cricketplay

KARACHI: Former Pakistan Test cricketer Zaheer Abbas said on Saturday the Pakistan Cricket Board was encouraging player-power by lifting the ban on players.

He feared the players would not fear any ban in future if the board continued its present attitude.

“Taking a U-turn in only a few months, as in case of lifting the ban on players, reveals that the board banned players without assessing the situation properly,” Zaheer said.

The PCB appeal judge Irfan Qadir had last week removed a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik and also waived off Rs3 million fine on Shahid Afridi. He also reduced the fine of Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal. Finally, the judge on Saturday lifted an indefinite ban on Younis Khan.

Zaheer added that lifting the ban would prompt and encourage player-power and bring the board on its knees and the board would never be able to take action against the players even for some major offences.

“The board has shown its weakness to the players and they would never bother to follow the code of conduct,” Zaheer explained.

He added the board had always remained under pressure and failed to discipline the players.

“Moreover, it sends a negative message to the world that the PCB has no administration and consistency. The board has made itself a laughing-stock by first penalising players and then by waiving off their penalties,” he said.—PPI

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LONDON: Australia great Adam Gilchrist will captain Middlesex in their next six matches after Shaun Udal announced his resignation as skipper of the Lord's-based county with immediate effect on Friday.

Gilchrist, captain until batsman Neil Dexter takes permanent charge, is now set to lead Middlesex in their upcoming five domestic Twenty20 matches, starting with Friday's game against Kent at Canterbury.

And the wicketkeeper/batsman -- elevated to the captaincy a day after being dismissed for nought -- will also lead Middlesex in their 50-over tour match against Australia at Lord's on June 19.

Commenting on Gilchrist's appointment, Middlesex's director of cricket, Angus Fraser, said in a statement on Friday: “It would be foolish for Middlesex not to make use of one of the most experienced and respected cricketers the game has produced whilst he is at the club.

“He captained the Deccan Chargers to success in the 2009 Indian Premier League and led Australia in all forms of the game with distinction on numerous occasions. In his short time in England he has already had an influential role in the T20 cricket we are playing.” Former Middlesex and England pace bowler Fraser added: “Everything about Adam is world class and since his arrival he has had an extremely positive effect on the dressing room.

“Our players love having him around and playing in the same side as Adam shows our young cricketers what is required to be a great player.

“Adam's presence gives Neil a wonderful opportunity to watch and learn from one of the finest and most respected players to play the game.”

The 38-year-old Gilchrist was out for nought against Somerset in Thursday's six-wicket Twenty20 loss at Lord's, having managed just two in his first game for Middlesex.

Former England off-spinner Udal joined Middlesex from Hampshire, where the 41-year-old has spent the bulk of his career, in 2008 and was handed the captaincy in September that year.

But Fraser said the county's “indifferent” cricket -- they are second from bottom in the second division of the two-tier first-class County Championship -- had worn down Udal, who remains available as a player, and had adversely affected his bowling too.

“Shaun cares passionately about how Middlesex CCC performs and has worked extremely hard to turn the team in to a winning outfit but the indifferent cricket we continue to play has worn him down,” Fraser said.

“It has affected his bowling too. Shaun is an intelligent and articulate man and he feels the team needs a change in leadership.

Udal added: “Captaining Middlesex has been a huge honour for me. There can be few better feelings than leading a team out at Lord's.

“Letting go of something like that is extremely difficult but Angus Fraser and I have agreed that this is the best way forward for the club.”

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KARACHI: Pakistan's cricket squad left for Sri Lanka Saturday to compete in the Asia Cup, optimistic that the event will not be upstaged by the football World Cup now under way in South Africa.

“Football is huge, but I hope after the 90 minutes of excitement (of a World Cup game) fans will give cricket its due attention and follow the Asia Cup,” Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi told AFP before his team left for Colombo.

The tenth Asia Cup will be played from June 15-24 in Dambulla, in central Sri Lanka, about 150 kilometres northeast of Colombo, coinciding with the month-long football tournament that opened in South Africa Friday.

Besides Pakistan, the Asia Cup will also include India, Bangladesh and hosts and defending champions Sri Lanka.

Afridi said that his team will follow the football World Cup while in Sri Lanka, but mostly on rest days.

“Like millions of Asians I also follow football and my favorite team is Brazil, so like my teammates I will follow World Cup matches as and when we have time, but the focus remains the Asia Cup,” said Afridi.

The 13-man team first flew to Dubai from where they will reach Colombo later Saturday. Fast bowler Mohammad Asif will fly via Doha, Qatar because of a ban on visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over a drug offence.

Asif was deported from the UAE in June 2008 after a 19-day detention for possession of a banned drug while returning home from league cricket in India.

Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq will travel to Colombo from England, where he is playing county cricket.

Afridi said he hoped his team will be in form after a turbulent three months for Pakistan cricket which saw senior players banned and fined for disciplinary violations and poor performance.

“What happened in the past is behind us,” said Afridi, who was made captain for all three forms of the game last month. “We have a blend of seniors and juniors who all know their duty well.”In March the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) banned and fined seven players, including Afridi, following their December-January tour of Australia.

They lost all three Tests, five one-day internationals and the only Twenty20 match of the tour, which was also marred by discipline violations.

However, the board later lifted the bans on former captain Younus Khan and Shoaib Malik and reduced the fines on appeals. Afridi's three-million-rupee (35,000-US-dollar) fine for ball-tampering was revoked.

Another former captain, Mohammad Yousuf, did not appeal and instead retired in protest. All-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan's appeal against a one-year ban and fine is pending.

Malik was recalled for the Asia Cup squad, while Younus is favourite to return for the tour of England which follows the Asia Cup.

Afridi said both the Asia Cup and England tour would be important for the revival of the Pakistani team.

“It is a good chance for the players to turn the fortunes of the team, so this is very important phase for our cricket,” said Afridi.

Express paceman Shoaib Akhtar is also back in the team after being sidelined since May last year because of a knee injury.— AFP

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Skipper Shahid Afridi has asked the Pakistan selectors to use the approaching Asia Cup to give exposure to younger players of international cricket.

“I think the time is right to start grooming and giving exposure to some of our young lot because we also have to keep the 2011 World Cup in mind.” Cricket365 quoted Afridi as saying.

“We should have three to four new players along with the seniors so that we can strike the right balance in the one-day side,” he said.

Pakistan’s selectors opted to take an experienced squad to the recently concluded World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, but Afridi says he, along with Coach Waqar Younis, wants to take a different route this time.

“The selectors had picked that squad but as a matter of policy the coach and I want to give exposure to the young players so that they can provide stable support and back up the seniors in future,” he said.

Several players have been included in Pakistan’s prolonged 35-man squad for this month’s Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

The squad will be reduced to 15 players this week before they head to Karachi for a training camp. – APP

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KARACHI: Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed believes the return of former captains Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik in the squad for Asia Cup and England tour will not affect the dressing-room environment.

Both the former captains Younis and Malik faced disciplinary action from the PCB with the former still waiting to get his indefinite ban overturned.

Malik had his one-year ban lifted last week and was already selected in the 35-man preliminary squad for the two tours starting June 15 with the Asia Cup. The manager played down suggestions that presence of former skippers would fuel controversies among the players.

“I don’t foresee any issues due to presence of Younis and Malik in the upcoming tours and I am confident the assignments would be free of controversies,” said the manager.

Yawar, also a former first class cricketer said all the players showed great discipline during the Caribbean tour including captain Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal who also faced PCB action after the troublesome tour of Australia.

“There were no scandals during the World Twenty20 despite presence of the punished trio and I am confident inclusion of Younis and Shoaib will also not disturb environment in the dressing room,” he said.

The manager felt that decision to include banned players in the squad was taken in the best interest of team, saying Pakistan will need seasoned players in the assignments especially on tour of England.

However, the 75-year old said he would keep a vigilant eye on the players during the tours and would not tolerate any discipline breach.

“Rule and regulations are equal for all the players and I would not let any player break them and deal strictly with any discipline-related offence,” he said.—PPI

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Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has come out in support of Shahid Afridi, saying the allrounder should be given a long run as captain to avoid the destabilising effect of frequent changes at the top.

"Since I retired in 1992, Australia has had only three captains while Pakistan has had more than two dozen and that is why there is a big difference between Pakistan and Australia," Imran told AFP.

According to Imran, Afridi was the logical choice to lead Pakistan as he is already the Twenty20 captain. "Who else if not Afridi?" Imran said. "I think if they had made anyone else captain, problems would surely have persisted, so I think Afridi was the best choice available."

Imran said Afridi has to be given time if he is to develop into a good leader. "Afridi has been leading the team well in the Twenty20 format. A good captain should be brave, can handle pressure and should have the respect of the team, so let us give Afridi some time to settle and then judge him.

"You can never predict about him as a Test player and a captain until you give him a chance. If he was not playing Tests and now he intends to play, then maybe with responsibility he performs better."

Pakistan's current captaincy crisis was precipitated by Younis Khan's resignation and the sacking of Mohammad Yousuf. The PCB then appointed Afridi to lead the team during the World Twenty20 and earlier this week made him captain for the Asia Cup next month and the subsequent tour to England.

Khan also said he is in favour of having having one captain for all formats of the game. "Cricket is the only sport where you need able leadership and if a captain is successful in one format he could be successful in all three."

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	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	6s	Ct	St
Tests	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57			23	43	48	93	1
ODIs	233	218	41	7381	119*	41.70	11014	67.01	8	50		71	2
First-class	402	632	95	28663	311	53.37			80	139		340	3
List A	306	281	59	9614	152*	43.30			12	64		103	2

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	124	36	1470	682	17	3/74	5/94	40.11	2.78	86.4	0	0	0
ODIs	233	12	436	297	7	2/22	2/22	42.42	4.08	62.2	0	0	0
First-class	402		12688	6507	191	7/39		34.06	3.07	66.4		6	0
List A	306		688	497	15	3/20	3/20	33.13	4.33	45.8	0	0	0

Test debut	Pakistan v New Zealand at Lahore, Oct 9-13, 1976 scorecard
Last Test	Pakistan v Zimbabwe at Lahore, Dec 16-21, 1993 scorecard
Test statistics	- Statsguru Test analysis - Player analysis menu/filter Test match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Bowling career summary Bowling innings list Bowling match list Best innings bowling Best match bowling Bowling series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most dismissals in an innings Fielding series statistics
ODI debut	Pakistan v West Indies at Birmingham, Jun 11, 1975 scorecard
Last ODI	India v Pakistan at Bangalore, Mar 9, 1996 scorecard
ODI statistics	- Statsguru ODI analysis - Player analysis menu/filter ODI match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Bowling career summary Bowling innings list Best innings bowling Bowling series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most dismissals in an innings Fielding series statistics
First-class span	1973/74 - 1993/94
List A span	1975 - 1997/98

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