A PAKSTANI senator has called for an overhaul of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a bid to avoid the sport becoming “a relic” in the country.

The national side were plunged into near crisis again this week when captain Younus Khan withdrew from the Test series against New Zealand amid reports of factions and player unrest in the dressing room. Younus was hastily replaced by Mohammad Yousuf and quickly announced he was taking a break from the game.

Now Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, who is a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Sports, has made an impassioned plea for the PCB to be taken to task, saying: “Enough is enough. The current PCB management is playing with the nerves of the nation,” Mashhadi told Pakistan’s English-speaking newspaper The Dawn.

“The board has distanced itself from backing Younus Khan as a captain and let player-power run over disciplined initiatives.

“There is also a deficit of trust that has emerged among the team members due to the inefficient moves engineered by an incompetent cricket board.”

Mashhadi also outlined his intention to raise his objections to a political level.

“I will register my protest against the PCB management on the floor of the Senate. We will also call on President Zardari, PCB’s patron, and draw his attention to the findings of the Senate committee.

“There is no constitution and no transparency at all in the PCB. The PCB management is without any vision, strategy and long-term planning needed to elevate the standard of sports and if it continues with the same pace, sports here will be a relic of the past.” (Eurosport)