Spicing up Pakistan's domestic cricket

Who would want to be part of the Pakistan Cricket Board? Already in the dock over any number of issues - the Senate Standing Committee inquiry, a stalled constitution, allegations of financial unaccountability and a lack of transparency - they also have to deal with increasingly shrill and hysterical criticism for the 3-0 series loss against Australia. And last week, as if somehow all this weren't enough, the PCB unveiled a brand new look for domestic cricket. Nothing aggravates traditionalists, particularly those of a cricketing kind, quite like attempts to modernise, jazz-up or market their game. Pakistani traditionalists are no different.

First, a little background. When ABN-AMRO agreed to sponsor domestic cricket recently, they were the first to do so in nearly eight years. Furthermore, it was in line with the restructuring that Rameez Raja, the former chief executive of the Pakistan board, had initiated last season in a bid to revamp a much-criticised domestic set-up. Raja's vision, one pursued by Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the board, and espoused relentlessly (and tediously) by Imran Khan among others, was to shift the emphasis from departments and corporations, such as PIA and Habib Bank, to regional teams which could harness and nurture talent more effectively and re-ignite dormant public interest. The obstacle, until then, had been the lack of financial resources; banks offered little-educated cricketers a job and a career after they retired from the game, regional sides offered them measly match fees and little else.

Earlier this season, players in the regional Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the showcase of the domestic roster, were paid monthly salaries and employed on six-month contracts. The money came mainly from the windfall of the India series earlier last year and wasn't endless. But with ABN-AMRO secured as sponsors, TV rights having been sold to broadcast domestic matches and regional sponsors also being sought, the PCB's pockets are deeper. Last week, then, it seemed appropriate for the PCB to unveil 'National Cricket Pakistan'.

The vision is lofty - to make domestic cricket a popular spectator sport in Pakistan. Plenty of right noises were made at the press conference: mission statements, re-branding, and consumer-reaction models were bandied about with the same liberal abandon Pakistani bowlers display towards no-balls. Regional teams have been renamed - Peshawar become the Panthers, Hyderabad the Hawks and so on. Furthermore, ABN-AMRO, led by full-time cricket fanatic and part-time consumer bank head (and suitably monikered), Salman Butt, have plans to spice up contests, providing entertainment during games, improving stadium facilities and also promoting matches heavily beforehand.

The last week has seen a fairly intense ad campaign in most main dailies advertising the schedule of matches in the ongoing national one-day tournament. Tickets for the recent Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, held in Faisalabad, were sold on a float that moved through the city centre. Crowds of up to 700 on a couple of days might seem low, but given that last year there were less than even that (not including dogs), it is an improvement.

But there are concerns, some ludicrous, others less so, and most of these were raised at the launch itself. Local journalists, never shy in prompting verbal jousts with the PCB, immediately raised doubts. One questioned bluntly why ABN-AMRO should be given any support, given their minimal involvement and association with the game in the past. Another couple asked why the format, and in particular the choice of animal names, was copied from South Africa and England, going as far as to suggest that renaming the Whites of Karachi to Dolphins and the Blues to Zebras was somehow a cultural insult to the people of the city. They are not alone: a couple of letters in an English daily raised the same issue. It was left, finally, to that most level-headed of journalists, Gul Hameed Bhatti, to voice the most serious and credible concern.

Bhatti warned that for the sponsorship to be truly successful and for domestic cricket to start attracting viewership, involvement would have to go beyond hollow marketing plans. For starters, although one-day matches are being broadcast live on television currently, the quality of coverage is abysmal. It is, Bhatti argued, more likely to turn people off cricket than onto it and if either the PCB or ABN-AMRO are serious about what they want to achieve, then they have to ensure that the channel which broadcasts the matches does so with an acceptable level of quality. They cannot, as another reporter whispered, "just throw money at the game and hope it will develop". Shahid Hashmi, AFP's veteran sports reporter, also recalled how involved past sponsors had been with the game, and how it would require more than re-branding and marketing gimmickry for any long-term success.

Both Hashmi and Bhatti are witness to times when sponsorship was more than just money. Former sponsors Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) used to publish an annual and comprehensive statistical review of each season. They were staffed by people who, in the words of Hashmi, had a deep affection for the game, and it is something ABN-AMRO should look to now. Certainly, watching games currently on TV is a deeply shattering experience; commentators don't know the names of players, some don't even know how many teams are participating in a tournament. Urdu commentary is just about bearable, the English version makes you yearn for the screech of chalk on blackboard.

Ultimately, given that sponsorship has been as forthcoming as restrained knocks from Shahid Afridi, both parties should be applauded for negotiating a three-year deal. Furthermore, if it is a given that the PCB will act in the best interests of the game (not as easy an assumption as you may think), then added to the energy, drive and passion that Salman Butt the banker reportedly possesses for the game, it should in theory prove a fruitful association. Three years is a lifetime in Pakistan cricket and to infer too much now is to tempt fate. One thing, though, is certain: sports headlines (sample: 'Lions devour Zebras') have surely never been this colourful.