ABDUL RAZAQ and IMRAN NAZIR and ALEEM DAAR dancing on Sahir lodhi show

Another arrest in Lankan cricket team attack case

Another terror suspect has been arrested by Pakistani authorities for his involvement in the daring attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009 that deprived Pakistan the right to host international ties.

The man named Adnan Khosa was arrested in the Dera Ghazi Khan city of Punjab province for his suspected involvement in the 2009 attack that killed seven persons and injured several others, including players. Acting on a tip-off, police nabbed Khosa, also known as Arshad or Sajjad, within the jurisdiction of Raitra police station, Dera Ghazi Khan district police chief Tassaduq Hiyat said.

Khosa, whose codename was "Chotu", had been included in the police's "Red Book", a list of high-value militants, Hiyat said. According to police, Khosa is a resident of Azmat Town and an operative of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's Amjad Farooqi faction, which has committed several robberies to finance its terrorist activities.

Over a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the attack so far. Pakistan lost rights to host international cricket matches, including the 2011 cricket World Cup fixtures, that were later relocated to the other co-hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Khosa's father, Qari Arshad, said his son had been studying at the Farooq-e-Azam madrassa in Shah Saddar Din, from where he went missing with a fellow student. Arshad said soon after the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, law enforcement agencies had picked up Khosa and his elder brother but they were later released.

He said Khosa later went to Dubai.Arshad claimed Khosa had had no contact with his family for the past few years.

In March, Pakistani police claimed to have arrested six alleged Taliban terrorists involved in the attack and said their original plan was to kidnap players and hold them hostage to seek release of their leaders. Police had said that a man named Amanullah alias Asadullah was the mastermind of the attack in which about a dozen terrorists ambushed the Sri Lankan team's motorcade at a busy traffic roundabout in Lahore.

Police had then said that a dozen suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack.

Amir, Asif, Butt to get trial date on Friday

The trial of three Pakistan cricketers and their agent on charges of corruption relating to ‘spot-fixing’ in England last year is due to get underway here on Friday.
Former captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have, along with agent Mazher Majeed, been charged with conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.
The quartet were charged after police inquiries following accusations in the News of the World newspaper that no-balls were deliberately bowled in the fourth Test match at London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground last August.
Friday’s hearing at Southwark Crown Court, south London, is expected to be a procedural affair where the date for the trial proper will be set.
Of the three players, only Asif has stated his intention to attend Friday’s proceedings.
The four accused appeared at a hearing at London’s City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, on March 17, which set the date for Friday’s court case, and were granted unconditional bail.
The British-based Majeed was told to surrender his passport.
At the March hearing, prosecutor Sally Walsh said all four men were accused of having “conspired together and with others unknown for #150,000 ($240,000) as inducement or reward to bowl three no-balls at the fourth Test”.
She added the three no-balls had been delivered “for the purpose of enabling another to cheat at gambling”.
Prior knowledge of when no-balls will occur could be exploited in what is known as ‘spot-betting’, hugely popular in South Asia, whereby gamblers bet on various possible incidents in a match rather than the final result.
In English law, accepting corrupt payments is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
Cheating is an offence under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, carrying a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
A separate and independent International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal has already banned the three players for a minimum of five years each.
All three have, however, filed appeals against their bans at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Pakistan looks at Sri Lanka to host England series

Pakistan is examining the possibility of hosting its home cricket series against England in Sri Lanka early next year because of security concerns.

A senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official told Reuters on Thursday that they was looking at Sri Lanka, or as a back-up, the United Arab Emirates as potential venues.

"While finalising the venues it will boil down to the cost factor," said chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed. "We have got an offer from Sri Lanka to host the series and are looking at it."

England also wants to play the scheduled series at a neutral venue because of the worrying security situation in Pakistan.

No foreign team has visited Pakistan since 2009 when in March of that year militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore killing six Pakistani policemen and a van driver.

Five visiting players in the team bus were also wounded.

Ahmed said that the PCB had to see where it could save on costs.

"We are already struggling because of not being able to host any international matches at home," he said.

"But we need to carry on our obligations even at neutral venues. But cost is a big deciding factor for us."

CRICKET IRELAND ANNOUNCES 14-MEMBER SQUAD FOR ODI SERIES AGAINST PAKISTAN

Cricket Ireland has announced a 14-member squad for the upcoming One Day (ODI) series against Pakistan, scheduled later this month. The two teams will face each other in a couple of 50-over matches at Stormont in Ireland on 28 and 30 May, 2011.

The Ireland squad for the crucial series includes William Porterfield (Captain), Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, Niall McDonnell, John Mooney, Kevin O`Brien, Niall O`Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling,Albert Van der Merwe, Andrew White, and, Gary Wilson.

The crew contains 13 out of 15 players, who represented Ireland in the recent ICC World Cup 2011. The two players to miss out are Andre Botha, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, andGeorge Dockrell, who is currently suffering from a severe shoulder injury.

The only new entry in the Irish international team is opening batsman, Niall McDonnell, who shot into prominence by smashing a thrilling century for Ireland A against ‘M.C.C’ last season.

McDonnell, who is professionally a school teacher, is enormously delighted over his call-up for the national team. Expressing his joy over his selection, McDonnell said, 'I can honestly say that I can't find a word to describe how I felt when Peter Gillespie rang me; I suppose it was a mixture of excitement, raw nerves and a little trepidation at being involved at this level”.

The 31-year old opener added, 'It's a dream come true in many ways and the prospect of batting with the likes of Paul Stirling, William Porterfield, or, Ed Joyce is some motivation”.

McDonnell further described that the series against Pakistan is a great chance for him to make a mark at the international level. He vowed to make the most of this opportunity and cement his place in the national side.

Meanwhile, the Ireland coach, Phil Simmons, hoped that the players would come up with a good performance in home conditions. On the 14-member squad, the coach stated, 'There aren't a lot of surprises as we haven't had any cricket since the World Cup finished”.

Recalling Ireland’s historic victory over the Men in Green in the 2007 World Cup, Simmons claimed that the Irish team has the potential to repeat such history.

Pak greats advise batsmen to stand up and deliver against the Windies

Former Pakistan batting greats have called on the national team to stand up and show more maturity in the batting department in the second Test against the West Indies starting Friday, if the visitors wish to level the two-match series.

Pakistan failed to put up a encouraging batting display in the low-scoring first Test at Guyana, which they lost by 40 runs against the West Indies.

"I think our batsmen struggle when the ball is doing a little bit and swinging around," former captain Hanif Mohammad said.

Chasing 219 to win the first Test, Pakistan were bowled out for 178 in the second innings midway into the fourth day with the West Indies captain Darren Sammy claiming five wickets for 29 at the Providence Stadium.

Hanif said the Pakistani batsmen need to realise that Test cricket was all about patience and application. "Our batsmen need to know when to play on the back foot and when to go on the front foot.

"I think many of the batsmen nowadays have this problem of adjusting between limited overs cricket and Test matches. But our batsmen have always struggled against swing bowling," he said.

Pakistan's highest run-scorer in Tests, Javed Miandad felt the batsmen needed to adjust their game according to the situation.

"It is all about personal application and the will to do well. You can't bat with the same approach that you have in limited overs cricket and that is the mistake our batsmen are making these days," he opined.

Miandad was offered the position of batting coach with the team before the start of the West Indies tour after Pakistan lost in the semi final of the World Cup.

But he refused to take up the assignment on full-time basis because of personal commitments.

The former great also insisted that there is no need for coaching a batsman at the international level.

Miandad, a former captain, noted that to play consistently well at the highest level, a batsman need to work on his technical weaknesses.

"All the greats have had one thing in common, they have spent hours in the net," he said.

Another ex-skipper Zaheer Abbas, who earned the sobriquet of 'Asian Bradman' because of his run-scoring feats, said he was disappointed at the way the Pakistani batsmen had catapulted in the first Test against the West Indies.

"No doubt the pitch was a bit dicey and double paced but at this level you are expected to adjust your technique accordingly. I thought 219 was gettable on the last two days of the match," he said.

Zaheer, who has offered to become batting coach of the team, said in the last match of the tour the batsmen needed to focus on staying at the wicket.

"Once you stay at the wicket everything falls into place. But one problem our batsmen have is they are not converting good starts into centuries," he noted.

He pointed out that in the last 12 months only one batsman had scored a Test century (Younis Khan against South Africa in Dubai) and that was an area of concern.

Pakistan's former coach, Mudassar Nazar believed the loss in the first Test was more or less expected as any team batting in the fourth innings would have suffered.

But Nazar felt that the batsmen should have shown more application and concentration against the West Indies bowlers, who got majority of wickets with reverse swinging deliveries.

"The only thing lacking in our team is consistency but some of the younger players have made good starts to their careers and they should build on it," he said.

Former captain and ex-chief selector, Aamir Sohail said Pakistan's batting would always lack consistency until steps were taken at the grass root level to educate and coach the players properly without tinkering with their natural talent.

Sohail Tanveer to lead Pakistan “A” against Afghanistan

Left arm Test pace bowler, Sohail Tanveer has been named to lead Pakistan “A” squad in three match One-day series against the visiting Afghan team, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Wednesday. Selectors announced 15-member squad besides picking 4-member management for the series.

Coached by former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, neighboring Afghan team is due to arrive here on May 23 for the series with opening day/night game at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad on May 25. Second match will be played at Rawalpindi on May 27 and third final match on May 29 at Abbotabad.
Sohail Tanveer, who toured New Zealand with Pakistan team last year and was not picked in the national team for the World Cup on fitness ground, has been named the captain.
Karachi’s talented Test wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, who failed to get selectors’ nod  for current West Indies tour, has also been named in the squad with another Karachi Test paceman Sohail Khan.  Pakistan “A” squad included Sohail Tanveer (Captain) Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sharjeel Khan, Umer Amin, Naveed Yasin, Usman Salahuddin, Rameez Raja,  Mansoor Amjad, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Muhammad Talha and Sadaf Hussain.
Sajjad Akbar (Coach-cum-Manager), Imranullah (Trainer), Iftikhar (Physiotherapist) and Muhammad Imran (Masseur) are officials of the team.

Shahid Afridi replaced as Pakistan captain by Misbah-ul-Haq for ODI matches against Ireland

The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed Misbah-ul-Haq ahead of Shahid Afridi as captain for two one-day internationals against Ireland later this month.

Afridi led Pakistan to the semifinals of the World Cup and his team also clinched the five-match ODI series against West Indies 3-2 earlier this month.

However, he caused a stir by criticizing the team management on his return home from the West Indies and has been asked by the PCB to explain his remarks.

PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told The Associated Press that it is the "policy of the board to appoint a captain on a series to series basis."

Afridi and Younis Khan, another former captain, were both were named in the 16-member squad to play the two ODIs against Ireland on May 28 and May 30 in Belfast.