PCB BoG meeting adjourned; members reject abolition of regions and departments

Five of the seven members staged a walkout from the meeting © Getty

A Board of Governors (BoG) meeting of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was adjourned on Wednesday after five of the seven present members staged a walk out.

As soon as the meeting, the 53rd of the BoG, began, the five members - Shah Dost (Quetta), Kabir Ahmed Khan (FATA), Muhamad Numan Butt (Sialkot), Shahrez Abdullah Khan (Lahore) Muhammad Ayaz Butt (KRL) - tabled a resolution, a six-point agenda, a copy of which is with Cricbuzz.

The most striking point, which is the last on the list, called for the appointment of Wasim Khan, the Managing Director of the PCB, to be "declared null and void", terming the creation of an MD's post as unconstitutional. It further said that "any move to abolish departments and regions in the restructuring of domestic cricket is hereby rejected and unacceptable."

The PCB is currently working out a structure for domestic cricket, on the orders of Prime Minister Imran Khan who happens to be the PCB's Patron-in-Chief, to have an Australia-esque model which will see only six provincial teams at the first-class level. With the domestic cricket to be made purely regional, the departments, who have been an integral part of Pakistan's domestic structure for the past four decades, are asked to wrap up their teams. Wasim, who joined the PCB earlier this year, is the key figure behind the restructuring.

The resolution further said that the planned agenda for this meeting, circulated before, to be deferred until the recommendations and proposals of a new body, to be established in 10 days having regional and departmental representatives from the BoG, for the restructuring committee are approved and ratified.

The PCB asked the ex-officio member, Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Secretary Akbar Durrani, to talk to the five members. When approached, they all refused to rejoin the meeting.

According to the PCB's constitution, the BoG - which has 10 members and an ex-officio, who has no voting rights - is the supreme body. The chairman comes from it and its composition sees eight seats divided equally amongst top performing regions and departments of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the remaining two are appointed by the Patron-in-Chief, the country's prime minister. Considering the political landscape in the country, the chairman is usually the either of the two appointees of the prime minister.

Speaking to the media after the developments, Mani, the PCB chairman, said: "Nobody can be allowed hijack a BoG meeting like this. How can they put signatures on the resolution? Nobody should think we will stall the process of domestic restructuring. We have to look towards the greater good over personal interests."

He also said: "I am hugely disappointed by today's events as I was looking forward to an interactive, productive and constructive discussion, which was aimed at taking Pakistan cricket forward."

These developments being termed as BoG's revolt against the PCB were on the cards. Last month, the PCB said it looked to the BoG to delegate its powers to the MD because it was "essential as, after the BoG had approved the creation of the new post of the Managing Director, the day-to-day operations had to be redefined and clarified."

A PCB release summed up the developments stating: "The 53rd meeting of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Board of Governors, the first-ever in Quetta, was adjourned for a later date due to an incomplete quorum. The PCB Chairman had proposed any business other than the agenda could be considered under 'Any Other Items' at the end of the meeting. However, the Khan Research Laboratory (KRL) and the four regional representatives refused to return to complete the meeting."