KARACHI: The former Chief Executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) partially agreed to Giles Clarke however felt that the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was not provided with the whole picture of the state of cricket affairs in Pakistan. “This was the statement which was sought and it was given. He [Clarke] responded to the limited information provided to him”, said Arif Abbasi while talking to this correspondent for News One TV.
Earlier in an interview Giles Clarke warned against judicial system derailing the improvement achieved with the help of the game’s governing body — the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“PCB must be allowed to manage its [day-to-day] affairs independently,” Clarke told a local newspaper.
Clarke expressed these views after meeting with the caretaker PCB chairman, Najam Sethi in London on Wednesday.
Arif Abbasi, on the other hand, termed it a bid to influence the court, adding that Clarke was of this view because “he had not been shown the whole picture.”
“The court interfered when Zaka Ashraf was the chairman then why can’t it intervene now. Clarke’s statement is not going to make any difference, after all there is a judgment, and they [PCB] should take it seriously”, said Abbasi who held the post of the Chief Executive at BCCP [now PCB] between 1994 and 1996.
“By the way why are you allowing somebody to get involved in your internal affairs, you should never do that. A judgment can only be contested in a court of law”, maintained Abbasi
The Islamabad High Court (IHC), while acting on a petition, removed Zaka Ashraf as the PCB chairman and later the Government appointed Najam Sethi as the acting chairman. The court moved in again to curtail Sethi’s mandate by instructing him to hold fresh elections in 90 days.
“This was born out of the fact that the court was not briefed properly. Had the judge been properly briefed that would not have happened. The PCB constitution has answer to such situation.” noted Arif Abbasi.
Arif Abbasi also urged the incumbent PCB management to focus on fresh elections by taking the General Body on board, adding that the current state of affairs was ‘confusing’ and everybody, he feels, trying to take advantage of it. “This is all confusing and everybody is trying to take advantage of the confusion in an improper place, the place is the court of law, that’s all”, concludes Arif Abbasi
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