This article is a review of a televison programme of 10 April 2005

Haseeb Ahsan's remarks on Woolmer boomeranged simply because Woolmer did not fire back. He linked nationalism to the institution of coaching. He implied that Woolmer was sent to undermine Pakistan. The final verdict is that ex-cricketers should be banned from discussions because they are not only useless but dangerous too.

TV channels think that cricket is best discussed with ex-cricketers. They call to the camera personalities hardly capable of objectively analysing the state of cricket in Pakistan. The most blatant judgements and reckless critiques are offered by our old Test players. They seem shockingly out of touch with the game. Their only striking quality is their willingness to say insulting things about the managers of national cricket. If you want reckless comment, you can go to Karachi’s underworld. Why bother the old codgers?

ARY (April 10, 2005) discussed Pakistan cricket with ex-cricketers Haseeb Ahsan, Muhammad Farooq and Jalaluddin. Haseeb Ahsan said in 1985 the team went up because the coaches were Pakistani and were loyal to Pakistan. He said now the cricket coach did not know Urdu while the boys did not understand English. He said the Cricket Board was not functioning the way it should and the cricket system had also started collapsing after cricket went out of schools and colleges.

Muhammad Farooq said coaches were not really needed after the players had matured; they were needed in schools but there was no cricket there. He said in Pakistan players went straight from schools and colleges to the national team. He objected to foreign coaches. He said ex-Test players should be used as coaches. He said Pakistan was showering its wealth on Bob Woolmer (daulat luta rahai hain). He added that the cricket system should be democratic and officials should not be nominated. He was upset about the decline of school cricket and the replacement of matting with concrete. He said in India a lot of new cricketers were being produced but not in Pakistan.

One critic, Sardar, said that BCCP constitution was taking too long while any lawyer could have produced one in a few days. Jalaluddin pointed out that local coaches too could face problems as Miandad did when the team was not satisfied with him as a person. He said Woolmer was only focusing on the fitness of the boys. Haseeb said BCCP president Tauqir Zia took three years making the constitution but could not complete the job.

First of all, ARY should have known that Haseeb Ahsan is the most unbuttoned personality among the community of ex-cricketers in Pakistan. He has shown some of this talent of reckless statement in the past when he went abroad with the national team on the managerial side. His remarks on Woolmer have boomeranged simply because Woolmer did not fire back. He was most primitive when he linked nationalism to the institution of coaching, as if Woolmer was sent by the Jews and the Hindus to undermine Pakistan.

He did not pause to think that many countries employed foreign coaches successfully and had not complained that they had been undermined or their players deliberately taught wrong cricket. Or that the players didn’t learn anything because of the language barrier. (There is no language barrier between Woolmer and Shoaib Akhtar. Woolmer had told him he was over-weight and that turned out to be his main flaw apart from indiscipline, which was a job for the Pakistani manager.) The latest victory of Pakistan in India was actually a contest between two foreign coaches. Their jobs were on the line. Haseeb Ahsan bad-mouthed Woolmer because he has no job to lose. Given his abrasive personality, no one would dream of employing him as coach, if that is what he is driving at.

Muhammad Farooq turned out to be the most unthinking person on earth when he chose to kowtow to Haseeb Ahsan’s personality and repeat the charges made against foreign coaches. (Who thought of bringing him out?) Jalaluddin tried to inject sense into the discussion when he pointed out that Miandad as a 'Pakistani' coach had been a disaster.

The final verdict is that ex-cricketers should be banned from discussions because they are not only useless but dangerous too. Our National Assembly once held a fiery session on a foreign physio of the Pakistani team. The poor man also happened to be a lapsed Jew. The clerics with their flowing beards harangued the nation for hours about how the Jews had sent their doctor to disable our boys. The ex-cricketers gave a very poor account of themselves. The 'expert' who ran at the mouth about the PCB constitution should have been stopped by someone. No constitution of any sort is easy to write. His remark was flippant in the extreme.

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only. This article is published courtesy of Daily Times
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