Showing posts with label PCB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PCB. Show all posts

Pakistan, South Africa Cricket Series?


Pakistan, South Africa Cricket Series starting from tomorrow 26 october 2010, this series contain 2 twenty20, 2 Test matches and 5 one day internationals.

Younis Khan likely to replace injured Yousuf


Younis Khan's return to the national side is expected to be at the expense of injured batsman Mohammad Yousuf. —AFP/File Photo
KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan’s return from obscurity became a reality on Wednesday, after reports emerged that he may replace injured batsman Mohammad Yousuf in the national squad.
Younis has been out of the Pakistan squad since last year, after he was indefinitely banned as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took disciplinary action against seven players following the team’s disastrous tour of Australia. The ban was later lifted but Younis has not been able to play international cricket due to PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt’s alleged stern stance against the former captain.
Butt, however, invited Younis to meet him in a bid to sort out their differences after former cricketers and politicians openly slammed the board chief’s handling of the situation. The meeting between the two is currently underway and reports emerging from the PCB headquarters at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore say that Younis is likely to make his return in the team at the expense of Yousuf.
Yousuf, part of Pakistan’s squad for the nine-match series against South Africa, reportedly pulled out of the on-going training camp in Lahore after sustaining an injury on the first day.
PCB chief selector Mohsin Hassan Khan is due to hold a press conference shortly after the Butt-Younis meeting and the World Twenty20 winning captain’s inclusion in the squad is said to be the main agenda of the presser.
Sources

Shoaib to lead Pakistan in Hong Kong Super Sixes


Shoaib Malik is overlooked for the series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates.—File photo
KARACHI: All-rounder Shoaib Malik will lead Pakistan's challenge in next month's Super Sixes in Hong Kong, Pakistan selectors announced on Monday.
The 28-year-old Malik, who was national team captain until January last year, was overlooked for the series against South Africa starting later this month in the United Arab Emirates.
Instead Malik will lead a seven-member second-string Pakistan team for the Hong Kong event which will be held on November 6 and 7.
Pakistan chief selector Mohsin Khan said: “We have selected Malik to lead the team for the Hong Kong Super Sixes.”
Other members of the Pakistan team are Imran Nazir, Shoaib Khan, Sohail Khan, Shabbir Ahmed, Ahmed Shahzad and Asad Ali.
Besides Pakistan, teams from Australia, India, England, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa and Sri Lanka will take part.
The teams are comprised of six players with one substitute. The Hong Kong Sixes tournament was first held in 1992 and is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.
Pakistan won the inaugural event 18 years ago, then again in 1997, 2001 and 2002.
Sources

Revamp PCB to save Pakistan cricket, says Imran

“The ICC move to warn us and put us on notice is a shameful day for every Pakistani. It is a shame for Pakistan cricket and the reason is we don’t have any cricket institution in Pakistan,” Imran said.
KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has called for an overhaul of the country’s cricket set-up after the ICC warned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to improve its governance and enforce anti-corruption measures.
“For years now our players have been linked to corruption,” the cricketer turned politician told a local television channel on Thursday after the International Cricket Council’s warning.
“When the spot fixing allegations first came out against our players in the News of the World newspaper, the PCB itself should have taken action against the players instead of waiting for the ICC to step in,” Imran added.
The ICC suspended Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after the Sunday newspaper claimed they had been bribed to do spot fixing during the fourth test against England at Lords in August.
The three players have denied any wrongdoing.

England's rich seam can win Ashes: Broad



Stuart Broad said England's seamers can overcome testing conditions and help inspire an Ashes victory over Australia. -AP File Photo
LONDON: Stuart Broad believes England's seamers can overcome testing conditions and help inspire an Ashes series victory over old rivals Australia.
Broad told the latest issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine that although spin-king Graeme Swann had been identified as a potential match-winner, England's seamers may hold the key to a successful Ashes campaign.
England have not prevailed in an away Ashes series for 24 years, and were thumped 5-0 by the Australians on their last visit Down Under.
But Broad believes England's bowlers could prove a potent force this year even on wickets which historically have not favored seamers.
“A lot of people talk about how flat Australia is but seam bowlers have quite a lot of success out there,” Broad said.
“You've got to hit the deck hard on and around off stump. I think we've got a seam attack that could do some damage.”
Broad also rejected suggestions that the inexperience of England's bowling line-up, only James Anderson has toured Australia before, will count against them when battle commences in the First Test on November 25.
“If we're not ready to go come the first day in Brisbane there are no excuses at all. In any case each bowler offers something different,” he added.
“The Pakistan batsmen didn't enjoy facing the seamers this summer and there's no reason why the Aussies should in Australia.”
Broad added that inexperience may even benefit England because few of the current group were survivors of the brutal whitewash four years ago.
“There's not many of us now who were involved in that 5-0 tour,” he said. “And eight or nine of us involved this time have never been to Australia on an England tour.
“It's all fresh and that's a pretty fearless approach as you've got no demons and you're not scared of anything. That's quite a strong feeling to have in the dressing room.”
Sources

I said nothing wrong in interview: Afridi


Shahid Afridi, shahid afridi
“My intention was very much clear. I feel the current challenges to Pakistan cricket demand that all should sit together to take important decisions.” -Photo by AP (file)
LAHORE: Pakistan’s ODI and T20 captain Shahid Afridi, in his reply to the PCB show-cause notice, has insisted that he did not say anything wrong in his views to media. 

The PCB had served the all-rounder a notice on Tuesday and Afridi promptly sent a reply in the evening, contending that his only focus in the TV interview was to urge the need for collective wisdom in selection since the Pakistan cricket has been facing serious challenges in the recent months. 

“My intention was very much clear. I feel the current challenges to Pakistan cricket demand that all should sit together to take important decisions,” he said in his reply, Dawn learnt on authority. 

Reliable sources in the Board confirmed that neither Afridi nor Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq were allowed to give their input in teams’ selection for the SA series, which is a clear reflection of Ijaz Butt’s desire to run a one-man show in the PCB. 
Sources

ICC to set up test, ODI league, says Lorgat


Restructuring international cricket is a significant strategic challenge and one that must be dealt with: Haroon Lorgat.—AFP photo
DUBAI: The first world champion in test cricket will be crowned in 2013. The International Cricket Council board agreed on Wednesday to set up a test league —along with a one-day international league —to try and boost interest.The test league will start almost immediately and culminate in a four-team playoff in 2013 at a site to be named.
The final four will be decided by the ICC world rankings in place already. No new tests will be added but all 10 teams must play one another either home or away.
Test cricket has no definitive championship, so results are often viewed in isolation and without an overall context.
India leads the nine-team rankings, followed by South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Zimbabwe will return to test status in May.
Tests are still regarded as the barometer of an international cricketer's career, but the popularity of the five-day games has dropped with the rise of the hours-long Twenty20 game.
''Restructuring international cricket is a significant strategic challenge and one that must be dealt with,'' ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.
''We have now agreed in principle to exciting and far reaching proposals to tackle this most important issue.''

Cricket-Pakistan Board cautions Afridi over selection comments



KARACHI Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked one-day captain Shahid Aridi to avoid making critical comments on selection issues after he told the Express television channel he had not been given two or three players he wanted for a forthcoming series against South Africa.
A PCB spokesman said a letter had been sent to Afridi asking him to refrain from making controversial comments in the media.
"Yes, I wanted two or three players in the side and I didn't get them and I will speak to the chairman of the board on some other issues as well," Afridi told the channel.
Afridi said later he would respond to the letter as he always had the interests of the team at heart.
Sources

The sad tale of Mohammad Amir

The sad tale of Mohammad Amir
If I asked you to imagine a cannibal, what picture do you get in your mind?
Is it something like the image in the blog?
I once learnt that cannibalism was practiced by several tribes across various parts of the world as part of mourning at a funeral. The flesh these particular tribes ate was of someone who had died. More over, they didn’t cook it like some exotic dish, they actually burnt it till it was charred. The point was that the enormity of death meant that such a symbolic and rather drastic measure was required to provide meaning to the whole phenomenon. This obviously appears quite drastic and unpleasant. But take a moment, if you please, and you will realise that it also underscores something else. It is important to truly grieve something as enormous as the death of a loved one.
Similarly, it is important to grieve the loss of the things you love. Because doing so allows you to deal with those feelings and be able to learn something from the process.
A few days ago, I was writing an earlier version of this blog. I was writing it the day after the fourth one-day international (ODI) between England and Pakistan. Those of you following the series would understand that it was a particularly emotional time.
My plea at the time was that amidst all the controversy, we were forgetting the quality of the cricket being played. I never finished that post, and then the series was over, and other things came up, both in my life and the national conscience.

Yawar Saeed resigns as manager of Pakistan team

Yawar Saeed was manager of the Pakistan cricket team during their tumultous tour of England. —AP Photo
LAHORE: The manager of Pakistan’s cricket team resigned on Monday, just days after the players flew home from England following controversies over spot fixing.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt relieved Yawar Saeed of his duties at Saeed’s own request, the board said.
The 75-year-old Saeed had hinted about stepping down before the tour began in June and denied that his decision to go was connected to the allegations that marred the team’s tour of England.

Ian Botham is biased, says Mohsin

He (Botham) has always had a problem with Pakistan: Mohsin Khan.—AFP photo
He (Botham) has always had a problem with Pakistan: Mohsin Khan.—AFP photo
KARACHI: Pakistan’s former Test opener and incumbent chief selector Mohsin Khan has lashed out at former England captain Ian Botham, describing him as a “biased and foolish” person who has an axe to grind with Pakistan cricket. 
Botham, who was in Sky Sports commentary team for the recent England series, has been campaigning for Pakistan cricket to be banned by the ICC since the spot-fixing scandal broke out after the fourth Test at Lord’s in late August.

Botham has given statements calling on cricket playing nations to boycott and ban Pakistan cricket and Mohsin said in a television interview that he was not surprised by Botham’s comments.

Ijaz Butt withdraws fixing claims against England

The England cricket board had threatened Butt with legal action if he didn't withdraw the accusation. -AP File Photo
LONDON: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt has withdrawn his statements linking England's team with throwing a one-day international earlier this month.
Butt had said he had heard from bookmakers that England's players were paid to lose the third one-day international to Pakistan on Sept. 17.
The England cricket board had threatened Butt with legal action if he didn't withdraw the accusation.
The board released a statement Wednesday quoting Butt as saying: ''I never intended to question the behavior and integrity of the England players nor the ECB nor to suggest that any of them were involved in any corrupt practices or in a conspiracy against Pakistan cricket.''
The board says it now regards the matter as closed. -AP
Sources

England takes first step against Ijaz Butt



The ECB and the Professional Cricketers' Association have sent a pre-action letter to PCB chairman, Ijaz Butt, seeking a "full and unreserved apology" foralleging that England's players were involved in fixing the outcome of the third ODI at The Oval, which Pakistan won by 23 runs.
The letter, sent on behalf of the England team, advised Butt that "if a satisfactory response was not received, legal proceedings will be commenced against him without further notice."
In an extraordinary statement last Sunday, which he read out to ESPNcricinfo, Butt had said, "There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match [the third ODI]. No wonder there was such a collapse." He had also accused certain "august cricket bodies" of conspiring to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket.

Pakistan return home after disastrous cricket tour


File photo taken September 20, 2010 shows Pakistan's Umar Gul (L) talking to Shahid Afridi (R) during the fourth One Day International cricket match between England and Pakistan at Lords Cricket Ground in London. – AFP Photo
KARACHI: One-day captain Shahid Afridi Friday called Pakistan’s scandal-marred tour of England the “most difficult” of his career as the team staged a low-key return home after four gruelling months away.
Coach Waqar Younis also conceded that it had been a punishing tour “on and off the field” after corruption investigations engulfed the side, triggering a barrage of condemnation from the press and public.
An exhausted-looking Afridi flew in to Karachi with three team-mates while the rest of the squad arrived in Lahore in the early hours, with a phalanx of gun-toting policemen escorting the players out of both airports.
“It was tough because of the controversies and became very difficult to cope with, because every time we went out of the hotel people passed remarks against us,” Afridi told a scrum of reporters in Karachi.

Is it True? Shoaib Akhtar tampering the ball?



Pakistan fast bowler Shoib Akhter can ball at high speed but there is always controversy around him. Lately his team defeted by England by a massive 121 runs. His temperamental and furious attiude always fit for a fast bowler.
But it is sorrow to know that Akhtar was caught on camera tampering with the cricket ball during their fifth ODI match against England at the Rose Bowl stadium in Southampton.
In the past he was reported several times but always he is able to come back. Some players of the team was hit by a series of controversies during the just-concluded tour. They are blocked for spot-fixing.

Camera catches Shoaib Akhtar tampering

SOUTHAMPTON: The British media gave a one final gift to the visiting Pakistan cricket team on early Thursday as they caught fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar doctoring the cricket ball during the final One Day International between Pakistan and England.

  
Shahid Afridi of Pakistan smiles with Shoaib Akhtar during the 5th NatWest One Day International between England and Pakistan. Courtesy: GETTY IMAGES

England wrapped up the series by winning the fifth ODI at Rose Bowl in commanding fashion but cameras kept looking for yet another scandal to give Pakistani cricketers some torrid memories of the tour.

 As per the reports of a British tabloid, Shoaib Akhtar was caught on camera tampering the cricket ball in the 41st over of the innings.

 In the picture released by the tabloid, Shoaib Akhtar can clearly be seen scratching the ball with his left thumb so as to make it reverse-swing. If that wasn’t enough, the speedster dropped the ball on the ground and stood on it with spikes right on the seam.

England tour one of the toughest of my career: Afridi

“The players were down and it was not easy lifting them up. It was very difficult but they responded well.” —AP Photo
KARACHI: Pakistan’s one-day captain, Shahid Afridi has described the tour to England that ended on Wednesday as one of the most difficult of his cricket career.
“It was one of the most difficult tours of my 14-year career. It was difficult to even venture out of the hotel, there were people hooting at us and there was lot of pressure on the players,” Afridi told a local television channel.
Pakistan lost the test, Twenty20 and one-day series to England and the team was rocked by allegations of fixing parts of matches against some of its players.
Test captain, Salman Butt and pace bowlers, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz were all questioned by Scotland yard over the allegations with the first three also suspended by the International Cricket Council after the News of the World newspaper broke a story on Aug. 28 that the players had deliberately bowled no balls in the fourth test against England at Lords.

Dodgy to the end! Shoaib Akhtar is caught on camera as ball tampering row sours England's Rose Bowl win

Was this the moment Pakistan's cricketers became embroiled in one final controversy?
In the last game of their acrimonious tour of England at the Rose Bowl last night fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar could be seen apparently running his left thumb along the ball's seam before dropping the ball on the ground and standing on it with his spiked right boot.
Shoaib Akhtar shines the ball then stands on it
Shoaib Akhtar shines the ball then stands on it
Sportsmail's pictures were taken in the 41st over of England's innings as Shoaib prepared to bowl to Paul Collingwood.
It is not the first time Shoaib, 35, has come under the spotlight at the Rose Bowl.
Four years ago, he was filmed by Sky cameras flicking at the ball with his thumb during a one-day international here against England.
On that occasion Shoaib was cleared but was warned about his behaviour after being accused of tampering with the ball during a Test match in Zimbabwe in late 2002.

Zardari urges end to cricket blame game



ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari discussed with British High Commissioner Adam Thomson on Monday the issue of match-fixing allegations levelled against the Pakistani cricket team and assassination of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Imran Farooq in London. 
According to sources, President Zardari, who is the Patron in Chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board, expressed concern over the match fixing allegations and said the blame game should be stopped by both sides. 

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar refused to comment on the matter discussed at the meeting. 

The president also asked Mr Thomson to convey his request to the UK authorities to complete investigation in Mr Farooq’s murder case as soon as possible. 

PCB criticises response to corruption row



LONDON (Reuters) – The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) accused the world governing body Saturday of mishandling fresh corruption allegations levelled against the national team following the third one-day international against England.
It called for further details after International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat said Friday’s match was being investigated following information from a British newspaper alleging a suspicious scoring pattern in Pakistan’s innings.
“The PCB is extremely perturbed by the recent allegations of corruption in the third ODI between England and Pakistan,” a PCB statement said.
“PCB regrets the way these allegations have been handled as being a full member of ICC it only came to know through media that investigations will be conducted by ICC. PCB feels that ICC should repose more confidence in its members.”


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