Hey what’s the fuss about? Were we not supposed to get pinned by Australia? Everything went according to script, so why are people sulking now. Soon, we will get over this whitewash also. The repeated failures have killed our sense of self. We have reached summit of cricket insanity where we now actually look forward to Australia thrashing!
The Pakistan team’s frequent abrupt shifts are zombifying its fans. Poor souls! Just as they begin to be sure to understand everything that is going on, they end up hopelessly confused. You would be if you were reading for a happy ending in ‘The Ballade of Suicide.’
Collecting data to map the sequence and range of destruction is not easy. We are dealing with a cricket tsunami and the debris is widespread. There is massive deterioration in fitness and technique of players and a question mark over their commitment too. This team’s out cricket is poor and the cricket intellect is non-existent. The captaincy is flat and uninspiring. Mohammad Yousuf’s lackadaisical leadership has earned him well-deserved flak. The poor fellow is simply not cut out for the job. Its quite baffling though, that a batsman, who has managed to outwit the opposition all these years can’t seem to reproduce the craft in his leadership. The coaches appear as tactless as the captain. To assemble three bowlers as coaches for a tour where batting gets neutralised is a seriously flawed effort.
So, is a change of guard the answer to lift the nation out of depression? Not really. It may give a temporary high and a cosmetic relief, but the problem is lot serious than a face makeover. The system needs a serious operation to induce a meaningful change. Putting band-aid on cancer is not a remedy. Like in economics, there are economic indicators that throw light on the condition of an economy. In cricket, it is the quality of first-class system that is responsible for the health of its Test cricket. Ask any one and he will tell you that our first-class engine is a hotch-potch of sorts, lacking in clarity and thought. It has many tiers and shapes and churn out players with many colours. When some of the gifted ones are exposed to the mix, they end up under achieving. What we have today is a bloated structure, infected by politics, selection biases and compromises. Even its huge volume this year, 22 first-class teams, 122 first-class matches and a pool of almost 250 plus players could not stop the Test team’s fall from grace. It is languishing at the bottom of the Test ranking pile.
The only recognised tier that has stood out and weathered the storm is the Under-19 set up. And not surprisingly, it is non first-class. Its innocence may have spared it from the clutches of politics. But sad part of the story is that when these young champions are exported to the first-class system, they get infected by insalubrious environment. The young minds absorb the imperfections of the system and drown in the sea of mediocrity.
So here is a short blue print. To invigorate school cricket, that suffers because of lack of infrastructure, tie a school cricket team with a cricket club of its area. The local school may be permitted to use the facilities of that club for two days a week and to back the effort, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may send its coaches to coach the kids. Teach them young and mold them young is the way to move forward. Chalk out a club cricket calendar to get rid of sleeping clubs, who wake up only for a vote buy out. Make first-class cricket city based, lean and competitive, clean of politics and pure in selection. Install a network of talent scouts to spot players in areas that are not on cricket selections radar. A good system will separate the valuable matter from the dross. Not only will it throw up quality players but good captains and able administrators too. We will have a real team then, one that the fans would be proud of!
Source
The Pakistan team’s frequent abrupt shifts are zombifying its fans. Poor souls! Just as they begin to be sure to understand everything that is going on, they end up hopelessly confused. You would be if you were reading for a happy ending in ‘The Ballade of Suicide.’
Collecting data to map the sequence and range of destruction is not easy. We are dealing with a cricket tsunami and the debris is widespread. There is massive deterioration in fitness and technique of players and a question mark over their commitment too. This team’s out cricket is poor and the cricket intellect is non-existent. The captaincy is flat and uninspiring. Mohammad Yousuf’s lackadaisical leadership has earned him well-deserved flak. The poor fellow is simply not cut out for the job. Its quite baffling though, that a batsman, who has managed to outwit the opposition all these years can’t seem to reproduce the craft in his leadership. The coaches appear as tactless as the captain. To assemble three bowlers as coaches for a tour where batting gets neutralised is a seriously flawed effort.
So, is a change of guard the answer to lift the nation out of depression? Not really. It may give a temporary high and a cosmetic relief, but the problem is lot serious than a face makeover. The system needs a serious operation to induce a meaningful change. Putting band-aid on cancer is not a remedy. Like in economics, there are economic indicators that throw light on the condition of an economy. In cricket, it is the quality of first-class system that is responsible for the health of its Test cricket. Ask any one and he will tell you that our first-class engine is a hotch-potch of sorts, lacking in clarity and thought. It has many tiers and shapes and churn out players with many colours. When some of the gifted ones are exposed to the mix, they end up under achieving. What we have today is a bloated structure, infected by politics, selection biases and compromises. Even its huge volume this year, 22 first-class teams, 122 first-class matches and a pool of almost 250 plus players could not stop the Test team’s fall from grace. It is languishing at the bottom of the Test ranking pile.
The only recognised tier that has stood out and weathered the storm is the Under-19 set up. And not surprisingly, it is non first-class. Its innocence may have spared it from the clutches of politics. But sad part of the story is that when these young champions are exported to the first-class system, they get infected by insalubrious environment. The young minds absorb the imperfections of the system and drown in the sea of mediocrity.
So here is a short blue print. To invigorate school cricket, that suffers because of lack of infrastructure, tie a school cricket team with a cricket club of its area. The local school may be permitted to use the facilities of that club for two days a week and to back the effort, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) may send its coaches to coach the kids. Teach them young and mold them young is the way to move forward. Chalk out a club cricket calendar to get rid of sleeping clubs, who wake up only for a vote buy out. Make first-class cricket city based, lean and competitive, clean of politics and pure in selection. Install a network of talent scouts to spot players in areas that are not on cricket selections radar. A good system will separate the valuable matter from the dross. Not only will it throw up quality players but good captains and able administrators too. We will have a real team then, one that the fans would be proud of!
Source
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