"It comes as no surprise that the world's cricket boards haven't supported Malcolm Speed's principled stance" © Getty Images

As Malcolm Speed departs the stage I finally find myself agreeing with him. Financial irregularities are a cardinal sign of corruption, and while corruption has many tentacles each poisonous limb has to be amputated at every opportunity. The affairs of Zimbabwe and the poverty of its people are dismal enough without the international cricket community tacitly endorsing financial irregularities in Zimbabwe's cricket board.

The case for playing cricket against Zimbabwe is tenuous enough, it becomes almost unsustainable if there is no financial probity.

It should, however, come as no surprise that the world's cricket boards have not supported Speed's principled stand--and if early reports are to be believed it is indeed that. How many of the other cricket boards have financial skeletons in their bookkeeping cupboards?

I can name one. Guess who? Only this week Pakistani newspapers have been running pieces on how the Pakistan Cricket Board failed to disclose salary payments to its Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Marketing Director, and Director of Human Resources on its payroll. The financial officer and another finance department worker have resigned.

In my role as chief executive of a company, I find it incredible that the salaries of any staff, let alone such senior directors, have not appeared on the organization's payroll. You would not excuse this practice from a small business, coming from a major national and international organization it is an absolute disgrace from which the chief executive and chief operating officer cannot be extricated.

With money sloshing about international cricket as never before this is a time for the ICC and the Pakistani government respectively to take a firm stand. The ICC looks to be failing its test on Zimbabwe. The Pakistani government must ensure that the PCB is not allowed to wriggle out of this one either. I have no problem with cricket officials being well paid as long as they execute their roles in a deserving manner and their payments are transparent. At present, it would be hard to argue that Zimbabwe and Pakistan cricket officials are succeeding in either way. The other cricket boards should be ashamed too.

	Shoaib Malik: successful... but controversially so © AFP

Shoaib Malik's Pakistan have set a record of successive wins in one-day cricket. A few more home series against sub-standard opposition - before the ICC Champions Trophy - and the record will be unbeatable. This is a Pyrrhic victory made possible by the decimation of Pakistan's international itinerary. To compare Shoaib's captaincy with Imran Khan's is unworthy.

Indeed, the decision-making during the series has created plenty of controversy. Why were the new batsmen given little opportunity to play a substantial innings? Why were the new bowlers under bowled?

A series against Bangladesh - one that has been easily won - would seem an ideal opportunity to develop young players but not, apparently, in the minds of the current decision makers in Pakistan cricket. Yes, you can only beat the opposition presented to you. Yes, a record is a nice-to-have and a source of much welcome cheer. But why is it the development of Pakistan cricket that suffers at each turn?

On a positive note, Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf made as merrily as they should have, with Salman's application an encouraging omen. Shahid Afridi maintained his form as an influential wrist spinner. Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul were important returnees. But I was most fascinated by the easy actions and pace of Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz. Bangladesh batted poorly but these two looked to have considerable potential, and it was disappointing that we saw so little of them--even in games that they were picked for.

This reluctance to properly test new players has become something of a feature of Shoaib's captaincy and betrays an insecurity and inexperience that bodes ill. If you can't take risks when you have outplayed Bangladesh then your captaincy will struggle to break free of its inhibitions.

Worryingly, Pakistan's reluctance to properly examine its newer players has left the opening batting slot unresolved. Who opens with Salman Butt remains unclear, and anybody who thinks Kamran Akmal can fill that role on more testing tracks is sadly mistaken. Indeed, a new keeper would have relished the opportunity to challenge Akmal, but Sarfraz Ahmed was completely ignored.

With Younis Khan's mood swings eroding confidence, Pakistan's bowling once again looks more optimistic than its batting. And if we chant the unholy trinity of opening partnership, middle order, and wicket keeper, we find that it is the same lament that Pakistan cricket has been singing for years. How to correct this triad of failings seems to be beyond the wit of those in charge.

No number of manufactured records will mask these fundamental failings.

	Younis Khan: fatigue or pique? © AFP

Today, a reader sent me a message arguing that it is my social responsibility to start a new thread on Younis Khan, as cricket fans are poised to comment on his extraordinary withdrawal from the current series. An excuse of fatigue is hard to believe. A fit of pique (at the visit by the anti-corruption unit) would be more in character. A statement explaining that he is tired of playing the world's less challenging teams might be understandable. An expression of irritation at Shoaib Malik's captaincy would play to the gallery.

You decide.

Instead, I'm using Younis Khan to highlight a different point. An observation that is reinforced by the presence of two Pakistan XIs in action simultaneously. It is further emphasised by the enigma of Shoaib Akhtar. Once upon a time, Pakistan cricket had more big time players than little piddling ones. Since Inzamam's retirement, Mohammad Yousuf is the only player that will genuinely merit comparison with the top players of the past.

Younis is an erratic and temperamental talent. Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi could be described in the same way. The rest are a talented bunch yet to cut it when it really matters or show enough depth to be deemed irreplaceable. And there are so many of these superficial stars that we now have two teams of them: one battering Bangladesh and the other humbled by lightweight Indias and World XIs.

Look across these two teams and tell me how many players can be judged to have had satisfying international careers? Yet you will not disagree that therein lie buckets of talent, possibly even thimbles of genius, a catalogue of might-have-beens and what-ifs. Mohammad Asif is the one exception, but injury and injudicious supplement taking have ruined the honeymoon. The rest are superficial stars, promising much delivering sporadically. This is what Pakistan cricket has become, and the breadth of the failure implies the failure of a system.

Now, some readers would like me to move off this theme and start talking up the state of Pakistan cricket and its cricketers. Applaud the PCB for its wonderful stewardship of what was once a national treasure. But what can you really say about comprehensive victories over Bangladesh on flat tracks? Should we hail Salman Butt as the next Saeed Anwar, Shoaib Malik as the new Imran Khan, and Kamran Akmal as the inheritor of Adam Gilchrist? Should we congratulate Dr Ashraf for ensuring the boys get some cricket and win a few games?

All we can really say is that the malaise in Pakistan cricket is a chronic one. It began when the team was at its strongest in the 1990s and has only intermittently been reversed since, such as briefly inspirational spells in the long rule of Wasim Akram and the short period of unity between Inzamam and Bob Woolmer.

New administrations talk long-term strategies and walk quick fixes. The current administration is no different. Only two years ago, Inzy and The Bob had engineered Pakistan into a fight for the second spot in world cricket. Since then, the decline has been quick and distasteful.

What to do with a system that has consistently failed? There is little point in sweating blood to make it work better. It won't. The answer lies in a new system, a whole new approach. And for that the politicians in Pakistan must cut the cricket board free of political rule, appoint an interim administration of independent professionals to revamp the governance and operations of the cricket board, and then appoint a new cricket board of individuals benchmarked against the skills and experience of administrators in the best run cricket boards.

It will take high-quality people, protected by robust governance, to restore the fortunes of Pakistan cricket. The process has to begin now and the change in government offers an ideal opportunity. Pakistan cricket needs to decide if it is happy to continue with its quick-fix production line of superficial stars or whether it is willing to commit to a fundamental rethink of its cricket administration so that it can begin to invest in a more meaningful future?

	Nasim Ashraf has chosen to sue Shoaib Akhtar for his comments to a private television channel © AFP

Some of Shoaib's retaliatory comments might have hurt. They might have even crossed the line of what is fair, decent, and lawful but leading any organisation, especially a high profile one, requires a healthy dose of judgment and wisdom. By choosing to sue Shoaib for a multi-million dollar payout, Ashraf has confirmed that he has neither in sufficient supply to head a nationally important organisation.

Indeed, instead of him suing Shoaib, the many millions of people around the world who hold Pakistan cricket dear might feel justified in a legal action against Ashraf for damaging the reputation of Pakistan cricket. This farce has become an international joke. The patron of Pakistan cricket has to bring this stupidity to an end. Earlier this week, I said--with irony--way to go Dr Ashraf. I'll amend that to: Time to go.

	A five-year ban will almost certainly end Shoaib's Pakistan career © AFP

Few careers could have finished more often than Shoaib Akhtar's. Ironically, this end is probably the least deserved. A five-year ban for breaching the code of conduct of a cricket board that fails to demonstrate any high standards of its own is farcical. Pakistan's cricket board has lost all perspective if it believes this ban to be reasonable. A five-year ban will certainly end Shoaib's international career and, if it does that, the blame will rest as much with the cricket board's mismanagement as it does with Shoaib's unprofessionalism. This is another sad day for Pakistan cricket, which is now firmly establishing itself as an irrelevance on the international stage. Bravo Dr Ashraf and Co. Way to go.