LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board took another step towards its objective of decentralisation of country’s cricket and instilling a corporate culture in the six Cricket Associations with the appointment of chief executives for Central Punjab and Northern.
Mr Abdullah Khurram Niazi, a former first-class cricketer who played 11 matches from 2001-03, has been appointed as the chief executive of the Central Punjab Cricket Association. Along with playing the sport, Mr Abdullah also has administrative experience of the game at the grassroots level. He holds a master’s degree in Economics from Punjab University, Lahore and has an 11-year experience of serving in the public sector and before that he worked in the private sector from 2007-09.
Mr Najeeb Sadiq, who has been appointed as the chief executive of the Northern Cricket Association, is an expert in institutional management and holds two master’s degrees in Information Sciences and Business Administration. Mr Najeeb complete his post-graduation in Information Sciences from University of London in United Kingdom in 1989 after completing his MBA from University of Peshawar in 1987.
Mr Najeeb is an executive director at ZTE Corporation, a leading telecommunications company, and serves on boards of various IT-related corporations.
These two appointments have been made for three years following a robust recruitment process, which started in April when the PCB attracted applications for the positions. Their responsibilities will include curating strategies for effective management of day-to-day activities, establishing protocols to ensure efficient utilisation of resources for the growth and promotion of the game by creating strong networks at the grassroots, supervising the first registration of Cricket Clubs under each City Cricket Association as per applicable regulations/bylaws, and monitoring and organising cricket events and activities within the respective jurisdictions