The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has approved the formation of a two-member independent committee to act as a link between national team players, management, and the board. After a full-day cricket connect conference on Monday, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the establishment of this committee. The meeting included the board’s senior leadership and foreign coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie.
Sources indicated that players had raised concerns about difficulties in communicating with top PCB officials, especially within the international and domestic cricket departments. Captains Shan Masood and Babar Azam, along with Muhammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shadab Khan, emphasized the need for a “bridge” with the board to prevent misunderstandings and allow players to express their issues and grievances promptly.
The independent two-member committee will focus on improving communication between players, management, and various PCB departments.
Pakistan is one of the few Test-playing nations without an officially recognized players’ association. Players have expressed the need for a sense of security and clarity from selectors regarding issues such as captaincy.
Sources indicated that Mohsin Naqvi assured players that no immediate changes would be made to the national team captaincy, encouraging them to concentrate on their performances.
Naqvi also emphasized the importance of fostering a more united and cohesive environment within the dressing room.
“He (Naqvi) basically told the players that whoever the board had as captains, the players must support them and play as one regardless of the format,” a source quoted.
PCB Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer and the two foreign coaches later described the cricket connect session as productive and transparent.
“It provided us a forum to identify issues and resolve them,” Naseer stated.
“The session was about openly and candidly accepting and identifying (issues) and asking for a commitment from each other… demanding how we can improve our performances and how we work together as a team. Our unanimous view was that we need to resolve this going forward and identify how to do it.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Stay ahead of the latest cricket industry trends by subscribing to our free cricexec “daily briefing” newsletter.
