Umar Gul confident of leading Pak pace attack without Amir and Asif

London, : Pakistani fast bowler Umar Gul has said that he is confident of leading the country bowling attack in the absence of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.
Amir and Asif are currently serving a five-year International Cricket Council (ICC) ban from the game for spot-fixing.
“I am confident that I can handle the responsibility of leading the bowling attack for Pakistan and won’t succumb to the pressure that comes with this added responsibility,” PakPassion.net quoted Gul, as saying.
“I feel I have performed well for Pakistan over the years and will continue to do so, God Willing, in future. Every cricketer has ups and downs in his career, but I always give 100 percent and look to contribute to the team effort in any way I can,” he added.
The 27-year-old has gained fame as one of the most successful bowlers in Twenty20 cricket. He was the leading wicket taker in both the 2007 and 2009 Twenty20 World Championships.
When asked about the secret behind his Twenty20 cricket success, considering it is supposed to be a batsman friendly format, Gul said: “If it’s your day, things will go for you. But if it’s not your day then whatever you try, however hard you try, things will not go in your favour.”
“The other thing is that the pace of the game means that you have to think on your feet, think quickly and be alert to what the batsmen is doing and what you think his next move will be. Variation also plays a major role in a bowler’s armoury.”
“You have to be able to bowl a good yorker and have the ability to mix up your pace, without the batsmen reading you. The variations are key, but it’s also important that you use these varieties at the right time,” he added.

Pak providing security to 'bailed' terrorist behind Sri Lankan team attack

Lahore, : The Pakistan government has provided security guards to Malik Ishaq, a key suspect in the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, who was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail after the country’s Supreme Court granted him bail.
A local police official said that four guards were deployed at Ishaq’s house in view of the threat posed by a large number of people visiting him everyday, the Express Tribune reports.
Ishaq, one of the founders of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, had been accused of plotting the attack on the cricket team while he was in prison.
He had been in prison since 1997 and had 44 cases ranging from murder to terrorism lodged against him, but the Supreme Court acquitted him in 34 cases and granted him bail in the rest.
The attack on the Sri Lankan team occurred on March 3, 2009, when a bus carrying the cricketers was fired upon by 12 gunmen, near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The cricketers were on their way to play the third day of the second Test against Pakistan.
Six members of the Sri Lankan team were injured. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed.
These were the first attacks on a national sports team since the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian militants in 1972.
The attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the outlawed militant groups with close links to Al-Qaeda.

Waqar urges Pakistan to groom young captain

Cricket coach Waqar Younis on Friday urged Pakistan to groom a young captain, worrying that age may catch up with the national squad's current leader Misbah-ul-Haq.
Pakistan developed a mini captaincy crisis after Shahid Afridi abruptly quit Test cricket on a tour of England and his replacement, Salman Butt was banned in a spot-fixing scandal.
Afridi then quit international cricket over differences with Waqar, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to select Misbah. Although he has performed well, a younger leader needs to be found, Waqar said.
"Being 36-37 is not very young," said Waqar. "He (Misbah) is very fit and has done very well as captain but age usually catches up, so we need to groom a young captain."
With Afridi refusing to return under current PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, Misbah is set to lead Pakistan in all three forms of the game on a tour of Zimbabwe next month.
Pakistan plays one Test, three one-day and two Twenty20 matches.
Waqar admitted Afridi will be missed.
"Every cricketer who leaves is missed, like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and then myself were missed and, of course, Afridi will also be missed but there are other youngsters who will take their place," said Waqar.
He urged former greats such as Javed Miandad to help youngsters develop.
"Whatever help can come is good because we have to take Pakistan cricket forward," said Waqar, who admitted that the team still suffers from batting problems, especially at the top of the order.
"Our problems in opening are old ones and we are trying to overcome these problems and I would urge former openers like Mohsin Khan, Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail and Mudassar Nazar to come and help the openers," said Waqar.
Youngsters will be given a chance on the Zimbabwe tour, he added.
"Hopefully some new players will develop," said Waqar who took charge as coach last year.

PCB decides against challenging ICC amendment legally

Karachi, : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is not planning to challenge the International Cricket Council (ICC) on its constitutional amendment which blocks political or government intervention in the cricketing matters of its member boards, legally.
A PCB official said the board is instead seeking the views of its governing council members on the issue.
“At the moment there is no plan to legally challenge the amendment,” the Daily Times quoted the official, as saying.
“We have in fact asked our governing council members to give their views on the two main issues of the amendment made by the ICC which is free elections and government interference in cricket matters,” the official added.
The governing council members include former captains Javed Miandad and Intikhab Alam, and representatives of five regions.
The ICC amendment will have a profound impact on the PCB, as Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is its chief patron.
The PCB had objected to the amendment, but was left with no choice, but to accept it after all ICC members agreed to the change.

PCB waiting for SLC approval on UAE 'home series'

Karachi, : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is waiting for written approval from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on the forthcoming series between the two countries in the United Arab Emirates.
A PCB official said the board had spoken to the current interim cricket committee members in Sri Lanka, but a written approval is awaited after which, the MoU for the series would be signed.
“We explained the situation to them and they had no objection to having the series in the UAE. So, as far as we are concerned it is a go ahead and we have already started preparations for the matches,” the Daily Times quoted the official, as saying.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are scheduled to play the series in October-November.
The series comprises five Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 match.

PCB to get 16 million dollars as World Cup non- hosting compensation

Karachi, : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will receive around 16 million dollars as compensation from the 2011 World Cup earnings in the wake of it not being allowed to host a single match of the tournament.
The decision came as the International Cricket Council had relocated World Cup matches venues in Pakistan due to security concerns following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009.
“The total package includes hosting fees and other benefits,” the Daily Times quoted a World Cup secretariat source, as saying. He said the ICC had already released around 10.5 million dollars to the PCB soon after the World Cup concluded in April.
“The rest of the amount is also due to be paid to the PCB soon,” he said.
The source said the ICC agreed to pay compensation to the PCB in the wake of problems faced by it after international cricket teams had refused to tour Pakistan citing security concerns.
“The ICC realises that with Pakistan being forced to play all its home series at neutral venues, it is losing out on hard earned money that it would have made if it had hosted matches at home. The ICC also knows that the PCB is facing a financial crunch because of India’s refusal to play bilateral series. The board had also lost out on valuable earnings of around $40 million when India cancelled its Test tour to Pakistan in early 2009 because of the Mumbai attacks”, the source said
“The PCB has also got compensation for the in-stadia sponsorship rights, hospitality box earnings and ticket revenues that it had lost out on because of the shifting of the matches,” the source added.

Players oppose lie detector tests: FICA

The world cricketers' association said it "outright rejects" the MCC's proposals to encourage players to take lie detector tests in an effort to fight corruption within the game.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the guardian of the rules of cricket, says the potential use of lie detector tests should be widely debated.

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh, an MCC member, this week took a lie-detector test as part of his bid to help root corruption out of cricket.

But the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) said the testing was irresponsible and it would oppose such actions in "the strongest possible manner".

"It is FICA?s strong position that the use of lie detectors as a means of determining the guilt or innocence of a player in matters relating to corruption on any practice for that matter is to be rejected outright," FICA chief executive Tim May said in a statement on Thursday.

"I commend MCC and Steve Waugh for trying to be proactive in the fight against corruption, but lie detector tests are far from foolproof and not permissible as a means of determining people's guilt or innocence in the courts of the majority, if not all, cricketing territories.

"It is therefore totally unacceptable that players should be put under pressure to submit to testing that is far from foolproof.

"To publicly request players to make 'some stand' against corruption, by submitting to this 'imperfect' testing is irresponsible and FICA will oppose such actions in the strongest possible manner," May said.

"It?s a no-win situation for the players. They quite rightly should decline to submit to one -- the testing is not foolproof.

"The players are not under suspicion for any corruption offence but now with the MCC publicly encouraging them to submit to one, if the player refuses, it looks like he is hiding something."

FICA said it was committed to ridding the game of corruption, but would not stand by and have players subjected to a testing technique that had the propensity to churn out incorrect conclusions.

May said he had written to the MCC to address the matter in a "responsible manner".

Waugh was spurred into action following last year's allegations by Britain's now defunct News of the World tabloid that former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were involved in the deliberate bowling of no-balls during a Test against England at Lord's as part of a betting scam.

The Pakistan trio were suspended for a minimum of five years' each by the International Cricket Council -- verdicts they are appealing at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

They are now awaiting a criminal trial in England due to start in October.