Talat Ali, who was our manager at the World Cup, has been rewarded for his good management skills, particularly in the aftermath of Bob Woolmer's death, with a job as the temporary coach-cum-manager of the Pakistan team. Until the board decides on a long term option, for which they're looking at both home-grown and foreign options, PCB insist, Talat Ali will serve as the coach. Ali had a brief test career for Pakistan during the 1970s and will s u p e r v i s e as coach during the one-day series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi starting from May 10th. He would also continue working as manager-cum-coach in a charity one-day game against India in England this summer. I don't know much about Ali, but I hope Ashraf isn't any more impressed by him then he already is.
Dawnreport that the WICB have send Pakistan an invitation to take part in a four nation 20Twenty tournament in Canada in August. Ashraf, who is scheduled to travel to the West Indies to watch the semi-finals of the World Cup, is reportedly expected to give a “green signal” for Pakistan’s participation. The aim of the tournament, organizers say, would be to serve as a warm up for the inaugural 20Twenty World Championships in South Africa in September, but it might more aptly be described as a money making gimmick. I hope they invite Canada to play, at least that way it wont all be just about money.
Waseem Akram will s u p e r v i s e a special two-week camp that is to be held in mid-May, Akram reportedly "volunteered to help" after a phone request from Dr. You Know Who. The trial will be for 'young and upcoming fast bowlers'. Akram will later also s u p e r v i s e another training camp in June for the national team in (the northwestern city of) Abbotabad,
And finally. In yet another typical PCB u-turn, Ashraf and co. first sacked 80 of its employees, in line with suggestions by the management consultancy Ferguson Associates to "bring about major re-organisation of its management structure". But three days later 66 of those initially sacked were reinstated on "humanitarian grounds". The decision to sack 11 high-ranking officials, however, a PCB spokesman clarified, "will stand". Okay, so I don't have a lot of idea about how these HR issues work, here are the PCB, on one hand talking about, "corporate governance" and on another hand, holding on to employees that don't, in their own words have the ‘qualifications and skill-sets that match with the relevant requirements of their positions". I’m confused. Are you too?
