PM to discuss PCB chief’s removal with President

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday he would discuss the deteriorating situation of Pakistan cricket with President Asif Ali Zaradar, who is patron-in-chief of the PCB. “I will convey to President Zardari regarding the demand of dismissal of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt,” Gilani replied to reporters who asked him why the government was reluctant in dismissing Ijaz and company despite all his blunders and poor performance. The Prime Minister was talking to reporters after an award distribution ceremony for national sportspersons.

Earlier while speaking during the ceremony, he announced that sports budget will be doubled from the next year and the government was working to enhance the sports facilities. “This government has already enhanced the sports facilities and we are working to further improve the infrastructure for games,” he said. Gilani distributed Rs 5 million, Rs 2 million and Rs 1 million among the gold medal, silver medal and bronze medal winners in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. Pakistan won five medals at the Commonwealth Games with wrestler Azhar Hussain winning one gold and one silver, wrestler Inam Butt one gold and boxers Muhammad Waseem and Haroon Khan bronze medals at the mega event

No tours to Pakistan possible before World Cup - Butt

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has said the current spot-fixing investigation has diverted resources away from organising tours to Pakistan, and that there is now no space left in the calendar to accommodate a visiting team.

"The ICC Task Force was well on its way to bringing a MCC XI team to Pakistan in which two players of each cricket board were to be included," Butt said. "Moreover, Zimbabwe were also interested in sending their national team to Pakistan. The current spot-fixing scam, however, has diverted attention to other issues as work of inviting some teams to Pakistan could not be materialised, and there is no appropriate time left for such activities due to hectic schedule of Pakistan till the World Cup."

Giles Clarke, chairman of the ICC's Pakistan Task Force, had called for Pakistan to resume hosting international matches back in August and suggested that an ICC World XI would tour the country "in due course". Following the floods that devastated the country earlier this year, Zimbabwe offered to tour Pakistan to help raise money for the relief effort, and their visit was tentatively scheduled for November and early December. No international cricket has been played in Pakistan since the March 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team.

Last month the ICC decided to closely monitor the running of the game in Pakistan. After a two-day board meeting in Dubai, the message of the world governing body to one of its leading members was clear: sort out the game's administration or face the consequences, potentially in the form of sanctions. The PCB was told "it must act and be seen to be acting to uphold the zero-tolerance attitude to corruption in sport."

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Pakistan must remove players' insecurity - Razzaq

Shortly after playing the "greatest innings" of his career, Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq has urged the team management and administration to work towards removing the uncertainty players feel over their place in the team because such an atmosphere is counterproductive to Pakistan's success.

Razzaq, who blitzed 109 off 72 balls to wrench the second ODI from South Africa's grasp in Abu Dhabi, said he too felt insecure about his spot in the side and that Pakistan had failed to maximise his potential over the years.

"I always play the match as if it is my last," Razzaq said.
"If players have this constant fear hanging over them that they will fail and then be dropped then they will never be able to perform properly.
Even I felt that if I didn't do anything in this game I would be dropped.
This threat has to be removed from the team because it is not productive.
"Those guys who don't perform for a couple of matches, they shouldn't be dropped so quickly.
They need to be encouraged and their morale needs to be boosted." Razzaq launched his breathtaking assault against South Africa from No.
7 in the line-up, a position at which he's batted 81 times in his 245-ODI career.
The remainder of his innings, however, has been spread over every position, from opener to No.
11.

He's also not been a regular member of the ODI side, despite his match-turning potential, and was exiled for two years for his association with the unofficial Indian Cricket League.

"I think my talent has not been properly utilised both in batting and bowling, especially, my batting spot has never been permanent," Razzaq said.
"I don't think I have been utilised properly over the last five or six years as a batsman." Sunday's performance against South Africa was Razzaq's first fifty-plus score in over four years and his first century since September 2004.

It was the third time in 2010, however, that Razzaq pulled off victory for Pakistan.

In the previous two instances, he scored 46 off 18 balls in a Twenty20 international against England in Dubai, and 44 off 20 balls in an ODI at Lord's.
Razzaq hoped his century against South Africa would lift Pakistan cricket, which is reeling from spot-fixing allegations and poor on-field performances.

"Every time there is a controversy or we lose one or two matches, people start to write us off, which is wrong," Razzaq said.

"I would request the fans to please keep faith in us so that we can lift ourselves." The ODI series between Pakistan and South Africa is level at 1-1 ahead of the third match on Tuesday in Dubai

PCB chief Butt says Test batsmen who need coaching don't deserve to be selected

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt has said that he is not in favour of appointing a full-time batting coach for the national team.
Butt's comment comes after PCB's Governing Council met on Monday to decide if a batting coach was needed for the team or not.
"When a player (batsman) comes to Test cricket ... if he needs coaching he should not have been selected," the Daily Times quoted Butt, as saying.
A source however had claimed that PCB Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari had already been given the task of negotiating with some prospective candidates, and he had spoken to some foreign and local candidates.
It is believed that the board is concerned with the lack of batting consistency in the national team with the 2011 World Cup also around the corner.
Butt further said that the suspended trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir would not be included in PCB's 30-man list of probable players for next year's World Cup.
The list would be sent to the International Cricket Council (ICC) by November 30.
"If they get exonerated then we can (ask) permission from the ICC to include them. Suspended players could not be included, that is very loud and clear," Butt said.
The trio was suspended in September after a British tabloid alleged that they were involved in 'spot-fixing' the Lord's Test against England in August.
The players had appealed against the suspensions, but an ICC's code of conduct commission, headed by Michael Beloff, rejected it after a two-day hearing in Dubai on Sunday.
The innocence or guilt of the players will now be judged at an independent tribunal, the date of which has yet to be set.

<> Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt has said that he is not in favour of appointing a full-time batting coach for the national team. Butt's comment comes after PCB's Governing Council met on Monday to decide if a batting coach was needed for the team or not. "When a player (batsman) comes to Test cricket ... if he needs coaching he should not have been selected," the Daily Times quoted Butt, as saying. A source however had claimed that PCB Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari had already been given the task of negotiating with some prospective candidates, and he had spoken to some foreign and local candidates. It is believed that the board is concerned with the lack of batting consistency in the national team with the 2011 World Cup also around the corner. Butt further said that the suspended trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir would not be included in PCB's 30-man list of probable players for next year's World Cup. The list would be sent to the International Cricket Council (ICC) by November 30. "If they get exonerated then we can (ask) permission from the ICC to include them. Suspended players could not be included, that is very loud and clear," Butt said. The trio was suspended in September after a British tabloid alleged that they were involved in 'spot-fixing' the Lord's Test against England in August. The players had appealed against the suspensions, but an ICC's code of conduct commission, headed by Michael Beloff, rejected it after a two-day hearing in Dubai on Sunday. The innocence or guilt of the players will now be judged at an independent tribunal, the date of which has yet to be set. (ANI) SEARCH