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| Shaharyar Khan and Rameez Raja: have been at the forefront of Pakistan’s domestic revamp© Getty Images |
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Who would want to be part of the Pakistan CricketBoard? Already in the dock over any number of issues -the Senate Standing Committee inquiry, a stalledconstitution, allegations of financialunaccountability and a lack of transparency – theyalso have to deal with increasingly shrill andhysterical criticism for the 3-0 series loss againstAustralia. And last week, as if somehow all thisweren’t enough, the PCB unveiled a brand new look fordomestic cricket. Nothing aggravates traditionalists,particularly those of a cricketing kind, quite likeattempts to modernise, jazz-up or market their game.Pakistani traditionalists are no different.First, a little background. When ABN-AMRO agreed tosponsor domestic cricket recently, they were the firstto do so in nearly eight years. Furthermore, it was inline with the restructuring that Rameez Raja, the former chief executive of the Pakistan board, had initiated last season in a bid to revamp amuch-criticised domestic set-up. Raja’s vision, onepursued by Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the board, and espousedrelentlessly (and tediously) by Imran Khan amongothers, was to shift the emphasis from departments andcorporations, such as PIA and Habib Bank, to regionalteams which could harness and nurture talent more effectively and re-ignite dormantpublic interest. The obstacle, until then, had beenthe lack of financial resources; banks offeredlittle-educated cricketers a job and a career afterthey retired from the game, regional sides offeredthem measly match fees and little else.Earlier this season, players in the regionalQuaid-e-Azam Trophy, the showcase of the domesticroster, were paid monthly salaries and employed onsix-month contracts. The money came mainly from thewindfall of the India series earlier last year andwasn’t endless. But with ABN-AMRO secured as sponsors,TV rights having been sold to broadcast domesticmatches and regional sponsors also being sought, thePCB’s pockets are deeper. Last week, then, it seemedappropriate for the PCB to unveil ‘National CricketPakistan’.The vision is lofty – to make domestic cricket apopular spectator sport in Pakistan. Plenty of right noises were made at the press conference: mission statements, re-branding, and consumer-reaction models werebandied about with the same liberal abandon Pakistanibowlers display towards no-balls. Regional teams have beenrenamed – Peshawar become the Panthers, Hyderabad theHawks and so on. Furthermore, ABN-AMRO, led byfull-time cricket fanatic and part-time consumer bankhead (and suitably monikered), Salman Butt, have plansto spice up contests, providing entertainment duringgames, improving stadium facilities and also promotingmatches heavily beforehand.The last week has seen a fairly intense ad campaign inmost main dailies advertising the schedule of matchesin the ongoing national one-day tournament. Tickets forthe recent Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, held inFaisalabad, were sold on a float that moved throughthe city centre. Crowds of up to 700 on a couple ofdays might seem low, but given that last year therewere less than even that (not including dogs), it isan improvement.But there are concerns, some ludicrous, others less so,and most of these were raised at the launch itself.Local journalists, never shy in prompting verbaljousts with the PCB, immediately raised doubts. Onequestioned bluntly why ABN-AMRO should be given anysupport, given their minimal involvement andassociation with the game in the past. Another coupleasked why the format, and in particular the choice ofanimal names, was copied from South Africa andEngland, going as far as to suggest that renaming theWhites of Karachi to Dolphins and the Blues to Zebraswas somehow a cultural insult to the people of thecity. They are not alone: a couple of letters in anEnglish daily raised the same issue. It was left,finally, to that most level-headed of journalists, GulHameed Bhatti, to voice the most serious and credibleconcern.Bhatti warned that for the sponsorship to be trulysuccessful and for domestic cricket to startattracting viewership, involvement would have to gobeyond hollow marketing plans. For starters, althoughone-day matches are being broadcast live on televisioncurrently, the quality of coverage is abysmal. It is,Bhatti argued, more likely to turn people off cricketthan onto it and if either the PCB or ABN-AMRO areserious about what they want to achieve, then theyhave to ensure that the channel which broadcasts thematches does so with an acceptable level of quality.They cannot, as another reporter whispered, “justthrow money at the game and hope it will develop”.Shahid Hashmi, AFP’s veteran sports reporter, alsorecalled how involved past sponsors had been with thegame, and how it would require more than re-branding andmarketing gimmickry for any long-termsuccess.Both Hashmi and Bhatti are witness to times whensponsorship was more than just money. Former sponsorsPakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) used to publish anannual and comprehensive statistical review of eachseason. They were staffed by people who, in the wordsof Hashmi, had a deep affection for the game, and it issomething ABN-AMRO should look to now. Certainly,watching games currently on TV is a deeply shatteringexperience; commentators don’t know the names ofplayers, some don’t even know how many teams areparticipating in a tournament. Urdu commentary is justabout bearable, the English version makes you yearnfor the screech of chalk on blackboard.Ultimately, given that sponsorship has been asforthcoming as restrained knocks from Shahid Afridi,both parties should be applauded for negotiating athree-year deal. Furthermore, if it is a given thatthe PCB will act in the best interests of the game(not as easy an assumption as you may think), thenadded to the energy, drive and passion that SalmanButt the banker reportedly possesses for the game, itshould in theory prove a fruitful association. Threeyears is a lifetime in Pakistan cricket and to infertoo much now is to tempt fate. One thing, though, iscertain: sports headlines (sample: ‘Lions devourZebras’) have surely never been this colourful.