We now wait for Big Mohammad Irfan to take off, another flight abandoned in the age of volcanic ash © Associated Press

Pakistan’s version of Big Bird, Mohammad Irfan, was all set for a last minute entry into the T20 World Cup. Big Irf’s story would have been a traditional and modern day triumph. Traditional in the sense that Pakistan cricket is known for launching unheard of fast bowlers onto the world stage. A modern triumph, too, as Big Irf was discovered by a fan who championed his cause via website Pakpassion.net and then continued his story on another website, Cricistan.

Pakistan’s newly installed captain, coach and chairman of selectors—let’s be clear, men with considerable international experience—decided that they wanted Big Irf to replace one of their injured pace bowlers, a surprise package indeed. Such instinctive decisions set Pakistan cricket apart from others. They lift the gloom of failure and inject hope and curiosity. This one had an added twist of incredible height. Whether Big Irf is just under seven feet tall or just over, bizarrely, nobody seems quite sure.

Mr Butt, chairman of the cricket board, galumphed into this glowing scenario and turned a fascinating decision on its head. The simple point here is that the selection process should be autonomous from the chairman of the cricket board. If he doesn’t like the decisions, he should sack the head of selectors and his panel. Mr Butt’s meddling has immediately undermined the authority of Pakistan’s new management team. A wise chairman would have supported his chosen leaders. Typically, Mr Butt decided on a show of strength, a slap down for Shahid Afridi, Waqar Younis, and Mohsin Khan.

Arguments against Big Irf’s selection have been spurious. There is scope for players outside the provisional squad to be selected. Visas can be acquired quickly, and the team may have avoided the UK because of volcanic ash in any case. The chief selector may have spoken without the approval of the rest of the selection panel, but his opinion backed by the captain and coach should have held sway. Mr Butt may have appointed Mohsin to head the selection panel but he has behaved as if he is the chief selector, Mohsin merely his vassal.

With the recent McCarthyite purge orchestrated by Mr Butt and the promise of a new start, Pakistan fans were sold the lie that higher standards were in operation. Sadly, Mr Butt has failed the first test of his new regime. It will ever be thus. Apparently, we get the leaders we deserve but not even Pakistan cricket deserves the unworthy gang that runs the Pakistan Cricket Board.

What of the fans? We now wait for Big Irf to take off, another flight abandoned in the age of volcanic ash.

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England, whose multicultural credentials are reinforced each day, is the country most able to support neutral internationals © Getty Images

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the needs of commerce have invented a new form of cricket sponsorship. Gone are brewers, banks, and airlines. Enter the Marylebone Cricket Club, the most illustrious club in the world of cricket, the owners of the home of cricket, and new best friends of the Pakistan Cricket Board; egg and bacon ties sponsoring the egg and paratha loving cricket team.

First, a reservation: a sponsorship deal is never an act of pure charity. There has to be something in it for the sponsor. In the modern era of international sport, that something has to have a component of financial gain. The MCC has seen the commercial opportunity of hosting more international matches at Lord’s. A new honours board for neutral matches and soundbites from the media launch suggest neutral Tests will become a regular feature of an English Summer. This sponsorship is under the banner of the spirit of cricket but is also in the spirit of commerce.

Unless additional use turns the Lord’s turf into the ploughed field of Wembley, this is a commercial move that must be welcomed. One or two international matches each season are insufficient opportunity for spectators to view the highest standard of cricket at the most appealing venue. England, whose multicultural credentials are reinforced each day, is the country most able to support neutral internationals. Lord’s is a venue that puts the deserts of Arabia and the skating clubs of Canada to the sword.

The MCC’s intervention is also a helping hand. Who’d have imagined that the MCC would play a role in saving Pakistan cricket? Certainly not Idris Baig, the unfortunate Pakistani umpire debagged by MCC players on their first tour of Pakistan. The PCB requires revenue for survival. Pakistan’s cricketers require top international cricket to develop—and I’d prefer that development in the testing environment of an English summer than the comfort of an Eastern dustbowl.

The PCB, for all its notions that the world is set against it, should be grateful to all the nations who have prolonged its survival, and masked its incompetence, by offering a venue for international matches. The best method of repaying that favour is with competitive cricket supported by a full house.

With Australia as the opposition, we can be sure of half of that: English and Pakistani fans will unite to make Lord’s anything but a neutral venue. Imagine last year’s World T20 Final but several degrees worse for Pakistan’s opposition. I’m making a special request for a return of the Pakistani bus. But that requires a performance from the players which, in the words of Donald Rumsfeld, is a known unknown.

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