Muhammad Asif Khan
The past week stated with a
masala news of a rift between Pakistan Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq and his
deputy Mohammad Hafeez and ended with an even bigger episode when the
Australian Coach rocked the very foundation of his own team, beaten and bruised
at the hands of the home side in India.
The four dismissed Australian players
- Shane Watson, James Pattison, Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja – failed to
submit a report on the team’s and their personal performances with suggestions but
there was another signal attached to the development which the coach – Mickey
Arthur – wanted to transmit. He sent a stern warning across that nobody was
above the system.
He further elaborated his
decision on a blog to make his concerns and priorities absolutely clear.
Arthur said: "Being late for
a meeting, high skinfolds, wearing the wrong attire, back-chat or giving
attitude are just some examples of these behavioural issues that have been
addressed discretely but continue to happen.
These are all the disciplinary
issues. Do they have an effect on the performance of a player as well? But this
is what Arthur believes and explains in the following way.
"If we're deadly serious
about getting back to number one in the world, all players need to raise the
bar and lift their game. If not, we must be content at being number three or
four or five in world cricket because we won't get any better. The players
won't learn and we'll continue a vicious cycle.
Here you go the mystery is
solved, he has set some priorities for the team, he feels some players are not
adhering to, and hence he pushed them aside and moved on. It sounds so simple
but implementation of this unsympathetic philosophy and its likely impact in
the longer run could be disastrous.
Fearless approach of Arthur and
his muscles to swim against the tide are because of the confidence given to him
by the system imposed by the Cricket Australia. Is it the first time they snubbed
top-notch players? Absolutely not, as not so far back one of the best
all-rounders of his time, Andrew Symonds was sent back from a tour only upon
coming late for practice. All in all, penalising players is not a rare sight in
the Australian Cricket setup.
Apart from the Board’s backing,
another aspect should be highlighted to fully understand and digest the bold
step taken by the incumbent Australia
coach and that is their sound domestic structure which has been providing the
team with quality backup of almost every player. This very tough and almost
immaculate structure produces good players and that is the reason why even the
star players keep their heads down in-front of the management, and that speaks
volumes of their methodology to achieve excellence.
Excellence is indirectly
proportional to compromises and here comes the difference between Australia and the
Pakistan Cricket Board. I am comparing Pakistan
and Australia because over
the years the PCB has had a number of individuals from Australia to
serve the national Cricket team. After Geoff Lawson, the current head coach,
Dav Whatmore is also from Australia.
It means that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also acknowledges the competence
of these men yet the excellence the PCB sought is still a far cry.
As far as the reported disturbance
in the Pakistan
team camp is concerned there is nothing in it to write about. If it has actually
happened even then that was not unprecedented in the Pakistan Cricket culture.
What matters is the loose grip of
the authorities over the matters related to discipline in the setup. Whenever
the PCB tried to put its foot down, it failed one way or the other. Not so far
ago, an inquiry into the miserable Australia tour resulted in bans and fines on
a number of top players but gradually almost all had made their way back to the
national team. We have also seen rift between a captains and cricket board
chiefs in the past but the end result was always a patch-up between the two
parties. What it indicates is that the players were treated as indispensable.
Why players are seen as
indispensable because of a weak domestic cricket structure, which has not been
producing quality backup of the star performers.
The onus is not only on the
fragile domestic setup, the Cricket Board should take responsibility as well
for not sticking to its stern decisions against the star players.
One great reason for the Board’s
weakness is their political affiliation. Currently the Board chairman is
directly appointed by the President of the country. We are hearing about the
new democratic constitution which, the PCB says, will soon be implemented,
however in the existing scenario the Board chairman is a fairly political
personality. What change a ‘democratic’ constitution will bring about is a
different topic altogether but what we have seen in the past is the lack of
control over various matter and no accountability.
Lack of control over the players
is, to some extent, linked with the weak domestic structure, but letting the
‘penalised’ players off the hook by being lenient with them indicates the lack
of will within the Cricket Board. Individual brilliance is all-right but as a
team, unless the mentioned issues are not overcome, sustainable excellence will
remain a dream and team will be dubbed as ‘unpredictable’ for ever.
The writer is a Pakistani
sports journalist, and tweets @mak_asif
