PCB consider paid selection panel

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) might soon appoint a paid selection committee in order to professionalise the process of finding, nurturing and selecting talent throughout the country.

Abbas Zaidi, the PCB director, told Cricinfo that the proposal had been mooted at a meeting of the board's ad-hoc committee last month and was now under serious consideration. "Nothing concrete has come of it yet but it is definitely under consideration. We have no idea yet of how much time it will take to happen but it will happen."

Traditionally, the Board's selection committee works on an honorary basis with unpaid selectors, who often have professional commitments elsewhere and thus little time to go and watch domestic matches to scour talent. Currently, chief selector Wasim Bari is employed as a senior manager at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and fellow selector Iqbal Qasim at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Zaidi explained the rationale behind the idea: "Selectors need to watch as many matches as possible to get an idea of which players need to be kept under watch, who is performing well on the circuit. They have to rely on more than just plain statistics and at the moment, as good as our selectors are and as good a job as they have done, some of them just don't have the time to be able to travel the country and watch players."

What this means for the current selection committee is not entirely clear. There have been persistent rumours since the tour to India earlier this year that the PCB have been keen to replace the long-serving Bari as chief selector, and also his committee, although Zaidi was quick to dispel these. "We have no problems with any of the current selectors. They have done a good job and are exceptionally good at what they do. In fact, we would like to hang on to them. There is a strong possibility that we could keep them and hire them as full-time selectors but this also depends on their current employers and status. We have to work something out there."

Bari has been involved with the selection committee in a number of capacities since 1998. He was briefly replaced as chief selector by Aamir Sohail after the 2003 World Cup, only to find himself back at the helm in January 2004, soon after Shaharyar Khan took over as chairman.

There is still speculation, however, that change within the selection committee is inevitable. The News, a leading Karachi-based daily, reported today that, among others, Zaheer Abbas was in the running to replace Bari as chief selector. A source within the board told the paper, "Zaheer is a popular choice with the Chairman and other senior officials of the board and is also well known to the ad-hoc committee members. He is seen as a cool and decent person with a strong cricketing background. The only issue with him is whether he would be based in Karachi (where he currently resides) or Lahore. And obviously he is keen to have his own choice of members."

At a recent meeting between board officials and President General Pervez Musharraf to discuss the progress of the national team for the 2007 World Cup, the former batsman was among a select group of ex-players invited. This meeting fuelled speculation that he was being lined up for the role of chief selector.

Bari and his committee, meanwhile, are set to meet on September 1 to finalise squads for the upcoming series against Australia A, as well as for a series of practice matches between the leading players of the country.