PCB appoints Wasim Khan as Managing Director

The appointment was finalised after a comprehensive two-phase selection process

LAHORE (Dunya News) – Wasim Khan, Leicestershire County Cricket Club s chief executive, is set to leave the county circuit to take up a new role - that of Managing Director of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

According to press release issued on Thursday, the PCB confirmed the appointment and stated that the 47-year-old, who has represented Warwickshire, Sussex and Derbyshire in first-class cricket, is expected to begin his stint with Pakistan cricket around early February 2019.

The appointment was finalised after a comprehensive two-phase selection process, which saw over 350 candidates expressing their interest following an advertisement for this position.

In the first phase, the nine shortlisted candidates were interviewed by a panel, that comprised Bakhtiar Khawaja, HR Consultant and independent member of the panel, Asad Ali Khan, Member Board of Governors (BOG) and President of Abacus Consulting, and Lt Gen (R) Javed Zia, Member BOG and Chairman Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

Khan, who was among 350 candidates who expressed interest in the role that was advertised by the PCB, made it to a nine-man shortlist and later a three-man list before being selected following several rounds of interviews.

"We welcome Wasim who will be joining the PCB soon. He was selected unanimously following robust interview process with some seriously good candidates," said PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani.

Wasim Khan, an MBA from Warwick Business School (one of the top-10 business schools in the world), is a former professional cricketer with a wealth of experience in cricket and cricket management.

Wasim, 47, played county cricket in England from 1995 to 2001, during which he represented Warwickshire, Sussex and Derbyshire. He also has playing experience in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In a 58-match first-class career, Wasim scored 2,835 runs with five centuries and 17 half-centuries, with a highest score of 181.

Wasim was awarded MBE in 2013 and two years later, he was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Leicestershire County Cricket Club where he has enjoyed an extremely successful stint. In 2005, he was recruited by Lord Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England, to leada £50million community development project that operated in 11,000 state schools and engaged 2.5 million children across England and Wales.

Wasim is on the board of Sport England, which oversees strategy and policy setting of 55 National Sports Governing Boards. He has also served on the Equality and Human Rights Commission Sports Group, and The Prince’s Trust Cricket Group, while he has been on the ECB’s Anti- Corruption and Integrity Unit for the last seven years. He was also recently given the responsibility by ECB of Chairing a working group that assessed and made recommendations on the domestic structure from 2020.

Wasim’s autobiography Brim Full of Passionwas voted as the Wisden Book of the Year 2006.

Commenting on his appointment, Wasim Khan said: “I am delighted to be offered the position of Managing Director of PCB – a role which I have accepted as a challenge.

“I have my roots in Pakistan, a country which is full of talent. I will be relocating to Pakistan with my family who are as excited as I am.”

PCB Chairman Mr Ehsan Mani welcomed Wasim, when he said: “We welcome Wasim who will be joining the PCB soon. He was selected unanimously following robust interview process with some seriously good candidates. I must thank each and every applicant who participated in this process.

“Wasim brings with him fresh ideas and knowledge of cricket, and he will receive the support of the Board and the management of PCB.

“We have started the process of revamping the PCB and under Wasim, we now have an experienced leader of the management team who will oversee the implementation of the Board decisions. His first task would be to oversee the reforms of domestic cricket structure”.

Wasim Khan is expected to start his time at the PCB around early February 2019.