Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif removed the country’s cricket chief Zaka Ashraf in the latest twist to a long-running saga dogging the national board.
It is the second time in less than a year that Ashraf has been unseated as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which will be run for the time being by an 11-strong committee appointed by Sharif.
Ashraf’s removal by a court order in May last year due to doubts over his election led to a series of legal challenges that critics say has damaged the sport in Pakistan.
A notice from the prime minister, who is also patron of the PCB, confirmed Ashraf’s removal.
The reasons for Ashraf’s removal are still unknown but sources pointed to his failure to give Pakistan a strong voice at a crucial International Cricket Council meeting in Singapore on Saturday.
The world body approved a controversial revamp at the meeting which gave major powers and revenues to the so-called “Big Three” of world cricket – India, Australia and England.
The committee appointed journalist Najam Sethi – the interim chairman before Ashraf was reinstated as chairman of the new body.
“Our first task will be to form a new constitution under which elections could be held for PCB chairman,” Sethi said. “We have to restore the prestige of Pakistan cricket, which is left isolated and made a minority through a failure at the ICC meeting.”
Ashraf, who had been due to announce a replacement for Dav Whatmore as head coach for the national team, had earlier insisted he was still chairman.
“I have yet to see the notification,” he said. “If I am removed I will consult my lawyers to decide the course of action. This is a murder of a democratic set-up by a democratic government.”
The 11-man interim committee includes Sethi, former PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and former cricketers Iqbal Qasim and Zaheer Abbas among others.
