“The PCB had organized itself and planned to get maximum advantage for Pakistan cricket from an extremely precarious position. We have accomplished all our objectives. And I am positive that in the times to come Pakistan Cricket shall greatly benefit from what PCB has been able to obtain for it today,” said Najam Sethi, the PCB chairman, from Melbourne.

A few months ago you may remember, there was a huge hue and cry about the Big Three taking over the ICC and virtually all of cricket; The Big Three namely India, Australia and England.

At that point in time, as Pakistan had not sided with any of the three biggies and had opposed the takeover bid tooth and nail, it seemed that Pakistan would end up in a very bad situation and would be isolated from the game.

However, by some miracle it seems that all that has now changed and the tides have turned. Lo and behold, Pakistan is suddenly a part of the ‘Big Four’, as it is being referred to now. The announcement was made by Mr. Najam Sethi.

It is said that all this has been made possible because PCB did not oppose the appointment of N. Srinivasan, an Indian, as the new chairman of the ICC (according to unconfirmed sources that is). Well as they say, it is a matter of give and take and take we did.

Whatever the deal was on the other end, at our end it seems very sweet. But don’t take my word for it, decide for yourself:

  1. Effective June 15th 2015 the chairman of the ICC will be a Pakistani for a one year term.
  2. PCB will get the fourth largest piece of the revenue pie from ICC after India, Australia and England, over a period of eight years after the restructuring of the revenue distribution model.
  3. The MoU signed by the PCB and BCCI earlier this year has now been penned into a binding agreement where Pakistan and India will play six international series between 2015 and 2023. Even better is the fact that PCB will be the hosts for four of the six series to be held either in the UAE or Pakistan. These details were confirmed at the annual ICC conference in Melbourne earlier this month.

This is quite an achievement by Mr. Najam Sethi I would say. From where we were at the beginning of this year to close such a deal is definitely is no small feat.

Good going Mr. Sethi!

I just hope the courts don’t strike your appointment down again… that would be a shame!