Javed Miandad, now 50, fears for Pakistan cricket

KARACHI: Legendary former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad marked his 50th birthday on Tuesday by saying that he fears for the future of the national side.
But the master batsman said that despite his experience he had not applied for a fourth stint as coach after the death of Bob Woolmer at the World Cup in March.
“What I have been saying for the last three years was not heeded and Pakistan cricket has come to a stage where we have no replacements for players and domestic cricket is in a shambles,” Miandad told AFP.
“I predicted Pakistan would fare badly in the World Cup and it came about. Now we need proper planning for cricket otherwise we won’t be able to solve the slump.”
Pakistan, the mercurial winners of the 1992 World Cup, were knocked out of the 2007 edition in the first round by minnows Ireland. The next day Woolmer was found dead in his Jamaica hotel room.
Jamaican police at first said he was murdered but they announced later on Tuesday that he died of natural causes. Inzamam-ul-Haq, who quit as Pakistan skipper after the tournament, said Miandad was the best choice to coach the team after Woolmer but Miandad said he was not interested.
“Why should I apply?” asked Miandad, who served as coach between 1998-1999, then from 2000-2001 and again from 2003-2004, when he was replaced by Woolmer.
“I have been busy with some assignments and once I complete them I will start private coaching to help budding cricketers because I know cricket is in my blood and I can’t be away from it.” Miandad, a shrewd captain, who led his country in 34 Tests, winning 14, while taking Pakistan to victory in 25 of his 61 One-day Internationals as captain, said Pakistan cricket has been run chaotically.
“People can see how cricket affairs are run by those who don’t know about the game and there are no checks and balances because there is no constitution of the cricket board,” he said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board is appointed by President Pervez Musharraf, the board’s patron.
“As one of the pioneers of the game, when I see the waste of money on meetings at holiday resorts and other enjoyments, I feel sad because this is the money meant for the betterment of Pakistan cricket,” Miandad said.
Miandad — who played 124 Tests for Pakistan, scoring a Pakistan record of 8,832 runs, and racking up 7,381 runs in one-dayers — said his services had not been used properly by Pakistani cricket authorities. “
“Life has been very kind to me and I always look ahead and always want to return what the game has given me. But sadly it has not been so,” Miandad said.