No quick fix to Pakistan’s cricket problems: Mudassar Nazar

Pakistan’s new Director of Cricket Academies, former Test player, Mudassar Nazar has made it clear that there is no quick fix to the problems confronting Pakistan cricket.

Nazar, who has left a lucrative position with the ICC Global Academy in Dubai to join the PCB, however is confident that three to four new players could be produced and groomed every year through the Academies.

“There is still plenty of young talent in the country we just need to make the National Cricket Academy and the regional academies more effective and productive to discover and groom these youngsters, he said.

Nazar, who spent eight years with the ICC academy, said for any country to have a strong and stable cricket system it required a cycle of six to eight years for development programs to start yielding results.

He said unfortunately in Pakistan cricket, quick fixes and short term decisions had not helped the sport.

“There is lot of work to be done which is why I accepted this new position as a big challenge. We need to improve our pitches and domestic structure.We need to start using quality cricket balls. We need to refocus on young and raw talent simply because other cricket nations have adapted to the changing times and the use of technology in cricket and made progress we unfortunately have wasted resources and have lot
of catching up to do,” the former Test allrounder said.

Nazar, who has coached the Pakistan senior and A teams in the past and was also associated with the NCA for a brief period before moving to Dubai, said with three formats being played in international cricket and given the hectic international calender, Pakistan needed to start producing regular quality talent.

“We have to remember that a young talent has to pass through a proper cycle to come to the fore and it takes years to develop a proper cycle which has been missing in Pakistan cricket for sometime now.”

Nazar did concede that the refusal of international teams to tour Pakistan for security reasons since 2009 had also played a big role in the problems confronting Pakistan cricket.

He also hinted at making changes in the coaching staff for the NCA and regional academies.

“But all that will be done after talking to the board officials and my first priority is to revive competitive under-19 cricket in all 16 regions which should all have their own academies,” he added.