The ignominious defeat of the Pakistan cricket team, both in test matches and in ODI has caused great frustration among cricket-loving fans throughout the country as the every cricket lover are very disappointed after conclusion result given by Pakistan cricket team led under the captaincy of Muhammad Yousaf.

The irony is that not a single player has retired from the team or has expressed his no-confidence in the PCB for its incompetence of management of our national team.

The obvious reason is that players are interested in money only at the cost of the country.

The great game of cricket can be revamped first of all by replacing the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, who is too old to justify the demanding job of the august body. Similarly, the coach should also be replaced as he too is a spent force.

Iqbal Qasim has tendered his resignation as Pakistan's chief selector following the side's disastrous results in Australia, where the team was whitewashed in both the Test and ODI series in one of Pakistan's most dispiriting campaigns in recent years. The PCB has turned down the resignation and asked Qasim to carry on till the Twenty20 World Cup in April but he appears adamant on his stand.

Earlier, on a day of fast-moving events, Qasim explained the reasons for his decision. "We made this team and it was the best possible team, but their performance has been really poor, unbelievably poor," he said. "I had two options after this. One was to stick on, evaluate and analyse the performance or step down. Anyone would do a post-mortem so I thought it my moral responsibility to do this."

The move came within minutes of Pakistan's two-wicket loss in Perth, sealing only their second-ever 5-0 blanking in ODI cricket. The statistic, in particular, hurt Qasim. "I have been very disturbed by it and it has really hurt. Everyone has a conscience and so with that in mind, I have stepped down. Clearly major surgery is required on the side," he said.

The PCB, though, was not playing ball. "The chairman has not accepted the resignation and asked him to continue till the World Twenty20," Nadeem Sarwar, PCB's media manager, said.

However, it now seems a formality and the resignation, when accepted, will end a very short tenure for Qasim and likely bring in a third head of the selection committee in the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt's tenure. Qasim took over in July last year, after Abdul Qadir had left the post claiming interference in his duties from external influences. His only assignments were the Champions Trophy, in which Pakistan reached the semi-final, and the the Test and ODI challenges against New Zealand and Australia.

During this tour, on a couple of occasions disagreements with Mohammad Yousuf, the captain, cropped up, notably over the call-up of Misbah-ul-Haq in New Zealand and the request for Younis Khan for the Tests in Australia. That is not believed to be a factor behind the decision, however.

Qasim was a member of the selection committee until the 2007 World Cup and had been appointed in an honorary post, continuing as a senior employee with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). As such, his honorary post was a break from recent practice, where the chief selectors were full-time, paid employees of the board. It is believed that at least one other member of the seven-man committee - who are paid selectors - is considering his future as well.

The PCB has reacted strongly to Pakistan's dismal performance in Australia, where they were whitewashed 3-0 in the Tests for the fourth consecutive time by the hosts and 5-0 in the ODIs. Wasim Bari, the board's chief operating officer, will head an inquiry committee of six members to evaluate Pakistan's display, provide a comprehensive analysis and make recommendations for any possible changes.

"A full-time analysis is needed and we will definitely take corrective measures to improve the performance of our national team," Bari said. "We, at the PCB, are as disappointed as any other cricket fan."

Pakistan's chief selector Iqbal Qasim offered his resignation in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan's ODI series defeat and called for a "major surgery on the team." Some former players have called for a revamp in the PCB while fans have vented out their anger at the players as well as the administration. "Fans expect a lot from the team and after the defeat they vented their anger. But we are going to address the grey areas and do our best to remove those flaws," Bari said.

Bari admitted fielding had been a major worry but Pakistan had tried to address the issue after the New Zealand series, appointing Waqar Younis as the bowling and fielding coach. He added the PCB were looking for a specialist fielding coach after a disappointing display on both tours. "The top weakness is in our fielding," he said. "Nearly 30 dropped catches on the tour of Australia and New Zealand and six, seven run-outs [were missed, which] speak of the great weakness in fielding and we are looking for a specialist fielding coach to improve this area.

"If we improve our fielding and show character in matches then we can give tough times to all the teams in the world and we have done that in the past."

On the other hand Shahid Afridi has been banned for two Twenty20 internationals after being found guilty of ball-tampering during Pakistan's two-wicket loss to Australia in the ODI at the WACA. Afridi, Pakistan's captain in Twenty20 cricket, was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to "changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket".

Afridi, leading Pakistan in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf, was caught by TV cameras apparently biting the ball on a couple of occasions. This was reported to the on-field umpires by the TV umpire and, after a chat with Afridi, the umpires changed the ball.

Afridi was called into a hearing with the match referee Ranjan Madugalle immediately after the match. Madugalle said Afridi pleaded guilty to the charge, apologised and regretted his action.

In later public comments, Afridi admitted to tampering the ball but added the practice was common among all teams. "I shouldn't have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match," he told. "There is no team in the world that doesn't tamper with the ball. My methods were wrong. I am embarrassed, I shouldn't have done it. I just wanted to win us a game but this was the wrong way to do it."

Giving reaction of Shahid Afridi action sInzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has come down strongly on Afridi's, during which the latter was found guilty of biting the ball and incurred a two-match ban.

"What Afridi did was unacceptable and more worrying is the fact that he was captain when he tried to tamper with the ball. He didn't do any service to Pakistan cricket with his actions," Inzamam said.

Inzamam blamed the PCB for the general lack of discipline in the national side. "I hold the board responsible for all that is happening. It shows there is a need to enforce stricter discipline in the team. But the board itself promotes such things by giving unnecessary statements [changing the captain] during a tour," he said. "Obviously it had a negative effect on the performance of the team and captain."

Inzamam believed Mohammad Yousuf was the best option to lead Pakistan and that the PCB should continue to support him."Yousuf accepted the captaincy at a very difficult time for Pakistan cricket and has done his best in New Zealand and Australia, where in the past also stronger teams have tasted defeat.

"I think the board must show confidence in him and give him a fair chance to show his capability as captain. I am confident he is perfectly capable of leading the team well in future," Inzamam said.