Najam Sethi appointed as PCB chief
Zaka Ashraf says the decision will only further weaken Pakistans position in international cricket.
LAHORE (Dunya News/Agencies) – Najam Sethi has been appointed as Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) by the management committee.
Talking to newsmen at Qaddafi Stadium, newly appointed Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Najam Sethi said that all members of management committee elected him vial emails and SMS and his nomination as PCB chief was under the framework of the Constitution.
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif exercised his constitutional powers and formed the management committee.
Sethi said the meeting of the management committee would be held on Tuesday.
He said that some members of the committee have arrived in Lahore while the remaining would arrive tomorrow (Tuesday).
Najam Sethi said that the case against ‘Big Three’ in the ICC was not pursued in an effective way during the tenure of former PCB chief Zaka Ashraf.
He said that the committee has been directed to draft new constitution of PCB that would be finalised after consultation with all stake holders.
Sethi said that the PCB has been empowered and it would show its progress.
Member of PCB management committee Shakeel Sheikh said removal of Zaka Ashraf was a good decision by the PM
Shaikh alleged that the former PCB chief was involved in bungling the finances of the PCB and failed to handle its administrative, management and international affairs.
He said that the appointments of Amir Sohail and Basit Ali were illegal that would also be withdrawn while chairman PCB would take decision about Moeen Khan. Shakeel said every decision would be made on merit in future.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday removed Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, appointing an 8-member committee, headed by former interim PCB chief Najam Sethi, to run the affairs of the PCB.
The adhoc committee comprising Shehriyar Khan, Najam Sethi, Zaheer Abbas, Iqbal Qasim, Shakil Sheikh, Naveed Akram, Yousaf Khokhar and Amir Tariq Zaman will run the board’s affairs.
Sharif, who is also patron-in-chief of the PCB, also appointed PCB ex-chairman Shaharyar Khan and former Test cricketers Iqbal Qasim and Zaheer Abbas as members of the ad-hoc committee.
Pakistan abstained from the voting in the ICC Board meeting last week in which the three biggest cricketing nations — India, Australia and England — got a majority of the powers in the sport s governing body, securing the required eight votes from the 10 full members.
Sri Lanka also abstained from voting on the grounds that it needed more time to look into the changes of the ICC setup.
Ashraf was restored last month by a divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court after he was suspended last year on grounds of not holding transparent elections for PCB chairman.
Ashraf, however, remained defiant.
"I am still the chairman of the board and this notification has no bearing on my position,” Ashraf told media persons.
“This decision will only further weaken Pakistan s position in international cricket and I will soon decide on what legal recourse to take.”
Ashraf returned home early on Monday from Singapore after attending the ICC Board meeting. He said he had made several attempts to seek the prime minister s views on the changes in the ICC before going to Singapore, including writing a letter, but could not succeed in meeting with Sharif.
In some of the major changes since he was restored, Ashraf appointed former Test opening batsman Aamir Sohail as chief selector and was due to finalise Pakistan s batting coach, fielding coach and the head coach.
The coach-finding committee comprising former cricketers Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Intikhab Alam had shortlisted six candidates for the three vacant posts.
