PCB treats the symptoms

The officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board have lately outdone themselves. With its team an object of pity and derision following a humiliating 3-0 loss to Australia and the need for a cool-headed review of the disaster paramount, the PCB did what any self-respecting board in its position would have done: announce the formulation of a fines and incentives scheme rewarding players for individual accomplishments and penalising them for losses and lack of fitness.

In an October 28 press statement, the PCB announced the inclusion of what it termed a "Performance Based Emolument" clause in its existing tour contracts. This clause will see players, from the current Zimbabwe tour onwards, paid an extra 20 per cent in addition to their regular fees for each win, fined 20 per cent for each loss, fined up to $1000 by the physio/trainer for being unfit and paid an extra 20 per cent for individual accomplishments within the match.

It sounds so straightforward, so seductively simple, that it's easy to see why it might appeal to results-focussed Board members. Threaten players with fines, and they'll be compelled to try their hardest every game. Reward them individually, and they'll each strive to do better. Right? Err...

The intention is surely admirable, but for a team often reported to be wracked by divisiveness, the PCB has introduced the one measure almost guaranteed to be counter-productive to team harmony and cultivating a winning spirit. Balancing the demand for accountability and effort must be the provision of the stability and job security necessary for players to perform at their peak. Superficially, the threat of being dropped from match to match may appear to be a motivating factor, but it's been fairly well documented how in reality this only leads to anxiety, selfishness and ultimately worse performances.

The threat of being fined, while not as immediate a concern as losing one's position, is not dissimilar. No matter how good the team or intense the effort, losses will still sometimes happen. While players are threatened with losing money because of this, they will not always have the necessary focus, and at some point must become resentful.

True, this is balanced by similar reward for wins, but these are still really secondary considerations, and ignore the larger premise implicit in the decision, which is that players are only motivated to give their best for their country by money or the threat of having it taken away. That is what is truly galling about the PCB's decision.

If it is indeed true that some players require the threat of financial penalty to produce their best, or can only be enticed to score a hundred, hold a catch or take five wickets by a few more rupees tacked onto their match fees, then surely these are not the type of players who should be selected in the first place. What does it say about the players, or at least the administration's opinion of them, that they need these inducements to give their best? Honestly, whether the World Cup is worth $500 or $5 million in prize money, would not the motivation to win it be all the same? Forget even the amateurish joy of competing, what happened to the glory of winning?

Again, if that is what is required to get players to perform, then the system and values which have produced that state of mind are in desperate need of an overhaul. The cause of the malaise needs treatment, not the symptoms once they have reached that parlous stage.

Unfortunately, captain Waqar Younis publicly welcomed the decision. "I think it will bear positive results and be a great motivation for the players to thwart a defeat and always go for the win," Waqar told AFP (if you're not always going for the win anyway, then what exactly are you doing?)

"I do not see it as a threat and hope that players will do their best to cash in on these incentives," Waqar continued. "Pakistani cricket will improve only with the mutual consent of players and the board and I see full cooperation between them."

Waqar's sentiments were disappointing because, if the players thought about it a little, they should have found the decision slanderous. It suggests they value cash over performance and results, which the PCB should realise is tantamount to admitting they have a mentality which would allow them to consider match-fixing. If they won't offer their best effort unless rewarded or threatened, then it is not inconceivable they could also be persuaded to perform below their best for the same reasons, which remains an uncomfortable reality. If this is his idea of "getting tough" with players, then General Tauqir Zia should have resigned after all.

In a team environment, individual performance-based incentives - or disincentives, as the case may be - are fraught with danger anyway. We see it in American sports such as the NFL, where wide receivers have been known to demand the ball to improve their statistics and thus reach certain performance clauses in their contracts, irrespective of what benefits the team. Suffice to say, this is contrary to the ideals of cricket, and the idea of bonuses based on statistical figures leaves one a little uneasy.

Effort is not really quantifiable. Without team spirit and desire to win, success surely can't last, or at least one would like to think not. This is an ill-advised move by the PCB, and does not solve the cause of the perceived problem.

The day before this inspired motivational development was announced, the PCB issued a press statement announcing the resignation of former coach Mudassar Nazar from his recently reacquired position as head of the National Cricket Academy. Nazar, you will remember, lost his job as Pakistan coach during the Champions Trophy on September 17.

In an interview with Faisal Sharif, published October 16, PCB chairman General Tauqir Zia stated: "I have not sacked Mudassar Nazar. He will take care of the National Academy back home. Nazar was my National Academy organiser. He also runs his businesses in Dubai and Pakistan. One man cannot do three jobs. So he had to go." I guess one man cannot do two jobs, either, as on October 27 Mudassar stepped down from that post, citing business commitments, with the PCB thanking him for his "commitment and sincerity to set up the academy."

Instead of this transparently face-saving sacking, Pakistan cricket would have been better served had Chairman Zia actually heeded Mudassar's advice instead. In the September 17 press statement, detailing the discussion between Zia and Nazar after the latter had been called home during Pakistan's Campions Trophy campaign, Nazar cited burn-out due to excess cricket as his main concern. "He opined that if the players were to be considered for the World Cup, they should be rested and given proper training at home", the statement stated. The reports of the manager, doctor and trainer reportedly expressed similar views.

Evidently, this was not the answer the cash-strapped PCB needed to hear. In addition to Mudassar failing to retain his job, it was obviously decided that rather than suffering from burn-out, players were in fact not motivated enough to keep themselves fit.

Rashid Latif has become the first case in point. Forced out of the Zimbabwe tour with what was described as a "career-threatening neck injury", Latif is returning home to be rehabilitated - and quite possibly fined.

Latif, a player of integrity who sacrificed his place in the team for around three years in protest over match-fixing, is now subject to a report on whether he lied about his fitness before touring. Can you imagine if Steve Waugh, after tearing his calf against England in the third Test last year and proceeding with determination to be fit for the fifth, was told by the trainer that he may be fined, pending a report into whether he carried the injury into the match or not? It's preposterous, and can only serve to further the mistrust which must exist between the Board and the players.

Current manager Brigadier KM Nasir told Reuters: "We are doing our utmost to ensure he (Latif) is fit for the World Cup next year." But while Rashid returns home for rehabilitation in an attempt to be ready to lead Pakistan's World Cup campaign, the PCB will seek a report from physio/trainer Dennis Waight to determine whether Latif was injured prior to the Zimbabwe tour. What this means, presumably, is whether Waight thinks Latif, veteran of 34 Tests and 140 ODIs, lied about his condition before touring in order to retain his position and collect his tour fee. How Waqar Younis could have welcomed this system defies good sense.

All injured players are apparently to be held in a state of suspicion. That being the case, it is incumbent upon the PCB to resolve why they feel this is necessary, rather than reacting with petty fines. If there is a suspicion Pakistan's players are not motivated to represent their country to the best of their ability, that it takes money to get them to perform and that they would lie about their fitness to tour, then the PCB should consider why.

The players do not have a long-term contract system or a representative body. Why? If the players had the security of knowing they would not lose their income when injured, might they not feel compelled to lie about their health? With future secured, might not the focus of winning matches, rather than incentives from whatever source, return to being the primary focus? If players are indeed complacent about their positions, wouldn't it make sense to have a more transparent system of selection and demotion, clearly articulating to the players what is expected of them, so that they are both aware their selection for the next game or series is not arbitrary and know that if they don't perform there is a replacement ready to take their spot?

It could be done. But if the fines system fails, as it inevitably will, it will be much easier to simply sack coach Richard Pybus, for the fourth time. I hear Mudassar Nazar is available.

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