PCB continues with its spendthrift ways
ISLAMABAD: With the sport facing an uncertain future because of Covid-19, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has continued with its spendthrift ways by hiring three more officials on high perks and privileges on Thursday.
While New Zealand Cricket has announced its plans to cut down 15-20 percent jobs to save six million dollars in wake of financial threats, the PCB continues to offer jobs without realising that the services of these officials might not be needed in the next six to nine months.
Those hired on Thursday include Grant Bradburn as head of high performance coaching, Saqlain Mushtaq as head of international player development and little known Asser Malik as high performance operations manager. Former Test cricketer Saqlain, who invented the ‘doosra’, has only one specialisation — his art of delivering the ‘wrong one’ as an off-spinner.
In modern day cricket, ‘doosra’ has effectively been banned as it forces an off-spinner to bend his arm more than the allowed 15 degrees. So there is a big question mark as whether Saqlain would be of any utility to the team at a time when there are also a very few off-spinners around. Saqlain, also a Level III coach, has previously worked as a spin bowling coach with Bangladesh, West Indies and England men’s cricket teams, apart from serving as a consultant for the PCB, Cricket Australia and NZC.
“It is an honour and a privilege to represent Pakistan. In this background, I am delighted to have been offered this exciting opportunity to work on skilful and exciting young cricketers and help them grow in their careers,” Saqlain said. It is somewhat strange to see a fielding coach get a major responsibility of heading high performance coaching.
Bradburn played seven Tests for New Zealand. He managed 105 runs with a poor average of around 13. As an off-spinner he took six wickets at an average of over 76. Whether he will be of any use to Pakistan with his coaching remains to be seen.
He is presently Pakistan’s fielding coach, a role he took in September 2018 following a coaching stint with Scotland. Bradburn also coached New Zealand A and New Zealand U19.It is surprising that his average credentials have earned him the position of head of high performance coaching in a country that does not lack qualified coaches.
Bradburn, a Level III coach, will be responsible for raising the overall standard of player support personnel across all the high performance centres of the country. He is in New Zealand and it is not yet clear when he will join his new assignment in Pakistan. More importantly when all other cricket boards are introducing austerity measures, it is generally believed that the best option for the PCB would have been to delay such appointments that are expected to cost around Rs9 million per month to the board’s kitty.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said of the new appointments: “The High Performance Centre is the heart of Pakistan cricket, which will ultimately set the direction of Pakistan cricket’s future. The unique skills and understanding that each of these individuals have of their specific areas will help create alignment to international standards and best practices.” The PCB will announce Bradburn’s replacement in the Pakistan team in due course.
Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/664527-pcb-continues-with-its-spendthrift-ways