Those in support of the ban may say that he’s had enough chances but the question is what did Akhtar do this time around that was so bad to deserve a 5 year ban? If we have a closer look at his comments then we may realise that here was just a cricketer speaking of his disappointment of not getting a contract that he felt he deserved. The PCB argued that it is in the contracts of players that they are not permitted to speak against the board yet the problem here is that Akhtar did not have a contract with the PCB when he made his remarks.

Had Akhtar left the issue here and let his legal team (together with the support of public opinion) fight his case then he would have been in a very strong position. Yet things have moved on since then and he has come out in the media making remarkable comments for someone who had such a strong hand to play with. He came out in the media to claim that he had refused offers to under-perform on a number of occasions and then accused the PCB chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf, of punishing him with such a harsh ban because he refused to give him a share of his IPL earnings. This has severely jeopardised his case and may have given us a true insight into the real Shoaib.

The ban for just the comments may seem harsh but his past will tell you that here is a man with world beating talent but someone who is devoid of any cultural and religious morality who continuously finds himself in trouble. He has had chance after chance and I’m afraid, even though there is no greater sight in world cricket than Shoaib Akhtar steaming in, enough is enough. As for the PCB, the fact that people can take the side of someone like Akhtar demonstrates the lack of faith in and the support for the current Pakistan board.

At the press conference, Nasim Ashraf said that Akhtar had violated the players’ code of conduct on no fewer than 14 to 15 occasions. But where was the PCB when he was committing these violations? Is Nasim Ashraf not admitting here that they as a board have not been doing their jobs? Were there no bowlers left in Pakistan that they had to continuously give him chance after chance? The fact is that the PCB couldn’t spot a problem if it was doing star jumps in front of their faces let alone nip it in the bud. When it comes to player behaviour, it is obvious that some of the responsibility must lie with the individual player yet in the case of many of the Pakistani players, we’re dealing with people who have not been very well coached in good moral etiquette and general life skills.

One example of this is that when Geoff Lawson was first given the coaching job, he was told that the squad were learning to speak English but recent interviews only highlight some of the squads embarrassing grasp of the language which is so required in today’s cricketing world. Yet what have the PCB done about it?

One thing I would like to ask the PCB is why 5 years? Why not 4 or 6 or a life ban which the PCB said he could get if he were to transgress again whilst on his 2 year probation period for striking Mohammed Asif with a bat. How the disciplinary committee arrived at this conclusion is anyone’s guess. It’s clear that no other board in the world would have let the situation get to where it is let alone handle it in this manner.

The most surprising issue to come out of this was the issuing of a legal notice by Ashraf’s lawyers asking Akhtar to apologise for his comments and demanding $1.6 million in damages for both Ashraf himself and the PCB. Why does the chairman of the PCB need $1.6 million in damages? Defamation is the answer; yet surely the PCB don’t need Akhtar to harm their reputation; they do that just fine all by themselves. So let’s get this right. Akhtar gains the advantage by people and members of parliament taking his side and feeling the ban was harsh but gives it up by making the above remarkable claims. Yet, here goes Nasim Ashraf handing advantage right back to him by demanding a little fortune of $1.6 million for himself. I think this situation has made the position of both parties untenable.

This issue will bring about the end of a problem that many Pakistan supporters have known for quite some time now and that is the short comings of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Ill discipline, fitness problems, attitude problems and lack of professionalism by the Pakistan players are things that the governing board must take the majority of the responsibility for. One can only suggest that the PCB and Akhtar are just as bad as one another.

Embarrassing as it is and though some may argue that it’s not what Pakistan cricket needed right now, I would disagree. Maybe this is exactly what Pakistan cricket needed – to clear out the mess so that they can move forwards. Let’s find a new ‘Express’, one without the propensity to go off the tracks and a new governing board which knows how to govern so we can move on. We live in hope.