LAHORE: The final and most crucial phase of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) elections is underway with the Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari having submitted a summary to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — also the PCB’s patron-in-chief — for the premier to make two nominations to the board’s Board of Governors (BoG).
The nominations would complete the 10-member BoG, with the remaining eight members of the body almost decided — four representatives each from regions and departments.
The body will vote for the election of the PCB’s new chairman and put an end to the tenure of the board’s interim Management Committee, which took charge in December last year after the ouster of former chief Ramiz Raja to revoke the 2019 constitution of the board and replace it with the 2014 charter.
Amid reports that the IPC ministry, lead by Pakistan People’s Party leader Ehsan, would recommend the name of former PCB chief Zaka Ashraf to contest for the position again, the summary did not include any such demands.
Therefore, Najam Sethi, the incumbent chairman of the Management Committee and Mustafa Ramday are the two names most likely to be nominated for the post by Prime Minister Shehbaz.
The elections of the 13 regional cricket associations are almost complete and the PCB has also sought assurance of 12 leading departments to rejoin the board as affiliated units as per the requirement of the 2014 constitution.
Dawn has learnt that the PCB has also determined the representatives from regions and departments to become a part of the BoG.
Sethi chaired a meeting at the PCB’s head quarters on Monday and it was attended by representatives from the National Bank of Pakistan, Sui Southern Gas Company, Khan Research Laboratories, State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Television, WAPDA, and SNGPL.
It was decided in the meeting that the said departments would start hiring cricketers from next month.
Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2023
