According to sources, the ECB was not happy with PCB’s offer to Rashid who has been blunt in his support of Kaneria. -File photo
LAHORE: Strong pressure from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to keep banned Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria out of the game, is one of the reasons behind the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) not urging Rashid Latif to change his decision of declining the chief selector’s job.
Well-informed sources told Dawn that the ECB was not happy with the news of the PCB job offer to Rashid because it reckoned the former Pakistan captain had been blunt in supporting Kaneria on the subject of life ban imposed on the bowler by the ECB in a fixing scam.
Kaneria was banned by the ECB for spot-fixing in an English county game held in 2009. Since then Danish has been struggling to get the ban removed and throughout his efforts Rashid, considering the bowler has been trapped in the scam, has backed him.
Sources said after receiving a negative response from the ECB, which is now one of the ‘Big Three’ countries in world cricket, the PCB has given the cold shoulder to Rashid, considering the stance will be enough to force him to quit because he is known as a short-tempered individual.
Moreover, sources revealed, amid pressure at home on Kaneria’s life ban issue, PCB chairman Najam Sethi also tried to discuss the matter during the last ICC meeting but ECB chairman Giles Clarke strongly protested the move, and even threatened to boycott the meeting.
In a recent incident, the ECB also raised an objection when Kaneria was seen playing in the US with some Pakistan cricketers. The ECB also persuaded the ICC to take a stern action against the USA Cricket Association, and the cricketers playing alongside Danish.
As a result, the PCB has sent a charge-sheet to its marketing director Badar Rafai who was also spotted at that cricket event held in Houston, along with Pakistan players Wahab Riaz, Nasir Jamshed, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq and Shahzaib Hasan. Sources said Wahab had sought apology while remaining players are giving clarification about their innocence.
Re: ‘ECB annoyance made PCB give Rashid cold shoulder’
Sethi is a shady character through and through, a typical unreliable & dishonest khushamadi chamcha or sycophant…And I have said it many times before.
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Najam Sethi, has admitted that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was unhappy over Rashid Latif’s appointment as chief selector.
Responding to Latif’s claim that the PCB was swayed by ECB’s stance, Sethi said he had offered the post to the former captain despite those reservations.
“I nominated Rashid Latif as chief selector despite common knowledge that his support of Danish Kaneria’s case was not appreciated by the British cricket establishment,” said Sethi in an interview.
“If he had accepted the post he would have been a deterrent to corrupt elements in Pakistan cricket because of his power as chief selector to blacklist potentially corrupt players from the national team,” added Sethi.
Sethi felt Latif had failed to comprehend the scope and power of the chief selector.
“He [Latif] agreed initially but then changed his mind, maybe because he didn’t understand the potential power he could have wielded in the crusade against corrupt players. I am sorry he decided not to serve as chief selector.”
In a mail sent to Dawn on Wednesday, Latif wrote: “Your (Dawn reporter’s) story is one hundred per cent correct. How can the PCB deny that the ECB had expressed its reservations over my appointment due to my support of Danish Kaneria when I was informed about it by none other than Chairman Najam Sethi himself? “This meeting was held in the chairman’s office at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Feb 26, 2014 between 3.00pm and 4.00pm,” continued Rashid.
“PCB chairman told me ‘you are a great supporter of Danish Kaneria and ECB have reservations on this, that’s why the PCB may have problems with the ECB if you take over as head of Anti corruption of PCB. Maybe England will not play against Pakistan in future because of this.
“COO Subhan Ahmed was also present in meeting and he also agreed with chairman PCB, I fail to understand why they are denying it now?” Latif further wrote: “I am not a big supporter of Kaneria but I want justice for him because I think both PCB and ECB may be involved in his exit from international and domestic cricket to protect English county cricket. Why, I may ask, did Zaka Ashraf, and now Sethi, support Mohammad Amir’s case so vociferously in the ICC meetings, why couldn’t they demand a fair inquiry into Kaneria’s case? “Amir, in fact, is a proven culprit in spot-fixing case and is serving his ban for that, but nothing has been produced against Kaneria in black and white by either the ECB or the ICC, at least not for the media to assess openly and judge for themselves,” argued Latif.
**“Here, I must point out that neither myself nor the PCB chief had said anything to the media about the above-mentioned meeting on ECB pressures before today. However, I am compelled to put the facts right since the PCB has denied a story which was absolutely true,” Latif concluded.
** Sethi admits to ECB reservations over Latif appointment - Sport - DAWN.COM
Re: ‘ECB annoyance made PCB give Rashid cold shoulder’
This is another signal I am getting that the games Pakistani nation accuses of being fixed are rather fixed by the boards and not necessarily players, the “losing team board” probably manipulates/misguides its players/captain so there is disturbance in the camp and they end up losing. BTW I am not suggesting only PCB does that, rather its wide-scale-game, many if not majority of boards are pulling strings to keep certain populations interested enough.
Re: ‘ECB annoyance made PCB give Rashid cold shoulder’
i doubt it, Rashid Lateef was one of the biggest critics of the board since he left Pak-Cricket team, and always likes to criticize the team selection and merit and what not, now when he was given chance to fix it ( remember system is corrupt and you can only fix it from with in and not from out side) he ran away...
