Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed close friend Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf as the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) replacing former Test cricketer Ijaz Butt. Like all his predecessors, Ashraf is quoted in the Pakistan media as saying that his priority is to give
the Pakistan cricket a face-lift.
Ashraf has been asked to take over the reins with immediate effect and Butt's request for a six-month extension was rejected.
Ashraf, 59, a member of the executive committee of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, told a private TV channel that he would work hard to live up to the confidence reposed in him by the President, who is also the patron of the PCB, and promised to work for resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan.
"People in both Pakistan and India love cricket so I will try to work for the resumption of ties between the two countries," Ashraf said.
Butt, who many thought would not see through his three-year tenure, had a tough time tackling the problems faced by the country’s cricket and the 73-year-old was under fire from both aficionados, former players and officials.
Butt got into trouble for alleging that the English players were mixed up in match-fixing and he had to retract the statement after being threatened to proceed against legally.
Newspaper:Hindustan Times, 12th Oct
