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WORLD CUP Pak
Team to be Revamped Soon Pak Team
to be Revamped Soon (Go To Top) ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board is expected to announce a new captain, coach, manager and team for the triangular series in Sharjah later this month. According to the News, the names of Wasim Akram and Moin Khan are under consideration for the captaincy and that of Javed Miandad, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Mushtaq Muhammad for the posts of coach and manager. "Nothing has yet been finalised but yes in his initial discussions the PCB chief has discussed bringing back Wasim as captain for an interim period and appoint a new vice-captain," a source said. "Tauqir has been told that the biggest disadvantage of bringing back Wasim as captain is that he cannot play any longer for more than a year and secondly he has been averse to playing Test cricket," the source confided. More importantly, the source said, some of the players had even conveyed to Tauqir that they were not in favour of bringing back Wasim as captain as it was not a long term solution. "The problem Tauqir is facing is that he was expecting most of the senior players to announce their retirement after the failed World Cup campaign but this has not happened and the seniors have in fact ganged up to continue playing for another six months or a year," the source said. "Moin at the age of 31 would be the best choice at present to lead the team as he can continue playing for year and more. Moreover, Moin and Javed Miandad have now patched up and are very close to each other these days." The one very positive thinking going on in the Board is to ask former Test captain Majid Khan to make himself available as manager of the national team as the feeling is that with his no-nonsense approach and the respect he has in cricket circles, he would be the best choice to manage a new team and ensure strict discipline among the young players. The board has to send in a list of at least 20 players for visa requirements to the organisers of the Sharjah tournament by month-end. Bond
Magic Fails to Click, Aussies Win (Go To
Top) JOHANNESBURG: Despite the devastating bowling spelll by New Zealander Shane Bond, who claimed six wickets for 23, defending Champions Australia pulled off their 13th victory in a row on Tuesday in their Super Six encounter at Port Elizabeth. Set a target of 208, the Kiwis were all out for 112 in 30.1 overs. Bond reduced the defending champions to 84 for seven before Michael Bevan (56) and Bichel (64) rescued the innings with a eighth-wicket partnership of 97. Australia finished with a competitive 208 for nine after Lee hit the final two balls for six. In his second spell, Bond moved the ball away late to get Damien Martyn (31) caught behind, then trapped Brad Hogg lbw first ball. In his next over he bowled Ian Harvey (2) with a perfect leg-cutter which uprooted the middle stump. His final figures of 10-2-23-6 bettered Scott Styris's six for 25 against West Indies at Port of Spain last year. Wasim's
Fear for Pak Cricket (Go
To Top) JOHANNESBURG: Pace legend Wasim Akram says he has deep-seated fears for the future of cricket in Pakistan following the disastrous World Cup campaign which ended in the first round. "We have been losing non-stop since August 2002 and, for the first time in my career, I see a paucity of talent in the country," the 36-year-old said on Saturday. "There were times when (captain) Waqar Younis would sit to pick the team in consultation with some of us seniors, and we would be hard put to find 11 players since everyone was going through a lean patch." In their six games in South Africa, Pakistan lost to Australia, England and India, suffered a washout in Zimbabwe and managed just two wins against minnows the Netherlands and Namibia. It was the country's worst ever World Cup performance in the 28-year history of the tournament. In Karachi and Lahore, angry mobs burned effigies of Wasim and Waqar to register their anger with the team after their pitiful performance. "Home should be the last place one should fear going, but our past experience has led to a situation where everyone is dreading the backlash," he wrote in his syndicated column. An inquiry into the team's miserable efforts in the World Cup has already been launched with questions asked about infighting amongst the squad. In Bulawayo, Inzamam Ul Haq scuffled with Younis Khan and Saeed Anwar in a training session. Wasim also hit out at teammates Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq for their poor form in the tournament. "The selectors must take a long hard look at the likes of Shahid Afridi. His approach would hardly inspire any captain to persist with him," he wrote. Meanwhile, the World Cup review committee, formed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to look into the poor performance of the cricket team in the ICC World Cup 2003, held its first meeting at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday. The meeting lasted nearly seven hours during which the three-member committee outlined its course of action. The meeting was attended by Naushad Ali (Chairman), Aqib Javed and Sultan Rana. "It was a productive meeting in which we shared our thoughts and decided how to go about the assignment that has been given to us. We have outlined our course of action and for the next two weeks, we will sit together so that we can meet our deadline of March 23," Naushad Ali said. Naushad dispelled impressions that his committee was an inquiry committee. "It is a review committee that will study the technical aspects of the team's performance and recommend suggestions on how the team's performance in future can be improved." Naushad said his committee, if required, would invite members of the Pakistan team, management of the team and officials of the cricket board. "If we have to find out the real problems, we will have to talk to everyone who was associated with the team be it the players, management or members of the cricket board. There will be an honest, sincere effort in which there will be transparency," he said. Australia
in World Cup Semi-finals (Go
To Top) CENTURION (South Africa): Australia stormed into the World Cup semi-finals on Friday as Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee swept Sri Lanka aside. Ponting hammered his 12th one-day century in Australia's 319 for five in their opening Super Six match. Adam Gilchrist missed his ton by one run. Strike bowler Lee then laid waste to the Sri Lankan top order, sending Sanath Jayasuriya to hospital in the process as the world champions won by 96 runs. But Aravinda de Silva hit a defiant 94-ball 92 while Jayasuriya's x-rays revealed bad bruising and a chipped thumb bone. Sri Lanka ended at 223 off 47.4 overs. Pak Coach's
Complaint Against Players (Go
To Top) JOHANNESBURG: Pakistan coach Richard Pybus was on the verge of quitting on Friday, saying it was difficult to guide a side in which players were not willing to learn. "I tried my best but it was difficult. Some guys wanted to learn, but some were not interested at all," Pybus said after strong contenders Pakistan bowed out of the World Cup in the first round, reports the News. The South Africa-based Pybus, 42, said it was time for someone else to take over. "I think I can still contribute to Pakistan cricket, but it is time to move on and let someone else do the job," he said. "I would prefer to spend quality time with my daughter." Lara
Hits Six, Man Breaks His Foot (Go
To Top) JOHANNESBURG: When West Indies star batsman Brian Lara hit a massive six against Canada in a World Cup Group B tie at Centurion recently, the ball struck the foot of Dirk Steenekamp, a spectator. "I initially heard that Brian had fractured someone's skull," said team manager Ricky Skerritt when Steenekamp - hobbling along on crutches - arrived at the Windies' hotel. "Even if South Africa and the Windies are out of the World Cup, he at least has his trophy," said Lara while writing an autograph on the casing on Steenekamp's foot. The autograph read: "To Dirk, Sorry about this. Always keep your eye on the ball." For his part, Steenekamp, a salesman, said that he didn't see the ball coming where he was sitting on the grass embankment opposite the scoreboard. "I told everyone, all I want to see, is Brian Lara batting, then I'll be happy. And then he fractured my foot," he was quoted as saying by News24. Search
Begins for Pollock's Successor (Go
To Top) JOHANNESBURG: After the shock departure of hosts and title favourites South Africa from the World Cup, many thought that Shaun Pollock's days as skipper were numbered. Well, it now seems that the South African selectors have finally given in to media pressure and are looking for Pollock's replacement. This is evident from the fact that though Omar Henry, the convener of selectors, gave Pollock his full support, he also revealed that there were plans to start preparing a new captain for the future. In fact, the word is that Pollock could very well be relieved of his leadership job this June when the team undertakes a tour of England. While confirming that Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie, both of whom have led the South Africa A squad, were identified as possible future captains, Henry also said that Pollock had been informed of these plans. Meanwhile, Pollock has said that he is disappointed with criticism about his captaincy. "If the criticism is justified I will take it to heart, but when it comes from the choir that is always ready to criticise everything, I will just laugh it off. You just have to accept that you won't be able to satisfy everybody all the time. I just try to be the best captain I can be. I cannot do more," he said, adding, "It was a very disappointing tournament. From the start things went wrong. But we will not become a cricketing non-entity overnight. It is important that we unite in the interest of SA cricket. It would be useless to just criticise." Sehwag
Injures Finger (Go
To Top) CAPA TOWN: India's opening batsman Virender Sehwag injured his finger on Wednesday and was taken to hospital. X-rays, however, showed there was no fracture. "We will assess the injury on Thursday to see if he can play against Kenya," said team media manager Amrit Mathur. Sehwag misjudged a high catch hit for him by coach John Wright. India play Kenya in their first match of the World Cup Super Sixes on Friday at Cape Town. They go into the second round with eight points, four behind Australia and two behind the Kenyans. The 24-year-old Sehwag is an explosive right-hander who has modelled his game on Sachin Tendulkar. In a highly charged game against Pakistan last Saturday, he scored 21 off 14 balls, putting on 53 for the opening wicket with Tendulkar off 5.4 overs. PCB
Panel to Probe World Cup Debacle (Go
To Top) KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Tauqir Zia has formed a three-member committee to review the performance of Pakistan team in the ongoing World Cup tournament, reports the News. The committee will start working from March 8 and submit its report within 15 days. Later, the report will be made public. The committee will thoroughly review the performance of the team, scrutinising each and every aspect, including selection before and during the World Cup matches. The committee will also review the strategies and game plans formulated for each match, the role of players and officials, particularly the coach and captain. It would give opinion on the causes of below-standard performance and recommendations for penalties on those found responsible for the dismal performance. The committee has been authorised to interview any player or official, besides having access to any material required, including match tapes. A PCB press release said the poor performance of the team during the World Cup matches, its failure to qualify for the Super Sixes and defeats at the hands of Australia, England and India have been a matter of serious concern both to the public at large as well as the PCB management. The debacle at the World Cup, despite the intensive preparations by the PCB and availability of all possible resources to the team for the prestigious event, is all the more surprising and has brought into question the team's ability to handle pressure at the top level. Rains
Dash Pak Hopes (Go
To Top) BULAWAYO: Pakistan lost its slim hope of joining the Super Six round of the ICC Cricket World Cup Pool A match here on Tuesday between Pakistan and Zimbabwe when the match was abandoned due to intermittent rains. Earlier, Pakistan had scored 73 runs for loss of three wickets. The match points were equally divided between the two teams. Zimbabwe won the third slot in the Pool A and qualified for the Super Six round of the tournament. -ANI |
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