PCB chief Ashraf asks for time to settle down in office

The new Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Zaka Ashraf, who officially took charge of cricket affairs on Friday, asked for a little time before he should be judged on his style of administration.

Insisting that he would require at least 2-3 months to understand how the PCB works, Ashraf said, "I do not want to take hasty decisions so I ask everyone to be patient and allow me sometime to understand how I work and how good are my decisions. They should judge my work after I settle down."

Ashraf, who is said to be very close to President Asif Zardari and is also a member of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party central executive committee, said he would be holding meetings with all PCB officials and former players to understand the ground realities.

"I don't want to say I am going to do this or that. First let me understand the situation and than decide what to do," said Ashraf, who walked into the PCB headquarters at the Gaddafi stadium on Friday for the first time despite being appointed on October 11.

"I will soon meet Imran Khan to discuss cricket issues and structure. I want to bring about improvement in Pakistan cricket," he told the media.

Ashraf also confirmed that all-rounder Shahid Afridi had wanted to meet him this week to discuss a few issues.

"In my opinion Afridi is a very good ODI player and he can still offer a lot to Pakistan cricket. I will soon meet him and listen to what he has to say."

Afridi came out of retirement earlier this month and announced that he would be available for national selection again after President Asif Zardari appointed Ashraf as the chief of the PCB in place of Ijaz Butt.

He had retired in protest in late May this year after Butt removed him as captain of the one-day squad following the tour of West Indies on disciplinary grounds.

Afridi had twice walked out of team meetings during the one-day series in the West Indies because of disputes with former coach Waqar Younis on selection issues.

Waqar had said that the PCB should allow the coach to select the playing eleven and hand it over to the captain to lead on the field, a policy that was not followed by the PCB and that left him unsatisfied.

Ashraf said he was satisfied with the way the team is performing against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Test series.