Rashid Latif Critiques PCB After Lord’s Defeat: Worst Board in 70 Years

The numbers at Lord’s were brutal enough. A 194-run defeat, a batting lineup that has not once crossed 200 in the series, and a Pakistan side that has barely laid a glove on England. But the fiercest blows came not from Jofra Archer’s bouncers or England’s relentless pressure. They came from one of Pakistan’s own.

Rashid Latif, never one to sugarcoat, has turned the heat on the Pakistan Cricket Board and its chairman Mohsin Naqvi, accusing the current regime of presiding over what he calls the “worst cricket board” in the country’s history.

The former captain’s outburst followed Pakistan’s second straight capitulation in the three-match series, this time at the game’s most storied venue. For a proud cricketing nation, the tour has veered from disappointing to downright embarrassing.

‘Worst team in 50 years? Worst board in 70’

The British media did not hold back, branding this touring party as the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years.” Latif did not dispute that damning verdict. He went a step further.

“Everyone is talking about the Pakistan team, and how it is the worst touring team in the last 50 years. But nobody is speaking about how the current board is the worst in the last 70 years. Nobody is talking about the worst selection committee and coaches,” Latif said on Geo News.

He did not stop there. For Latif, the rot is structural, not just technical.

“If you combine these issues, you will get the answer to your question. You will know who has ruined this team. Now you are losing consistently. This is the worst cricket board, that's a fact,” he added.

In his eyes, the players are only the final, visible symptom of a deeper failure. The real damage, he argues, has been inflicted in the boardroom, in selection meetings, in coaching appointments.

Batting in freefall

On the field, the evidence is damning.

Across the series so far, Pakistan’s batters have failed to reach 200 even once. On English pitches that have offered help but not treachery, that statistic alone tells the story of a side short on technique, confidence and resilience.

Babar Azam’s absence in the series opener had been framed as a major blow. His return for the Lord’s Test was supposed to steady a fragile top order, restore some authority, perhaps even spark a fightback.

Instead, it only deepened the gloom.

The captain scraped scores of 8 and 6, undone in the second innings by a vicious Jofra Archer bouncer that made one of the world’s premier batters look distinctly uncomfortable. Archer went hard, Babar looked all at sea, and Pakistan’s hopes sank with him.

When your best player is being bounced out and your lineup cannot touch 200, criticism is inevitable. Latif’s argument is that it should not stop with the men in the middle.

Turmoil off the field

All of this played out against a fraught backdrop.

In the build-up to the Lord’s Test, reports emerged that the PCB had threatened to pull out of the match after Sky Sports aired an 18-minute interview with Imran Khan’s sons. The segment, which discussed the former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister’s conditions in jail, caused a stir back home and ignited a political and cricketing storm.

The story gathered pace quickly. A boycott? A walkout at Lord’s? The prospect alone hinted at chaos.

Inside the camp, though, the message was different. Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed both publicly denied that the PCB had considered withdrawing from the Test. They distanced the team from the controversy, insisting the focus remained on cricket.

The scoreboard suggested otherwise. Distraction, pressure, poor preparation – call it what you like, but Pakistan never looked settled, never looked ready.

Edgbaston looming

Now comes the final act of this bruising tour: the third Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, starting September 9.

On the surface, it is just another match. In reality, it feels like a referendum. On this team’s character. On Babar’s leadership. On the PCB’s stewardship of the national game.

Latif has drawn his line in the sand. For him, the blame lies squarely with those running Pakistan cricket, not just those representing it.

England will arrive in Birmingham hunting a clean sweep. Pakistan will arrive fighting for something far less tangible but far more important: a shred of credibility, and perhaps the first hint that someone, somewhere, is finally ready to fix what has been broken.