Miandad appointed Director General of PCB

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which recently vowed to decrease its expenses, have appointed Javed Miandad as their director general. The ceremonial post will require Miandad to advise the PCB on development of the game and how to attract international teams to Pakistan.

The 51-year-old Miandad was widely tipped as a replacement for Pakistan's Australian coach Geoff Lawson who was sacked last month, but Miandad turned down the offer due to family commitments. 

Another former captain Intikhab Alam was appointed as coach. 

Miandad's post will be more of him being an adviser and would not require him to relocate to Lahore which is the headquarter of the PCB.

Miandad will get a package of Rs five lakhs besides other perks.

"My priority will be to restore the image of Pakistan cricket which has been hit by controversies in the recent past," said Miandad, who was a persistent critic of the previous Pakistan Cricket Board set-up.

Miandad is now third in command in the PCB after chairman Ijaz Butt and chief operating officer Salim Altaf. Butt took over as PCB chairman last month and has since taken several former players on board.

Former captain Aamir Sohail and Wasim Bari were also taken on board. Sohail, also a vocal critic of the Nasim Ashraf-led PCB, is now the chief at the national cricket academy, while Bari is the director Human Resources.

All these posts were supposed to be advertised but the new chairman hand-picked all his men without even getting the approval of the governing board. Another former captain Salim Malik was unlucky not to be on board after media leaked his appointment as academy coach. However, the ICC objected to the appointment of Malik due to hsi alleged invoilvement in match fixing and the PCB had to withdraw the appointment. 

Miandad stressed the need for developing Pakistan cricket at the grassroot level.

"I have played a lot of cricket and with my experience I know what are the problems which Pakistan cricket is facing, so I will do my level best to help Pakistan cricket develop in the right manner," said Miandad , who played a record 124 Tests for Pakistan.

Miandad also played 233 one-day internationals for Pakistan and had three stints as Pakistan coach.

Pakistan cricket has been hit by doping and discipline controversies in the last two years. Two of its prominent fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif tested positive for nandrolone in 2006. Akhtar was banned for two years and Asif for one year. However the bans were lifted on appeals.

International teams have also refused to tour Pakistan due to security fears in the wake of suicide bombings and the ongoing war on terror. Miandad said he will try to bring international cricket to Pakistan.

"I will use my connections to convince teams to tour Pakistan and our cricket will be back to normal soon," vowed Miandad.