PAKISTAN’S SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ WANTS INDO-PAK SERIES

Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has asked the cricket authorities in India and Pakistan to resume a bilateral series between the neighbouring countries just like the Ashes between England and Australia.
Saqlain stated, “I personally feel that India and Pakistan should start a series on the lines of Ashes. But lets wait for the ties to resume first.”
The wily spinner also gave his views on India’s tour to England, stating that it was a team failure. He added, “It was the failure of the team and you cannot just blame the spinners. You didn’t have runs on the board and, in such scenario, the spinners can’t gamble. The conditions were pacer-friendly and, as one saw, it was the pacers who did the trick for the hosts. So, I don't think it would be right to blame the spinners alone.”
The Men in Blue failed to win even a single game on the British tour. They lost the Test series by 4-0 followed by defeats in the Twenty20 and the One Day International (ODI) series by 1-0 and 3-0 respectively.
This dropped the Indian team to number three in the ICC Test team rankings and five in the 50-over format.
However, the MS Dhoni led side will be looking forward to a home series against England next month, which will give them a chance to settle the scores.
According to the sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there is also a possibility of India hosting a complete series against arch rivals Pakistan in March/April, 2012.
There has been no bilateral series between Pakistan and India since late 2007. However, fans worldwide will be expecting things to get better this time and see the Asian giants fighting for glory against each other once again.
The political ties between both countries have improved in the recent times and the fans might get some good news in the coming months.
Although both countries are willing to go head to head once more, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ijaz Butt has asked the BCCI to play in a Pakistan hosted series before the Men in Green tour their neighbouring country.

Miandad refuses to respond to PCB's show cause notice

Former captain Javed Miandad is yet to respond to a show cause notice that the Pakistan Cricket Board issued to him for violating his terms of employment, raising the prospects of yet another bitter showdown between the two.

The PCB had issued a show cause notice to Miandad after he slammed the Board's working and claimed that 90 percent of the decisions taken by the authorities were wrong.

Miandad, who is employed as the Director (cricket affairs) since 2008 on a lucrative package, said after closely watching the working of the board, he was convinced 90 percent decisions were erroneous.

His remarks upset the PCB which gave him a deadline of seven days to respond to the notice that expired last Thursday.

"So far we are yet to get a formal response from him to the notice but we will look at the issue on Monday," a senior official said.

Miandad, after getting the notice, made it clear that he had no intentions of responding to it as he was directly appointed in the Board by chief patron -- President Asif Zardari -- and was only answerable to him.

"I will give my explanation to the President when he gives me time for a meeting and I will apprise him of the issues in the board," Miandad had said.

A board official said since Miandad was also a member of the governing board, the PCB hierarchy will have to decide how to deal with his latest violation of his employment terms.

"Normally if someone does not respond to a show cause notice within the deadline than he faces severe punishment but obviously in Miandad's case the board has to tread carefully because of his standing and position," an official admitted.

A source close to Miandad said the former captain regarded the salary and perks given to him by the Board as due reward for having served Pakistan cricket for 35 years.

This is not the first time that Miandad, who has also coached Pakistan team in the past, has publicly lashed out at the PCB working under the Chairmanship of Ejaz Butt who has been in power since October, 2008.

'To stop corruption provide financial security to Pak players'

LAHORE: Former Pakistan players have advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to adopt measures to provide financial security to players in order to stop them from getting involved in corrupt practices.

Shahid Afridi, Aamir Sohail and Sarfaraz Nawaz gave the advice to the PCB after the reported confession of banned pacer Muhammad Aamer to a crown prosecution court in London that he had indulged in spot-fixing during Pakistan's tour of England last year.

The trio was also unanimous in their opinion that had the authorities taken action when allegations of match fixing first surfaced in Pakistan cricket, the situation would have been different today.

"It is sad but it a fact that Pakistan cricket's image has been tainted by these fixing allegations and scandals. The Board needs to do something to prevent such things from happening in future," Sohail said.

The former Test captain suggested the PCB to improve the financial benefits of not only the national team cricketers but also of those playing on the domestic circuit.

"Unless players get security of job and money in our domestic cricket they will always be susceptible to corruption and bookmakers," Sohail said.

He said presently they were lot of financial incentives for players who made it to the national team.

"But even then most players are not certain about how long they will play for Pakistan and they are concerned that if out of the national side what will they earn from domestic cricket," he noted.

"What should have been done in the past is now history. We now must ensure that same mistakes are not reported again," Sohail added.

Afridi agreed with Sohail and said that in other countries domestic players earn good money compared to Pakistan.

Afridi was of the view that Aamer's confession would raise more fingers at Pakistan cricket but said it was good that he had spoken the truth.

"I think even if the two other players have something to say, they should say it now. No use of hiding the truth. Mistakes are made by everyone and you only can learn from them," he said.

The flamboyant all-rounder also felt that instead of sitting on the issue the PCB should have taken decisive action against those players who were allegedly involved in fixing in the past.

"I don't know if anyone was really involved but if the Board felt someone was involved they should have taken strict action against him and set a strong example to discourage others from indulging in corruption," Afridi said.

Nawaz, however, took a potshot at the PCB, saying the Board is to be blamed for the fixing scandals.

"Successive Boards have tried to sweep the issue under the carpet and let go guilty players. It is unfortunate that some players who were even fined by the Justice Qayyum Commission have been given jobs and positions by the PCB instead of censoring them," he said.

Amir ought to have come clean sooner: Afridi

Former Pakistan cricket captain, Shahid Khan Afridi says that Mohammad Amir ought to have come clean sooner about his involvement in a spot-fixing scandal which has embroiled the young fast bowler along with two other Pakistani cricketers for over a year.

Mohammad Amir, a young and upcoming prospect for Pakistani cricket had found himself in the midst of a spot-fixing scandal last year when he was on tour with the Pakistan national team. A sting by the now defunct News of the World news papers showed a bookie taking money from an undercover reporter for having certain bowlers in the Pakistan ranks deliberately bowling no-balls on pre-specified deliveries. Amir, along with other accuses, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt had for long pleaded innocence. However, Amir came clean during a court hearing on Wednesday, submitting a written statement confessing to the charges labelled against him.

Afridi, who himself has faced controversy in cricket after being found guilty of biting down on a ball in February 2010 with a swift two T20 match ban. Afridi had already been in strife for ball tampering, suspended for one Test and two one-dayers in 2005.

Afridi further said that it remains to be seen who had entrapped Amir into committing this act and who all were his accomplices.

Afridi went on to talk about his own career, saying that he could not continue playing under the coach (Waqar Younis) who had been giving the former skipper problems. Though, Afridi maintained that conditions had since (his departure from the team) improved and he wished to continue playing cricket.

He also congratulated the Pakistan cricket team on their success in Zimbabwe.

Razzaq agrees with Afridi

Pakistan cricket all-rounder Abdul Razzaq echoed the sentiments of Afridi saying that Amir ought to have confessed his involvement much earlier.

Razzaq said that it is now up to the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board to decide what punishment Amir would have to face for his actions.

Shahid Afridi: just a breed or a need?

Opinion: Shahid Afridi may announce his comeback very soon, but does he really deserve to be given a chance?

Shahid Khan Afridi, aka Afridi, is probably at the peak of his career. He was very recently toppled down by his team-mate Muhammad Hafeez, who grabbed the third spot in ICC all-rounder rankings, pulling Afridi on to the fifth spot. However, this might have not been as easy for Muhammad Hafeez as it was, had Afridi been playing international cricket.

The frisky all-rounder sidelined himself from the team after announcing his conditional retirement over the disagreements with the management. Now that the management is about to go through major changes (once again), Afridi intensely wants to play for his country, that too once again. Sources whisper that he will soon have a meeting with the patron of the board and chances are that he may announce his return to international cricket after the meeting but does he really deserve to be in the team?

A cricket fanatic, Afridi lover would impulsively shout out loud “hell yeah!”, on the other hand, a rational person would find himself stuck between the see-saw of right and wrong along with the web of pros and cons. But does he really deserve to be in the team?

The answer is yes, if only, considering his contribution to the Pakistan cricket. The energetic fellow played a key role in the victory of T20 World Cup 2009, got the team into the semi-finals of World Cup 2011, performed consistently well with his bowling, and yielded more than just satisfactory results through his leadership qualities. The mere numbers and figures associated with the player may not reveal all that Afridi has to offer but anyone would agree that Afridi is of a breed that is anything but common. People and experts would also agree that Afridi is the only man born with tailor-made qualities to be the T20 superstar who was born 27 years before the format achieved an official status.

A player with 315 ODI wickets and 53 T20i wickets is someone who has already earned his right to be given chances and take liberties. And if that player is Shahid Afridi, someone who is at his peak of his career, does need to be taken in and exploit for the good of a country that has not had the taste of happiness with abundance.

However, a rational mind will never be impulsive. A logical approach would take one asking questions like, we just won in Zimbabwe do we still need him? He may not play the next World Cup, shan’t we find a replacement and get over with him? What about his erratic behavior? Sudden retirement from the tests and then conditional retirement from cricket, should not he be told that his inclusion in the team is not implied? Shahid Afridi may have turned out to be an exceptional all-rounder (finally, after 15 years) but does that make him above the ethics and code of conduct? Was it fair to his fans and country to retire from the sport because of his personal disagreements with the coach?

The answers of such questions would lead one to oppose his return to the team at least if not sentencing him a death penalty. But one always knows that appropriate conduct, abiding rules and coherent thinking hasn’t really been virtues of the all-rounder. For all the mistakes that he made, he should be punished but an opportunity to swing his arms and bowl his bowls is due for a player that has delivered numerous times for his country and gained a lot of affection and love from all over the world, if not respect.