I'll wager: Put all the cricket gurus together and ask them to predict what will happen next in Pakistan cricket ......- no one will be able to come up with an answer. Even if they do - take my advice and never put your money on it!

That's the way Pakistani cricket has been in this country for years and continues to be today. If no one else, at least the legal or otherwise, gambling syndicates here and in many countries can thank Pakistan cricket that 'predicting the next' keeps them going.

This has been the sorry state of Pakistan cricket. In fact, many critics say, that this is not just limited to cricket but the chaos is found everywhere else in the system and portrays a classical third world life. Players squabble over money, if someone gets a penny or two more, he will be ostracized and his career limited through vindictive criticism.

Similarly if one doesn't like the other personally, he will try utmost to keep him back from everything else that the gent is duly capable of.

This is something that the country can definitely do without. A well-known and publicized example is Javed Miandad not getting along too well with Imran Khan but Miandad supported him all the way to win the World Cup in 1992. Playing for your country is an honour in every little sense of the word and I feel, those who take it for granted should get the boot. I don't know Miandad personally but do know one thing that whenever he wore the 'Pakistan Green' it was Pakistan he played for. Country is beyond personal rivalries and those who mix the two need to be shown the proper way out.

I remember when Pakistan had a good run before WC99 everyone gave credit to Wasim Akram. Even Ijaz Ahmed in a personal interview, specifically attributed the success to Wasim's leadership qualities and now that when the team is losing, blame has been put on the coach and captain. Interviews of Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Intikhab Alam (even before the manager presented his tour report), suggest that such blames are more personally motivated than being made for cricketing reasons alone.

Such innuendoes and 'reverse-sweeps' have disturbed the very foundations of Pakistan cricket and may well be the main reason for our inconsistent performances. Haunting feelings of losing the senior players in the past have always prompted the PCB to give them an edge of authority over the coach and even the manager. I firmly believe this has led to a distorted form of 'players' power' and they have taken their places in the team for granted and done whatever they liked. Discipline has taken a back seat and Pakistan has ever since been moving in a never ending circle, one day a good display followed by a pathetic round of lowest level cricket.

Once again, Pakistan cricket stands at a critical juncture. It is up to the cricket chief to take-up the driving seat and make some strong decisions rather than being influenced by others.

Here, I would make a few suggestions to the chief:

1. Pakistan cricket has been haunted by personal manifestos or vendettas and steps need to be taken to now have the Board run by professional managers rather than ex-cricketers. The West Indies has already taken the lead in this regard but Pakistan needs to be a step ahead of the pile and give the running of the whole institution into the hands of those without any links with test cricketers through their playing days. Former test cricketers by no means possess better administrative and leadership skills to get the nod as they have been getting in the past.
2. Players who lack discipline or seem to be under the influence of powerful individuals within or outside the team need to be shown the door. Let it be a firm lesson to the other players lest they adopt the same habits. Discipline can never be enforced if not accompanied with strict punishments for any offenders. If say a Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir or a Abdur Razzaq thinks he can do without the help of coaching and management then let him play domestic cricket to prove himself. A year or two of being in the cold would be enough to set their minds straight. All this needs to be done now to kill-off any similar ideas lurking in our future stars who may think themselves bigger than the game. In any case there is no lack of talent waiting in the wings.
3. And if Waqar Younis seems to be inspiring youngsters as is being reported, then he should be given the chance to lead the team to Sharjah.
4. On a rather personal note, my team to leave for Emirates would include Imran Farhat, Humayun Farhat, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Faisal Iqbal, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria and Stephen John. Shoaib Akhtar and Azhar Mahmood, if fit, can round off the team. We need to brave and really groom youngsters rather than succumb to the haunting feeling of danger and include the 'senior players'. One only needs to recall Imran Khan of the early 1970s and note the way he played afterwards certainly suggests that the start of a career is by no means an indication of potential for future.

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