austerity measures in their ranks due to uncertain future, it is generally believed that the best option for the PCB could have been to delay such appointments that is expected to cost around extra Rs nine million per month to the Board kitty.