Weekly Round-Up: Pakistan Cricket News
The Pakistan cricket team under Shahid Afridi’s leadership have started their tour to England in a successful manner. The team has been impressive in all departments of the game in the warm-up matches against local county outfits.
Afridi’s men started the English tour with a narrow six-run victory against an MCC XI last Sunday, followed by an impressive performance in a 3-day match against Kent. Pakistan’s top-order batting featuring Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam and Umar Amin dazzled against the county side with little Akmal scoring a sparking century. Sensational youngster Mohammad Aamer bowled with a nagging line and length and confused the opposition batsmen with his late swing. The match ended in a stalemate. However, Pakistan came back to win by 66 runs against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783 in the following match.
However, Pakistan captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. He said, “I don't think it’s anything serious. It’s just a minor side strain and hopefully I'll be fully fit soon”.
Pakistan faced another set-back as the country will be bereft of any international cricket at home till 2015. The ICC, during its executive board meeting in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 from international cricket. In the past, Pakistan has already lost the hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2009 and a number of regular tours to the country. As a result, the cornered tigers are playing their “home series” against Australia on English soil at the moment.
Former Pakistan cricketers have shown immense disappointment over the decision. Former test cricketer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zaheer-Abbas-c98435 perceived the ICC’s decision as a huge setback for Pakistan cricket that would affect the country’s cricket in a negative manner. Former Test player Iqbal Qasim claimed that it was a premature decision taken by the ICC. He said that nobody could predict the future of an entire country. According to them, the security situation in Pakistan should have been closely monitored by the ICC as the situation may improve in the near future.
However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ehsan-Mani-c55791, the former ICC President has blamed the PCB for the country’s alienation from international cricket. Mani said, “The board is being run in an unprofessional manner and it is the PCB’s own mistake that Pakistan has been isolated”. He further added that that the PCB did not even send the inquiry report of the attacks on the Sri Lankan team to the ICC which might have influenced their decision. He advised the Pakistan Cricket Board that in order to revive international cricket in Pakistan, they should invite an ICC associate member to play in the country.
During the executive board meeting of ICC, Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt was called a “buffoon” by former CEO of International Cricket Council (ICC), Malcolm Speed. Speed was quite angry at Howard’s rejection as he put the blame on the Asian bloc, in particular, the Pakistan Cricket Board. He also described Pakistan cricket as a “basket case”.
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman (PCB) Ijaz Butt, however, has refused to react to the unkind statements made by Malcolm Speed. The Pakistan Cricket Board on the other hand is still verifying his statements. “We will not comment on Speed's statement at this time we are in the process of confirming the statement carried in the Australian media”, claimed a PCB spokesperson.
However, former Pakistan cricketers have severely reacted on the derogatory remarks made by Speed against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rashid-Latif-c84084, another former captain, said he would have taken Speed to court for his defaming statement.
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