Hello and welcome to Stumped. Your intercontinental hit of news features and debate from the quirky world of cricket.
I’m Alison Mitchell from London where I’ve just about recovered from all the festivities of the Coronation weekend. There were
some street parties around my way, bunting strung up between the houses, a real sort of festival atmosphere. I have to say, I'm
not going to be with you next week though as I’ve accepted an invitation to go riding some horses in Uganda,
a country I’ve never been to before so I can’t wait. I will of course report back to you
on the show the week after, but you will be left in very capable hands in my absence.
Well, looking forward to hearing about that experience Ali. Jim Maxwell here in Sydney. The wind is trying to set in here, it's a bit
cool, but most of those who love the game of cricket are looking forward to the Ashes and the final at the Oval against India for
Australia. But all that’s to come. At the moment we’re just hanging in expectation because
no one really knows what’s going to happen, and that most the time is the great allure of sport!
Hi Jim and Ali, this is Sunil Gupta for All India Radio in New Delhi, a couple of talking points actually this week one of course
is the inclusion of Ishan Kishan in the World Test Championship final team in place of KL Rahul who’s injured and there’s been a
lot of chatter about that whether he’s the right man and being a keeper and a batsman. And I think what they’re trying to do is to
try get him to play the Rishabh Pant role but he’s never played a Test match before so that’s a moot point.
And of course the other one is the Asia Cup. Where is it going to be held? Is it a hybrid model?
Is it going to be in what country? All these things are still up in the air and still need to be decided.
Well pertinent that you mention that Sunil because that is where we’re going to start with this week’s show because the location
of this Asia Cup 2023 is in serious doubt. Pakistan are supposed to be hosting the tournament for the first time since
2008, due to take place in September. The secretary of the India Cricket Board, Jay Shah, who is also President of the Asian
Cricket Council has said and I quote “The Asia Cup 2023 will be held at a neutral venue. We can’t go there and Pakistan can't
come here.” Now Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the UAE have all staged the last six editions. India and Pakistan haven’t met each
other on each other’s territory for over 10 years, so where does this leave the competition? Earlier, I spoke to the Chairman of
the Pakistan cricket board, Mr Najam Sethi, and I asked him to give us the latest.
Is there still any hope of the Asia Cup being hosted in Pakistan?
I certainly think that there is hope. The Indian position has been that they’re unable to come and play in Pakistan
because their government doesn’t allow them to do so, which I find very curious, but let’s leave it at that. The current situation is
that they want to play at a neutral venue and we said, alright if you can’t come to Pakistan, because your government is
stopping you, let’s have a hybrid model. Let’s play six or seven games in which you play in the UAE or in Sri Lanka or at any
other neutral venue, mutually decided and the rest of the games which are just four or five can
be played in Pakistan. We have given them a schedule which is eminently workable and we
are hoping that sense prevails and that they will agree to the hybrid model that we have proposed.
I was reading a report just this morning that, for example, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh aren’t necessarily happy with a hybrid
model, perhaps travel and logistics being an issue if they’re playing some matches in Pakistan and having to also travel to
the UAE to stage matches. What’s your understanding about the countries and their willingness to adopt such a model?
Well I’m quite surprised that this idea is being floated unofficially by Sri Lanka and by Bangladesh. At the last ACC meeting which
was about a month ago, we all agreed on two things. We agreed that it was imperative that Pakistan played the Asia Cup.
Without Pakistan there can’t be an Asia Cup. Nearly 80% of the revenues of the Asia Cup are from India and Pakistan
matches, of which the way the schedule is structured we play at least two of those possibly three if both of us get into the finals.
And Bangladesh, the only objection Bangladesh raised was that it was going to be too hot in September in the UAE
and that would be a problem. Then the other issue they raised was questionable logistics. How are we going to go to and fro
from Pakistan to the neutral venue. My argument was let me go back and give you a proposal. The proposal that I
submitted to them three days ago takes care of all the logistical problems. We play four matches in Pakistan, the teams
come straight to Pakistan and we play four matches there. And then everybody moves to the neutral venue wherever that is
and play the rest of the matches there. And I made the concession that in the event that Pakistan gets into the final,
we will play the final in the neutral venue. Even if it is against India or against anybody else. So there is no question
of going back to Pakistan to play the final. So we will bend over backwards to solve all these issues.
So it sounds like very much a negotiation to try and find a solution that everybody will be happy with. One which has
been put forward, I understand, by Sri Lanka, and the Sri Lankan secretary Mohan De Silva has been quoted as saying that they
would happily stage the tournament in Sri Lanka with Pakistan being the official hosts. He says “If the offer is there to play the
tournament in Sri Lanka we will take it, Pakistan will be the official hosts”. Is that a
solution which could at least be on the table that you would consider?
Well I think we are confusing two issues. The first issue is in principle do you accept the hybrid model? That we play some
matches in Pakistan and most other matches in a neutral venue. The second issue is, once you agree on that, whether we play in
Sri Lanka, or in Bangladesh or in the UAE or indeed in England, that’s up to the host country to decide. We are the hosts. So I am
amenable to discussing that issue as to where the neutral venue will be because there are issues there about gate receipts and
so on. If you play it in the UAE we get a lot of money from the gate receipts. If we play it in Sri Lanka we get nothing. But
formulas can be worked out whereby we can be compensated but I am not going there right now.
Right now my main issue is make an announcement that you accept the
hybrid model that I have proposed and then we will start talking about where we are going to play.
So you very much want some element of the Asia Cup to definitely remain in Pakistan. That being your primary aim?
That is my primary aim. My mandate given to me by the government, and by the media and by the people of Pakistan is
that this has to be an honourable and reciprocable arrangement, we are happy to play the Asia Cup but it can’t be that India
refuses to come to Pakistan and then doesn’t allow us to have even a neutral venue for some of those matches. Look,
don’t forget that immediately after the World Cup, sorry the Asia Cup, we have the World Cup. And the World Cup is going to be in
India and it's an ICC event. Now what happens if India doesn't come to Pakistan, or if India torpedoes
my hybrid model, I don't think my government is going to allow me to go to India to play the World Cup.
You think that is a chance, there is a risk that Pakistan may be
prevented from travelling to India for the World Cup at the end of this year?
Yes, that's a very distinct possibility if we do not come to any solutions, right now paving the way.
Can you tell me, what is the latest by which a decision would need to be made
about the hosting of the Asia Cup? How long can these negotiations go for?
The Asia Cup is supposed to be held in September. We need at least three months to get the preparations going and all the
logistics worked out. And we need to reserve the venues in the UAE or Sri Lanka or wherever we decide. So I think time has
already run out. The ACC has to take a decision and we have made our position clear. I had a meeting with a high level ACC
interlocutor two days ago in Dubai. I gave him the new model, he liked it. He said, this is eminently workable. He said he would go
back to Mr Jay Shah and talk to him. We need to resolve the first issue first and then we'll sit
across a table and decide where we'll go to play and we'll be reasonable.
International Cricket has made a comeback in Pakistan in recent times, Mr Sethi, and you have been in this role twice
before, this time brought in on an interim basis in December. Are you keen to continue in this role
long-term? And what are your hopes, what would your plans be for the future of Pakistan?
Well, you know, Pakistan is a highly unstable country, politically and also the Cricket Board can’t award the hiccups
that come with it. Next month. I should be confirmed for a three year term as the PCB Chairman. This is an interim
arrangement. If that happens, then I think I will have some long term plans to finish off with and one of the
long term plan is to launch a women's league. That is going to be – it’s so important to me to do this
and I'm already in the process of sanctioning almost a billion rupees to set up women’s academies and so on
and so forth. We had a trial run where we had seven of the top women’s players from across the cricketing countries
come to Pakistan and play some exhibition matches during our Pakistan Super League and that went down very well.
So my next big project is to promote women's cricket in Pakistan.
You believe it could be a women's tournament that could any way
rival the riches that the women's Premier League in India has been offering?
Well, obviously, we can't compete with India, they have lots of money and they have huge audiences and so on.
But you know, that's what people said when we launched the Pakistan Super League. They said after the IPL,
how can any league in Pakistan survive? But yes you know now every country has a league going and our league is number
two. And it's made us independent. In the old days we were entirely dependent on ICC, our share of ICC funds. But now,
PSL gives us enough money to promote domestic cricket with or without this input from external sources. But of course,
that's very important. So, yes. I think, I already have indications. From a lot of investors and cricket enthusiasts about buying a
women’s team. We’re going to have four teams and even Malala Yousafzai has expressed an interest to buy one of the teams.
Mr Sethi, thank you so much for being with us on Stumped, we appreciate your time very much.
Thank you very much.
Finally, on Stumped, now would this be a dream trip for you? Because two months ago,
we were joined by former cricket journalist, Jenny Thompson, who told us about her plans to travel across
the world to experience the impact of women's cricket in as many different countries as possible.
Really, I have to tell you, I'm most excited about, so far, about where I'm going to start my tour which is in Hong Kong
and obviously the cricket scene there is really, really burgeoning, but I'm actually going to be playing alongside the Divas who
are the Filipino domestic workers based in Hong Kong who use their one day off a week to play cricket. And even more
excitingly, allied to that, is we're going to be playing an exhibition T10 match to kick start the opening ceremony of
FairBreak which obviously does so much great work for women through cricket, so it’s really the perfect start to the tour.
And we've got Jenny Thompson with us now as well. Jenny, welcome back to Stumped! So we just heard you
then, two months ago, how excited you were to be starting your journey in Hong Kong and play that exhibition match as part of
the FairBreak tournament. It involved associates and some pretty big stars as well. So how was that to start with?
Ali, it was absolutely fantastic. It was something like a dream, I still can't believe it happened! I was bowled to by
Katherine Sciver-Brunt. I bowled to Phoebe Litchfield, Sophia Dunkley. I hit a four off Sana Mir. It was just one
of those really surreal but brilliant matches but, although I had literally just met the Divas that weekend, already,
they'd become my friends. I was so happy to step onto the field alongside them and we just had such a great day. I was trying
to interview everybody afterwards to ask how they found it. And we all just said, "Well, we’re
speechless". We couldn't speak about it for a long time, just because it was really amazing.
Jenny, Jim Maxwell for the ABC In Sydney. Tell us about some of the people that you’ve met.
Well, I mean, I had the best start at FairBreak, of course, you know that World XI, they were named the All Stars and that
certainly was not false advertising. Each and every one of them was a world star. There were many World Cup winners in
between them. I trained with the Singapore team, I obviously was playing alongside the Philippines team who are just
in Cambodia right now. They've just won their silver medal in the sixes. Indonesia won that competition and they're playing for
gold in the T10 in a few weeks. Actually, for me, it's seeing the passion in all of the associate countries. There are some people
doing extraordinary things. I went to South Korea and went into a school. Kwiin Elementary School, and there are all these girls
and boys, hundreds playing cricket. And just absolutely having a ball and there's just this huge passion and love for the game
across the countries. I was talking in Japan, I played a match in Kawasaki, for the Kawasaki Knight Riders, a different KKR!
And one of them by their called Jeanette. She’s from Atlanta. And she said she absolutely loves cricket, much more so than
baseball or softball because you can hit 360 so it’s lovely to go round and seeing how and why cricket is becoming everybody's
favourite sport in unexpected countries and that's what I was hoping to see and it’s brilliant!
What's a big highlight? What is one that you’d say okay this one I’ll kick the book off with? That type of thing.
I just got back from Papua New Guinea and I managed to play cricket in the iconic village Hanuabada. Hanua meaning
village and bada meaning big. But Hanuabada is also known as Golden Village because it's the place where kids grow up playing
street cricket every from dawn to dusk in the summer holidays and 50% of the men's national team are from Hanuabada and
90% of the women. It's just incredible. I went to the village. I spoke, Kaya, the captain's mother, Bonnie. She was the first
wicket keeper for PNG and she told me how she loved to play and just be very aggressive and they had thrashed Japan and
she got very animated when she was recalling this from 2006. And then she said “Oh, but these days. I have to look after Kaya's
children and be a grandma so I'm a lot calmer now. I'm not sure if she is! There’s seven mothers in the PNG team and just as well
as playing in the village, and it was a real privilege to be invited into a village full stop, but particularly this one that I'd heard so
much about. On top of that just talking with women about their lives and they have to train five days a week, but they also have
to look after the children. Often, there are 20 people living in their house and culturally in PNG as women, they have to do all
the housework on top of everything. I said I don't know how you do it. They said “Sometimes we don't. We do complain". I said
"that's only natural". They said “We’re the first up, the last to sleep and sometimes we do come home after training and just
say it's too much and we need a lie down”. These women are fabulous. They have the absolute balance right. I don't know how
they do their life balance, but they have the approach to cricket right because they love cricket! And it really puts everything into
perspective, I think, when you consider what a day in the life of a professional PNG female player is.
Good luck for the rest of your trip and I'm sure we are going to drop in to catch up again, so thanks for updating us on Stumped.
Thanks, Ali! Thanks, everyone!
Well, that's all we've got time for on, Stumped this week, so my thanks to Jim Maxwell and Sunil Gupta.
Make sure you join us again next time. See you then. Bye bye!