'Salman Butt's most valuable role for Pakistan is as a formidable opener' © Getty Images

I was lucky enough to watch Salman Butt on debut. The immediate observation was this was a young player with a tremendous amount of time and hence--almost paradoxically--able to play the ball wonderfully late. A bright future as Pakistan's star opener beckoned. Since then Salman has delighted and dumbfounded. Some of his best efforts have come against Australia while last summer he was sent home early from England after a disappointing tour.

Now the young man is vice-captain, a tribute to his potential both as a player and as a thinking cricketer. Youth must have its day, of course, but there seems to be an unseemly haste about his appointment. Salman is yet to secure his place in the team. There are many other not-so-old candidates knocking around (and I go back to my advocacy of the two vice-captain theory). And the signal that the PCB is trying to send out with his appointment is a needless one.

Salman Butt's most valuable role for Pakistan is as a formidable opener. The vice-captaincy is a trifling thing that can be gifted and withdrawn on a whim. It is not a guaranteed route to the captaincy. This latest wonder of decision making may create unnecessary pressure, and harm Salman the Batsman and ironically Salman the Future Captain.

Let's hope not. Salman Butt can become a highly successful cricketer for Pakistan. On this occasion, his cause has been hampered by the misplaced enthusiasm of his employers.

	'Dav Whatmore, welcome to the whacky world of Pakistan cricket.' © AFP

Pakistan's coaching saga is possibly rushing towards a dramatic conclusion. I say 'possibly' because few predictions can be made with certainty in the realm of Pakistan cricket. Yet the final shortlist looks to be of three Australians, albeit one of them is of Sri Lankan origin. The subtext is that the PCB has decided a foreign coach is the answer to Pakistan's woes, a view I find perplexing since the prime imperative should be to appoint the best candidate from wherever. Bob Woolmer's major difficulty was that he was unable to get under the skin of the players' culture and hence it became possible to marginalise his influence.

Of the three remaining candidates--and you might reasonably ask what became of Aaqib Javed, Tim Boon, and Javed Miandad?--the man for the job has to be Dav Whatmore. He knows the Australian way but he also knows Asia. He has succeeded with both Sri Lanka (World Cup winners) and Bangladesh (World Cup giant killers) in different ways. He has yet to coach one of Asia's big two but the leap should not be beyond him. Indeed, it is a great time to coach Pakistan with a young captain and young team ready to be shaped into something more substantial.

Dav's the Man from this Australian shortlist, but as usual the PCB has managed to supervise the process in such a way that you wonder how they ruled out some of the other promising candidates? Dav Whatmore, welcome to the whacky world of Pakistan cricket.

	Bob Woolmer's death: The matter should be laid to rest © Getty Images

Speculation about the possible cause of a high-profile death never ends and it my just be the trigger for a legal dispute--take the example of Princess Diana whose family endured a further television documentary this week. Unreasonable media intrusion or reasonable public interest? It is a debate that forces polarisation.

Now that the Jamaican police have reversed their verdict on Bob Woolmer's death his family can complete the mourning process. And if anybody should sue for damages it should be them, although you suspect they will have too much dignity to begin down that road.

This blog doesn't have a great record of agreeing with Nasim Ashraf and disagreeing with Imran Khan but on this occasion I say Chairman Ashraf has made the right call. While a gut reaction does urge some kind of retribution for the way Pakistan's players were publicly vilified--and the British media, even some 'thoughtful' broadsheet writers, were some of the worst--the sensible response is to let the matter rest. If nothing else then out of respect for Bob's family.

Pakistan cricket needs to move on and those writers who spent a merry few weeks publicly maligning Pakistan cricketers, their character, and their country owe Pakistan cricket an apology. But I guess that is as likely as Cricinfo being bought by Disney--oops, miracles do happen.

	Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, has to answer a lot questions © AFP

This has been a miserable year for cricket.

Bob Woolmer's death--murder or natural causes--has been horribly compounded by the pitiful charade played out by policemen, pathologists, and journalists speculating on the cause of death. Being uncertain about cause of death is not a new phenomenon. Doctors and pathologists in a hospital near you are inevitably dealing with the same confusion, even about patients that had every pulse and breath monitored closely for days prior to death. Imposing certainty on medical practice is an exercise in futility. From the facts released to the public I don't think it is possible to know how Bob died, which makes you wonder why his body was released for cremation before the issue was settled?

The World Cup was probably the worst in history, a consequence of greed and myopia that engulfed the ICC and the host organising committee. A World Cup that meanders on and on without the home team and their spectators joining the party is a blow to cricket as a major international sport. Another exercise in futility. Even Australia's brilliance wasn't properly rewarded when the final ended in farce.

Now we stand on the brink of the biggest exercise in futility of all: two games of festival cricket between an Asian XI and an African XI, with neither side able to muster its first choice players. We have a glut of international cricket. Players are overworked and injuries are more prevalent. Who really cares if Asia beats Africa? Who really believes that the individual performances will have any meaning? Cricket's administrators are already in disrepute yet they remain shameless. With every move they confirm that they are out of touch with the soul of cricket. And this Afro-Asian car crash in a side street is as soulless as it gets.