Smith and Misbah ready for spin battle

Pakistan's last Test series win was against the West Indies at home in 2006 and since then they have lost six and drawn the remaining three, but newly inducted captain Misbah hopes his team makes a fresh start at Test cricket's newest venue.

"We are focusing only on cricket and will play to our strength which is spin. We hope it's a new beginning at a new Test venue," said Misbah of the Dubai Stadium which becomes Test cricket's 101st venue.

Misbah, who missed Pakistan's last seven Tests after being left out of the team, was drafted in as captain after Test skipper Salman Butt was suspended along with bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer last month.

The three players were suspended after British newspaper News of the World claimed several Pakistani players obeyed orders from book-makers during Lord's Test against England in August.

Misbah hinted at the inclusion of off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and left-arm slow bowler Abdul Rehman in the side, who will also get assistance from opener Mohammad Hafeez, who bowls off-spin.

"We have this option to include two spinners and looking at the nature of the pitch I think spinners will play a key role in the Test," said Misbah who will become Pakistan's fourth Test captain this year.

Wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal, brother of Kamran Akmal -- not selected for the tour due to fitness problems -- will make his debut after the only keeper of the tour, Zulqarnain Haider fled to London after receiving death threats.

South Africa, high on confidence after winning both of the preceding Twenty20 matches and five-match one-day series 3-2, were also pondering at the option of playing two spinners.

"There is definitely an option," said Smith of playing off-spinner Johan Botha and left-armer Paul Harris. "We have done that in the Caribbean (in June this year) which proved successful for us."

Smith stressed South Africa needed to win the two Test series and then against world number one Test team India at home.

"Our focus has shifted to five big Tests ahead of us," said Smith whose team hosts India for three Tests next month. "We want to be as successful as possible in that format in which we have been successful in the last three years."

Smith agreed the confidence level was high in South African camp.

"I think the players have gained confidence through the one-day win, but its going to be a new start on a venue which is used for the first time in Test cricket," said Smith, who believes Dubai's heat will be a big test for his players.

The second Test starts in Abu Dhabi from November 20. The series was shifted to United Arab Emirates over security fears in Pakistan.

English village team looks to recruit Haider

An English village cricket club famous for offering a haven to players with off-field problems says it would like to recruit Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider for the 2011 season.

Haider fled the Pakistan team hotel in Dubai in secrecy on Monday and is seeking political asylum in Britain after saying he received death threats for refusing to fix one-day matches against South Africa.

The Lashings World XI, a village cricket team, has previously recruited Rashid Latif, another Pakistan wicketkeeper who resisted match-fixing, and Henry Olonga, a Zimbabwean cricketer who protested against the political regime in his country.

Lashings chairman David Folb says he is trying to contact Haider. Folb says the Pakistan player would "feel at home" with the Kent club.

Zulqarnain says he did no corruption

LONDON: The wicketkeeper Pakistan cricket team Zulqarnain Haider has said that he did whatever he thought to be better for Pakistan. He said he did no corruption, adding that bookies tried to force him for match fixing but he decided otherwise, Geo News reported.

Zulqarnain Haider, the Pakistani wicketkeeper, who fled to London from Dubai in a mystifying way, held a press conference here after bookies alleged him of fixing matches.

He said he did not want to highlight name of any fellow player but claimed that a man issued him threats at his face.

Proposing strict actions to eliminate corruption from Pakistan cricket, he said players found guilty of match-fixing must be banned for lifetime. Pakistan team is ravaged with corruption, he alleged.

He said he was undergoing immense psychological pressure. “I performed well despite serious life threats,” Zulqarnain claimed.

In order to settle this issue soon, Zulqarnain said that he would hold meeting with Wajid Shamsul Hassan, the Pakistan High Commissioner in London.

PCB declines request for Indian veterans tour

The PCB has declined a request by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) to write to the BCCI and invite an Indian veterans team to play in Pakistan. The PVCA, following the PCB's refusal, have sought help from the Pakistan President, who is also the patron-in-chief of the country's cricket board.

"We have written a letter to PCB's patron-in-chief Mr Asif Ali Zardari asking him to instruct the board to accept our request of writing to BCCI," Fawad Ijaz Khan, the president of the PVCA said. "The tour is being organised for a noble cause and therefore the cause should be supported as it will only help in rebuilding the lost image of Pakistan."

There has been no international cricket in Pakistan since the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore in March last year, while a breakdown in diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 have affected cricketing ties between the two countries. Pakistan cricketers have not featured in the last two IPLs, and haven't played India in a bilateral series since.

There have been attempts on the Indian side to get the tour going. The Veterans Cricket Association of India (VCAI) had agreed to tour Pakistan to play Twenty20 matches to raise funds for flood victims, but required approval from the BCCI. Former India opener Chetan Chauhan, president of the VCAI, said that the Indian body had applied to the BCCI for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) more than six weeks ago. "We are not associated with the BCCI but we always want to be on the safe side and so we take an NOC with the BCCI and then go to the Sports Ministry and after that the Home Ministry for the visa process." The process of going through the paperwork once the NOC was received from the BCCI, he said, would take about three weeks.

Chauhan said his Pakistani counterparts had assured the VCAI of PCB's support. Chauhan wanted the Pakistan veterans body to get a letter of support from the PCB. "We asked for this letter of of assistance and co-operation, so we can talk to the BCCI. If the PCB directly wrote to the BCCI, there would be nothing like it. We would really want to help their cause."

There is a good chance that the entire process may have been slowed down at the Indian end, due to security concerns on the part of the Indian veterans themselves, with some officials fearing last-minute withdrawals by cricketers they would have decided to select for the tour.