Appoint young selectors in PCB, not oldies: Akram

Karachi:

Former captain Wasim Akram has suggested that the Pakistan Cricket Board should appoint the younger people rather than the "oldies" on national selection committee to raise standard of working.

The comment came two days after Pakistan cricket plunged into fresh crisis with chief selector Abdul Qadir resigning in mysterious circumstances.

Akram, currently in England where the World Twenty20 Championship is on, told the Pakistani media that the PCB should appoint such cricketers on the selection committee who were in their thirties and forties.

"You need such people who have played cricket in the modern era. People who know the cricketers playing on the domestic circuit and the international opposition," said Wasim who has played 104 Test matches.

Akram said the board should avoid appointing "oldies" to key positions or on the selection committee, as they were not in sync with the requirements of the contemporary cricket. "We should have younger people on the selection committee as they would be able to fulfill their duties better," he said.

Incidentally the present set-up in the board has faced plenty of criticism over the presence of a large number of "oldies" in the establishment. PCB chairman Ejaz Butt himself is in his seventies just like Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed, while national team coach Intikhab Alam is also in his sixties.

Qadir who resigned as chief selector two days ago is in his fifties. The two other members of the selection committee - Shoaib Mohammad and Saleem Jaffer - has played cricket in the 80s and 90s.

The former pacer is also against the idea of abolishing the honorary status of the national selectors' posts and giving them salaries.

"I think it is better to have people working on honorary basis. They should have people who have other jobs. Because someone who is working on a salary will always been under pressure to not annoy the board officials. He wouldn't be able to take independent decisions," Akram stated.

He also believes that there was immense talent in Pakistan, and expressed willingness to help PCB in taping and grooming the same.

"I am always available to give my services to the board in an advisory position as I don't have the time to accept any fulltime job. But if the board does not approach me for help I can't go to them and tell them I want to help them out," he said.

Meanwhile, Qadir who stepped down a day after Pakistan was trounced by England in the World Cup, said he had resigned because he was not allowed to work independently.

"I can't work under pressure. I have always wanted the best for Pakistan cricket and I did my job on merit. But I am not comfortable when I am not allowed to take my own decisions as chief selector," he told 'Jang' newspaper.