Too much the slick salesman

After a year in which his role has been the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism, it is perhaps not that surprising that Rameez Raja has resigned as chief executive of the Pakistan board. The timing of his departure, however, will raise some eyebrows.

During the Multan Test against India, Rameez had indicated, while talking to Wisden Cricinfo, that the series would be his last as chief executive. Back then, he cited the increasing number of commentary offers he was turning down as a reason. A couple of months later, still in charge and reiterating his desire to continue, Rameez spoke to Wisden Cricinfo at the press conference announcing Bob Woolmer's appointment, and spoke of the tasks he felt had been left unfinished as his reason for not resigning. Prime among them was the restructuring of the domestic game. Now, a couple of months on, he leaves, and like the sequence of events highlighted above, you are left not quite sure what to make of it all.

It is an ambiguity that has plagued Rameez. As an elegant opening batsman burdened with comparisons to the other stylist Majid Khan, many felt Rameez never did justice to his talent. But many also wondered whether his ordinary record - two centuries in 57 Tests, and a liking for flicking, often uppishly, between midwicket and square leg and an average in the low 30s - was a true indicator to the extent of his talent.

Similarly, his tenure as chief executive evoked mixed reactions, albeit more virulently divisive, and he had as many critics as he did admirers. When he took up the post in May 2003, he was considered the best man for the job. He was suave, or as suave as modern-day cricketers can be, an MBA graduate, articulate and, importantly, he had been involved in the PCB development wing for some time, helping set up the national academy. And as a public face of Pakistan cricket internationally, there were far worse options.

His marketing background helped - an organisation as backward and staid as the PCB was crying out for someone with his drive and get-up-and-go. And to his credit, he made a go of it. It was at his insistence that the PCB ever considered making the domestic game a more marketable product, and one, which can eventually generate its own funds to sustain itself. His almost zealous desire to sideline departments from the domestic game altogether may have been unrealistic and unnecessary, but the pursuit of financially reinvigorating regional cricket through franchising remains, at the very least, a noble one.

His handling of the potentially tricky negotiations for the India series was also commendable for its level-headed flexibility and compromise. He oversaw one of the most important series Pakistan have played in recent times, not only because of the political implications, but also for the financial boost it provided at a time when the board had been crippled by a spate of cancelled tours.

But there was always something about Rameez, something intangible that elicited near-hatred among some in the media, and a gentle distrust among others. Maybe it was that he was just too smooth, too much the slick salesman. He spoke so openly and with such confidence that, in a country like Pakistan where confidence is often the first sign of guilt, to many it felt as if he was constantly hiding something. He was always accessible to the media and, conversely perhaps, this worked against him. Additionally, there were constant murmurings of his political manipulation, the lack of transparency in his business dealings and financial misconduct.

Above all, and justifiably so, it was because he continued to pursue his dual role as a freelance commentator and chief executive. Being head of an organisation - any organisation - and not being at work for days on end because of alternative work commitments is bad enough. If the two commitments weren't so closely linked, then and only then with some difficulty, could attempts at justification been made. But given that his bread and butter was to provide neutral comments on the product - Team Pakistan - that he himself was heading, it was indefensible. And if Aamir Sohail was so roundly ridiculed for deigning to be chief selector and commenting publicly on the team he had picked, then Rameez's continuing dual role was scarcely less creditable.

However, he is confident that he has left Pakistan cricket in a better state, in little over a year. He was instrumental in obtaining the services of Woolmer, and for this, the hope is that Pakistan will eventually be grateful. He instigated the push to professionalise the domestic game in Pakistan, but to his discredit, he will not be around to oversee its completion. In fact, given that it is almost the norm here, as a successor, to dismantle all the policies of your predecessor, it is likely that the domestic game will undergo another overhaul. But at least his departure will finally pave the way for a full-time, paid professional to take up such a crucial position. Like the man himself it seems, his legacy will be difficult to assess.