Internal order moved for extension to PCB MC

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) has requested the Prime Minister (PM) Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the Patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), to extend the stay of the Management Committee for two to four weeks.

“We have moved an internal order,” an official said. “An internal order is different from a summary as it does not carry the signature of the Minister or Secretary IPC. The summary always carries Minister and Ministry’s secretary's signatures while internal-orders do not carry these signatures.”

The expiry of the extension of the MC could well see the end of Najam Sethi’s stay in the PCB as already a summary moved on April 13 proposed a different future hierarchy.

The extension request internal order seen by 'The News' and forwarded on April 20 suggests a two to four weeks extension in office for the PCB MC while it also requested approval of an April 13 summary (that carries Minister and secretary signatures) sent on April 13 which requested the approval of a different combination.

The PM has yet to recommend the two names for the Governing Board from which one would be named as the Chairman of the PCB (as approved by the PM). 'The News' has learnt that none of the PCB Management Committee members would be in a position to become part of those two members.

As things stand on April 21, it is believed that a new name for the post of the PCB chairman could well emerge. April 21, 2023, was the last day in office for the PCB MC which was entrusted with the mandate to restore the 2014 PCB Constitution. Now chances are that their stay may be extended for another three to four weeks or till the end of the New Zealand and Pakistan white-ball series. The last one-day between the two teams will be played in Karachi on May 7.

The internal order forwarded to the PM says: “It is submitted that Federal Government constituted a Management Committee to manage the affairs of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Subsequently, a Summary to the Prime Minister dated 13 April 2023 was sent to Prime Minister's Office for the nomination of two members of the Board of Governor of PCB, in his capacity as Patron, under Article 10(1)(d) of the PCB Constitution.

­The response to the Summary is still awaited. It is stated that the tenure of the Management Committee will expire on 21 April 2023. Meanwhile, PCB has been also directed to submit a comprehensive report of activities so far made under the supervision of the Management Committee, after the revival of PCB's Constitution 2014 from 22.12.2022 to 20.04.2023. Given these developments, as referred vide para 3 & 4 above, the opinion of the Ministry of IPC is as follows:

“a) The tenure of the Management Committee may be considered for extension for a period of two to four weeks (maximum), w.e.f. 22.04.2023 to materialize the outcomes of actions, as referred above, for smooth functioning of ongoing activities in PCB.

“b) It is also requested that the outcome of the Summary to the Prime Minister/Patron PCB, dated 13 April 2023, may please be conveyed for early resolution of the matter.”